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Quelling the Lord’s Hunger Everyone in Hisui always marveled at Akari’s ability to catch and train Pokemon. Tends to happen when one comes from a land and time when these creatures are treated like pets rather than monsters. Even so, there were many dangers in the untamed world of Pokemon, and one such danger was the Lords who had become frenzied. She’d already defeated two, and was confident in achieving her third victory against a Lord, no matter how much of an unexpected pleasure and horror this one was. She kept to herself that Arcanine was her favorite Pokemon; she even had a custom-made uniform inspired by its fur color. Back in her home world, she had one that she always loved to cuddle with, practically sinking into his mane of warm fur, and in the morning he would wake her by licking her until her face was pink from his soft tongue and warm – though stinky – breath. Ever since he evolved, he was able to put up quite a fight, protecting her viciously from the local punks and thugs, so she had some idea of the fight she was getting herself into now. As if it wasn’t bad enough to be fighting a frenzied Lord, she was doing so after over half of her team had been KO’d by Clover, Coin, and Charm, and the people who came to ‘help’ did not even have the common decency to heal her party members. At the very least, she had her Samurott, who was able to put up quite a fight against the huge Arcanine, though he'd taken quite a beating himself. Then, the battle turned in the Arcanine’s favor. It used Eruption, a move Akari didn’t think it could know, and as a result she was taken completely off guard as a pillar of fire and rock knocked her off her feet. Her uniform was burned, and she found some of the balms she’d been throwing covered her body, but she was still intact. That was until the Arcanine used Fire Blitz and crashed straight into her, knocking the wind out of her and smashing her Zoroark mask. The Pokeballs carrying the rest of her party were also knocked from her bag, and as she crawled to retrieve them, a heavy paw landed on her back and pinned her against the hot rock she’d battled upon. The Arcanine sniffed her curiously, and she remembered the balms were made from his favorite foods. “Oh crap!” She exclaimed, putting up more effort to try to get away. The paw did start to come off, but not by her efforts, rather by the Arcanine’s own choice. Its claws hooked her shorts, and pulled them down her rear and legs. An instant later, Akari felt a hot, rough tongue lick her butt, causing her to exclaim with shock. Arcanine removed more and more of her outfit, getting a taste of every new piece of pale skin he exposed, and her struggles could do nothing to help her escape. Soon she was completely naked, and her body steamed from a layer of slobber evaporated off her. The Lord was clearly not done with her yet, as it opened its mouth, and took both of her legs into its jaws at once. Akari cried out, but the jaws did not clamp down to pierce her flesh and crush her bones. Rather, she felt warm, squishy flesh grip her feet, and she was drawn in deeper into the mouth with a *gulp*. Arcanine was going to swallow her whole and alive! “Help me!” Akari screamed, but Palina, Iscan, and Irida just stood by as uselessly as they had been since they all came to Firespit Island. Another swallow, and she was completely inside Arcanine’s mouth. The jaws did not close on her though; it was as if he wanted her to see the outside world disappear in front of her, or perhaps he wanted to encourage continued struggles as his tongue further enjoyed her balm-basted flavor. The reprieve did not last long though, as with a final swallow, she was enveloped by throat flesh, and she screamed as she was pulled into the dark, hot depths of the Pokemon. “Oh great Sinnoh, no!” Palina whined as she forced herself to watch Akari be eaten. The teenage girl barely left a dent in the great Pokemon’s belly. “Just when I was starting to like her too… Poor girl.” Irida dropped her head, “What am I going to tell Kamado?” Iscan stuttered to find words before claiming he forgot something back on the beach, and then made a hasty retreat from the area. Palina watched the Arcanine snack on what was left of the balms in Akari’s discarded pack, and a hint of relief began to fill her heart. “If those balms really do work, then he should be back to normal once he’s finished… digesting…” Arcanine quickly finished off the balms, and then began to sniff the air as he continued to smell for sources of his favorite food. His nose soon pointed at the girls, and Irida realized to her alarm that they’d handled the balms as well… The stomach of the Arcanine was like an oven with bounce-house walls and filled with webs of mucus. Akari could hardly breathe as she punched and kicked at the fleshy walls around her, screaming for release. She could hear the gassy gurgles of the stomach, as well as the beating of a heart and the breathing of lungs. She could also feel the way the gut wobbled and swayed with every motion the Pokemon made, so she was along for the ride when it suddenly began to run, forcing her to press against one of the walls from the speed. The running ended quickly, accompanied by a pair of feminine screams. A couple unsettling minutes later, one of those screams became much louder and unmuffled, as another naked female body joined Akari in the stomach. By the sound of her voice, it was Irida. The pair were reluctantly forced to get a bit more intimate with each other as the stomach began to rock back and forth in a repetitive motion, and the whole time they could hear Palina’s screams mixed with what sounded like Arcanine’s grunting. Finally, the motion came to an end with a roar from the Lord, and a minute later, Palina joined the first two girls in Arcanine’s stomach. The older girl’s belly was bloated, and squeezing it caused a sticky, bubbling substance to squirt from her stretched and abused pussy. It didn’t take much imagination to guess what stuffing Arcanine used to fill this meal before consuming it. The warden and leader of the Pearl Clan began to struggle against the stomach walls, begging for the Arcanine to release them just as Akari had. Akari also struggled, but in a desperate attempt to get some personal space from the other two bodies. As big as the Pokemon was, three women was still a squeeze for his belly, forcing the girls’ nubile forms to slide against each other as the stomach began to knead and burn them. Arcanine was always Akari’s favorite Pokemon. If she was to die, at least she could find peace with the knowledge that her body was going to become a part of such a powerful, beautiful Pokemon… Iscan managed to reach Basculegion just in time to escape from the Arcanine. The same could not be said for the others, who were caught rather easily by the fast Pokemon. Irida did not last long in the Pokemon’s clutches; once her clothes were off, she was swallowed faster than Akari had been. If only Palina had been so lucky. She was pinned on all fours, and was forced to take the giant cock of the monstrous Pokemon. How her body was ripped apart from the ravishing she was given, Iscan would never know. Whatever affection it had for her when it was a Growlithe, it clearly ended once the fucking had concluded, for it snatched her in its jaws to pull her from its cock, and then unceremoniously sent her to join the others. The Arcanine belched, licked its lips to catch the residual flavor, and then found a pool of lava to lay down and nap in. His now-bloated belly wiggled from the struggles of the girls trapped within, and their muffled screams would undoubtably haunt Iscan more than the most terrifying ghost. When he stopped by the island the next day, Arcanine’s belly had smoothed and thinned. Its coloration had returned to normal, and it stood atop the island’s volcano like a proper Lord watching over its dominion. At the very least this problem had worked out in the end. Too bad for whatever other problems would have to be solved across Hisui…

Garkel Surprise It had been three months since the crisis caused by the amulet of the Mad Cyclops King, when the people of Garkel were shrunken down to the size of bugs, and devoured alive by cat-girls. It was an experience Brendan himself regrettably had when his own pet-girlfriend swallowed him. Though they had been at the lowest point their relationship could possibly be, they were able to make up, and now he and Kristen were better than ever. Brendan, the tall, lanky, brown-haired young man who once thought he would be a virgin forever, now had his own personal harem. The first of whom was Kristen the neko, a scrawny girl with messy blond hair, who incessantly referred to him as ‘master’, regardless of his requests not to. There was one way he found to keep her quiet; in fact, having her gagged was very effective. The neko was presently on her knees with her hands tied behind her back, her head pressed against a pillow, and her tail raised and rubbing against Brendan’s chest as he fucked her from behind. Even if she had a rag wrapped around her head and covering her mouth, he could still hear her squeals of joy with each thrust into her nethers. He was on the verge of climax when he noticed something on his night stand, and his sex-addled mind soon realized it was a tiny woman, Britany to be exact. Startled, he pulled out at the last moment, and wound up shooting his load directly at the tiny girl, who screamed with shock. The brownie was covered by two thick spurts of jizz, a fact which had her turning bright red as she shook on the spot. She openly admitted she had fantasies about a Big doing ‘things’ to her, and though she did not say it now, it was clear she secretly enjoyed being covered in Brendan’s spunk. Britany was a girl who stood two inches tall, had thick brown hair, dirty skin, and a scrawny figure hidden beneath the trash she used for clothing. She’d been living with Brendan ever since he accidently ruined her life in the Brownie community, but she had thankfully forgiven him for that – it probably helped that he gave her free range to whatever she wanted in the house whenever she wanted it. Though things had been rocky for a time, she and Brendan had come a long way in their relationship, going from a feminine pest who ran the moment he spotted her, to now being completely comfortable and encouraging of him seeing her as his tiny girlfriend. The brownie wiped her face and took off her clothes in order to remove the majority of the cum from her body, and then walked naked across the bed as she began her search for a replacement garment. She stopped by the face of the bound and gagged neko, who gave her a muffled, but cheerful greeting. Britany poked the much larger girl’s cheek, and told her, “I kindof like seeing you like this.” “Sorry about that, Britany.” Brendan apologized, “Did you need anything?” Britany climbed up Kristen’s hair and had a seat on top of the neko’s head, then said, “Well, since you asked, I wondered if you could give me a ride somewhere. There’s a building where a lot of Bigs gather at once, do you know what I’m referring to?” That narrowed it down, Brendan supposed, but he informed, “That could be the market, the chapel, the hotel, it could even be the neighbors. Do you have any specific landmarks?” “It’s not rat-boy territory.” “Anything else? Something a Big might notice?” “It… smells like food and fire?” Brendan just shrugged and gestured to his own kitchen. “Uh… It has a lot of tables. Is that unusual?” “Okay, that sounds like the hotel diner. Conveniently, I have business up there anyway. Perhaps we can go together.” Brendan put on his clothes, while Britany sliced a piece off of a sock and fitted it to herself with a string. The whole time, Kristen was still naked and restrained on the bed, and spoke to Brendon in wonder when he was going to free her from her bondage – clearly she wasn’t getting the point that the gag prevented her from talking. “Oh yes, I almost forgot…” Brendan rolled Kristen, not onto her belly to get at her wrists, but instead onto her back so he could lift her legs into the air. At that point he wrapped a rope around her ankles and tied it into a knot to keep her legs together. Kristen was clearly confused by the action, but he simply told her, “Don’t go anywhere now.” He gave her a kiss on her forehead, and scratched around her ears, getting her to smile and purr. With that, the naked neko curled up in her bondage to nap on the bed. Brendan retrieved Britany, as well as a sack of money, and left his home through the door curtain. From his home, he could see down to the flat, stone protrusion where travelling merchants set up stands and parked their wagons around the area. They were careful not to damage the pikes of varying size that were planted along the edge of the cliff to protect the city from the thick green forest beyond. From the market, a street wound back and forth through the city, increasing in height as it went deeper into the cliff face. Cubical homes had their doors and windows facing the road, out toward the forest, and part of their roofs were constructed as a part of the road passing over them. Where the road ended, was the ornate entrance to the chapel, where Brendan’s aunt worked as the head priestess. Before the end of the road was the biggest building in Garkel: the inn. The inn had several rooms with bunk beds to accommodate large caravans passing through the city, and also had a diner at the bottom level. The diner had a bar on one wall, and tables with chairs lining the other walls. Though the furniture was made with wood, the plates and silverware were made from metal salvaged from the Ashlands. Brendan looked around the diner, seeing no one who looked familiar, so he asked the bartender who the leader of the latest caravan was. The man pointed out a rather short individual sitting at the bar, who had a couple of burly men sitting in close proximity for protection. It did not escape Brendan’s notice that three cat-girls were serving as waitresses and ‘entertainment’ for this establishment. They were clad in dresses that squeezed and raised their busts, and though the skirt was long, it was cut to show off their hips. They knew full well how and why their outfits were designed like they were, and they frequently bent over whenever speaking to customers – at least if they were not in the company of children; wives were acceptable though. He couldn’t fault them for seeking this employment, especially since they had the misfortune of a bad reputation from their exterminator business. Even so, their presence posed a potential danger to Britany. He set the brownie down in a corner of the room, and told her to be careful as she did whatever she had to do. He approached the short man, and had a seat beside him while the bodyguards kept a wary eye on him. Brendan smiled friendly enough, and said, “Good morning sir. I’ve come to enquire about your caravan.” “We trade in tech.” The man replied, and pulled open his coat to reveal several strange objects, most of which Brendan did not recognize nor could he decern their function. “Want to buy a moondial?” It was no secret that there was technology in the south which the people of Garkel could not replicate. True, there was plenty of tech to be salvaged and repurposed, and they certainly knew their way around a metallic fortress ship, but they would never be able to repair and fly one of those rusty golden airships. Because of this, Agastar technology was something that certainly had a market. Brendan informed, “I wish to buy, but not your wares. Rather I wish to invest in your caravan.” He set a purse of jewels on the counter in front of the short man, and finished, “Maybe you can afford better mercenaries than the ones you currently have protecting your caravan… better looking at least.” One of the big men snorted at the insult, while the other shrugged as if to say ‘that’s fair’. This was a very efficient way which Brendan found he could make money at Garkel. If he funded caravans, the merchants would be able to afford better protection, and could buy more wares from their suppliers, thus having a higher chance of returning to Garkel with heavier purses and repaying Brendan with a most profitable interest. While Brendan went about his business, Britany went about her own. She snuck into the kitchen, and grabbed a few key ingredients designed to make food more flavorful, sweeter, or even give it a kick. She also took a moment to scrape mold from the trash, and rust off of a pot before leaving the kitchen. On her way out, she was stopped by something unusual: a micro humanoid. True, tinies were not so unusual, especially not to these parts since she’d seen a few traps around designed to catch them. There was something off about this particular little guy though. He waved and smiled at her to get her attention, and greeted, “Hey there! Are you lost?” Britany approached him, and circled him once to examine him, then asked, “You’re… human?” She didn’t think there were any shrunken humans left; it was her understanding that they’d all been eaten or returned to their normal size by this point. The shrunken human looked confused for a moment by her statement, but he still said. “Of course I am. I was shrunk like you were, but don’t worry, I know people who can help.” He turned toward the diner and called, “Pi!” at the call, a neko with pink hair entered the kitchen, looking around with half-hearted care. “Neko!” Britany eeped. She took the human by the wrist and said, “We have to get out of here!” She tried to get them to a wall they could hide within, but the man’s feet were firmly planted, and he held her own wrist as he informed, “Don’t be afraid, she’s a friend of mine.” He continued to prevent the brownie’s escape as he waved the neko down and informed, “I found another shrunken human. Do you think we can help her out?” The pink-haired neko squinted and cocked her head as she examined them, then rolled her eyes as she informed with no shortage of sass, “That is not a human. Honestly Jeffery, I’d think you’d recognize a brownie by now.” Jeffery looked at Britany as if he had been betrayed, then let her wrist go and shook his hand as if he’d just touched something filthy. By that point, there was no chance to run, for the neko was already reaching out to claim her. Britany drew her needle sword and thrust out at the hand, but the well-practiced predator anticipated this, and knocked the weapon from the brownie’s hand with a simple flick of her finger. The neko wrapped her hand around Britany’s body, lifted her into the air, and then parted her digits to reveal an open mouth to the brownie. Britany had no intention of spending the rest of her life in a cat-girl’s stomach. She extended her leg out toward the gaping mouth, a leg which had a small sack strapped to her ankle. Once in close proximity, she shut her eyes and held her breath, then struck the sack against the predator’s fang, causing it to burst and release a concoction of every foul substance the brownie had found directly into the neko’s mouth. Pi wretched and spat, dropping her prey as she desperately tried to remove the repulsive substance sticking to her tongue. Britany fell onto the cat’s cleavage, its tightness fortunately causing her to bounce off, but she still had to get ahold of a loose string to prevent herself from falling to her death. The string extended, unwinding from the dress as the brownie descended toward the floor. Once safe on her own feet again, Britany ran for her life while the neko was still distracted. By the cat-girl’s demands to know ‘where that little bitch went’, it was clear she wouldn’t have long to make her escape. She was able to get out of the kitchen and back into the diner, and once there, she noticed the only Big she trusted with her life. She ran straight for Brendan’s foot, and jumped up into the cover of his pant leg. Brendan was startled by the feeling of something grabbing ahold of his leg hairs, but before he could investigate it or do anything about it, something far more assertive got his attention as he was tackled straight out of his seat. He fell back-down on the floor, and his vision was filled by a pair of heaving breasts smothering his face. “Where is it!?” The pink-haired neko exclaimed, getting the attention of everybody in the diner, including her boss, the bartender, who ordered, “Get off the customer! And fix your dress girl!” Pi sat up and finally realized her dress was hanging so loose that her breasts were fully exposed. She quickly concealed herself from the prying eyes of the patrons, turning as pink as her hair, and then she ran for the cover of the kitchen. The bartender helped Brendan back to his feet, asking, “Are you alright?” “I’m fine, I just don’t…” The feeling of something crawling up his leg had reached his waistline, and he looked down to see Britany poking her head out of his pants, pleading for him to stay silent. That explained everything! He told the bartender, “Honestly I think your waitress deserves a big tip. Not everyone would give their customers such pleasant service!” With that, Brendan left the building, ferrying Britany away from the danger of cat-girl appetite. Once away from prying eyes, Brendan fished Britany from his pants. He imagined she did not want to spend the journey home stuck beneath his swinging manhood. He held her in the palm of his hand and asked her if she was hurt. “I’m okay.” She told him. She waved for him to come closer, which resulted in him bringing his hand closer to his face. The action gave the same result, and once she was close to his face, she leaned forward and gave him a loving and grateful kiss. He enjoyed the feeling of her tiny hands and lips making contact with him, so he did not have the heart to tell her she had a rather unpleasant smell radiating off of her. Later in the evening of the same day, Brendan laid naked on his bed with a minor bit of bondage keeping him in place. His tiny girlfriend was also naked, and she was putting on a show as she danced and played with his manhood. It wasn’t getting him to climax at a rapid rate, but it was at the very least enough to keep him hard and eager for more. These sessions were more for Britany than they were for Brendan, since she seemed to enjoy having a Big body available to play with at her own discretion. Of course, she mentioned having fantasies of him taking advantage her and treating her like a little toy, but any time he ever offered to do something to her, she was very quick to turn him down. He suspected it was because of Kristen that she had trust issues in sexual content. Speaking of Kristen, he thought she would be napping, but the neko apparently picked up on what they were doing and ran into the room as naked as any of them to join them. Brendan attempted to grab Britany, but his bondage prevented him from moving rapidly. Kristen pounced on the bed, and tightened the bindings on his wrists as well as adding others to his ankles, preventing him from doing anything to stop her actions. “Is this because I left you tied up all day?” He asked. She happily replied, “I want a turn too master!” In spite of her title of ‘pet’ girlfriend, it seemed there were times where she would be the one holding the leash. Brendan didn’t mind that part, but what he did mind was that there was now nothing he could do to prevent Britany from becoming a victim of Kristen’s whims. Kristen had a seat, and wrapped her toes around Brendan’s hardened shaft, pinning Britany against his cock in the process. At that point she began to move her feet up and down, causing him to feel his manhood stroked by soft peds and a tiny squirming body at the same time. That felt good, but the feeling became even better when Kristen used her flexibility to take his cock into her mouth at the same time. Britany let out a scream of protest as she too entered between Kristen’s lips, but the tiny girl was along for the ride as the neko bobbed her head up and down to blow her master. Brendan’s worry was overcome by the overwhelming feeling of pleasure. When he was on the brink of climax though, the pleasure stopped. He looked to see what Kristen was doing, and saw the neko looking back at him, a pair of tiny feet wiggling outside of her puckered lips. The yokai surprised him even further then by pressing those feet against his manhood, and the next thing he knew, Britany was being fed into his cock. Brendan gasped from both pain and pleasure as his urethra was spread by a female figure. Every centimeter that filled him only made the experience more intense! When Kristen finally stopped pushing Britany inside, the brownie’s head was the only thing visible, with penis flesh holding firmly around her neck. Brendan felt shockwaves through his entire body as Britany moved, and he was glad she couldn’t move much, a fact which was apparently hitting the tiny girl as well as she realized she could not do anything to escape her current location. The expression on her face showed that even though she wanted to get free, she was enjoying her new position as Brendan’s cock snack very much. With Britany in a proper position, Kristen straddled Brendan’s hips, spread her pussy lips, and devoured both the brownie and the mating tool with a squishy ‘gulp’. At that point, the neko rode Brendan cow-girl style, her nether region slapping wetly against his hips and genitals while her tits bounced sensually and her face contorted into ahegao. Given how close he already was to finishing, and now being amplified by a female body both enveloping, and inserted into his cock, Brendan could not help but climax, unplugging a huge ‘wad’ in the process. The moment he finished, Britany smiled down at him, and she embraced him to kiss him lovingly while her tail swayed between his legs. Brendan nibbled the ears of the neko in the afterglow of his orgasm, but he could feel Britany struggling between their interlocked genitalia while swimming in a mixture of their sexual fluids. Concerned for his other girl, he suggested, “Can you let Britany out? She might drown in there.” Kristen thankfully – though quite reluctantly on her part – obliged and got off of Brendan before digging inside her freshly creamed pussy to fish out Britany. The sperm coated brownie was set on Brendan’s belly with a splat, and she coughed and gasped for breath as she recovered from the experience. “Are you still okay Britany?” Brendan asked as he began to wiggle out of his bondage. She answered between pants, “Yes I am… But you should know… that one is pregnant…” Brendan was shocked to hear this, and he looked at Kristen to study her more closely. She had put on a little pudge in the midsection lately, but he just assumed that was because he’d been overfeeding her. In disbelief he asked, “Are you sure?” “Trust me… I know what it looks like.” Brendan decided not to pry into Britany’s history with occupied and unoccupied uteri, and instead let the news of this new revelation sink in. “I’m… going to be a… a father!?” The responsibility, the money, the adjustments that he knew he’d have to make – not to mention the ones he didn’t even consider – were enough to make him feel overwhelmed and anxious. Kristen was in far greater spirits about it as she chimed, “I’m going to have kittens soon!” She rubbed her boobs as she added, “My breasts are going to grow big with milk! All the more for you to play with master!” Brendan did find that to be an interesting prospect – though he doubted the pregnancy would be all fun and games. Even so, it did encourage him to further lighten the mood, and he decided to tease Kristen by asking, “What makes you think they’ll be kittens?” She tilted her head and twitched her ears in confusion before she answered, “Master, haven’t you noticed? I’m a cat.” This girl was so hard to joke around with! Because the mood hadn’t been as lightened as he had hoped, he again had to consider things to come. He did not know what Kristen valued, but he did not want her to feel disgraced in any way, and he sat up as he took her by the hands. At that point, he said, “I think it’s time we became official…” She went silent, eyes wide, and her ears perked as she wondered what he was saying. “Kristen, you came into my life when no one else would. You’ve made every day an adventure; you are so special… magical even. You are so much more than a pet, and deserve to be more than a girlfriend. Will you… marry me.” Kristen’s eyes began to water, and her lips shakily spread into a smile. She lunged forward, embracing him tightly as she exclaimed, “Oh Brendan! Yes! Please, make me your pet wife!” He embraced her, petting her happily as he sighed, “Pet wife, it is.” One week later… Brendan was dressing in the finest robes he had ever seen, while his best friend/best man Wayne helped him make sure it was all together properly. No speck of dust nor loose strand escaped his noticed, and he also made sure Brendan’s hair was combed to look its best. “Do you think I should have shaved?” Brendan asked, scratching his short beard. Wayne told him, “It looks fine. You don’t have the chin to go without it.” “You’re right… sorry. This is a big day, and I’m really nervous.” “It could be worse. You could have asked a lamia.” “I suppose there was a time I was that desperate, but… I don’t know any snakes. And I love Kristen.” “Exactly.” Wayne gave his shoulder a slap, “You love this girl, now let your balls drop and go make her the happiest girl on Skyvale.” Brendan took a deep breath to calm his nerves, then with Wayne’s approval, both of them left their tent to go to their position for the wedding ceremony. For the wedding, the platform normally intended for shopping had been repurposed. Chairs were lined up, all facing out toward the forest. Brendan’s aunt stood before an ornate arch, ready to perform the proceedings. The older, but beautiful woman was clad in her priestess robes, and decorated with several necklaces and bracelets. Brendan took his position to his aunt’s left side, and Wayne had a seat in the front row on his side, sitting next to his own wife, Sara. Behind them, people who wished to see the ceremony filled the seats on both sides of the aisle, however, the front row on Kristen’s side was left empty. The rest of Garkel’s priestesses left the tent meant for the bride, with large pink fans held between them to conceal the individual walking between them. Once they reached the end of the aisle, the priestesses finally raised their fans to reveal the bride, and Brendan felt he beheld the most beautiful woman in the world. Kristen’s hair was curled, and she had flowers set in her hair and between her ears to look like a tiara. She had glitter on her cheeks, her lips were painted red, and her eyelids were shaded. Her white dress was very thin, and though it covered her from her chest to her ankles, the only areas of substance appeared to be around her breasts and hips. Beyond that it was decorated with flower-shaped ribbons and embroidery. The way the frilly skirt swayed and parted with each step she took showed even on her wedding, her feet were still bare, dressed with only her ruby anklet. The neko slowly approached the alter until she reached her destination across from Brendan and on the right side of his aunt. His aunt spoke, “It is said that when Titagoracus populated the world, he flung us with such force that our bodies and souls were split in half. For this, we spend our lives searching for the other half of ourselves. On this day, we celebrate a union of two lost halves who have found one another. Brendan and Kristen, do you take each other now to be bound in this life, and forever after.” “I do.” Brendan answered, holding his hands out in front of him. “I do.” Kristen said, setting her hands on Brendan’s. His aunt presented a string, draped it over their hands, and wrapped it around their wrists and forearms as she stated, “Then by the power bestowed upon me, I hereby bind you as husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.” The two of them came together, interlocking their lips as they kissed to permanently lock their union. The loose tie of the string fell from their wrists, and the moment they were free, Kristen wrapped her arms around Brendan’s shoulders and jumped so he could catch her in his arms. The congregation stood and applauded, and flowers rained upon the ceremony, tossed from above by the priestesses. In spite of everything occurring around them, Brendan’s eyes were focused only on peering as deeply into his wife’s beautiful feline eyes as far and as long as possible. They had a new life ahead of them, and this was just the start of it.

Garkel Appetite Michelle was out in the forest, trying to collect herbs that could be used for medicine. It was true that the forest was dangerous, but the brunette still had clear sight on the city. She even looked back and waved at her brother James when he came to check on her. She felt so comfortable in her surroundings that it was quite a shock when something emerged from the bushes in front of her. She did not even have time to register that she was looking at a humanoid before the beauty of its glowing eyes overwhelmed her. For a time, all she knew was a haze. She felt arousal, and a compulsion to drop her clothes and touch herself. Feeling her fingers delve between her legs got her even more enticed, until she was on her back and going to town on herself. She was so wet that the warm, slick feeling overcame her legs and hips, then progressed up her torso. It felt so good that she exclaimed in climax. As she recovered from her orgasm, she managed to regain her bearings, and only then realized that she was breast deep in the mouth of a snake-woman. With her arms and legs held firmly within a tight tunnel of flesh, all she could do was scream for help. A powerful swallow gripped her body and yanked her deeper inside, cutting her off from the outside world. James came running the moment he heard his sister scream. When he reached the last place he saw her, he could see her hair being slurped between the lips of a raven-haired woman. The female figure was bloated with another human inside of it, but as Michelle sank deeper, the body returned to normal proportions. The strange woman looked in the direction of the city, directly at James, and licked her lips with her forked tongue. “Michelle!” He cried out as he aimed his rifle at her. The woman turned and disappeared into the forest, and a long snake body rustled bushes as she went. James could not unsee the sight of his sister being swallowed alive, nor unhear the maniacal laughter of the lamia that swallowed her. Brendan knew there would be problems with Kristen’s pregnancy. In particular, it was her bizarre diet choices. He needed to find the means to satisfy her cravings in a hurry, or else she would desire something else and make his efforts wasted. Sometimes it was something simple, such as a cabbage filled with mustard, but other days it was a bit more complicated. Today’s craving was a chicken and a fish wrapped in bacon. Some meats were easier hunted than bought, and as such, he decided to form a hunting party to take out a wild boar. These great hogs were known to devour the very things that hunt them if one was not careful, so there was safety in numbers. Brendan grabbed his rifle, and made his way to meet up with the other hunters. When he reached the market, he noticed something curious. The nekos of Garkel were all gathered in the market, six cat-girls surrounding a young seventh at their center. Susy was making her rounds to give hugs to every one of her ‘sisters’. “You don’t have to leave.” The striped neko, Nicky informed. The little freckled neko informed, “I’m sixteen now. I’m old enough to do work, and I want to explore Skyvale so I can find my proper place in it.” “We’re going to miss you.” The black-haired neko, Ginger informed. “I won’t be gone forever.” The teenager felt like they were being overly dramatic, “I’ll come back to visit; I promise.” From Ginger’s shoulder, the shrunken human Jeffery asked, “Would you mind if I pet you one more time? Ginger might eat me before I see you again.” Susy had no objections to this, so Ginger set the tiny guy on her head so he could go back and forth between rubbing and scratching her ears. His actions got the freckled neko to smile and purr, until he was finally taken back. A handsome man approached the group, and informed, “We’re headin’ out now. Are you comin’ or not?” Susy gave the other nekos a final goodbye before she followed the man back to his wagon. She hopped on the back of the vehicle, and rode away from Garkel. “Hey, Brendan!” Wayne called, getting Brendan’s attention away from the departing cat-girl. He saw the assembled party consisted of his friend Wayne, as well as a black-haired cat-boy named Tom, a pair of gingers who were siblings named Zeke and Annette, and lastly a man named Jason who appeared like a nerd while wearing glasses, but was also the best sharpshooter in Garkel, so no-one dared to mock him for it unless they thought they could make it 500 meters into the forest before he grabbed his rifle. Brendan felt like six people was a little overkill for hunting a boar, and he asked, “Is all this really necessary? I mean, it’s just a giant pig.” Wayne chuckled, “Oh yes, how could I forget that I’m speaking to the most fearsome hunter in all of Skyvale.” Brendan realized he may have been insulting, but before he could take back his words, his friend bridged the gap between them and set his arm on his shoulders as he proclaimed, “A man so deadly, he brought down a mighty giant wielding only a stone. A man so crafty, he fished up the famine eel from fog lake using nothing but a string and rotten stick. A man so legendary, that every night the okami howl his name in praise!” By the end of his speech, Wayne was smiling so hard it was clear he was struggling to contain his laughter, and the rest of the entourage was likewise getting a laugh at Brendan’s expense. Brendan pulled out from under his friend’s arm and said, “Alright, we’ll all go together.” As he moved to join the group, four more people arrived, and Brendan once again felt the sensation overkill as he asked, “How many people did you invite on this trip!?” “Not them.” Wayne answered, and turned to the leader of the group as he asked, “James, where are you off to.” James, a short but brawny man, answered, “A lamia took my sister. It can’t be far away, so we’ll find it and avenge her.” “Good luck to you.” The thought that there was a lamia so close to Garkel was rather unnerving, but at the very least they were made aware of it now, and would use more caution when hunting for the boar. The group was deep into the forest before they caught any trace of their quarry. It was fortunate for them that the ginger siblings were seasoned hunters, delving into the forest almost daily to get food for trade and storage. This meant they knew what they were doing, and were able to pick up boar tracks and follow them. “These ones are fresh.” Zeke informed, and Annette ordered, “Wayne, Brendan, help us set a trap here. Jason, climb that tree and see if you can find it. Tom, go out there, piss it off, and draw it in.” As Jason climbed up to the higher branches, the gingers cut branches and sharpened them, and at the same time Brendan and Wayne dug a pit in the ground. They’d made it sizable and deep when Jason signaled that he’d spotted the boar, at which point Tom was approved to lure it in. The four people on the ground planted the sharpened sticks securely, then buried the pit with brush. At that point, they could hear gunfire from the direction Tom left. “It’s coming, create a firing line.” Wayne ordered, and the four of them readied themselves on the opposite side of the pit. Moments later, Tom came running through the bushes with his tail puffed out, and something much larger was chasing him. The pig was ten feet in height, had long brown fur which was caked with mud, and tusks that curled around outside its lips like a mammoth. Seeing the line of guns in front of him, the neko hit the dirt, and rolled out of the way of a hoof that landed heavily on the ground where he’d been. The moment the yokai was out of the way, the hunters opened fire. The bullets piercing its flesh caused the swine to change its target from the neko to its new assailants. Its tusks smashed trees out of its way so it could maintain a straight course for them, and it was hard for Brendan to keep from turning tail and running. Fortunately, the trap worked. The heavy hog easily broke through the lid of the pit, and its momentum came to a stop as it fell into the pit. With the limited time they’d had to dig, the pit was not even deep enough for the pig to sink below ground level, but the spikes within pierced its belly, and tore it open as it tried to escape. Six guns pointed at the boar, and riddled it with bullets until it stopped squealing. “We did it!” Brendan exclaimed in triumph. Now it was time to take the skin and meat, and bring it all back to Garkel. The process had barely begun before someone new joined the party. This new woman was Wayne’s wife, crazy Sara. Wayne asked, “What brought you all the way out here?” Brendan added, “How did she find us?” Tom twisted a finger in his ear as he answered the second question, “Gunfire is not exactly subtle.” Sara answered, “I’m here for Brendan. Your pet wife is in labor, she needs you now! Also, while you’re out hon, can you grab us a loaf of bread?” Hearing the news, Brendan did not linger any longer. He got up and ran back to the city as fast as his legs would carry him. James took the mercs who accepted his money for this snake hunt deep into the forest. Their progress was slow for the sake of caution; they wanted to see her before she saw them. The oldest of the group was the most experienced of the group, it seemed, for he cautioned the others, “Whatever you do, do not look a snake-man in the eyes. Even the briefest glance is enough to put you under their spell. So remember, keep your eyes…” An arrow shot through the forest and pierced the man’s shoulder, causing him to cry out and hit the ground. James dropped to aid the man, while he told the other mercs to go after the snake. James removed the arrow, and tried to treat the wound as the man began to convulse. He said, “Come on, it was just a flesh wound. You’ll get over it.” He was clearly wrong about that. The old man began frothing at the mouth, and his eyes rolled back as his body spasmed, and then he stopped moving entirely. James looked at the arrow again, and he groaned, “Poisoned…” He snapped it, and then he was brought back to his surroundings by the sound of a man screaming. James grabbed his rifle, and went after the mercenaries to help them. He soon found one of them, who was slowly walking toward him with a smile on his face. “Where is your friend?” James asked. The man did not answer, but as he neared, James noticed the man’s eyes were glazed over, and there was blood dripping off the blade of a knife in his hand. He was hypnotized! James realized that just soon enough to get his guard up as the merc suddenly began to swing the knife at him. James kept his distance, shouting for the man to come to his senses, but the man was too far gone to listen, and James was too afraid of the swinging knife to approach and wake him properly. Left with no other choice, he brought up his rifle and gunned the man down. A sinister laugh echoed through the trees, and James looked around to find the lamia perched on a rock. The thin and small breasted figure of a woman served as the head of an otherwise serpentine creature. She held a bow in her hands, and there was a bloated section in the middle of her black-scaled body. James brought up his rifle to fire upon the raven-haired woman, but she loosed an arrow first, striking his rifle and knocking it from his hands. He looked back to see his weapon pinned to a tree, and when he looked forward again, the snake was gone. He pulled a machete from his belt, and shouted, “I will make you pay for killing my sister.” The woman answered without any hint of regret, “Was that her relation to you? I can reunite you if you want.” She continued to laugh after her comment, and unamused, James shouted, “Where are you!?” She did not answer, but he could hear slithering in the forest. Coming from behind? How cliché. He turned around while swinging his machete, only to have his wrist caught by the strong grip of her hand. His eyes reflexively locked with hers, and then it was too late to look away. He was lost in their beauty, and he felt his strength draining until his fingers lost their grip on his weapon. He completely lost all will to fight as he beheld this woman. Her hair pulled back, and skin on the side of her head and neck expanded to make her head appear three times bigger than it actually was. Then she appeared even larger as she enveloped his entire world. He regained control of his cognitive function somewhere within the depths of the lamia’s body. Just in time to come across his sister, barely alive and struggling to breath. Her hair was gone, her eyes were whitened out, and her skin peeled off from contact. He cried out in anguish; not only had he failed to avenge his sister, but he would have to watch his sister’s fate, and then join her in it. Brendan was practically gasping for breath by the time Garkel was in sight, but even so, he would not allow himself to stop running until he reached his wife. He ran up the cliff and into the city, and all but pushed people out of his way as he ran up the street to his home. A priestess was standing outside his door when he arrived, and he proclaimed, “Where is she!?” The maiden barely had time to point into the house before he went in. He found Kristen on his bed, straining with pain as another priestess helped her. “Master!” She exclaimed, holding her arms out to him as he came to her side, carelessly tossing his rifle into a corner in the process. He took her hands in his own, letting her squeeze as tightly as she needed to as he assured her he was there for her. With coaxing from the priestess and encouragement from her husband, Kristen took deep breaths and squeezed over and over, until finally, the babies came. A boy and a girl. The babies were cleaned, wrapped in blankets, and handed to their mother, who was practically sobbing from both pain and joy. By comparison, the babies were silent, and looked to be content and comfortable in their mother’s arms. “They aren’t crying.” Brendan stated inquisitively. One of the priestesses answered, “Yokai babies don’t cry. Probably has something to do with animal nature.” Yokai… Brendan looked at his babies again to study them, and it was just as Kristen had predicted: kittens. Their ears were small, pointed, and fuzzy, and their spines were elongated to give them a tail, though vertebrae were visible beneath skin given the thin layer of peach fuzz covering them. They slowly opened their soft blue, feline eyes, and Brendan instantly felt nothing but love for these kittens, feeling ready to take on the entire world to protect them. Perhaps it was this newfound protective nature that got him to refuse Kristens proposal of naming them Sugar and Spice. Because many people died by being eaten, he felt it was cruel to name them after food as if to resign them to that fate. As such, the boy was named Michael, and the girl was named Akari. Brendan took his kittens to the top of the cliff which Garkel was housed within, and there he allowed them to look upon this great world they’d been born into. From the thick, green forest to the south, and up to the mountainous desert of the north. This was the happiest moment of his life, but on that same day, the gods would change everything he’d ever known forever. Glimmers on the horizon heralded the coming of golden airships; the war of the south had reached Garkel. Brendan barely had time to make it home and hide the kittens. Curiosity and panic was filling the streets, and even Kristen expressed concern. He did not answer her questions, not until he made sure the little ones were sheltered away inside a box and hidden beneath their bed. By that point, the sound of thrusters was obvious, and he looked out his window to see one of the golden airships fly directly into the city. It broke through the protective pikes with ease, and scattered stands and carts with its exhaust as it hovered over the market district. The airship touched down, opened a hatch on its rear, and soldiers in heavy golden armor poured out of it. The newcomers were well armed, and they ordered everyone in the city come forward, or else be severely punished. The turret on top of the airship looked like it could do serious damage to the city, and the soldiers did not appear the types anyone would want to mess with. As such, Brendan suggested to Kristen, “Come on, we’d better do as they say.” He and his wife joined the other citizens and visitors of Garkel as they gathered before the soldiers. Just when it seemed the last people had arrived though, Brendan’s heart stopped when he heard a baby’s cry. The one in charge of the soldiers pointed into the city, and a pair of soldiers ran to the designated location. When they returned, they were dragging a squealing mother into the market, cradling her inconsolable baby in her arms. Brendan felt all the more fortunate that yokai babies did not cry. The soldiers tore the baby from the woman’s arms, and her husband came forward to try to stop them, only to be struck by the butt of a rifle. The wife fell upon her husband protectively, and shared his fate as they were both gunned down. The baby was brought to the leader of the soldiers, who examined it for a moment before he said to no one in particular, “Worthless.” He then tossed it off the cliff as if he were discarding old shoes. With the display of uncaring force shown, no one dared to resist or fight back as the soldiers began to examine each one of the inhabitants. Their leader informed, “The time has come for this village to pay tribute to The Queen. Half of you shall be brought with us to serve her directly. The rest of you shall be left behind to ensure this trade route is maintained, and to provide the kingdom with more soldiers and slaves when you are called upon again.” As promised, the soldiers rounded up half of the population, and Brendan could not determine what caused them to decide who would go and who would stay. They seemed to favor those who were strong, healthy, or beautiful, yet they did not take everyone who fit those criteria, nor did everyone they take fall into one of those categories. Family ties also mattered not to these soldiers, as husbands were taken from wives, and children were taken from their parents, and no one was even given the chance to say goodbye. Kristen gripped Brendan’s hand tightly. He could feel her fear, and shared it as a soldier approached them. Then, with barely a glance, they were passed by. Wayne and Sara were not so fortunate. Whatever the soldiers were looking for, they found it in Sara. As they tried to take her away though, Wayne stepped forward and pleaded, “Not her! Take me in her place, please!” The soldiers looked like they would attack him, but instead they contemplated him. Sara was pushed back in line, and Wayne was taken instead. Brendan and Wayne made eye contact. Neither of them knew what fate was going to befall them, but there was something in Wayne’s eyes, a promise that he would return someday. The people who were chosen were put in chains and loaded onto ships, which then carried them away from the city. Those who were left behind could only mourn and rebuild, dreading the day these golden ships would return…

Miss Nice Fox Lady Captain Vyxariah had successfully completed another job, and now it was time to pay her crew for a job well done. The strapping tough guys and handsome young men had all proved effective and experienced in this line of work, and they had varying talents in the bedroom as well – gangbanged by a lion, a tiger, and a bear, oh my! She had no issue handing everyone a well-deserved cut of the profit, and even congratulated them, “It was a pleasure working with you boys! I hope we can sail together again someday.” It did not escape their notice that she was trying to hold back tears, and one of the nicer mercs told her, “Sorry about your friend. Slim was such a kind soul.” “That’s nice of you to say, but don’t worry about it.” She wore a smile and waved as they disembarked, and once they were gone, she finally wept, “Why did they all have to survive? I lost so much money!” She retired to her cabin to sulk, having a seat at her table as she tried to get over her disappointment. As she sat there, she felt something cold and slimy embrace her ankle. She looked down at the sentient blue blob that suckled at her leg, and said, “Exhausted yourself, eh? It’s too bad you’re not a red slime; you wouldn’t burn so much energy pretending to bleed that way.” She grabbed the slime, pulled it off of her leg, and then plopped it onto the table. “Let’s get you some fresh biomass.” She put a plate of steak, corn and potatoes on the table, used silverware to cut a cube of meat from the steak, and held it over the blob as she teased, “Say ‘ah’!” Vyxariah fed the slime a few bites of food, the meal visibly sizzling and disintegrating inside its form as it started to get bigger. It soon moved and set itself on top of the plate to eat at its own pace, at which point the kitsune left it to its own business. The fox went to her bed, stating, “Let’s check in on our guest.” She dug around under her bed before she pulled out a rather heavy, grey worm that was three meters in length. The center of its length was deformed by a female figure bulging it from within. She dropped the worm on top of her bed before she climbed on top of the creature, embracing the female outline with her own body as her hands worked to locate the face. She leaned close to the face to best ensure the girl trapped within the worm could hear her as she asked, “How are you doing in there?” The girl let out a muffled whine. It wasn’t that Vyxariah couldn’t hear her, but rather it was hard to speak with a thick tentacle shoved down one’s throat. The yokai continued, “Don’t worry, as soon as your parents send me the reward money that they promised, I’ll make sure you’re sent straight home. Until then, you can enjoy playing with my pet.” She gave the girl a kiss on the lips, at least their outline on the worm’s cold skin, but by the girl’s sobs, it was clear her message got across. The kitsune felt a couple of tentacles coiling around her ankles and between her toes, and she giggled as she said, “Wiggles, I’d love to play too, but you’ll get fat dining on two ladies at once.” Slim’s human voice spoke from the table, “Should I grab the worm-be-gone?” That was a term which Wiggles recognized, and it meant something which it did not like. As such, it abandoned its attempts to feed on the fox and instead slithered back under the bed to hide. Vyxariah sat up to see what Slim had made of herself. The slime had resumed her human appearance of a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, but at a point in life that could be no more than ten years old, probably younger. Seeing this, the fox knew she’d have to get this slime more food to increase her age… size. She picked up a discarded shirt that was much too big for the little girl, but still tossed it to her as she ordered, “Put this on. We’re going out, and we don’t need eye candy for perverted freaks who like little girls.” The pair found a quaint little diner to have dinner at. They found a table next to a window, and a lovely young waitress came over to help them. “Hi there! What can I get for you this evening?” Vyxariah answered, “Two servings of the meat platter, and a… juice?” Slim nodded her head in approval, so her Captain continued, “Fruit juice and whatever you have that’s cold and has a kick.” The waitress asked, “Are you sure your daughter will want a full platter?” she gestured to Slim, “It’s A LOT of meat.” “She’s a growing girl; she can handle it.” The waitress gave Slim a friendly pat on the head as she said, “Of course she can.” When the hand pulled away, she noticed it was a little wet as if it had just been washed. It was strange, but she thought nothing of it as she delivered the order to the kitchen. “Tasty…” Slim said once the girl was out of ear’s reach. As they waited for their order to arrive, Vyxariah and Slim struck up conversation. The slime said, “It’s too bad I couldn’t say goodbye to the rest of the crew.” “Dead people can’t say goodbye.” Vyxariah answered passingly. “Maybe… I don’t know… Captain, did they see me as a friend?” “I think they liked you, but I wouldn’t count on seeing them again.” “Did they die!?” “No, but they think you did, and if you show them that you’re still alive after having a hole blown through your guts, they’ll wonder how.” Slim drooped a bit in her seat, looking like her disappointment was causing her to deform. “People are afraid of slimes. I wouldn’t want to hurt my friends because of it.” “Listen Slim, if it makes you feel any better, everyone is your friend while you have something you can give them. So with that in mind, you have a lot of friends.” It was a good life lesson, the fox believed, but terrible for lifting the slime’s spirits, who replied, “I thought friends were people who know who and what you are, and like you anyway.” The waitress returned with their drinks, and Slim reconstituted herself to avoid any weird looks. It was fortunate she waited for the woman to turn away before she took a drink, as the juice wound up turning her eyes cherry red. After serving them, the waitress served people at the next table over. The trio of strong-looking men were all loud and boisterous; their bodies were covered in grease and oil, and concealed by black leather coats and pants. A bald man appeared to be their leader, and between his heckling and unwanted flirting, it was hard for the waitress to successfully take their orders. To top it off, the bald man gave the girl a slap on the ass as she turned to go to the kitchen. Slim kept an eye on the waitress the whole time, before finally saying, “Captain, I’ll be back.” She got up from her chair, and took the waitress by the hand as she asked, “Excuse me, could you show me where the toilet is.” “Of course, it’s in the back.” The waitress guided Slim out of the diner, and Vyxariah took a swig as she thought, “I guess that’s the last we’ll be seeing of our waitress…” As such, it was a bit of a surprise when the waitress returned a couple minutes later with two meat platters in hand. “Where did Slim go?” The bald, greasy man had to go to the bathroom, and as such went out back to the small wooden structure that served to grant people privacy as they dropped their business in a hole in the ground. The man dropped his pants to have a seat on the hole, but before he could get comfortable, something thick, wet, and sticky erupted from beneath him and got a firm grip on his hips. He cried for help as he struggled to escape the grasp, but could do nothing to prevent the slimy mass from dragging him into the rancid pit to devour him. His companions heard his cry, and opened the door to investigate, but were surprised to find no trace of him. There was an odd bubbling from the pit, and one of the men asked, “Do you think he fell in?” The other replied, “I’m not going in to find out.” The pair was so busy looking down that they did not bother to look at what was above them, at least not until a polished skull smacked one of them on top of the head. A blue slime clung to the ceiling, with bones and clothing visible within its gelatinous form. The men knew what became of their bald friend, but did not have a chance to escape sharing his fate as the slime dropped down and enveloped both of them in its sticky embrace, digesting their bodies with acid so strong that not even their bones were spared from being dissolved. Vyxariah’s attention was caught as Slim reentered the diner, this time in her fully matured human form. The oil that covered the bodies of the men she ate were applied to her form so that her hair had turned oily black, her nails and lips were painted, and her eyes were given very heavy shadowing. It also appeared that she had used some of the oil to make tattoos appear on her skin. Their pants had been too big for her, and were falling off her hips in spite of the alterations she’d made to their belts. She was also adorned in one of their leather jackets, but given that they obviously did not wear bras, her breasts were teetering on the edge of being exposed through the open front of the jacket. Slim asked, “Captain, have I returned to an acceptable mass?” Vyxariah got up from her seat, her tail wagging eagerly, and she took the goth-like girl by the hands with no shortage of lust in her eye as she informed, “Slim, get your ass back to the ship! I’m going to fuck you until you melt!” After a brief period of ‘rest and relaxation’, Vyxariah decided it was time to make more money. She decided to chart out where they were, and determined the nearest large city happened to be the city. Meridian, the new capital of Skyvale, and home to an old acquaintance. Vyxariah skipped to the wheel of her ship as she chimed, “We’re off to see the king!” The city was a relatively short flight away. It was first visible as a monolith cresting over the horizon, and as they got closer, they could see the thriving city that spread out on one side of the monolith with streets winding throughout it. The monolith itself looked like it had been a natural mountain at one point, which was quarried away until only a rectangular structure remained, which was then hollowed out for beings to live inside of it. As her ship entered city airspace, a pair of sleek, narrow ships rose on either side of her craft. These ships were ‘lightly’ armed, and looked like they could fly fairly fast if necessary, perfect for security, but not for open warfare. A flagger aboard one of the ships waved for Vyxariah to follow them to the docks, which she willingly complied. The docks were an open field with tethers available for ships to anchor to. Vyxariah chose one of these tethers to set her ship down next to – she built it so it could be set on the ground – and the security ships kept on sailing. At that point, she pulled a couple of levers on her bridge to get the deck to open and the balloon to deflate so that it sank beneath the deck. With her ship parked properly, she disembarked, and was greeted by the harbor master: a middle-aged man in sparkling robes. The man held a board, paper, and pen as he asked “What is your business here?” “That’s what I’m here to find out.” Vyxariah answered, “I’m freelance.” “Merc type, eh? There’s not much available around here, but if you want to try your luck at the guild, they might have a few jobs available. Meanwhile, it will cost twenty credits to dock here, and I’ll have to inspect your ship for contraband and your crew for criminal history.” Vyxariah held up a stack of paper which was the currency for this part of the world, and asked, “What would you say to fifty credits, and we don’t worry about my ship’s crew or cargo?” The man looked at the bribe for only a moment before he took it and said, “Welcome to Meridian.” She read him like a book. No man in an honest job looks that well off without being at least a little crooked on the side. From the docks, she was able to go directly to main street, which she followed all the way to the monolith palace. The stairs leading into the palace were built for humans, and she began walking straight up them, completely ignoring the crowd of people loitering on them. She stopped when a pair of guards crossed spear rifles in front of her, and one of them asked, “Where do you think you’re going?” “I’m going to see your king.” “Hearings begin in one hour. You can wait in line with everyone else.” Vyxariah looked back at the crowd, and realized it was going to be a very long line. There had to be a better way to see the king, and she intended to find it. The kitsune walked around to the backside of the palace, where she found a pair of pipes allowing for a flow of water to leave the palace and pour down off of a deep cliff. Being washed out of this would certainly kill her, but fortunately, the current did not seem too strong to fight, so she just climbed straight in and started walking. There was enough light pouring into the tunnel to keep her path illuminated, showing that even if the route was hand crafted, it was not well maintained, and she wondered what these tunnels were actually used for. Something slowly emerged from the darkness, making its way toward her, and fearing it may be some kind of predator she quickly scooted against the wall. Its behavior, then smell, and appearance made it clear she had nothing to fear from this object. A clump of feces was pulled along the current toward the exit, with numerous bones packed within. At least now she knew what the tunnel was used for, and Vyxariah decided it was best to get out of it before someone else used it. She was definitely going to need a bath when she got back to the ship! Vyxariah soon crawled out of the castle sewer, and was within the palace proper. She took her time marveling at the surrounding structure that appeared like a cross between a cave and a cathedral, though she did not give it the respect it deserved as she shook her tail dry and left wet footprints wherever she walked. As she wandered, she expected she might stumble across guards at any moment, who would undoubtably apprehend her, and take her before the king and queen. However, it seemed she would be skipping the middle man, as the queen herself approached her from the hall. Being a giantess, the queen could be seen coming from a mile away, but Vyxariah made no move to hide herself or even avoid the giant feet, which came to a stop in front of her. Vyxariah held still and crossed her arms as the giantess pinched her torso between two fingers and lifted her off the ground, holding her almost two hundred feet in the air before the giant’s face. The blond-haired giantess examined the fox with her green eyes, and asked, “You don’t look like one of the servants. Who are you?” Vyxariah answered, “Someone looking to get money by committing a service to the royal family. What do you need done and how much is it worth to you?” Queen Sonja tilted her head, and finally recognized the fox, “Oh you… the fox my husband is always talking about.” Vyxariah smiled, “Yes, and you’re the giantess he never shuts up about.” Sonja smiled as well, before she informed, “I suppose we can find out if there’s any work for someone like you around here. But I hope you’re not expecting payment in platinum again.” Sonja brought the fox to the throne room, where King Wesley was sitting and preparing himself for the day’s hearings. The giantess informed, “I found a stray in the halls of our castle who’d like a word with you.” Wesley looked utterly bored as he sat on his throne, so it was of some interest for him to see what his wife brought before him. The moment his gaze fell upon Vyxariah, who waved pleasantly at him, he openly said, “You should have just eaten her.” “Aww, don’t be like that. It’s been so many years and I’ve missed you!” Vyxariah informed as she was set before him. Wesley rolled his eyes, “Our business concluded after the battle of Agastar. Why can’t you just go away?” “A girl has to make a living. Surely there must be something going on in your kingdom that you’d need a fox’s wit to solve.” “No.” Wesley answered flatly, not at all appreciating the way the fox was sauntering toward him. “Are you sure? I’ll bet all my clothes that at least one of your citizens has a problem you can’t be bothered to handle.” “I said no!” he waved for his guards to get her out of there, but as they left his side, the fox pounced, and landed on his lap with her legs spread and her tail wagging. She made sure to keep her breasts level with his face as she further offered, “I don’t have to kill anyone. I could just let you use my body whenever your queen doesn’t let you use hers.” Wesley blushed, and expected his wife would not appreciate Vyxariah’s actions. Rather, the giantess seemed to be glaring at him with accusation as she said, “That sounds like a very good offer. Are you going to take it?” No matter how attractive this yokai was, she was not to him. He refused the offer and had his guards apprehend her. Manacles were placed on her wrists, and Wesley ordered, “Put her in the dungeon. At least I’ll know she can’t do any harm that way.” Vyxariah was taken from the throne room with her guard escort. As they walked, she felt movement on her rear, and she told her pet, “Mimi, don’t kill. These seem like nice boys.” “Who are you talking to?” One of the guards asked, but the fox did not answer. Tentacles emerged from her purse and caught them by surprise as the appendages wrapped around their ankles and swept their legs out from underneath them. Free of their grasp, the fox darted down the hall, and managed to escape their sight before she picked the locks and freed her wrists from the manacles. She smiled gleefully as she spun the bondage equipment around one of her fingers before she dumped them into her mimic for storage. She looked around the corner of the room she’d entered, keeping an eye out for the guards who were likewise searching for her, but that ended whenever she realized she was not alone in the room. A shadow fell over her, and she took in her surroundings just before a pair of hands got ahold of her and lifted her into the air. “Foxy!” A young woman’s voice exclaimed. This fifty-foot, blond-haired, green-eyed giantess bore a striking resemblance to the queen, and it was safe to assume this was her daughter. The young giantess cradled Vyxariah in her arms and began petting her hair as she asked, “Did you come to play with me?” “Yes…” Vyxariah answered, “I’m playing a game with some of the guards if you’d like to play too.” The giantess began smiling and dancing in place, so the kitsune explained, “All you have to do is hide me somewhere. If the guards don’t find me, then we win. Sound like fun?” The princess nodded her head, then carried Vyxariah to a giant closet. She hid the yokai with her clothes, and told her not to make a sound. Vyxariah did her best just to stay where she was as guards entered the room a moment later and informed, “Your highness, we’re looking for a fugitive. Have you seen a fox-woman with red hair?” “No.” The giantess answered. The guards looked to each other and groaned, “We could put the palace on alert.” “For one fugitive in chains? We’d be punished for incompetence. She can’t have gotten far; let’s find her!” The guards ran off, and the giantess watched them leave for a minute before she returned to her closet to retrieve the fox. At that point, she took a moment to examine the smaller woman before concluding, “You’re not in chains, so you can’t be a criminal. What is your name?” “I am Captain Vyxariah. And you must be the princess?” “Yes! My name is Princess Sierra.” Vyxariah sat in the larger girl’s hands as she informed, “I think we just won.” “Yay!” The giantess exclaimed. Vyxariah continued, “So, what would you like as a prize?” she was curious what this giantess desired as appreciation for good work. Sierra answered, “Can I pet you some more?” At least that would cost nothing but a bit of pride, so the yokai agreed. The princess squeed and jumped onto her bed, cuddling Vyxariah close to her bosom as she began to rub the tip of her finger between the red-head’s animal ears. Vyxariah smiled and relaxed; this did feel rather good as the finger rubbed down her back and then stroked her tail. The good feeling stopped when a finger and thumb pinched her tail and gave it a firm yank. The yokai cried out, then hissed at the giantess, “Let go of my tail!” Sierra let go and said, “I’m sorry; please forgive me!” Vyxariah rubbed her abused tail, then regarded the giantess again. It was odd that this creature of ‘royalty’ obeyed her order, and even felt remorse about it. What an unusual specimen this giantess was. She gave the larger girl’s hand a gentle pat as she answered, “I forgive you.” Those three words got the giantess to smile again, as if it genuinely mattered to her what smaller beings thought of her. A couple of new people, a man and a woman, entered the room, and the man informed, “Your highness. Dinner will be served soon; we were asked to groom your hair.” The princess turned her attention away from the kitsune to regard the two servants, and she told them, “It’s okay, I can do it myself. I don’t want to burden you.” “Princess, please, allow us to serve you.” The woman insisted, so the giantess got into a position that would be easier for them to handle her hair. As the servants came forward to start their work, they noticed Vyxariah, and asked, “Who is this?” Vyxariah answered, “I was entertaining the princess.” The woman asked, “A jester?” She didn’t sound like she was trying to be rude, but rather like she wanted to hear a good joke. The man stated, “She’s a fox, obviously she does tricks with magic.” Hearing this got Sierra to redirect her attention at Vyxariah as she asked, “You can do magic? Please show me!” Vyxariah answered, “I can’t do magic.” This news disappointed the princess, and the man insisted, “The princess gave you an order. Cast a fireball or something!” Vyxariah looked directly at the princess, and for the second time allowed her pride to hurt as she repeated, “I really can’t do magic.” The woman told her partner, “I’ve heard some kitsune can’t cast magic.” The man agreed, “Right, I believe there was a term for that, let’s see, what was it…” Before he could come up with the answer on his own, Vyxariah stated flatly, “Imad-umass.” “Imadumbass, that’s it! Wait…” The man caught what he’d just said, and everyone laughed at his expense. Given that the female servant was the only one who did not outrank him, he shot daggers at her until she shut up and cowered away from him. Sierra asked the yokai, “What do you do?” “I sail Skyvale… having adventures.” “Really?” The princess was genuinely interested in this, and asked, “Where have you been too.” “I’ve been everywhere! From the northern Ashlands, to the ancient city of the south.” “What would you say is the most beautiful place you’ve been to?” “I don’t get too attached to any place, but…” the kitsune scratched her ear and swayed her tail in thought, “Underground, I have seen a cavernous geode. I’ve never seen a more beautiful sight than those endless sparkling crystals surrounding me on all sides.” “Where is it!?” The man asked, as if he had some hope that it hadn’t been mined for currency – nor the fate that actually befell it. “It’s not there anymore…” Vyxariah answered, reliving yet another painful memory of having obtained the mother of all fortunes, and then giving it up in a momentary lapse of judgment. When she detonated that geode, the only things that went flying further than the pieces of crystal, were the body parts of the pirates that pursued her into it. The servants finished braiding their princess’s hair, and Sierra thanked them for their efforts. She then said, “I have to go now Vyxariah. Thank you for playing with me; I hope I’ll see you again some time.” The princess left her room, and Vyxariah waved goodbye to her. She was so puzzled that a girl could have so much power and authority both in physical ability and in the metaphorical sense that came with her title, yet be so unwilling to use it. She decided to pull the female servant aside and ask, “How often does she leave the palace?” The servant answered, “She sometimes goes out to the city with the King and Queen, but I don’t think she’s ever left Meridian.” “Do you like serving her?” “Of course!” The girl answered as if she were being interrogated, so Vyxariah assured her, “It’s alright, you can answer honestly. I’d like to know what kind of person the princess is.” The servant informed, “She’s never hurt anyone, at least not on purpose. Okay, she eats humans, but only the ones who come here with the wish to be eaten. I’ve never been in any danger around her, and to be honest, she’s kindof boring to serve since she rarely actually asks for anything.” “That’s all I wanted to know. Perhaps I’ll look into getting your job later.” The female servant left, and Vyxariah pondered the information she’d been given as well as her experience with the princess. This being was kind and… innocent. She wanted to embrace the beauty of the world, but knew nothing of its danger or its cruelty. Vyxariah thought back to her own youth, when she had been taken by a pirate captain who promised her only love. How he had made her feel like the greatest treasure in Skyvale, and that in his chamber he showered her with comfort and kindness. She was a beautiful fox in a beautiful world. And then, when she was most vulnerable, his knife buried itself in her flesh and soul. She knew then what an ugly place the world was, and she was as ugly as it was; the man who once claimed to love her made sure of that. The kitsune touched her eyepatch in thought. Something like this could never happen to someone so beautiful as the princess; she would not stand for it! Escaping her thoughts, Vyxariah decided she should sneak out of the palace before she got herself into any more trouble. As she walked by the male servant, he told her, “You’d never last around here, you useless vulp.” Vyxariah stopped, curled her ears, and inhaled deeply at his insult. She turned to face him while taking her coin purse from her belt. At that point, she said with a playful smile, “Him, you can eat.” The servant did not know what she was talking about, nor was he sure if she tossed the purse at him, or if it had moved of its own volition. The last thing he was aware of was being enveloped by a seemingly endless tunnel of flesh, tentacles, and teeth. One year later, Vyxariah was travelling among the towns and cities near the capital looking for work. She entered the mercenary’s guild, and found a few wanted posters which were waiting to be claimed. She wanted to ask the guild master about the whereabouts of the priciest bounty, but he told her, “You’re not allowed to work here.” “What? Why?” She asked, her ears curling slightly. He tapped a portrait of her on a wall behind him as he informed, “By order of King Wesley, you are not to conduct any business within a hundred miles of Meridian.” Vyxariah’s ears pulled back completely with this information, but a sly smile curled her lips as she said to no-one in particular, “You want to play, do you? Alright, let’s play…” Vyxariah landed her ship just outside of Meridian airspace to avoid the royal family’s security force knowing she was in the area. With her ship parked and hidden, the fox went below deck to look through her storage barrels. She lifted the lid off of one, finding it full of chocolate, and a woman. This woman had been the leader of a group of bandits, but now that she was bared naked, bound, and coated with chocolate sauce, she certainly lacked any of the fear and intimidation she impressed upon those who followed her. The kitsune informed, “Good news, we’ve finally reached our destination.” The bandit pleaded, “You’re clearly better than what I first gave you credit for. Perhaps we can make a deal? I’d pay you well if you joined my ranks.” Vyxariah answered, “See, here’s why your bribes aren’t going to work. I couldn’t care less about what happens tomorrow. All I ever think about is how can I get the most pleasure out of this exact moment, and in that regard, you have nothing to offer me.” She dipped her finger into the chocolate and slurped it from her digit, approving of the flavor the bandit added to it. The woman growled, “You should have considered your future more carefully. I’ll get out of any prison cell your superiors put me in, and then I’ll have your head!” Vyxariah ignored the threat as she pulled a small vile from her belt and informed, “I think you need something to help you relax.” She shoved her hand into the woman’s mouth and pulled out her tongue. She then let some of the sparkling dust fall upon the woman’s tongue and soak in her saliva before letting it slip back inside. The woman certainly calmed down, and sank deeper into the chocolate with her face turning ahegao. Vyxariah took a dash of the pixy dust as well, allowing its sweetness to fill her mouth, and she exclaimed, “That’s the good shit!” As always, the palace of Meridian was guarded. As they minded their post and decided who would be granted entry or be turned away, an old hunchback approached them, towing a wagon full of barrels behind him. “State your business.” One of the guards said to the man, who answered, “Food for the royal family, me lords.” The guard opened the lid of one of the barrels, finding it filled with grain, and said, “Go beneath the stairs. You can reach storage from there and have these barrels unloaded.” The hunchback wiped drool from his lips and said, “Thank you me lords.” He then limped and towed the wagon to the designated location. Once out of sight, the hunchback stood upright, grabbed a barrel from somewhere in the middle of the wagon, and set it down so he could roll it. He then removed his cloak, showing the hunch was a pulsing blue mass on his back, and finally his face pulled away as the sentient blob undisguised Vyxariah herself. The blob landed on the ground with a wet splat, and Vyxariah dropped the heavy cloak down on it. It assumed its humanoid shape, concealing its body within the cloak, and Slim asked, “What shall we do next, Captain?” Vyxariah answered, “Pose as hired help for now and offer a hand to anyone who needs it. I’ll be back at sundown, so, you know, make sure I’m actually coming.” “Yes Captain!” Vyxariah left Slim behind, rolling the barrel through the palace. She had little trouble navigating the halls to reach the room of Princess Sierra, and she found the giantess sitting on her bed reading a scroll. “Hello there!” Vyxariah called to get the giant’s attention, which worked well. The giantess lowered the scroll she was reading, and a bright smile curled her lips as she exclaimed, “Captain Vyxariah! You’ve returned!” The princess got up from her bed, picked up the kitsune, and gave her a warm embrace. Vyxariah gave the girl a gentle pat, and informed, “I brought you a gift.” She wanted to hurry this along, not only because she was not much for such forms of affection, but also because she was not sure how long it would be before the aphrodisiac would wear off. The kitsune retrieved the barrel, opened it, and helped the chocolate covered woman out of it – the bandit leader would not have been able to accomplish the task herself given the tight ropes on her wrists and ankles. Sierra looked at the woman curiously, and Vyxariah informed, “I’ve got someone who wanted to meet you, or more specifically, wanted to be fed to you. So I made sure she was properly prepared.” The woman looked around in a daze before her eyes fell upon the giantess, and at that point she began touching herself while she exclaimed, “Oh my goddess! Eat me!” Sierra picked up the chocolate covered woman, and asked, “Is that all you want to do? Do you have any preferences on…” “Shut up and eat me, bitch!” the bandit exclaimed, causing Sierra to recoil. “Alright, you don’t have to be so rude about it.” She opened her mouth and stuck the woman inside. Giant lips closed on a tight ass, and Sierra moaned as her tongue savored the combined flavors of sweet chocolate and salty skin. The woman’s legs kicked, but not to escape, but rather as an equally pointless attempt to get herself deeper inside the giant’s mouth. Sierra was not big enough to have a full humanoid body in her mouth, but that did not mean she could not swallow her prey like a normal giant. She slurped in the woman’s legs simultaneously with a gulp, causing a bulge to appear in the top of her throat. Finally, the giantess slurped the woman’s feet between her soft lips, then swallowed again to cause an hourglass-shaped bulge to travel down her neck. The princess’s gut bulged a little as her food plopped into her stomach, and she rubbed her belly as she said, “I hope you’ll enjoy yourself in there. Lucky you, you’ll have days before your fully digested.” The giantess felt prey that wanted to be eaten that much would really appreciate going through this role for longer. With that little courtesy given, Sierra addressed her guest, “Thank you so much Vyxariah; she was delicious!” She laid on her belly, propping herself on her elbows while her feet kicked back and forth, “Are you a part of the Eat-Me-Too program as well?” “I am not.” Vyxariah answered, “Although, that might not be the worst way to go, but I don’t feel like dying today.” “That’s okay. I understand not everyone wants to be eaten.” The princess responded with a smile. Vyxariah had spent time in a stomach or two, but none of her predators had really asked her opinion on it. As such, she decided to tempt fate by asking this predator’s opinion on the matter. She unbuckled one of the belts around her torso, allowing her top to come loose enough for her breasts to be exposed. At that point, she asked, “Would you like a lick or two? I wouldn’t mind hearing how I taste.” The giantess accepted the invitation, lowering her head toward the fox while her pink tongue slipped from between her lips. Vyxariah let out a soft sigh as the large tongue slapped against her front and rubbed against her breasts. Her nipples certainly appreciated their time on the bumpy surface. When the tongue finally pulled away, her breasts and face had been lathered with saliva to the point it was dripping off of her in globs. Sierra licked her lips and informed, “You taste very good! Though I think you’d be better bathed in chocolate, or even honey!” The giantess did not pursue the subject of devouring the fox any further, knowing she was not presently willing prey. She sat upright, crossed her legs, and asked, “When you were here last, you were talking about going on adventures. Will you tell me what they’re like?” Vyxariah fixed herself, then smiled as she thought of a good story to tell. She regaled the princess of a quest that started when she found a map to treasure. As it turned out, she was not the only one looking for this wealth, and she wound up in a race with some rather nefarious individuals. She outmaneuvered gunships, engaged in duels of the sword, outwitted hungry monsters, and solved whatever puzzles and traps guarded the treasure. Her prize, a beautiful golden ball, was now safely in a museum – though she left out the part about how she was not the one who actually got it there. It was getting close to sunset, so Vyxariah decided it was time to say goodbye to Sierra. “I look forward to seeing you again!” The giantess said, waving goodbye to the yokai. Vyxariah left the room and rounded the corner, only to wind up surrounded by the palace guards. King Wesley stood among them, and informed, “You dare to return to my palace!? You won’t get away this time! I’ll make sure of it!” Vyxariah raised her arms and replied, “I surrender.” Two guards approached to apprehend her while the rest kept their weapons ready. Before they could get ahold of her though, a hand wrapped around the kitsune’s body and lifted her into the air. She was now in the protective hands of Sierra, who said, “What are you doing!?” Wesley answered, “Sierra! Put her down, she’s a criminal.” “Does this look like a criminal to you?” Vyxariah did appear rather cute and helpless in the giant’s clutches, but Wesley was unmoving. “Give her to us. She is going to prison where she belongs.” “No! I won’t let you hurt her!” “Sierra stop!” Wesley was ignored as his daughter effortlessly jumped over the gathered guards, and then ran away faster than anyone could pursue. Once she had escaped the palace, Sierra set Vyxariah down gently, then ordered, “Get away from here. Please go before my father hurts you.” “Thank you.” Vyxariah said, taking her opportunity to leave, while Sierra went back indoors. Once she was out of eyesight though, the kitsune followed the giantess again. She stood at the entrance of the palace, and peaked around the corner to see the king speaking to the princess. Wesley said, “Where is she!?” Sierra replied, “I don’t know…” “Sierra! Don’t play games with me; what did you do with her?” “I lost her.” “Do you have any idea what you’ve done!? You have no idea how dangerous and treacherous that fox is!” “But father…” “No! You are to return to your room while I try to fix your mess! I don’t want to see you again for the rest of the night!” Sierra began to cry openly, but still returned to her room. Watching that altercation caused Vyxariah to growl. She was going to enjoy taking this king down a peg. “Are we leaving now Captain?” Slim asked, having located her boss. Vyxariah turned to her crewmate and told her, “Not just yet. I need to wear you for a bit.” She punched the slime, her fist going deep into the cool gelatinous form. The slime deformed to completely envelope the fox, and then shoved part of herself down the kitsune’s throat, rubbing on her vocal cords while allowing her to breathe. Slime delved into Vyxariah’s ears, and Slim’s voice vibrated around her, “What is the plan, Captain?” “Do you remember what Wesley’s body looked like? Turn into that.” The slime did as she was instructed, shoving more of herself into Vyxariah through her pussy and ass to hide the extra biomass. The fox did not protest the action, and once the slime was done, she found her body was the spitting image of the king, or at least as he was fifty years ago, a fact which the kitsune pointed out, “I don’t think he’s this cut anymore. But maybe no one will notice.” Guards had been returned to their posts in case the wanted yokai doubled back. As they waited on alert, a rather shocking sight came waltzing down the hallway. Their king, bare naked, casually walked through the halls of the palace. Wanting to be polite, one of the guards said, “Your majesty, I love the new outfit.” “Thank you.” The king answered pleasantly, as if he were blissfully unaware of his lack of attire. He then informed, “There’s a dangerous criminal on the loose. I require an escort to my chambers.” “Of course, your majesty!” The guards led the way to the king’s bedroom. Like all rooms, it was big enough for a giant to enter, and this one came with a very large bed to accommodate the queen. There was at least a humanoid-size dresser, and left in privacy again, Wesley found a robe to put on. Once he was fully dressed, someone else entered the room. “Hello Wesley.” The giantess Sonja said cheerfully. “Are you ready for bed, love?” Wesley answered, “I cannot. I have to speak with our daughter, and make sure Vyxariah is dealt with.” The giantess pouted, “That all you’ve been doing all evening! It’s been a rough day, and I want you to make it better!” Vyxariah, hiding within the disguise of Wesley, thought of a very good way to get back at the king. She spoke, with Slim altering her voice to ensure she sounded like the king himself. “You’re right, and I am sorry, my love. I need to take care of this, so I’ll make you a deal. When I come back, I want you to use me and abuse me to your heart’s content. No safe words, no backing out, just do any and every dirty, kinky thing you can think of.” The giantess smiled, “I like the way you think. Don’t keep me waiting handsome.” She laid on the bed in a very seductive pose, eagerly awaiting his return. Vyxariah made her way back to Sierra’s room, where she found the giantess on her bed crying into her cushions. “Sierra.” She called. Sierra sat up, and shied away as she said, “I thought you didn’t want to see me again.” Vyxariah informed, “I may have been too hard. If you would listen to me, I can explain my concern.” The giantess did not appear to be tuning her out, so she continued, “We have a good life here, but outside of Meridian, the world is a very cruel place. There are evil people out there, and they want nothing more than to take advantage of you. Some will take what you can give them and abandon you, others will hurt you to take whatever you won’t part with willingly. And then there are some who will harm you for no reason other than that they can. Sierra, understand that no matter what I say or do, no matter how harsh, I do so because I love you and I don’t want to see you get hurt.” With her piece said, Vyxariah turned to leave, but then Sierra spoke, “Father, Vyxariah is not a bad person. She’s my friend.” Vyxariah froze in place for a moment, overcome with emotion. She managed to collect herself enough to move again, and she rounded a corner to get out of sight before she let the words impact her again. How could someone so pure see her so highly!? She was not a good person; she was a wicked, ugly fox! “Captain, your heartrate is accelerating. Are you alright?” “Shut up Slim!” Vyxariah answered through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry Captain.” The kitsune continued to think. She knew what a wicked place the world was, so why was she in the wrong for being the best at what everyone already did. She had never felt a need to be a benefit to someone who could be of no benefit to her, until now. If this beautiful giant thought she was beautiful, then maybe she was not so bad after all. “Hey Slim, you’re a good friend.” Her statement got the slime to ripple around her from head to toe. “Thank you Captain! You’re my friend too!” On her way out of the palace, Vyxariah once again passed by Wesley’s chamber. She could hear the sounds of Sonja’s pleasured sounds, and curious of what she’d done to the king, the kitsune peaked inside. The giantess was turned away from the doorway, sitting on her heels to spread her ass cheeks. Wesley was in her ass, coated with both saliva and love-juice to keep him lubed as the giantess wiggled him in her ass. He appeared exhausted, but then he saw himself standing in the doorway. Slim pulled off of Vyxariah’s head, revealing the fox herself, who blew a kiss to the king. “Why you!” Wesley shouted, “Sonja, let me go!” “No…” The giantess moaned, pressing her fingers on his head and shoving him into her rectum. Pleased with her work, Vyxariah skipped out of the palace and returned to her ship, eager to see where her next adventure would take her.

Garkel Fun Size Jeffery was at one point a normal human, but that changed when he like dozens of other citizens of Garkel were shrunken down to miniscule size. Like many of them, he wound up in the clutches of a cat-girl, but unlike most of those, he didn’t spend the rest of his life digesting inside her. He managed to survive by proving to be a very fun toy for the neko who found him, and once it was confirmed that he was a human, he was safe from her appetite until such a time that he chose to sate it. Though he was given the opportunity to return to normal and resume life as he knew it, he chose to remain a tiny and stay with the local nekos. They were all so kind and friendly, and he never saw himself like a toy to them, but rather a friend with benefits – just because those benefits included being able to be played with like a toy did not lessen the experience. However, his seemingly endless time of playing with or being played with by his goddesses had come to an end. Only yesterday there had been seven girls in the house, but after the gold-clad soldiers came and went, there were only three left. He remembered hiding in one of their pockets as the soldiers examined them, and with how quickly Pi, Dianna, and Cecilia were taken, he thought every cat-girl would go. Before any more than half could go though, a second soldier told the selector that some of the cat-girls should stay in the city so the locals had something to repopulate with. Jeffery remembered hearing the soldier who selected them told one of his comrades that those three would go directly to ‘the Games’. He did not know what that meant, but Pi apparently had experience with this as she tried to encourage the others by telling them they would likely become pleasure pets – though she sounded rather saddened by that. If they were taken for pleasure, then it was no surprise that those three were selected. Pi’s pink hair, however unnatural, was still exotic, and of course twin sisters were a desire for most men. Not that the others were not attractive – they were all gorgeous – but perhaps brown and black hair was not as appealing as blond and ‘red’ shades. Among those who were left behind, there was Niki and Cinnamon, both of whom had dark brown hair. Niki’s hair was shoulder length, and she had stripes on her face – it was an alteration in her skin pigment rather than being caused by the presence of fur – while Cinnamon had short spiky hair with dark stripes zigzagging through it. Thirdly was Ginger, the one who found Jeffery and claimed him for herself. Her hair was in a bob cut, and was pure black with the exception of a white spot on her left ear. For now, Jeffery and Ginger were the only ones in the house. The little guy was dusting off a dresser to try to avoid thinking about how much smaller the family had gotten recently. Ginger was clearly having a harder time not thinking about it. She was curled up on a bed, with no cuddle buddy to join her in her mid-day nap, which was truly hitting home how much emptier their home had become. Jeffery sighed, wanting to bring some comfort to this lonely kitty, as well as to himself. He set his tiny-size broom aside, then made a running jump off the dresser so that he landed on the bed with a bounce. He approached her black-furred tail, and began to pet the soft appendage. His actions irritated the tail and caused it to twitch away from his grasp. He pursued, until the neko made a conscious movement with it and said, “Stop it Jeffery.” Her tail slapped into him, which was effectively like getting a tree thrown into him with excessive amounts of padding. It didn’t hurt, but it was plenty to knock him on his ass. He got up, and redirected his attention to her feet. He walked over to her bare toes and began to tickle them to further irritate the neko. She pulled away from him as she sat up and glared at him, her tail slapping the bed with irritation, “Jeffery, I said stop it!” He smiled at her, actually finding it warming that he could irritate this much larger being without consequence. Ginger seemed able to read his mind – a clearly female ability which no man possessed – and she decided to make him reconsider the consequences of being a tiny foolish enough to bother a neko. Her claws hooked into his shirt and shorts, and yanked them up and down to pull them off his body and leave him naked. She then picked him up and brought him level with her face as she asked, “Do you finally want to be eaten? If not, you’d better have a good excuse for being such a pest.” With that said, she did not even give him a chance to speak before she flicked him directly into her mouth, making him splat and indent into her squishy tongue. Jeffery recovered from the impact, and found himself caught in darkness as Ginger shut her mouth to trap him inside. Her tongue rolled around underneath him like some kind of bounce-house, and it forced him against her pallet and between her teeth as it coated his bare flesh with a uniformly thick coat of slime. The tiny guy was unsure about whether or not Ginger was serious about eating him, but he did not want to be complacent and wind up permanently relocated because of it. The unpleasant smell of fish breath emanating from the dark pit of her throat made that exit even less inviting, so he explained himself to the neko. “I miss our friends, Ginger, and I can tell you do too. I don’t want to mope around feeling bad about it forever though, what good would that do any of us? I figure, if we can at least have fun with each other, then maybe that will help lift our spirits.” He was unsure if he’d made a convincing argument as the tongue continued to toy with him. At the very least he was not sliding into her throat, but he felt like the tip of Ginger’s tongue was giving excessive attention to his manhood. He could not deny that it felt good, his erection was proof enough of that, and given that no matter where he was pushed or how he tried to squirm, the neko continued to ‘taste’ his genitals, it was clear Ginger was doing this on purpose. He gave in and let her do what she wanted, and after several more loving licks, the mattress-size tongue successfully milked the seed out of him. With his cum coating the end of the tongue, the muscle relaxed, and lips parted to show Jeffery the outside world again. As another heavy glob of saliva oozed onto his shoulder, he decided he should not linger any longer. He used her teeth to brace and balance himself as he walked across the spongy flesh, and finally stepped over the hurdle of her lips. The neko did nothing to stop him, but her tongue did give his back a lick on his last step, causing him to fall from her mouth face-first onto the bed. Jeffery rolled over and sat up, finding the neko laying before him with her chin resting on the bed to be closer to his level as she spoke. “I’m sorry Jeffery, but I can’t get over this loss so easily. I never wanted to lose any of my sisters, even when I understood what a dangerous place Skyvale was. But I thought we were safe here, so I was even less prepared to lose anyone. I worry if I may lose Niki and Cinnamon as well.” He gave her cheek a gentle stroke, and informed, “Maybe that’s all the more reason to enjoy the time we have with each other. It will be too late when we’re gone.” The cat-girl leaned against him, nuzzling him while purring in gratitude for his comfort. When she finally pulled away, Jeffery spread his arms, allowing webs of slime to drip down as he asked, “With that said, wonder how concerned you are with losing me? With how much you salivate, it’s clear you really want to devour me.” He chuckled a bit nervously to his own statement. The neko smiled at him, and threatened, “You might want to clean yourself up little guy. With how lubed up you are, I bet it wouldn’t hurt at all to shove you up my ass!” Jeffery had succeeded in his quest to improve Ginger’s mood. He dried himself off, put on his clothes, and then joined her through the rest of her nap, adding to her enjoyment by petting her hair and ears lovingly. He could tell she appreciated it by how her purr motor was perpetually running. The peaceful nap came to an end when the other nekos returned. Cinnamon noticed what the micro-human was doing, and took it out on Ginger as she exclaimed, “Have you been here all day just so you could have him for yourself!?” She knelt down beside the bed, and gave Jeffery the cutest gleam she could manage as she said, “Won’t you pet me too?” He couldn’t refuse if he wanted to, and he had no desire to turn her down either, so approached the petite neko to give her a turn as well. Though Jeffery wanted to please all three girls, cats really aren’t the type to just ‘have enough’. Being tiny also meant that he took even longer to please each of them. Thankfully, the girls were there for each other, and pet one another while they each waited for their turn. It was somewhere in the middle of Niki’s turn when a guest knocked on their entryway. “Come in!” Ginger called, and a red-haired woman entered once permission was given. The nekos recognized her as Robin, and both Ginger and Cinnamon unembraced each other to dart over to her and give her a welcoming hug and nuzzle. Robin stroked each of them, scratched her fingers in their hair, and then squeezed the nape of their necks in such a way that both girls gasped with joy. Their legs became wobbly, and they collapsed onto the floor in unison, looking stunned with joy. Jeffery was honestly impressed by how easily the older woman was able to subdue the yokai, and felt it might be a good idea to have her teach him a thing or two to help him wrangle these giants. He believed she had more important things to discuss at the moment, so he had a seat on Niki to see what she came for – causing the neko to look at him with a ‘why did you stop?’ expression. Robin asked permission to pick up the shrunken guy, and Jeffery replied, “You don’t have to ask. I’m pretty used to being handled at this point.” “That may be so, but you’re still a person and deserve to be respected as one.” Robin informed as he climbed onto her palm. Jeffery and the girls noticed there was an additional guest as well. This one was a cat-boy with black hair and a physically fit body. The girls surrounded him on all sides, practically having hearts in their eyes as they fawned over him, though he appeared to only be in the house because Robin was there. Robin introduced this newcomer, “Jeffery, have you met my son, Tom?” The tiny said pleasantly, “It’s nice to meet you Tom.” Tom looked at Jeffery and replied, “You must be the guy tending to these girls. I can see why they like you.” Robin got the point of why they were there. “Given the way things have been lately, we were wondering if you would like to join us for dinner. It might lift everybody’s spirits.” “Yes!” The nekos answered, clearly eager to get to spend some time with Tom, and Jeffery said, “A warm meal with friends would be nice. And besides, the girls clearly want to go, and I can’t say no to them.” They went to the market together. They brought a table to sit at, and Robin purchased a big slab of red fish meat to set on the table for the six of them to split. Of course, Jeffery did not need a very big share. Where he sat in Ginger’s bosom, he found crumbs of fish and blotches of sauce would land around him as she ate, and he knew full well this neko was clean enough to eat off of, so he had no issue taking his portion from there. The group ate and conversed with each other, talking about whatever random topic caught their interest, making it very easy to put everyone in a good mood. That mood ended when someone else approached their table. The first thing Jeffery picked up about this guy was that he stank! It was as if he never showered a day in his life, yet sweat like a waterfall regularly, and there was food rotting and mold growing from every crevice of his overweight body. Physically, he was a satyr, being a goat from the hips down, and having a pair of horns curling off the top of his head. He was short and wide, and it appeared that hair had abandoned its attempts to grow on top of his head, and instead resigned itself to anywhere below his jawline. “M'ladies…” The man greeted them, his eyes on the nekos in particular. “M’name’s Randy. It’s nice t’meet you.” “What do you want?” Niki asked. Randy answered, “I was passing through and heard ‘bout what happened here. Figure there’s a reason you were left behind. You’ve got to, *snort* repopulate… I’d love to help with that, he-he.” Randy was getting uncomfortably close, causing the nekos to shy away. As they scoot over, they unintentionally made room for the satyr to have a seat, which he did. He grabbed a full handful of the fish and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing with his mouth open and began talking with it still full, “So, what d’ya say?” It was Tom who stood up for the girls as he ordered, “Get out of here you disgusting pervert.” For the first time, Randy directed his attention to Tom, his brow furrowing as he said, “The ladies can answer for themselves.” This ‘chivalry’ was not earning him any points with the girls, who likely would answer if they were capable of drawing breath out of his pungent stench. Niki managed to answer, “Would you get out of here! You’re ruining our meal!” Encouraged by her friend, Cinnamon answered as well, “Yeah! We’re not interested!” This answer seemed to upset the goat-man, who whined, “Why do women always go fer dirtbags, but when a nice guy comes along who’d treat ‘em like a goddess, we’re not good’nuff for ‘em?” His complaints clearly were not getting the results he wanted, so he became angry as he stood and shouted at the cat-girls, “Fine! Stupid sluts! You deserve to get raped!” With that said, he stormed off, and the group was able to catch their breath. Niki said, “So I guess we’re sluts for not having sex with every guy who flirts with us.” Cinnamon added, “And we must be stupid for having standards.” The girls chuckled, but Ginger looked at the mangled, grime coated remains of their meal and complained, “I was still hungry…” With dinner effectively ruined, the girls and Jeffery decided to say goodbye to Robin and Tom. While the others returned home, Ginger stayed behind to buy a little extra food to sate her appetite. She got a delicious pear to sink her teeth into as she finally made the journey home. She’d almost made it when she had the misfortune of coming across Randy once again. Before she had a chance to speak, the satyr got ahold of her and tossed her into a nearby alley. At that point he got on top of her and said, “I’m sorry ‘bout what I said earlier. Yer friends upset me s’all. You clearly like me though, so let’s have fun.” He grabbed her top and pulled it down harshly, in spite of the neko’s protests. Once he exposed her cleavage, he was surprised to see a tiny guy climb out from between her breasts, and more surprised when he demanded, “Leave her alone!” “What the!?” Randy reached out toward Jeffery, and not wanting the satyr to hurt the little guy, Ginger set her hand on Randy’s face, and raked her claws downward to rip his cheek open. The satyr screamed in pain, and ran away while holding his wound. With her assailant gone, Ginger asked Jeffery, “Are you alright?” “Of course,” He answered, “What about you?” “I’m fine, I just…” Her ears curled as she hissed, “I am not an object for pleasure!” “I never said you were.” She gave the little guy a gentle pat as she informed, “You’ve not known me for very long, Jeffery. My sisters and I, let’s just say we learned how to be very entertaining for men when we chose to be. It was better to make them finish as fast as possible than to just lay there waiting for it to be over.” Jeffery thought about asking if she still had some of those talents, but decided against it. It was clearly from a time she would be happier to just leave behind. Instead he said, “Well, whatever you were back in the day, that’s not what you are anymore. You are a strong and beautiful neko, a skilled hunter, and a very friendly person. If that’s all I’ve known you as, then that’s all I need to know.” “Aww, you’re just saying that to make me feel good, aren’t you?” Jeffery laid back lazily on her bosom as he informed, “Obviously I think you’re perfect, why else would I want to become a part of this perfect body someday?” “Perfect? Now I know you’re full of it!” She laughed as she pushed him completely between her breasts, “But I’ll agree, you’ve certainly chosen an ideal predator!” Ginger fixed her outfit, and then managed to get home without further incident. The next day, Jeffery overheard the nekos conspiring together. He overheard Ginger say to the others, “Jeffery is so good to us, I think we should do something special for him as well.” Cinnamon whispered something that got all three girls to giggle, and then, noticing he was awake, the black-haired neko turned her attention to him. Ginger informed, “We’ll be out of the house for a while, so take good care of it while we’re away and you might win favor from your goddess.” Jeffery gave her a thumbs up, and the girls left him to his own devices. Being a mere 5 centimeters in height, he couldn’t exactly do much around the house, but could always look around every nook and cranny to find anything that was dropped or misplaced and make sure it was back where it belonged. He avoided the cages and traps, never feeling particularly safe or comfortable around them, but he also made note of potential entryways for the pesky micro humanoids to trespass into the home so the girls could deal with it later. Someone did trespass while the girls were out, but he was not a micro. Rather he was a normal-size Satyr. The goat-man looked around the house, determining no one to be home before he fully entered. He made his way to a dresser, opened it, and pulled out a pair of panties to get a deep whiff of them. He did the same with several more pairs, until Jeffery finally called, “Hey! Stop that! Get out of here!” The yokai dropped the undergarments, surprised to realize he was not alone, and Jeffery realized it was Randy! Randy likewise realized who had spotted him, and his eyes narrowed as he growled, “You!” The tiny guy did not have time to make an escape before he found himself enveloped in a filthy hand, and from there he was carried out of the house. After some time of being carried, during which he demanded to be released and called for someone to help him, Jeffery finally saw light again. The fingers parted, and he was dropped into a jar. Utterly trapped by the glass walls, he could only wonder what this satyr had planned for him. Randy was clearly eager to embellish as he informed, “You were with those nekos. I bet they do all kinds of things to you, he-he, all kinds of sexual things. *Snort* I’m sure you don’t mind if I try you out for m’self.” Jeffery threatened, “You won’t get away with this! They’ll come looking for me!” The satyr laughed at him, “No one is going to care about a little pest! And don’t worry, I’ll make sure those sexy kitties are taken care of while you’re away…” Suddenly, someone entered the room, pulling the goat-man’s attention away from Jeffery as he exclaimed, “What are you doing here!” “Room inspection. I’m here to check for anything that might cause health issues.” In spite of the Satyr’s attempts to hide him, Jeffery noticed it was Tom who had entered the room, and he called, “Tom! Help me!” The cat-boy spotted him, and told the Satyr, “Micros certainly count as health concerns. I’ll just take this one off your hands.” “Oh no you don’t!” The satyr scratched the ground with his hoof before he charged at the neko with head forward and arms back. The action looked pretty ridiculous and stupid when Tom simply stepped to the side, caught one of the arms, and twisted it to restrain the goat-man. Randy cried out with pain, and demanded to be released. “No, I don’t think I will.” The neko answered. “What are you going to do to me?” “I don’t know. What were you going to do to him?” He was referring to Jeffery, and Randy sobbed, “We were just playin around!” “I like to play. I prefer when my partners are more physically fit and have better hygiene, but I guess that means we can play a bit longer…” With that said, Tom dragged the guy into a closet, and shut the door behind them. More begging, sobbing, and pained bleating were heard afterward, and within a few minutes, all was silent. The closet door opened again, and Tom stepped out with a sigh as he informed, “That was not pleasant.” “Did you kill him?” Jeffery asked a bit nervously. The cat-boy answered, “No, I just traumatized him for life. Now he’ll think twice before he attacks cat-girls… and their friends.” He picked up the jar and dumped the tiny guy onto his palm before he finished, “Now let’s get you home before your girls worry about you.” “How did you find me anyway?” “The girls were openly distressed when you weren’t at home. Obviously something happened to you, and the fat satyr who harassed them earlier and now has claw-marks on his face, was a pretty obvious suspect. I guess you’re lucky that I made a good guess.” “You’re right! Another few minutes and… I don’t even want to think about what he would have done to me or tried to force me to do! At least with Ginger and the others, they’re nice and they’re girls, so I don’t mind whatever they want to do to me.” “Yeah about that…” the neko scratched the back of his head in thought, “Listen, I know this might be a difficult task for your size, but could you try to be enough man for those girls? I’d really rather remain in their friend-zone.” For such a strapping cat-boy, it was odd that he sounded so nervous and uncomfortable around such lovely cat-girls… Jeffery was brought back to the home of the nekos, and the moment Tom walked inside and presented the tiny man, all three girls rushed over with expression of relief and gratitude. “Where were you!?” Ginger asked. Jeffery answered, “I was… saying goodbye to somebody. Tom was with me to make sure I was alright. I hope I didn’t cause you too much alarm.” The cat-girl took him from the cat-boy, and ordered, “Let me know before you plan to wander out of the house next time!” “Yes Ginger, I got it! It won’t happen again!” Her mood softened, and she nuzzled him lovingly, nearly smothering him with her soft cheek. Tom stood by watching, figuring that it must be quite a challenge for this tiny guy to survive with these girls, even when they were being friendly. He was about to find that out for himself, as the trio approached him with lusty eyes as they desired to give him a proper thanks. He managed to pull away from them before they could take his pants off, and said his goodbyes over his shoulder as he left the disappointed nekos behind. Dinner time came and went, and after everything was cleaned up, Jeffery found himself stripped and set on the table, at which point he was told not to move. The girls smiled mischievously at each other before they walked into their bedroom. The little guy knew they were planning something, so he could only wait to see what the girls were up to. After a few minutes, music suddenly began to play from the bedroom, and the nekos returned wearing completely different outfits. The garments looked to be made out of tinsel and wrapping paper. They had a thick piece of it wrapped around their breasts, and they had a long skirt that drifted around them in such a way that their bare legs were visible with each step they took. The girls walked in a sensual manner around the table, until they were all evenly spaced around it. At that point they began to actively dance to the beat of the music. Jeffery enjoyed the show as the girls danced around him, their bodies twisting and thrusting about to make it clear how sexy they really were. Being naked, he couldn’t hide his arousal from the show, a sight that clearly pleased the much larger girls. They took off their tops, allowing their breasts to bounce and sway with every movement, and then they teased him by dropping their garments on top of him to hide the show from him. When he finally managed to crawl out of the apparel, the nekos were all naked, still dancing and flaunting their bodies for him. When the music finally ended, so did the dance. The girls leaned on the table to look at the tiny guy, and Jeffery complimented, “Wow! That was amazing!” “Well you deserve it.” Niki replied. Cinnamon pet his head with a single finger as she said. “You may be Ginger’s pet, but we all really like you.” Ginger picked him up off the table and informed, “That’s why we’re going to play a little game with you.” She set him on the floor and continued, “Run away as fast as you can. We will give you a ten second head start, then we’ll give chase, and you’ll spend the rest of the night in the pussy of whoever catches you first.” He looked between their legs, and could see by how their labias were swelling and fluid was dripping down their thighs, they all wanted to gobble him up into their nethers. He felt a bit in danger, and not wanting them to get too carried away, he decided to plead, “Are you sure that’s fair? I mean, you all hunt tinies for a living so…” “Seven seconds.” Ginger chimed. “We already started!? I could have used a little warning.” “Five seconds.” “Can’t we at least do a mulligan?” With three seconds to go, Niki rolled her eyes and exclaimed, “Go!” Jeffery finally got the message, and he ran away from the trio as fast as he could. It did not take long before he heard the thunder of feet approaching rapidly, accompanied by a cacophony of playful, feminine giggles…

Sophie was a part of a Miyazaki themed photoshoot. She stood in a room with four other girls, all in costumes based on one of the girls from various films by director Hayao Miyazaki. She was ironically dressed as Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle, and given that she was unfamiliar with the other girls, she elected to identify them as the characters they portrayed. There was Nausicaa, Kiki, San, and Arrietty. The girls were all waiting for their turn to model for the camera when someone other than the cameraman poked their head into the door. The girl looked shocked at the models, and quickly shut the door. “That was weird.” Sophie said. Kiki asked, “Did anyone else notice something strange on her head? They looked like wolf ears!” At that, Nausicaa retorted, “Really? You’re so stupid!” The door opened again, and this time, a large, round nut was rolled into the room before the door was slammed shut once again, and once the nut reached the center of the room, it cracked open and allowed a pink mist to burst out and envelope the models. Sophie coughed and gasped for fresh air, until the dust finally dissipated. When she could see clearly again, she found her costume was far too big to fit her, and it covered the floor around her like a massive tarp. Come to think of it, the room seemed far more cavernous. Then it hit her, she had shrunk. She looked around and discovered the other four girls were likewise tiny and naked. San ran over to Nausicaa and began sobbing with fear, which caused the redhead to push her off with irritation. None of them knew how they had shrunk, but there had to be a way to fix this situation! Before anyone could even get over the shock of having been shrunk, the strange girl entered the room once again, sauntering in like she owned the place. This well-toned girl was like a giantess to the women, and more than that, she was not even really human, as she had wolf ears, and a wolf tail. “I knew there was something strange about her!” Kiki chimed. The wolf-girl looked down at her with golden eyes, and smiled to reveal pearly white fangs. The okami reached down and plucked Kiki out of her clothes pile between pinching fingers, then lifted her high into the air so that she was eye level with the demi-wolf. Fear and alarm suddenly rose in everybody then, as the yokai opened her mouth, and set Kiki inside. There was thought the shrunken girl’s life might come to a bloody end between sharp teeth, but she was fed ‘safely’ between them as the mouth shut around her. Then, after an unsettling moment, there was a *gulp* accompanied by a bulge travelling down the giant girl’s throat. Kiki had been swallowed whole and alive! The other four girls began running for their lives as the wolf casually pursued them, her fluffy tail swaying side to side. Nausicaa had San running beside her, listening as the brunette sobbed incoherently. Having enough of it, and remembering the expression, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you,” she elbowed San in the ribs and knocked the wind out of the girl. Nausicaa continued to run, and as she hoped, San was the one who was picked up and devoured by their pursuer. Sophie found a place to hide under a dress rack, where she listened to San’s screams and begs become muffled, then vanish entirely. She had to suppress a whimper as she hoped she would not be found and meet the same fate. The next thing she heard was the wolf-girl’s laughter. It was a sound she would have found rather cute, were it not for the peril being caused by its source. The larger girl then said, “That is the worst hiding spot I have ever seen!” She was referring to Arrietty, who was standing on the other side of a see-through glass. Sophie had to admit, the wolf had a point. The predatory girl picked up the glass, and used it to scoop up Arrietty, trapping the tiny girl as she was brought toward the open, waiting mouth. The glass provided no handhold as it was tilted, and the redhead was dumped inside. Her legs kicked uselessly as they were slurped between puckered lips, and then she too joined the other models in they yokai’s stomach. Sophie saw the okami walking on all fours, sniffing for more shrunken girls, and she worried that she was about to be next. Right as her position was about to be sniffed out, one of the girl’s feral ears twisted, catching the sounds of pitter pattering as Nausicaa made a run for it. With surprising agility for a being of that size – though only higher than average agility for a normal sized being – the demi-wolf spun about and swiped Nausicaa from the floor. The wolf-girl got to her feet, and said to her latest catch, “Are you ready to join the others?” “Let me go you ugly bitch!” Nausicaa exclaimed. “Wow! I thought you were supposed to be a lot nicer than this.” “Fuck you!” The okami set Nausicaa against her bare, abed belly, and asked, “Can you hear them crying in there? Don’t you think they could use some comfort?” “You’re the one who ate them!” “Well, you have a point…” “Exactly! So don’t think you can lord anything over me!” “I think I can do anything I want to you. Perhaps I should remind you of your place.” With that said, the yokai pulled open the front of her shorts and dropped Nausicaa inside. The band snapped shut, and the red-head was forced into the larger girl’s crotch. The okami sighed with pleasure, but then looked directly at where Sophie was hiding and informed, “Don’t think I forgot about you.” She moved the dress rack aside, causing the tiny girl to scream. “You like to clean don’t you?” The wolf-girl asked, sliding one of her bare feet toward the shrunken woman, “Then how about you clean my feet.” Sophie wretched and crawled away, exclaiming, “That’s disgusting!” “Why are none of you girls the way you are portrayed in media?” “Because we are not anime characters! We’re just models dressed up like them!” The wolf-girl’s ears twitched in thought, and she raised her foot as she informed, “If you think my feet are so bad, then how about they be the last thing you’re aware of.” The foot came down, and Sophie screamed and tried to shield herself, for all the good it would do. The foot impacted the ground next to her, and the giantess continued, “Then again, that would be a waste of a perfectly good piece of meat.” Sophie felt pressure on her ribs as she was pinched between index finger and thumb. She was brought to the giant girl’s face, at which point she sobbed, “Why are you doing this to us!?” The wolf-girl answered, “My mate has a thing for girls like Nausicaa, Arrietty, Su Jiuer, Renee… So even if you are just dressing up like them, you are clearly trying to be more appealing to him, and that’s something I can’t forgive. Draken is MINE!” “I… I don’t…” Sophie had no idea who or what this girl was talking about. In a way she sounded like one of those yandere type girls. She could do nothing to persuade the wolf that neither she nor the other models had any interest in her senpai as the predator opened her mouth, causing humid dog breath to wash over her bare skin and flare her nostrils. Sophie was brought toward that open mouth, even as she tried to push against it. Her hands sank into soft lips, were only barely able to brace against hard teeth before slipping uselessly on the bumpy tongue. Finally, the grip on her body released, and she was dropped completely into the mouth. She only had enough time to look back outside before lips and teeth came together with a *clack*. A heavy glob of saliva slopped on her body, and the tongue wiggled beneath her in a very disorientating manner, so she did not realize until it was too late that she was being thrown into the throat. Strong flesh embraced her and squeezed her tightly from all sides. Its only release came from ‘below’ as space opened for her to fall into while pressure increased from above to force her downward. Her ears popped from the pressure, and she couldn’t breathe from the tightness of her surroundings, and the webs of slime that would splat against her every time she tried to gasp for breath. Finally her journey came to an end, but her new location was arguably worse. The tightness of the throat gave way for a wrinkly slide into a thick, bubbling pool, and a whole mass of flailing naked bodies. The churning stomach made righting herself almost impossible, but more so when combined with the struggles of its other occupants. Everything around her was slimy and slippery, be it the spongy walls, or the smooth skin of the other models, meaning she could not get a grip on anything. Then she and the others would trip and stumble over each other, sliding deeper into the pool and winding up lost in the tangled pile of girls. Sophie regrettably wound up being stepped on and held below the burning pool of acid. A situation that became even worse when one of her fellow models sat directly on her face. Somehow, Sophie managed to struggle enough to get a breath of air before she passed out. However, the air was anything but fresh. The stench of not only dog breath, but also processed food and bodily gas was overwhelming, and the acid vapor in the air caused her lungs to burn! There was commotion from above, becoming steadily louder and able to be distinguished from the gassy gurgles and feminine screams. It was Nausicaa coming to join them! It was clear as the ginger’s slime-coated body squeezed through the sphincter to the throat that she had not been spared this fate either. And once again, Sophie’s air was deprived from her as Nausicaa slid down the stomach wall, directly to her with her legs spread, and unintentionally gave Sophie a mouthful of pussy. Once again she was forced between numerous bodies, and was left to continue her pointless struggle for space. The models struggled and fought to escape from the stomach or hurt their predator, which only resulted in them exhausting themselves while coating themselves even more thoroughly in burning and stinging acid. When that failed, they screamed for help, hoping someone would hear them and rescue them from the wolf-girl, but even as they eventually heard voices from outside the body, no escape was granted to them. The pain was starting to become unbearable, and some realized that their skin was starting to come off. Now all they could hope was they would asphyxiate before they had to endure the true pains of being digested alive…

Silence in the Library Cindy was shivering. Soaking wet, half naked, with the clothes she was wearing turned to ruined rags. As she sat in front of a desk, a middle-aged woman had a seat on the other side and said, “So… you got detention.” Cindy tried to defend herself. “Ms. Velou, it’s not what you think!” The teacher was not moved as she asked, “Then care to explain what you were doing trespassing in my office? And please save us time by telling the truth. You were looking for a place to do drugs, right?” “You don’t understand! It was a dragon!” “So… you were on drugs?” “No Ms. Velou! Let me start from the beginning. You see, my friend Lucy and I were just going to the library…” Lucy was returning a book to the school library, and was dragging her friend Cindy along with her. They approached the librarian who sat behind her desk, and Lucy greeted quietly, but friendly, “Hello Ms. Iris. I’ve come to return the book I borrowed.” The woman adjusted her glasses as she accepted the book, and informed, “You only checked this out yesterday. It’s yours for the rest of the week.” “I couldn’t put it down and got through the whole thing in one night!” Iris smiled, “It’s always encouraging to see the younger generation enjoy the world of literature.” An odd statement considering the librarian looked like a collage student speaking to highschoolers. No one made a fuss about it as she continued, “Is your friend also an avid reader?” “I’m afraid she prefers movies.” “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Cindy just rolled her eyes at the comment against what she considered to be a vastly superior form of entertainment. Lucy continued, “If you don’t mind, Ms. Iris, we’d like to hang out here and study for our term paper.” “Of course. Enjoy the library.” Cindy found a table to sit at, and Lucy browsed for a few appropriate pieces of literature to study for their research papers. Even once Lucy returned though, Cindy seemed less than interested in reading the books. Instead, she pulled out her phone to watch V-Tubers stream various funny videos. The sounds from her phone were a very quick annoyance, and Iris sharply shushed from behind her desk. To Cindy’s credit, she put on headphones as she continued to watch her videos, but that did not keep her from audibly laughing to the childish jokes the animated monster-girls were making. Other students were becoming visibly annoyed, and Iris ordered, “Silence in the library is appreciated.” If the message was received, it was quickly forgotten, as a minute later Cindy had another outburst, “That’s what you get you stupid !@#$%^*” At that point, the other students present took their belongings and left, and Iris got up from her desk to approach the disruptive student. The librarian spoke to Cindy sternly, “I’ve asked you to keep it down. If you can’t behave yourself, you’re going to have to leave.” Cindy rolled her eyes, “And be taken away from all these boring books? Woah is me!” Iris tapped her long fingernails on the table, becoming visibly agitated as if she wanted to hit this girl. Knowing full well a teacher could not strike a student, Cindy mocked, “What? Are you going to punish me? Would giving me detention make you feel better?” The student smiled smugly, but as Iris adjusted her glasses, Cindy noticed something inhuman about her eyes that was rather unsettling. A growl emanated from the older woman’s throat as she said, “You are a student after all, so I think it’s only appropriate to teach you a lesson.” To the girl’s alarm, the woman grew and transformed into a purple dragon. Both girls were stunned in disbelief, wanting to say something about this alarming transformation, but Iris held a claw in front of her lips as she gave them a gentle ‘shush’. At that point, she opened her mouth wide, and enveloped Cindy’s top half before she could scream. The dragon lifted the student into the air, and tossed her head back to get the girl further inside. Her jaws came together again, this time catching the girl at her ankles. She noticed the student was wearing high heels, and being a well-read dragoness, she was aware of a maiden that had escaped the stomach of a dragon by stabbing him with her pointy heels. She used her claws to remove that particular article of clothing, and once the girl’s feet were adequately bare, she slurped them in as well. Her chin pointed toward the ceiling, and she swallowed hard to send the bad girl down her throat. A bulge travelled down the length of the dragon’s neck, showing the student’s progress until the bulge finally expanded the dragon’s belly. Cindy braced herself against the slimy walls that surrounded her, punching and kicking as she splashed around in a pool of gastric juices. She screamed for mercy, but her screams were barely noticeable outside the dragon’s body. Her struggles were getting the bloated belly to bounce and wiggle, but her efforts were not hurting the dragon in any way. Iris looked down at Lucy, getting the girl to shake with fear. The dragon spoke with her normal human voice, “I trust you can keep a secret, right? It would be a shame if I had to devour one of my favorite patrons.” Lucy nodded timidly, getting a smile of approval from the dragoness. When the student’s story concluded, Velou’s first question was, “How did you know about the part you weren’t there for?” “Why does that matter!?” Cindy exclaimed, “There’s a dragon on the loose eating students! Doesn’t that concern you in any way?” “There’s no such thing as dragons…” Cindy rudely interrupted, “Don’t tell me that! I was trapped in its disgusting stomach for hours before it finally spat me out in your office! Ask Lucy! She was there; she can back up my story!” Velou was unphased as she informed, “Lucy already came by and said nothing about any dragons. She did drop these off however.” The teacher set Cindy’s shoes and cellphone on the desk, then asked, “Have you told anyone else about this?” Cindy swiped her phone and said, “I’m about to! I just need to call my parents and…” Her phone suddenly sparked and shut off, and confused, she looked at her teacher to see the woman had the ears of a fox, and three fluffy tails swayed behind her. Ms. Velou held up her index finger, and began moving it in circles before the student’s eyes as she informed, “Your parents have already been called. They’ll come by to pick you up soon, and this will all be a bad dream…” Cindy woke up in her bed, having just had the weirdest nightmare ever! It had something to do with dragons and fox-girls? Her waking mind couldn’t remember any details, but it still left an impression on her. From that day forward, whenever Cindy went to school, she had a strange feeling in her gut that told her she should keep her mouth shut in the library, and she never dared to disobey that feeling…

Written by DrakeZephyr In collaboration with Sprout In the deep forest, in the midst of the silent trees… a soft crackle echoed. A deer’s head rose, before it bolted, and just before the mass of white scales descended. There was another snap, but nothing reacted to this one… The dragoness settled to her haunches, the faintly wiggling legs of her meal poking from the corners of her mouth as she jabbed up and swallowed, letting the young buck slide down, filling the ache of her stomach. He was scrawny… mostly bone and pelt, but he’d do… he filled the hole if nothing else. She yawned, and turned to pad back for her den, head low, taking scents, not denying fate the chance to offer her something better to eat. The dragoness was Aurora, with scales of purest white on her back and belly, down to colourless claws that were cream where she’d have hoped ebony. White dragons were not all uncommon, but it was her eyes that marked her as what she was, the piercing red rings that her prey feared. She had often cursed her fate in being born thus, beside the line of brown and mottled green siblings she had. Not that she disliked her hue, frankly she thought with a huff, that she was remarkably more attractive than them… but, while it certainly made her stand out in the crowd, she also stood out in the woods… She was a good hunter, that was what had saved her, where her colours would have otherwise doomed her to never catch a meal. Yet, when their parents were aging, and becoming willing to let their dragonlings claim pieces of their territory for their own, to start with, and grow strong, their test for who should be allowed the best pieces was simple… whoever brought back the best kill was the strongest child, and the one who would get first pick, and so on. Her scales had been her blight that day. And so her region was poor… the prey few, and hardly worth eating when caught. There was enough to sustain her, otherwise she would not still be here, but it was more work than she relished, and it had been some time since she had sprawled out and really enjoyed digesting a full, heavy meal. The prospect drew her tongue along her chops, that was a simple pleasure she craved. Her den was in the centre of the region she had taken, an earthen hollow her and her siblings had dug when they were young, beneath some large mossy stones. She had widened it out, and made home of it. It kept her warm, but she missed the solid stone of the home nest. The dirt made a mess of her scales which showed up every speck. She arrived home, and sniffed around, but found nothing but her own scent. In many ways, she was hopeful each time she came home, to find a nice, thickset male sniffing around. Her scent wasn’t affected by her condition after all, and, as a pair, she could widen her territories, and, a male who wanted dragonlings would surely bring her lovely plump meals… She groaned, shaking her head to try and stop torturing herself. What male would choose her, for fear of her giving them a line of dragonlings as pure white as herself…? She crawled down into her earthen chamber and turned around, to lay her head on her forepaws, and poking free of her nest, settling her body, and softly groaning stomach into the warmest depths of it… soon, she mused, soon fortune would change for her… she was sure of it… The following day began slowly, Aurora roused, but dozed, her belly sending her signals that it wasn’t done yet, the meal was soup, and crushed bones, but needed a little more time. Sadly, it was not the feeling she craved… oh, yes, she felt the pleasant warmth in her belly as it worked hard on the bulky meal, but yet despite that, she also felt the niggle of hunger, of need… her body wasn’t satisfied, even as it worked the deer down into her intestines. Eventually, the sun rose enough to peek into her home, and she grunted, the warm rays easing her up to her paws, and crawling out into the day. She stretched, and yawned, bellowing softly. Then she froze. An ear twitched, and her head swivelled… she had heard something, distant, and her sharp nose picked up the whisper of a scent… Her muscles quivered with the blood rushing to them and like an arrow she was off, low, but running, weaving through her forest after the sound, sniffing for the scent. Oh, such a scent, it tickled her senses and enticed them… healthy, this animal was healthy, not the sickly, giving up scent of her normal prey. This one, was a rarity, and it brought an excited grin to her muzzle. All that stopped her bounding with all her speed was the fear of it escaping her… no, she couldn’t allow that. As she drew closer and closer though, the scent sank more deeply into her nostrils, and familiarity began to bloom… it wasn’t deer, nor a wild pig, certainly nothing reptilian… As she realised what it was, her paws nearly halted. It was a scent she knew, one that spoke of danger and opportunity, one that she had never scented in her region before, had never caught, and had only ever sampled twice when her parents were feeding them… it was the scent of a human. Her approach became significantly more cautious, and slow on her realisation… humans, she thought through all she knew of them… she knew, they lived in groups, in a central nest normally, and were a dangerous quarry considering their size… She imagined she was big enough to swallow a whole one now… that thought spurred her on, denying her any thought of retreat, as she gradually closed in on the scent… When she found him, it seemed quite sudden… there he was, mouth-wateringly full of meat compared to her past scrawny snacks, crouched to the ground… she could scent the stale odour of deer, the one she had eaten the day before… was he tracking the kill she had made? He was a bit behind… but what could be expected of something not a dragon… She tensed as he reacted suddenly, crouching lower, and drawing his weapon… a light whine of the wood as he stretched it, holding steady and still… before with a release of his hand, it twanged, and launched a sharp piece of wood into the undergrowth, greeted by a squeal. She kept still… curious, as she saw him move to his kill, lifting the skewered rabbit triumphantly. Her ear twitched… she hadn’t even seen it. With that, he moved off, stowing the carcass in a pouch and she followed. An odd curiosity she couldn’t deny had taken her, though she also did want to follow first… her hunger couldn’t be denied for long, but how she craved the chance he might lead her to more… He moved off as a quick pace, her trotting behind, stalking him as he made his way through the forest… he was easy to track, but, moved with care and grace… she found, she quite enjoyed watching. Soon though he stopped, and crouched. Once more, she eased closer, sniffing, but could not sense his quarry… but then, she saw it. Deer, big, juicy deer... a buck, nothing like what she had taken the day before… this thing, was too big for her to even swallow. Her mouth watered at the sight of all that meat… So taken was she, eyeing along the animal, so delicious looking it seemed handsome, when a familiar little sound snapped her back to reality, and the beast fell to the human’s shot… his kill… oh, that just wouldn’t do… She stalked closer, belly growling as she watched him relax, and stride to the prey, crouching in the clearing where he had downed it. She couldn’t do it…she couldn’t wait. It wouldn’t matter how big a nest he may come from, she couldn’t just follow all that meat home, scenting the blood and delicious flesh… she could not. The human was crouched over his impressive kill, as she eased from hiding, padding slowly towards him… but he wasn’t wholly dull, for he rose to face her, eyes widening as he froze, looking her over, assessing the danger, and then looking to his kill thoughtfully “This… you want this?” he asked faintly “were we hunting the same prey?” She hummed… it spoke; she had heard they might… “No, creature…” a light smile took her lips “I was hunting you” He swallowed “maybe, you’ll accept a trade? Pound for pound, as much of this beast’s flesh as you’d have gotten from me” She smiled more warmly… she liked this human, he saw to the core of it immediately “mmm, you’re a good little hunter, so, if you’ll invite me to share in your kill, I won’t feel the need to take you as well…” “Then we have a deal?” he stepped boldly in her way as she moved for the carcass. She snorted, and raised her head, eying him… he was brave, to do that “I want you to say it… dragon, then you may eat” “You presume to tell me when I may eat?” “From my kill… yes” She huffed, but a wry smirk touched her lips “very well… you have a deal human, allow me to eat from this carcass, and I will cancel my hunt of you” He smiled a bit, and stepped aside, only now, she noted, the slight tremble… scared, it was proper. She eased past him a bit, glancing to him before sinking her teeth into the carcass, eating ravenously, murring with how good the fatty flesh tasted after so long… Her muscles tightened briefly as she felt his paw on her flank, and turned her head, seeing him step back “sorry… I just wanted to touch… I’ve never seen a dragon, nor heard of… such a pretty one” She rumbled gently, her tail swishing in a slow arc “flattery, human? Well, it doesn’t hurt your chances… You may call me Aurora, if you wish” He nodded, moving around to before her head, sitting by the deer “I’m Samuel, Sam to my friends” She smirked, raising her head to regard him “I may call you Sam then?” He chuckled nervously “ah, not sure if this predator and prey relationship between us is quite the same as friendship” She padded closer to him, head looming to his with a slight grin “No? That’s a shame… after all, were we to continue this relationship we’d be sure to get… very, very close” He smiled, nervous, as he leaned away from her muzzle “ah… you know what, Sam, will be fine” She nodded gently “mmm, Sam it is” she turned back to the meal, and buried her muzzle into the core if it as the human watched with unnerved fascination “Well… it looks like you’re capable of stripping this thing to the bone… I’ve got a rabbit for dinner, so… I’ll just be going… and count my lucky stars that buck saved my life…” Aurora nodded lightly, looking to him as he eased cautiously for the trees “you may leave; Sam, but I won’t require the whole carcass…” He nodded faintly, and took one step closer “well… maybe, I could just… cut a piece…” She watched his cautious motions with amusement, licking her chops clean as he crouched, and with a small blade cut into the meat, a piece quite large for him, which he wrapped in cloth and put in his pouch, bowing lightly to her as he moved back “Well… this is all I really need… goodbye, Aurora” She smirked as he fled, and turned back to the carcass, ripping into it with gusto, packing her stomach full, till it hung pleasantly, and post meal fatigue sank into her aching muscles… yet, she found her thoughts lingering on the human, and stretched before padding after him… true to her word, she wouldn’t eat him today… but she’d like to see where he went, know why she hadn’t found him before… and, if there were more of them. Adept hunter, he may be, but she ranked his ability to evade her rather low, as she kept pace with the fleeing human. He had slowed, trying to sneak home, but it was not his forte… and she easily tracked him even with her blissfully full belly… it complained loudly to her walking on, wanting to rest and digest, but the potential of more meals for the week ahead was too good an opportunity to abandon or risk… for now he knew she lived this way… he might not come back, if he had options. She tracked him to the farther reaches of her territory… to a region that was poor in prey, and not bordering any other dragons… a place she rarely came, and then stopped. Through her cover, she spotted his nest… a long, wooden construction… her heart sank… he was alone. With her disappointment, her stomach made a last appeal, and, not wanting to go all the way back with it, she settled out a short distance from his nest, peering through the undergrowth at it… hoping maybe she’d get some leads… but mostly just eager to enjoy her belly. It was with a softer, more tender purr than she’d managed for a while, that she pawed her full, content belly… no hunger clawing… just, weary contentment. She closed her eyes, and sank so easily into slumber as her body devoted all to digesting and absorbing the grand meal the human had given her… Aurora groaned as she woke, basking in the pleasant daylight and the thrumming warmth pooled in her belly, making her feel full and lazy still… Oh, she felt like she could lay there forever, dozing off the heavy meal of rich buck deer… She opened an eye slowly, casting it around, as she suddenly remembered where she had lain out… the scent of human was stale… but she knew he was inside, and still inside. With a reluctant grunt, she stretched herself, and contemplated going home… but no, this was too good a moment to waste… and her body needed time anyway… she rested her head lazily, and watched his door, simply enjoying listening to her stomach groan, processing what remained of the deer… two meals in two days, and one a good meal… her luck was turning… and, there was yet another meal in her future… this human, would eventually find her belly… she did like him, yes, but interesting as he was, eventually he’d be needed to sate. That was just how things went… A slow creak grabbed her attention and she perked an ear, noting how the entrance to his nest opened, and the human padded out. She grinned, to his being uncovered mostly… his lower region was, but his torso was exposing the soft pale flesh… he looked tasty, very delicious… and yet… maybe it was that she was sated, but she didn’t feel much of an urge to hunt him… it was very odd. She watched as he did something to his mouth… then spat to the ground, washing his face in a container of water, and then moving back inside… she imagined he’d reveal himself again soon enough. She stretched a bit, wiggling her paws with some mirth… ah, she could rest a bit longer, he’d not stray far… She wasn’t sure how much time passed, she dozed in and out of sleep as her stomach groaned over what was left of the deer, eventually quietening down as the processing ended… She came to, quite suddenly, to a soft pressure on her muzzle. Her head raised sharply, and she bared her fangs in a snarl just before she recognised the startled human before her… he had found her Sam cleared his throat gently “um… sorry to wake you, while you… watched my house…” he stepped back a little “dare I ask why you’re here…” Aurora huffed, her snarl ceasing as she felt oddly… embarrassed to have been caught “Well… this is my territory, I’ll doze off where I please” He smiled faintly “and the fact it was right outside my house had nothing to do with it…? You followed me, I suppose…” He sat nearby, looking to her “I can only assume, this means you want to know where I live… the why, might not be pleasant…” She stood uneasily with her full stomach, realising with a wince, that on top of all this, some deer from two days ago really wanted to frolic in the woods again… “Sam…” she said slowly, hoping to somehow diffuse suspicion “I would like to… do you a favour, given, on reflection, I did take your kill, and in doing so gain a meal, and lose you yours…” she looked to his house “I’m also curious, to you the new hunter in my territory” “Is that all?” he asked with a raised eyebrow “well… I’ll hope you speak true, because… I think I’m somewhat at your mercy right now…” he looked to his home “maybe, you can try to fit inside…? You’re quite big though…” She huffed “I will come to your home, soon… I need to, uh…” He gave a grimacing smile “I get it… I’ll, be waiting, Aurora…” She tried, and miserably failed to retain her dignity as she stalked away, a step too fast or several, a retreat. She could feel her scales going pink around her face as she blushed her embarrassment. A human had sneaked up on her… and she’d had to flee the meeting to relieve herself. She scowled faintly… she’d never live it down. A short excursion into the woods, a dug hole, and a lightening equating to one scrawny deer were all that stood between her and the appointed meeting, and she did each quickly, feeling somewhat better for it. With the necessary act passed, she padded back through her woods towards the human’s nest… a part of her doubted he’d be there. Were he wise he’d have fled, never to return to her territory… which she reflected, was a shame. He would have made a fine meal… and, she had to admit, he had impressed her. He hunted well, and though he seemed to have little skill for avoiding being hunted, he was able to sneak up on a sleeping dragon… no small feat. It took her longer than she wanted to admit to find his nest again, her mind had been distracted when she left, but find it she did, and approach boldly, sniffing around thoughtfully. The nest was clearly made, largish… odd looking really, but his scent was strong… maybe he was even still here. She padded closer, and was greeted by the nest opening, an entrance small enough for him from which he peered out nervously “ah, I had wondered if you were coming back… or if I should expect you to burst in through the roof…” She rumbled, sitting to her haunches, enjoying how his eyes roamed her a moment… she felt an odd power now, he was in his nest, and nervous… it was good to remind herself, that no matter how he had caught her off guard, she was the predator here… nature had blessed her with a strong scaly body, wide throat, and thick stomach that could deal with him should she need “Of course I came back, but I am surprised you remained” She watched as he smiled weakly “if I’d fled my home, I’d have nowhere to go, and I suspect you could catch me if you wanted to” Aurora grinned, and leaned closer, noticing how he stepped back into his home, and, she let her head follow him “I won’t fit inside, to talk, but, this may do, hmm?” Outside, her tail swayed contentedly, he was trapped now… all hers. To her mind, their deal of yesterday was already past, that put his existence in her paws, a position of power she found… oddly exhilarating, and planned to milk for all it was worth. She coiled her tongue out, letting it run up his arm, and purred when he tried to rub the goo off “So… tell me then, what brought you to my territory… what compelled you to come here, did you not know it is dragon lands?” Sam sighed, and sat on the edge of his little bedding spot “it’s… a long story” She rumbled, hovering her head before him, pressing her shoulders right to the doorway “I have time…” He nodded “well… alright, but, I’m not sure human reasons will mean much to a dragon…” he paused a moment “Well… first, I kinda knew this region had some dragon sightings, but, I didn’t realise I was in your territory…” he clicked his tongue, and looked over her muzzle “as to why… well, back home… my old home, I was a twin, second born of us two… identical twins. Now… only one of us, could get our land, and… though by a few moments, he was first born… there was bad blood between us over that… and, even when it settled, because we look the same, there was… confusion. Let’s just say… I was encouraged to leave, and am not very welcome going back… so, here I am, scraping my own living” Aurora nodded gently, some of her mirth ebbed “I think, I can understand” She eased her head a little away, looking over him… not all she understood, but it seemed, due to the nature of his birth, he was denied the lands he wished… in that, they seemed the same… she tilted her head… it was indeed odd, she didn’t especially want to eat him… “Well, you may stay here, generally, my kind try to let humans have their nests safe… but meet me in a hunt, and no promises” He sighed heavily; smiling warmly at her… she liked how his face lit up “thank you… it’s more than I dared hope for” She rumbled lightly “before you get too happy… I’ll ask you remain, in my territory. Run off, and I might be tempted to hunt you…” Sam gave a gentle nod “I understand… you needn’t worry about that. Like I said, nowhere to go… further along the roads, and I’ll meet… more dragons, back the way I came, unwelcome… untracked forest everywhere else… I’ll take my chances” She murred, and withdrew “good… I’ll see you sometime… Sam” With that, she swayed off, putting a little extra sway into her gait, knowing he was watching her leave… yes, a nice little oddity she had found, a tempting morsel… she’d certainly be keeping an eye on him… The following day, having picked all that remained of the deer carcass clean the night before on her way home, Aurora was given a rare treat, a morning where she felt… content. Not hungry, nor sleepy for processing a meal. It was nice… Of course, such an awareness reminded her of how she had come to acquire it, and hence drew her mind once more to Sam. So it was that she spent the early day indulging in a new hobby. Human watching. Something odd was drawing her to the human, as she followed Sam that day, unseen, and unheard. She knew he was likely a future meal, yet she found interest in watching how he hunted, and assessing his skill. She told herself, she wanted to know how best to catch him later, but wasn’t sure she was being honest with herself… She found him, amusing, in how he went about things. His ranged method was interesting, and useful, he was good at creeping up on his prey, but woefully inept at noticing he was being stalked… as prey, he was easy, but as a hunter… she had to admit, she found his performance very pleasing… As the day wore on, and the sun rose high, she grew bored, and stalked closer, waiting till he was only searching for new prey, and nice and open… before she made her pounce. The human squealed pleasingly as her forepaws planted themselves on his shoulders, knocking him to his belly as her hind paws landed to end her pounce. She chuckled gently, and settled down. Her chest and belly pressed to his body, leaning her head down; to lick the back of his head “We meet again…” “Aurora” he gasped, trying to look back to confirm “now… hold on, maybe, I can make another deal” She smirked, rumbling with a slow lick of her chops… this was promising “oh, a deal?” He smiled weakly “sure… I can give you something in place, of me” She couldn’t help chuckling, and decided to go easy on him… this time. She eased up, stretching “calm down, I’m not hunting you for food… yet” He swallowed, scrabbling to his feet so he could face her “oh… I’m glad. I suppose… you have a reason for approaching” “Boredom” “Oh…” he chuckled weakly, a nervous little preyish laugh that brought a grin to her muzzle “But it could be hunger next time… so you’d better learn to know when you’re being hunted, little hunter… or, become a good enough hunter, to always be able to supply me with meals” He smiled weakly “Not sure I’m good enough for that…” She beamed, struck by the oddest urge “well, I’m not doing anything, how about, I give you some lessons in hunting like a dragon?” Sam only nodded weakly, not fool enough to refuse a dragoness’s game, and so sealed his fate to be her student. Aurora was a firm teacher, as she pressed a paw to make sure he stayed on all four paws, and had him follow her through the brush, correcting his posture with amusement. She guided him in scents, though he seemed to have little skill for them, taught gleefully how to hide oneself from sight in the growth and without success tried to get his pounce right. He was clearly poorly built to be a dragon, but she kept him in the role, enjoying her fun as she led her human toy through each little test, giving a firm lick when he succeeded, and a firm press with her paw when he was below her lofty expectations. Yet, as the first darkness began to shroud the day she let him move on his hind legs once more, and with her nose, guided him after their prey… once more, deer appeared to be on the menu, but once again it was weak… but, she watched with enjoyment as under her gaze he clearly tried to follow her lessons, and even seemed to have picked up some tips, easing silently through the plant life to near his target and get a better shot, before he let his arrow go, and the creature fell. With a whoop Aurora leapt from her hiding spot, prancing around as Sam moved to his kill to ensure it was dead “aha, my best student, catching prey, I’m so proud” Sam smiled gently, giving her an elaborate bow “oh, and I’m sure I couldn’t have done it without you, my lady, won’t you share in our success?” She grinned “don’t mind if I do…” she pounced upon the meal, and ate half in a single bite, leaving Sam looking slightly perturbed, but, he offered a weak smile, before crouching to cut free what he could “The rest of the carcass is yours, if you want it, when I’m done… I can’t just swallow huge chunks like you do” She nodded, sitting near him, watching how he cut away his share “In all seriousness, I do enjoy watching you hunt, but you’re very easy to track… but for that, I’d think you quite adept” He offered a wry smile “Maybe you’re just that good” She smirked to his words, batting him down gently with her tail “flatterer… but maybe you’re right” He managed only a grunt, faintly winded, as he pushed her tail away, smiling to her a little “you know… you’re nothing at all like I’d thought a dragon would be” She tilted her head “No? And what should I be like?” He chuckled weakly “Oh, you should be just like this, but it’s not what I expected” She smirked, turning on him, padding closer, her head looming over his fallen form as she noted he got nervous “I see… then, what did you expect…” she licked his cheek fleetingly “human” He blushed faintly, and slowly, raised his hands, touching along her neck “well… I expected you’d only be interested in eating me, for one… was half expecting a… feral, slavering beast, considering your kind live in caves, in the hills… like time alone” She rumbled, closing her eyes for a moment, and losing herself in a soft purr, that broke to a gentle moan as she leaned closer, his delicate little hands working the firm muscles of her neck, stroking down… it, was like nothing she’d experienced, not unlike the soft pressure of a tender lick, but more intense, in how his digits moved… it was, lovely He smiled gently “you like that, huh?” She nodded, opening her eyes again, smiling “mmm… I certainly do, enough to overlook that slavering beast comment. Just because we don’t require what you do to live. That is the reason, and keep it in mind” a wry grin took her lips, and she gave his face a firm lick, hearing him splutter and feeling him wiggle “and don’t fool yourself, I’m very, very interested in eating you up, Sam… but, for now we can be friends, hmm?” He smiled faintly, as he finally managed to push her muzzle away “I can’t tell if you really plan to eat me, or if you’re teasing” She winked “and that’s the way I like it” She padded back, letting him stand once more, and stretched herself. With eyes cast back, she briefly examined him, in truth, she didn’t know if she wanted to eat him, or just play… for some reason, play, sounded very good. Perhaps with his voice, and skills, she saw some dragon in him… enough, maybe, to keep him around? That was yet to be seen… After that day’s meeting, Aurora let the human go, padding home herself, belly pleasantly topped up… yes, she had eaten well, the herds must be coming in early this year. As she approached her home, she sighed faintly in distaste, and eased into the burrow, so close to the ground was no way for a dragon to live… and in the earth. Her mind couldn’t help going to the odd nest that Sam had, musing, if she could do the same, or, try to widen the entrance to his nest. She rumbled faintly, amused as she realised she was pondering moving to that young male’s nest. Were he a dragon, it would be seen as courtship. She snorted faintly, resting her head down, and looking out over the forest floor. Interesting… courtship. He was no dragon, but perhaps that was why she felt so playful around him, maybe, some part of her was craving a partner enough to consider the human. With a shifting of her hind paws, she wiggled herself side to side, contemplating how she felt… she was, growing more and more eager for a male… With a jolt, it came to her… and she counted off seasons in her mind… yes, could it be, was her heat approaching? She groaned, pressing her paws over her muzzle… heat, yes, that had to be it; she was approaching heat again… such an awful time. She remembered her first heat, it was… awful, the lust, the unending need… her loins burning for entrance. With a shake of her head, she told herself she would be strong. Tomorrow, she would approach the human again, try and figure out if it was indeed the approach of heat that made her like him, and… maybe then, much as it pained her to consider it now, be away with him. Better she not have him around, torturing herself. Uneasily she dozed off that night, head swimming in confusion over that human… The morning didn’t bring encouraging signs, as she dozed past sunrise, she reflected on her discontentment, her male thoughts over the last week, and the pressing of her hunger… not to mention, with her new focus, she could indeed tell, the first tingles of heat were approaching… didn’t feel like a bad one, but one none the less… She stretched eventually, flexing herself, before padding directly for the human’s nest, fairly sure she knew the way now… It didn’t take long before she found him, moving from his home, and padded without restraint into sight, noticing how he briefly froze, before smiling softly “Ah… Aurora… not here to eat me, are you?” She found herself smiling, her thoughts and plans faltering briefly as she swayed closer, licking his cheek gently “mmm, here to continue our lessons on how to be a dragon” He smiled, but she kept her muzzle close to him, flickering her eyes shut as she took a long breath of him… human, yes, a little bit of her own scent on him… but then it hit, yes, the tickle in her nostrils, the signal that screamed simply, male. She licked her chops briefly, sitting to her haunches to regard him, as he looked to her with a sign of nerves again… deliciously timid when eating could occur. What was he… prey, certainly, a fun companion… seemed possible... he was certainly male, but not a dragon. She reminded herself, not a dragon She smiled down at him, tempting thoughts though… “Today… well, were you a little dragon, next would be flying, but… I doubt you’ll be able to do that” Sam shook his head “no… well, how about, this time… I show you a couple of things…?” She huffed “you show me?” He nodded gently “I won’t claim it will be good… but, wouldn’t you like to see how a human does things, seeing you’re getting so interested in my time?” She mused it for a moment, and smiled “Yes… perhaps, why don’t you show me then” He chuckled, and beckoned her to follow, as he made his way into the woodland on his hunt. Oddly enough, despite her misgivings, she did enjoy the day, following his lead as he hunted, moving as he suggested. She felt she had been right, in thinking herself the better hunter, but, his directions made a sort of sense, as, rather than teach, he used her to augment his own skills. He had them work as a team. It stirred her in a way she hadn’t anticipated, as after their tracking, she weaved around, chasing a boar into his sights, watching his arrow, as he called it, speed to end the creature that was often too wily for her paws to trap once it had begun to run. Through it all, she felt herself grinning as they hunted side by side… though with a pang, when they settled around the kill, she realised, it was just how she imagined she, and her mate to be would hunt… paired dragons often hunted together… and she felt, oddly shamed by her exhilaration in his company. Yet, when he offered her first take of the kill, she couldn’t help but look at him fondly… somewhere inside her, he ticked every box, one by one, some part of her refusing to accept he was human, as they recognised dragon traits… how often now had he fed her? Had he been a dragon, he’d have had a mating for each gift she accepted… but for him she had not… oh, he hadn’t been seeking her that way, but the fantasising part of her mind hung onto those little debts teasingly… In the little mental battle though, her yearning side won a point as, after they had eaten, she gently suggested, maybe, he should lead her home. Oh, she knew he didn’t know what that meant, and there was a giddy thrill, in knowing she’d effectively offered herself to him, and he not knowing to act upon it… She let that little game thrill her, as she led him deeper and deeper, nudging him along, to her burrow in the deep woods, her delight ebbing as she remembered how lowly her accommodation was… She padded to it, and crawled inside, peeking out at him “Well… this is home” He nodded, looking her over with a soft smile “odd, and I thought you lived in caves” She huffed faintly “the best places were taken…” she shrugged “it keeps me warm and mostly dry” Sam smiled “ah, you look cute in it” She flushed, her ears perking “cute?” He blushed faintly “I just meant… um, you’re still fearsome, but seeing you fill it so completely, is… well, a little cute” She rumbled faintly “hmm… cute you say… well, if you think being curled in a small space is cute, I’ve got one for you” He put up his hands, chuckling “alright, alright. You win… you’re not cute, you’re a vicious, bloodthirsty, man-eating dragon who I’m lucky enough to have survived so many meetings with” She murred “Better… now, you could stay if you like or…” He looked up, to the setting sun “oh… I can get home, but, thanks for showing me this… feels nice, to know where you live, considering you know where I live” Aurora nodded softly; watching as the little human moved away… it was a shame in some ways, she felt… oddly inclined to have him cuddle to her scales in her den. She huffed; resting her head as she stretched inside… those thoughts weren’t helping… Resting out, her mind taunted her with a different idea, just as her mind reached that wild, zany, dreamy place that rested just shy of true sleep… for that moment, the oddly relieving thought bloomed. Perhaps she shouldn’t be resisting so much… Curious dreams plagued her mind that night, she had dreamed of a fine, handsome, sweet male before, but she recognised this dragon… as Sam, his voice… his, being, even though in her dream he was a dragon… hunting for her, laying by her… it brought an odd joy… but as with all dreams, the best part is denied… and she woke as, when he was about to mount, she looked back, and was horrified to find a human where her dragon should be… The jolt, and firm disappointment of her dream staggered her a moment, as she snorted her displeasure for the unfairness of reality. She allowed herself to mope sleepily for a while, before the rising sun stirred her out, and she padded off into the trees to rid her body of the ungainly weight of processed prey. Her day had little motivation behind it as she padded along, familiarity making her pad in the direction of Sam’s region. She wasn’t exceptionally hungry, yet she was restless… a certain hunger beginning to nag at her, a hunger of a different sort. Eventually, she caught Sam’s fresher scent, and found herself backtracking as his path was leading into the depths of her territory… that thought made her smile… coming to visit her, perhaps… Once she had his scent, it took little time to find him, moving towards her home, hardly even seeming to try and hide… she knew she should approach, yet, she found herself sneaking, curious… especially as indeed he seemed to be going for her home. She purred to herself… a young male seeking out her nest, so romantic… if he were a dragon. As he entered a little clearing, she made her move, head low she darted out, and grabbed one of his legs in her mouth, lifting suddenly, rumbling as he yelped, flailing as his bow fell to the ground beside them. He blinked, as he was faced with her belly, and looked up at her head as she bounced him with mirth, her tail beating “Aurora… we need to stop meeting like this” She rumbled gently, bobbing him a little more, shifting her jaws as she gripped more down his leg a bit “mmm, I like this way” He grunted, wiggling a bit “Well, I don’t… it’s, embarrassing” suddenly he shifted a bit, and she felt his weight slipping, the outer layer of his cloth coverings sliding away as she tugged up, the human falling to his back with a grunt. She leaned down, peering under her belly as she covered him with her form “are you alright?” He groaned, lifting his head, which bumped her belly “ow… yeah, I’m alright… ah, but you’ve ripped my… never mind” he paused, and looked around “hey, do you smell something?” She froze “like what?” He sniffed, and she watched intently as he replied “not sure, sweet, like lavender…” She purred… her scent; he could scent her in her heat. She swallowed with a moment of trembling need, and something inside her snapped. She took a single step forward, aligning her hips. “Hey, Aurora… what are you… Oh go…!” Sam’s voice was cut out, as she sat herself, and shuddered with a moan as she felt a soft squelch down below and a tremble of sheer pleasure rolled through her For a moment she just sat there, feeling her insides below rippling, gripping, as Sam’s paws struck harmlessly along her belly, his feeling hands trying to push her off, with no success. Her tongue hung from her mouth, as her breathing deepened, long panting breaths. With her back legs shaking and weak, she raised her hips, clenching without intention as he briefly felt like he might slip out, then sitting again with a long, luxurious bellow… Sam’s rump hit ground, and in a gloriously long, deep moment, her sinking hips slid down over his chest and belly, those delicate paws of his trapped inside, and feeling against the sensitive, rippling flesh of her folds. What thoughts she had that weren’t involved with her delight, ended in that moment. Her hips rose again, and then struck ground, the wriggling… oh, the wriggling… it intensified with that one, as she felt her folds rippling on the last of him. Each firm squeeze of her folds brought a perfect, relieving surge of deepest pleasure that coursed warmly through her, ebbing the pains of heat, telling her that this was right. She closed her eyes, stretching her back legs as instinct commanded, her eager sex perfectly capable of holding Sam in now despite gravity, as the joyous pleasure gripped her instinct, and she squatted forward with her rump raised as if her human partner were indeed a dragon… the most handsome, filling of male dragons. In purest bliss she crouched, hips pulsing as he wriggled inside her, even slowing bit by bit, her eyes closed and tongue lolling with the enraptured delight. As suddenly as it had begun, or so it felt, she found a roar erupting from her throat, and her insides quivering with the peak of her passions, squeezing Sam tightly inside her as her folds slurped the very last of him in, the slit sealing behind him, as if he never was. Her legs gave out, and she thudded to her belly, panting deeply, as a low, perfectly content purr rolled out of her throat… waves of ecstasy washed out from her loins through her whole body, a feeling that convinced her every inch that her needs were perfectly met, and life was good… with her eyes closed, she didn’t know how long she laid there, enjoying the constant tide of sensation, kept along by the tremoring going on within. The deep, new, bright sensations overwhelming her mind… maybe she even drifted off briefly, but, as she came down from her high, she felt odd… It was a feeling she couldn’t quite place… it felt a little, wrong, but at the same time, not bad… it took her dozy, addled mind a while to realise… as she mused how sad it was that the high had to fade, she realised, with a jolt, that her loins were still She rolled onto her side quickly, pressing a paw to her lower belly, shivering a soft groan as she felt the bulk within… Sam, he wasn’t moving, but to her relief, wiggled just a bit to the rubbing of her paw… alive, but worn out no doubt. For a moment, she blushed brightly, realising exactly what she’d done. She contemplated not letting him out for a moment, trying hard to find some way for that to be a decision she could make… but no, this… was something she couldn’t avoid… With the blush lingering she pushed, till his feet poked free… and then she reached to grip, and tugged his slickened form out. She couldn’t help moaning to the stimulation of his removal, and before he was free, she caught her wrist pushing him back in for the feeling, and corrected herself, tugging him out wholly and letting go… looking him over. The human gasped a deep breath once his head was free, and laid there, shivering a bit in the cold as he blinked, seeming stunned… maybe with reason. Aurora curled around him a bit; resting her head to watch his recovery… she did hope she hadn’t broken him. It took time, but he slowly sat up, looking along his arms as he stretched them, membranes of the cooling ooze hanging briefly between limb and body as he tried to wipe off the worst of it all “gods…” he finally murmured weakly “I’m sorry” Aurora noted faintly “I, got a little crazy with it, I’m in heat” He nodded a bit “had a cat in heat once… didn’t do that” She smirked “bet they didn’t have as sexy a mouse…” His eyes met hers, and she found them hard to read… fear, hope, startled somewhat maybe, and embarrassed “I… uh, well” he stammered “I’m… going to go home… and take a bath, and, try to figure out if today happened…” Aurora nodded lightly, shifting her tail from his way “are you angry with me…?” He paused a moment, seeming, to consider it “no… I don’t think I am… but, I’m very confused… can we talk tomorrow… just, just talk” She gave a gentle nod, and leaned her head, picking up his bow to offer him. He took it, hugging to it as if it was the only thing that could keep him anchored to sanity, before he wobbled away from her, staggering home. After a moment she stretched herself, and padded after him… she wanted to rest, but felt a little bad… not regretful of what had occurred, oh no… she had loved it far too much to even consider wishing it away… but she did feel a little bad for any harm she might have done to him, or their bond… so she kept a few steps behind him as he moved for home, making sure he got there. Sam did stumble a few times, but caught himself, groaning. Under his breath she heard him mutter about her, and the day… the words didn’t sting, but rang with notes of disbelieve, and simple bewilderment… Once she saw him reach his door, she left him alone, to his privacy for now, padding home. Through it all, her smile remained, and though the pleasure had ebbed, the satisfaction, and satiation remained… she had enjoyed her male… and though she did hope he’d come around, she knew if the heat pangs rose again, she’d take him once more… A smirk took her muzzle, as her tail swayed. He had brought her gifts, had been led to her home, and had been allowed to enter her, if in an unusual way, the bonds of dragonkind were done… he was her male now… all hers The new day greeted her pleasantly… a tickle of need had returned, but still a great relief from the need that had driven her wild… she wanted to rest, but eased up, stretching… she needed to check on Sam… she knew it was only fair. With notable apprehension she made her way through her woods, hoping he wouldn’t be too upset… after all, how bad could it be… maybe, she told herself, he could have even liked it… though he had wiggled a lot… which had been nice Eventually, despite her worrying, she found his home again, and he was sitting outside, leaning against the wall. The soft groans he let out suggested pain, and she winced as she stepped out to be seen. He looked over to her, nodding weakly “won’t be hunting today… ugh, everything aches…” She nodded, head low as she moved closer, sitting to regard him “yes… sorry about that” A weak smile graced his lips “I’ve never had a girl… take control quite like that… without warning, or asking… or, being my size…” She rumbled gently “no? I assure you, it’s common amid dragons for a female to very much take control” He raised an eyebrow “and push her male inside?” She shook her head “well, no...” He grimaced as he stretched “bruised all over… you, are tight inside, when you’re using all of me… damn, yesterday seems like it’s impossible… I was just going through the woods, and then you pounced and… used me as a sex toy… did it even happen? I know I feel like I’ve been squeezed and clenched, and my clothes still stink of sex and lavender even after all the cleaning… but did it actually happen?” She nodded with a purr at the memory “I can assure you it did. And, I’m very glad of it” she hummed, leaning closer, licking his cheek boldly “I needed it, very badly, and you’re the male I’ve picked… you’re mine now” He paled a bit “chosen… yours? Now… Aurora, hold on a minute…” She rumbled, smirk widening “no, you hold on, my delicious little male… that’s what I said, and what I mean, you’re mine… mine to enjoy, as I like… and in turn I’m yours to enjoy. I need a dragon, and while in body you’re… small, in act you’ve met the qualifications” His paling turned to a blush as he scrambled back against his wall, feeling for the doorway that was out of reach, though her pinning muzzle kept him where he was “Aurora… I’m flattered, really, but…” “Sam” she cut him off with a purring note, drawing his focus, and freezing him still “my claiming, you need to accept… more important, yesterday, did you hate it, or, like it…?” He swallowed “it was intense… so intense, I’m not sure… my mind kinda blanked out… but… I didn’t really have much to complain about till I woke with these aches…” She smiled gently, delivering a lick along his torso, the pressure lifting his shirt, to caress his body with the warm muscle “then, for the duration of my heat, you are mine, I’ll try to be gentle, but you are mine…” she hummed “consider this… being my male has its perks, I won’t eat you if you have another purpose to me” He looked along her, nervous but… in his eyes, she saw him decide “I… I can live with that… so long as you’re careful with me…” She smirked “if you sate my need often, it won’t explode like that again…” He nodded gently “I’ll bear that in mind…” She eased back “good… now, since yesterday wore you so… I’ll keep your tasks today light, my male… you will stroke me, as you’ve not a big enough tongue to groom me with it… tomorrow, you will feed me, and mate me” He swallowed, nodding lightly “alright… I’ll do what you say” She grinned, cooing “good boy…” The day, Aurora mused, was going perfectly. She had sprawled before his nest, and he had crouched before her, and put his wonderful little paws to work. He caressed her muzzle, holding it in his hands as he rubbed, working down to her jowls, and then up, gracing her horns and the delicate scales around them. The tender work made her moan softly with simple delight, and she could smell on him how her sounds stirred him, and hear in his heartbeat, that he found a primal excitement in touching her body, in pleasing her so deeply with his touch. She found as the day moved on, she lost all track of time, curling her tail to surround him, as he made his way down her long sinuous neck, down her limbs to beautifully massage her claws digits… to the firmer, deep press he worked down her belly, akin to her father’s old licks, and then to her powerful hind legs, where he lingered, before moving to her tail. Sam, she could see, was enraptured by the task he’d at first been wary of… even though he moved and stretched, he didn’t complain, only grunting softly when it hurt, enamoured with her body. He shivered with her every deep breath that swelled her chest, tenderly stroked along the strong, rippling muscles of her predatory form, and lost himself in the smooth, warm touch of her scales. So fondly she regarded him, that for that time eating him fled utterly from her mind, her nuzzling him tenderly in return, as, she could not deny, something so much deeper was forming… something she cherished, dare she say, love… The day ebbed towards evening, before Aurora noticed how long they’d been together… but Sam worked on, and she couldn’t bring herself to have him stop… and she didn’t want to go home. With a firm nudge, she pressed him to her belly, as the sky darkened, and folded a wing over them both, cuddling her head to him, as she rested, feeling him tirelessly stroking the head rested on his lap. She murred deeply to the dedication he had found, and sank to the easiest sleep of her life, even rested in the open, a gleaming opal amid the green of the forest. The next morning, Aurora stirred pleasantly, feeling that Sam had woken first, for his hands moved gently along her body, scratching her belly plates as he waited for her to rouse. With a soft bellow of a yawn she folded back her wing, looking gently to the human, rumbling “morning, my male” He smiled to her gently “Morning…” he looked to her, sighing “you know… I, I’m actually very glad, that we met like this, that we did all this…” She purred “yesterday, was divine” He smiled softly “it was… you’re such a beautiful beast… strong, and agile, and, so vast” She chuckled, stretching herself out before him, leaning her head, to lick his cheek, speaking softly “and this body is all yours…” she grinned at how he tremored, and at the male scent it provoked… she briefly wondered why she had taken so long to enthral him so… Somehow, his adoration felt beautifully right, and, she eagerly anticipated this night, when he’d mate her, of his own power. She imagined, she might want a fair bit of him sliding inside, to make her roar, but… she found she also wanted him to enjoy, to relish in the union. She smiled gently… she was growing fond of the human He reached along her belly again, hugging to her warm scales “I love, feeling so close to you… you’re a girl, who I can, hear the heartbeat, feel your breathing, where I can spend all day caressing your every beautiful inch, and not feel a moment’s boredom” She felt a tender murr flow out at his words, nuzzling her snout to his side “we are a mated pair now, we are as one” He smiled “as one…” he kissed the firm muscles of her chest, and stood, stretching a bit “I feel reasonably limber… I, should go get you food then” She purred “Tis the dragon way… feed your female, and then…you may take her” He grinned eagerly “Yes ma’am” She purred, watching as her sprightly little male rose, and hurried to his house to prepare for hunting… an odd bond, she mused, but she liked it, a great deal. It wasn’t long before he was back out, and on his way, and she decided she’d amuse herself by taking a look at his nest… after a little more napping. The sun was warm, pleasant, and sleep was easy to find in her contentment, though, she didn’t sleep long, her loins beginning to burn, wanting more of her male. Roused so needily, she huffed and stood, padding for his nest, hers now, she mused. She poked her head inside, sniffing around, nudging his things with her muzzle, a few of the furnishings toppling to her press, but she ignored them. She tasted some things that smelt of him, but the thick, woolly texture saw itself spat out again, before she grew bored, and withdrew, to pad around the building. At length, he returned, grunting promisingly. She rushed for the sound, and grinned to observe his catch, deer again, it really must be their season approaching. Perhaps her body had already sensed it, and put her to her heat, expecting times of plenty, she knew not, but either way she ravenously fell on the carcass, eating with a passion. Sam’s gentle paws working down her flank as she dined. She was in bliss… so hard to imagine, it was all due to a human of all things… but, she wasn’t about to object. The meal, didn’t last long, and she turned to regard him with a grin, crouching before him, tail lashing behind “time then for your reward… me, you may mount” Sam blushed under her gaze “might, be a size issue…” She grinned, leaning her muzzle close, to deliver a faint lick to his cheek “mmm, try” Obediently, he approached, removing his garments as she rolled to her side, and then to her back, imagining he wasn’t long enough to mount from behind. The position would have been uncomfortable, but, she didn’t think his weight would be enough to hurt her wings underneath her. Her flanks shivered with curious anticipation, as he walked up, trying to evade her sweeping tail, as he stepped one foot atop its base, reaching up to grab at her thigh, his other foot finding the join between thigh and body as he clambered atop her. She murred, giggling with his odd mounting, but grinned with unrepressed enjoyment of the scenario… Soon, he was sat between her heavy thighs, looking down the plain of her belly, to her raised but spread forepaws, and the head curled to watch him. Aurora purred, spreading her legs a bit, the finer scales around her slit parting. How she relished, in watching his eyes go dizzy a moment, as the puff of pheromones rose directly to him… for a moment, she thought he might fall, but he steadied himself, sighing “Oh… Aurora… I feel so close to you… I want to do my part… but I could so easily disappoint…” She rumbled, wiggling her hips just slightly, her eyes taking in his small, soft body… he wasn’t so small… he’d be a full meal, after all… but despite the fact he could slide utterly within, this way, she wanted to try “just mount me male… show me how close you feel…” His face lit up with a dreamy smile, and the firm maleness between his legs disappeared from her sight as he crouched forward, lying to her belly. His entrance was pleasant, if indeed a tickle, but his rocking, rubbing to her, stirred her pleasures nicely, and she sprawled back, closing her eyes, enjoying the warming pleasure that flowed through her, trying to let her imagination go wild, and build the gently pleasure into something more firm… in her mind, he was like a male dragon, licking at her folds eagerly… yes, that was what this was like, and she liked it… with a murr, she let that image consume her… in her mind, the dragon was Sam… and yet, not as he was… he was dragon to her right now, after all… for he had fed her, and had earnt the right to mount, as she had accepted it. She sank into pleasant stupor, feeling the rise and fall of her delicate little human, beginning to gently moan, as he grunted… sounds primal and male, but quiet enough that it brought a wry smile to her lips… he was lucky he’d fed her, or this surge of instinct might have taken a more voracious turn… After a time, he cried out, and she assumed he peaked. She hummed… as the pleasure gently ebbed away… it had been nice, not so intense, that the stopping was painful, but very relaxing… yet she decided to not note that point, and murred deeply to his sounds. She appreciated his mounting all the same He panted, as he sprawled on the warm pale scales of her belly, eyes closed, as he listened to her body… the thudding of her excited heart, the soft, wet groans of her stomach, processing his offering… such, wonderful, pure contentment flowed through him, like nothing he’d ever known. He eased free of her loins, and crawled up, to sprawl, with his head on her bulky chest, body on her softer belly… how, oddly perfect her body was made, to serve as a bed, he mused, with a warm smile “Oh… Aurora… I never knew, I could feel this… loved, this great… to be so close, to such a grand female” he looked fondly up to her head “may I… oh may I please stay like this…” She murred, taking a firm breath, his weight pleasant like that, his body pressed to her belly… her eyes caressed his succulent nude form… imagining him, just a foot or two lower… “Of course… my little male” Gently, she lifted a paw, resting it over his form, digits caressing him, very gently, as he seemed to quickly fall asleep atop her… just in time to avoid hearing the growl her stomach issued to her considering of him. Slowly, she shook her head, doing her best to fold a wing over, as she sprawled out on her back, closing her eyes to rest… it was true… she felt very close with Sam… but the closer she felt, the closer she wanted to feel him… closer, and closer… till he would rest in her very core… then… maybe closer still, till, two literally became one… When Aurora finally woke, it was with a soft murr, her claws pressing gently, as Sam moved below them, his firm little body pressing to her soft belly under the plates. Her tail slowly swished, as, with a wide yawn, she lifted her head, to regard him… he looked to her, with eager little eyes, and so, she lifted her paw, curious to what he might do with that energy, a smile on her chops as she briefly licked them, sniffing the air, his delightful scent wafting, mixed with her own. To her mischievous delight, he shifted down her body, to her spreading legs, his hands reaching to stroke along her thighs and grip “Aurora… you’re not, my first… encounter, but first with a dragon for certain, and… it’s, something I never thought I’d like…” he turned, sitting atop her slit, looking down, to the gap in the scale, watching how it rippled, with the motions of the eager tunnel below “it’s so intense… that, I can please a lady, so grand in scale as you are… little me” She purred softly, leaning down, to lick his cheek gently “it’s been a lovely heat, with you to sate me. I am so glad, after… the first time, you didn’t leave” He blushed lightly, looking down again, letting one hand stroke along her belly “I’ve thought about that first time ever since it happened… it was frightening, I wanted out… but I regret that, ever since… I was shocked, how I was looking back on it… I kept thinking… this was a thing she did to me… but much as I tried it still came off… erotic…” he paused, and looked up, meeting her sharp eyes, resting the hand upon her muzzle “I want… to go all the way, myself this time… willingly… this time I’m ready… ready to lose myself to it, to you… to this…” he leaned down “eager crevice…” he smiled nervously “If… I went further; would you still get me out?” She murred, scents billowing with the thought of him again, lodged within… something primal called for it “I could… and would of course… mmm, let yourself go…” He grinned, and slowly stood, hand moving to her thigh again, as he placed himself, one foot either side of her slit, pushing gently at her spread legs, to show the deep flesh within. Tentatively, he moved one foot, dipping his toes, and shivering with the soft moan that she let out… the slick flesh grabbed gently at his toes like lapping warm water, but so much more substantial… Gently, he eased the foot in, pressing, till the warm, squeezing was all around it… so slowly, he lifted his other foot, and sank to his knee, his added weight driving him in, and sending a rippling pulse of pleasure along the dragoness around him. Quickly now, he moved his other foot to the entrance, and pressed it in to join the other… the slow descent as every ripple gripped and squeezed now with all of him to hold. He looked with tender feelings along the arc of her pure white body, to her eyes which sparked with pleasure… and regretted his choice not a bit. With surprising bashfulness, he eased a hand to his groin, gently teasing the growing want, as he sank… he’d wait, till he was submerged, before resorting to his own pleasures… but with hers growing… his sinking grew only faster still Aurora was in ecstasy. Her eyes hazy with pleasure watched as Sam was sucked deeper and deeper into her, each inch of him giving more lovely rough firmness for the sensitive folds to rub themselves against with each pulse. Panting huffs escaped her, as she bucked her hips once, sinking him down past his waist, and sparking fresh surges of delight… the predator in her, claiming this hunger of her prey, delighted in this even more than her previous claiming of him… he submits, she thought to herself with a long purr. He submits himself, completely, to sate… Her body was eager to accept the offering, and as she refocused on him, he was already sliding in to his chest, one arm gone… the other stroking her thigh pleasantly, as he sank away. The tender pleasures, of his lowered paw enjoying the experience, flowed through her as she leaned her head down, giving his face a firm lick, sinking him a little further, till with a delicious slurp, the tighter ring that was the entrance to her folds slid over his shoulders, clenching gently around his neck, only the one arm and his head outside of her. She purred gently, breathing warmly over him, and her slit “all the way” she murred “as close as close can be” “As close” he agreed gently, closing his eyes, as the rippling, silken flesh sank up over his chin. His little errant paw settled to her snout, rubbing, as his head disappeared, and the limb began to sink down, her folds tugging it in like her throat did a tail, till, with a slight bubble of her juices, the arm was gone, and her slit sealed. She bellowed a moan, licking along her slit in a firm stroke… gone, nothing to be seen of her little human, only her surging pleasures as proof he was there at all, that, and the rippling of the scaling there, showing the excitement of her folds. She bucked, and laid back, huffing, grunting, keening out needy bellows as she rolled on the ground, the human squirming within her, setting off her sensitive spots in ways she could hardly imagine. Her pleasure drunk mind went dizzy with it, as at last, the glorious, surging, perfect wave struck her, and she could only roar as the aftershocks of purest pleasure shuddered down her entire body, leaving her feeling weak, and spent… For a time, she hovered on the edge of that pleasured abyss, the waves hardly ceasing with the wiggle within… her mind drunk on it, as the only thoughts running through her head were pleasure, tired, and content… but, a new word surfaced… hungry. Her stomach growled with it… she was hungry, mating always made her hungry… males were to feed her, if they mated her. With a yawn, she leaned down her body… she needed to retrieve Sam also… she hummed, hardly noticing how easily her mind had slid those two tasks together. She pressed a forepaw to her lower belly, rubbing gently, her folds parting, as the pressure squeezed part of the human out… she heard a gasp, as he took in air, but then met his head with her own. Briefly she observed him… he looked dizzy as she was, the potency of her pheromones likely having much of the effect. With a soft little smile, she licked his cheek, and then gripped him gently with her lips, dragging him out till his torso was free… and in the easy, essential motion that so naturally followed, she then slid her lips down to his belly, and tugged him free, head tilting back, as her rolling tongue slid forward, giving his slick body a simple, easy path down. He gave a little wiggle, as she loosened her grip, and with a tender sigh let go, allowing him to slide down her tongue. Briefly, her mind found enough power to muse, if he’d meant all the way, like this… but it didn’t matter now. She closed her eyes, and took a firm swallow. Soaked in her juices, he slid easily, a pleasant ripple that descended her neck, pouring into her belly after a few moments, and sating the ache… now everything felt perfect… She rested her head atop her belly, and listened, as it let out a gentle groan. With her eyes still closed, and sleep beckoning, she felt the pleasant tickle of his paws, stroking along the inner lining. Through the wall of flesh and muscle, she heard him speak, the simple, tender words, as she felt him lying out in the fleshy chamber “as close as can be…” With a soft murr, she felt herself drifting off with those words. “As close…” she gently murmured

The tavern was a lively place, with the sun beginning to set, the amber hued sky put the locals in mind for something else the same colour, but even more stimulating. So the drink flowed freely, and with that tide came a flow of talk. That was what the lone quiet figure at the end of the bar had come for. The tavern was called the Stepping-stone, placed right on the eastern edge of the little village near the water, a vast lake that spanned like an ocean. Those not native would be forgiven for mistaking it for the sea, but the water was clear and didn’t salt the mouth when drunk. The lake theory was otherwise an assumption though, nobody had ever crossed it… no human anyway. The man was Gerald Helk, and he finished the small whiskey he’d been tending as finally the talk around him was getting, interesting. One, now rather red faced patron has been griping about his wife for an hour… and griping was truly the word… Gerald had a story or two to silence the man… but silence was the last thing he wanted, so he listened, as the man’s complaining turned to something much more worth his attention. Thumping the table with a hand, the man declared, as he pointed to a mural on the wall, of a vast tower, spire aglow in magic “I swear I should see the lady about her” he looked to his friends for support… but they were sober enough to shake their heads “I should though, she could shut the cow’s mouth, or heck, at least give her the appropriate chest for a cow, eh? Give me something to gawk at” Gerald rolled his eyes, knowing his quarry was likely a little too drunk to be really useful, but it was that mention, that had drawn his focus… the lady. That was the legend that had drawn him here… and it was her story that was behind the name of the tavern and the picture on the wall… this tavern, supposedly, was the last stepping stone before the path into the lake, to seek her tower, and… if the legends were true, a single wish. “Her beast would snap you up in a heartbeat, you’ not even reach the door” one of the man’s friends piped up, the others grunting and nodding sagely. “And if not that she’d put a curse on you, she won’t grant wishes like that” “Any wish” the drunk added testily “any wish, the legend goes… reach her and you earn any wish you want… and I want a wife with a chest as wide as a barn!” Gerald put the table behind him from his mind, beckoning the barman over, and accepting the drink poured into his cup… it kept the man still for a moment, long enough to engage. “So the picture there… heard the stories… are they real?” he tried to keep the edge of desperation out of his voice, and he felt he got away with it.. or the barman was too busy to really pay attention “Sure, had a couple folk come back showing off their wishes come true… had one young lad, lazy sod really, come back with a sack half his size full of gold… week’s end he’d spent, lost, or had the lot stolen though… careful what you wish for, I suppose… should have wished for some sense” Gerald was left with his drink… and he drunk it slowly, a calm, relaxed feeling seeping through him which had nothing to do with whiskey… the stories were true… that was everything he’d wanted to hear… He paid generously for a room, it was a night to celebrate, and managed to get the best in the place, overlooking the water, a sea view and just distantly… what must surely be the very tower itself… the tower of the lady of the lake as they called her, some said she was some mystical, inhuman creature, some, just a powerful enchantress, but she was real… as were her wishes. That was what mattered… The morning came, his bed unused, but the surprisingly comfortable chair by the window slept in, the carpet stained a little with a dropped drink, but he didn’t mind paying for that. There was a wish awaiting him, after all. He almost bought an attractive bottle from the bar, but thought better of it… the barman’s words lingered… choose words carefully, he wanted to be clearheaded, as much as he could anyway. In some ways he wanted to put his good mood to use, stroll the village, make some memories of this place… he might be coming back to it after all, but no… the bright morning showed the tower… distant, linked to the world by a bridge along the coast, a bridge that supposedly sunk and rose with the tide… but this was a lake… he didn’t know how the water worked here… perhaps this worker of magic had rules… either way, he wanted to get there by nightfall, so, shouldering his pack, his worldly possessions feeling remarkably light, he set foot to the path that led from the village, along the cliffs of the coast, towards the water bound tower… already wondering how to phrase his wish. The path was deceptively hard from how it looked, but the final hurdle was not where he planned to fall, yet it was slower going that he’d like. Little more than a thin ridge around the edge of the lake, if nothing else he got a decent view from the cliffs. The lake was an old place, he’d asked about it wherever he stopped in his travels. It had a long history, and concerningly the tales of the tower were as old as any. But, there were more recent stories…and it was said the sorceress could grant any wish one could desire. The magic that required… she could be immortal. Already he was imagining a wizened crone, grandmotherly when he was hopeful, a wicked hag when he was dreading the worst. But, he didn’t feel he could turn back… every time he looked back he remembered the pain, the moment when this wild quest had been the sanest thought in his head… not the only thought of course… all the more telling of the depths of depravity that moment drove him to. He shook his head, and focussed on his footing, it wouldn’t do to come all this way just to fall and break his neck. The paths were not often walked it seemed, at least, until he got by the cliffs and the landscape flattened to a gradual slope. The sun was lowering in its arc by then. But, the tower was also much closer. It was beautiful, huge stone bricks, finely carved seemed to make it… and it was much larger than he’d thought, more like a castle of a tower, the whole thing painted… or otherwise coloured a soft, icy blue, right up to the tip. Perched on what seemed a rocky island deep out into the lake, a long, elegant bridge leading out. His dream so close was enough to push down the weariness in his limbs, to drive him forward, down to the shore, and onto the bridge, making his way towards the home of the sorceress. It was only then, that he remembered the supposed beast… The creature proved its existence quite conclusively. A roar split the air around him, and for just a moment, as he looked upwards, he saw the shape push itself from a ledge on the upper levels of the tower… it was huge, wings unfolding… and with four paws hanging below, he didn’t need a closer look to know what it was… dragon, he hadn’t been sure those existed either. He ran. Shouldering his backpack off, he ran for the tower, it was closer than the shore… and possibly his only shield from the huge beast circling lower. The dragon was huge… like five of the largest horses he’d ever seen pressed into one huge, hungry reptile, its fangs flashing in the air as it came down behind him, the tremor it sent through the bridge almost stumbling him. But, the sound of paws in hot pursuit gave him focus, to keep running, even as he could feel hot breath beginning to touch his back… the door was huge, and ajar, and he leapt for it, feeling the heat intensify at his feet as he flew through the air… so close, and he hit the tiles, a snap just behind him, followed by a thud and growl as the crashing dragon slammed the door shut with its weight… there was a muffled roar, before the sound of its wings again… maybe, he was safe. At last, he could take in his surroundings, the tower was even more beautiful inside than out, the blue continued, in tables, the gleaming floor and the vases placed around, even the flowers were blue. And so was the long, tight but flowing dress that held itself so delicately around the smiling woman, who sat herself at a small chair just in front of him, putting down a book, her smile turning wry as she noticed his confusion. “You have been expecting me” he said, it wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway, gesturing to a second seat, both by a table, just in the main hall he’d collapsed into. The vast, circular room had doors leading off in many directions… each as huge as the front door, and a pair of equally sized staircases that led up to higher floor. And something he took for a decoration rising up the middle of each stair. The woman before him had a presence he couldn’t quite place, something allured, but something was intimidating… an aura of magic, and potential perhaps… power, equal parts terrifying and intriguing, that was how he saw it anyway. Though, as he eased up, joining her at the small, circular table for two by one wall, he was beginning to piece together what was unsettling… she looked, too perfect almost, the symmetry, the way she moved her head and her hands on the table, something practiced and something pristine. She was beautiful though… her hair long, her jaw sharp, her teeth bright when she smiled, She fixed an errant, dark curl of hair behind her ear, as her eyes ran him up and down. “Now… I assume you know me, few would come here without…” “And do you know me?” he asked, trying to get comfortable, though the chair was quite hard against his back, forced him to sit straight “you knew I was coming” “I saw you from the height of my tower, as, did my dragon… but your name is still a little mystery” her lips curled in a smile “do indulge me…” “Gerald” he murmured, averting his eyes from her, it had been a while… and he did not want his body embarrassing him, he had no intentions of following that familiar little voice at the back of his head “And you, are the fabled lady of the lake?” “So I am called” she responded with disinterest “but I am called many things” “I have to ask… the dragon…” “He would have eaten you, yes” Her grin returned, unsettlingly bright “he gets jealous of other males in my life, even when he knows he need not compete…” He looked back to the door, he could swear he could still hear the wings of the dragon, his heart was still racing “I suppose a dragon is hard to train” “True, but he also keeps the more, villainous visitors away… would-be thieves are all too common, and the… ahem, righteous knights who want to kill witches and all that nonsense… and every time some princess elopes with her stable boy they blame my dragon, it really gets very tiresome” He wavered on taking her seriously, she was grinning like a cat… and chose to tactfully avoid the topic, mostly because he didn’t want to know “I, have a wish for you, if you would hear it” “I would, but not here” she flowed from her chair, beckoning him with a finger, moving into the centre of the vast room, towards the staircase. The closer he got, the more he realised the middle of the stairway wasn’t decorated, it was a smaller set of stairs… surrounded by a significantly larger set “You, have put a lot in place for the sake of your pet” “Pets…” she looked back to him, flashing that unnerving smile again, it was… knowing, and unsettling, a secret hidden in it “But yes, this tower is built for both dragon and human to move freely” “You have more than one dragon” he concluded warily “The one you met is not the only dragon in this tower, no” “Good to know… the other… or others are more friendly I hope” “oh, I can promise you that” The conversation died for the time, and they walked silently for the stairs. The way she’d said that unnerved him, leaving him to ponder every way that could be interpreted… still, there was one dragon he didn’t want to meet outside, and he still had a wish, he’d not come all this way to leave without it. Everything was pristine, which began to bother him. He saw tables with gleaming glass vases, fresh flowers, like they’d been placed that day, the floors were polished to a shine, the banisters as they rose the staircase looked freshly varnished. It felt impossible… surely one woman, not even with magic could accomplish all this, and this floor had doors, and the tower had to be seven floors high at least. Certainly, a dragon couldn’t arrange all this… they were just too big. As they crested to the second floor, he got his answer. The enchantress escorting him paused as a scantily clad man approached, dressed in only shorts, built like a brick wall, with eyes that sent a chill down Gerald’s spine. They weren’t right… they didn’t move, didn’t waver, the man stood still, as she beckoned him away, and he moved. No words, nothing. But he wasn’t the only one, he didn’t see many, but as they rose to the next floor, he was seeing them from the corner of his eye, moving between rooms on their tasks… mostly they were men, different ages, builds, all dressed the same though. There were a few women, but despite a wrap to their chest, they seemed similar… not all of them disturbed him so, though, he saw some of them pausing to talk when they’d passed by, and as they reached the fourth floor, his legs beginning to ache, he was glad when she was approached again… and at least this time, her servant seemed normal. In fact, this one wore a vest, and bowed to her as she stopped. “Mistress, if you’re not too busy with your new, guest, I’m pleased to report this year’s crop is in, it’s a fine one” “Fine news” she looked back to Gerald, her servant giving a bow in turn “This is Gerald, and Gerald, this is one of my favourite little servants, Max” She stroked a finger under this, Max’s chin, her smile taking a wry, sharp edge “A pleasure” Gerald muttered, watching the servant as he scurried off, leaving them alone “Suppose I should have expected you’d have servants… you have quite a staff” “Oh, I do… they’re very devoted” “What was… with the one down below… he had an odd stare” She shrugged “I can tell you about that later… don’t you want to make your wish?” “Right here?” She gestured to a door, leading him, it was a huge door, like all the rest, but it was ajar, and led into a strange room, he’d have called it a study, it had a desk, chair, books, but that was just near the door, behind, taking up more of the room, was a huge, he had to call it a cushion, depressed with the impression from something, large. He assumed the dragon from before… he desperately hoped it wouldn’t be joining them. She moved to the desk, sitting to the other side, gesturing to a chair he could use, easing a book before herself, opening it to a page, lifting a quill dramatically, seeming to enjoy her role. Dutifully, he sat, catching a glimpse in the book… names, to which his was being added, next to each the word, granted, followed by symbols he didn’t know, those symbols differed, but she seemed to pay them deep attention for a moment, before fixing him with a smile “Now I’m ready…” He cleared his throat faintly, looking over the, seemingly keen woman for a long moment “this easy…?” “This easy, you make your wish, I grant it, everyone is happy” That easy… he sighed a little bit, so it would finally be over then… “It’s something of a big wish… how does this work” “You just tell me what you want, go on” she tapped her quill to her chin, seeming increasingly bored “Well…” he started, wondering if she needed to know… presumably, if she was to make sure the wish was just right “I recently, lost everything… wife betrayed me, left me with, nothing… I wanted to leave, get away, far away… so my wish is for a new life, I want, not my life back, but a new one. I know I could try to build a new life somewhere else, but, if you can give me a… start” “That all?” she smiled lightly, scribbling in her little book, granted, followed by the most common of the symbols, snapping her book shut “That, is easy” “It is?” he felt hope blossoming, he’d thought it might be too much, to craft an entire new life for someone… but there it was… “You, can be one of my servants” she flashed him a grin “an entire new life… you don’t even need to start from the bottom, that will cover the wish to not need to rebuild” “Pardon…?” the words washed over him, he didn’t really pick out the meaning at first… but slowly it dawned on him “you can’t be serious…” “Deathly serious” she eased from her chair, wandering back and forth, counting on her fingers “you didn’t specify where you wanted it to be, you didn’t say it couldn’t be in service to another… really you left it strikingly open” He bit his lip, he hadn’t thought it through… but the idea hadn’t even occurred to him. Being made to serve her? It was ridiculous, but, he was beginning to feel he knew where the legion of followers had come from… the image of the dead eyed one flashed into memory, and he shuddered. “Fine… then I quit” he stood in a fluid motion, enjoying the surprise on her face, before turning for the door “if a wish won’t get me what I want, I’ll do it the hard way… I built myself up once, I can do it again…” but it was late in his life to be at nothing, he reflected dismally, he’d put a lot of effort into his life before it was stolen away… that was what he’d wanted, a return of the effort. “If you insist… of course, if you mean that, you won’t get past the bridge” “Your dragon” he paused his step, an equally unpleasant memory to compete with her servants… that dragon… “that’s how it is? I leave, he eats me?” “Him… or me” There was a new, ominous deepness to her voice, a threat that pierced him through, something very wrong with her words, but when he turned back, she seemed… unchanged, mostly… there was, a presence around her, growing, like something he couldn’t see… like an aura, he seemed to remember a similar feeling when he’d walked into the tower. “You see, people call me a sorceress, but actually I don’t have a great deal of what you’d call magic… but one thing I am, very good at, is influencing the minds of humans… and in this case, you shouldn’t believe what you see…” It happened so quickly… to his eyes, it was like she transformed, but… was it not? Maybe naught but a curtain from his eyes as where she stood, a dragon rose, bigger still than the one who had chased him earlier, scales a brilliant blue, eyes pure green, almost aglow as she reared to her hind legs, a roar echoing from savage, tooth lined jaws as those predatory eyes locked onto him… he could almost feel them… he turned, to run, but tripped, seeing the wedge of scales that was her tail too late, falling, rolling till his back hit the door, looking up as the fleshy cavern was on its lethal approach. He could see how the saliva made her teeth glisten, the shifting flesh at the back where her throat must rest, catching a gust of dragon breath, tinged with a diet of meat, meat like him… Then the jaws snapped shut. He stared, heart pounding like it hoped to burst free and escape the fate of the rest of him, as he looked to the closed fangs, not an inch from him. A low, grating, rumbling sound echoed from her throat, the head retreating so he could see her step carefully over the desk and chairs, nearing him and the door. “It would be easy... you’d not be the first human to try just, leaving… you see, you serve me now… however I choose. So, hope I demand you to clean my house… or groom my claws, rather than requiring you serve as lunch…” He nodded mutely, he knew his will was broken, he could feel it… he didn’t have the heart to argue with those teeth, the very floor tremored slightly as she moved… he couldn’t fight that. If he was going to escape, it wouldn’t be now… She seemed content, for she walked past him, through the doors “now come with me, I’ll explain a few things, get you properly attired, and see where to put you…” Really, he wanted to say something, but words escaped him, it was impossible to not become entranced. Her verdict on his life might be terrible, but… she was beautiful. He stood in awe as she padded past him, paws long as he was tall, talons long as a blade clacking to stone, thighs so big he could see the hide ripple with muscles larger than his whole being, as she wandered by. He’d never seen a dragon up close before… but they were, intense. There was just so much of them. Compliant, if reluctant, he followed, keeping close to her hind paws to avoid being swept up by the swishing tail… although it gave him a view under it, which he tried to ignore, not that there was much to see What he did see was that same servant from before, from his view between her legs, bowing before the dragoness. He stopped himself, as she wandered past, shifting closer to the servant of hers, Gerald wondering what she had in mind “you can fill a similar role to little Max here… one of my favoured servants” It was unsettling, the man wasn’t at all phased by the huge beast just by him… nor by the way her tail stroked along his side as she spoke about him… nor did he flinch as she stood again, padding toward Gerald… pausing, and sitting back, though Gerald certainly grimaced as the hips thudded to ground, and the man disappeared. Something he could only call a smirk was on the muzzle of the dragoness, as she settled to her belly next, forepaws crossing just before him, a perch for her head to rest on “You just…” “I did…” “Is he dead…?” “No, of course not” she chuckled, looking down herself briefly “This is not the first time, and won’t be the last he, serves me like this… but now that he is conveniently out of earshot… let me tell you about your new life…” a gust of her breath washed him over, and he mutely nodded “My servants are broadly in three groups… the lowest you met down below… they have no minds, they stared into my eyes… and I took all they were, they are pawns…” “That’s terrible” he muttered, looking to her cocked head “Perhaps… but I only answer the wishes, of those who come to me… and they come in all sorts… you’d be surprised how often taking the life of someone is the same as granting their wish… if a human wished to never be hungry again… well, they could not if they were dead… to strip them of all they were, is to end their past self… of course, sometimes I simply eat them” He felt a knot in his stomach, but nodded silently “the next tier are those who are… altered, Max is such a one… he wished to be closer to his god… so I wove into his mind, and changed his god… to me, now he is closer, serving his deity everyday” her smirk curved the edges of her muzzle “clever, no? I do this also for those who request love, or companionship, or such… I tweak them to have my service fill the role. You no doubt find such, alteration unsettling.” “I do” he admitted easily “But, they are happy, content, happier all their days here than they ever were in the world outside… is that not what matters, hmm? A happy, content life” she stretched a hind leg, and a huff of breath nearly knocked him over “oh… excuse me, he just found his way to the right spot… anyway… ah yes, the highest tier… where you, currently are… You have all your memories, all your mind, untouched. This rank, is a privilege… and normally transient… you can keep all you cherish about your past, if you like… I’d like it, if you learnt to like this role you have found in the world… if not, however… I can place you into the contentment of the middle rank… understand?” “Why leave me with my memories, if keeping your servants nice and happy is what you want…” “It amuses me to” she answered shortly, flowing up to her paws “you will enter the room over there… dress in whatever you find on the shelves, and then scale a floor… you will live there. Now go, I have a human to enjoy, in peace” with that she padded for the stairs, rising, a flick to her tail, and an unsettlingly sweet new fragrance hanging in the air in her wake… He groaned, placing his head to his hands once she was out of sight… the things he got himself into… but… he had better play along for now, figure out how much of this was inescapable, see if what she’d said was real… so, though he felt a little sick, he wandered for the door she had nodded him towards, heading for his new life… just like he’d wished for.

StormBlown Chapter 5 Cayas dragged his paws into the gloom of his cavern, light flickering from the fire that still burned. Sparing it a look, he grudgingly noted to himself that he’d have to drag in more wood for it. His regal head hung low with the weight of a carcass in his jaws. An odd, thick bodied prey thing he had found. Squat, oval body shape, stubby legs, but it seemed meaty enough. It put him in mind of a mammalian grub. He dropped the animal down, stretching his neck back, wincing just a bit at the expected stiffness. It was unusual to carry prey in maw for so long, his long neck wasn’t suited to extra weight at his head. His belly was nicely placed at the centre of gravity for his body, with all four limbs supporting it. But this prey thing wasn’t just for him. Strewn in an untidy heap on an assortment of dredged plant life was the stark body of the small primate he was attending to. It looked so fragile when he got a good look at it, with much of its animal garments taken away. Gently he probed with his snout, gaining an uneven murmur of weak babble. Even though its method of communicating, made for its own kind, was little but chittering to his ear, even he could hear that it wasn’t speaking sense. Its voice had lost the, precise, cut sounds of its speech. He could tell it had been making, precise sounds before, now its words melted off its tongue. He sat, trying not to make too much of a tremor, eyes moving to his catch. With a claw, his finer movements well practiced of late, he cut into the flesh, severing as small a chunk as he felt he could suspend on his claw tip. Spearing the dripping flesh, he leaned in closer to the trembling primate. His other paw nudged it gently to its back, a shiver running the bare hide, a weak recoil from its injured flank. Cayas carefully brought the offered meat to the face of the primate, waiting. The head turned away, so he carefully supported it up with a claw, noticing an increase in the weak movements of his small guest. It was faint, so faint he almost didn’t notice, but he felt a touch to his finger. Looking from it’s face, he found the dextrous paw pushing at his hand, a weak, tight murmur from the strewn creature. Cayas sighed and removed his claw “so you don’t want this…” he observed to himself, licking the chunk off his claw before dipping his snout to engulf the remaining carcass. The shape was convenient. Easing his snout up, widening his throat, he could swallow it in a single, sharp lunge. The descent of the bulbous mammal would take time, swelling along his neck, but his own input wasn’t required anymore. The dragon watched the strewn creature as it drew in each weak breath with all its strength, shaking his head before easing up and padding past it, letting his sweeping tail nudge it just a little closer to the fire as he moved to the wall of his cavern. His luminous markings lighted his writing from yesterday as he set his claw to continue. “My morning hunt bore fruit, a strange, squat squealing beast that was reasonably palatable, although, it wasn’t my first find. I encountered a herd of the horned beasts I have seen before, but this time one of them alarmed and the herd quickly scattered. It is as I feared, the survivors of my first hunts have learnt to fear me, and what they fear, the herd fears. A primitive form of group learning and teaching, but unsettlingly effective for my prospects” He paused, to look back as the primate let out a pining whimper “The primate I have taken under my wing continues to worsen. More than any other trial, this one had brought forth the deepest sense of uselessness in me I’ve experienced as yet. My claws are too big to tend to it well, and looking at the wound, I fear part of the weapon may remain inside. I have seen these creatures hunting, yet my attempts to feed it have failed. It turns down fresh meat for reasons that evade me” He sighed deeply “I can’t exactly force it to eat without risking breaking its neck, but it needs its strength to recover. Water is also an issue. I can’t easily carry water from the pond, nor do I have a convenient way to catch the rain. Even assuming it rains. I have contemplated boring a hole in wood, but I’m unsure how effective it would be, and how then to suitably tip the water into its mouth. The easiest solution would be to carry water in my mouth, but if it is turning down food, I don’t like thinking how it would take to water mixed with my saliva” He grimaced a touch to the thought “I was always told food and drink was the most important thing to helping your body repair, I need to get it to eat. It hasn’t tried to graze on the plants I have put around it, so what remains in my mind are fruits. Still, I’ve never picked fruits, or looked for them but as, pretty bright things in some trees that may lure prey. Could I even pick them without reducing them to a fine paste soaking into my scales?” He exhaled heavily “still, they should offer food and moisture, and primates are tree dwellers by nature, surely they eat fruits. I may try to survey the others of its troupe today, they may lead me to suitable food, or give me some clue to how to help this one” Cayas grimaced a bit before adding “former troupe. Still, though its speech grows weak, I feel it’s trying to tell me something. It keeps making the same sound, again and again. It says it plaintively, yet insistently. Its tone isn’t so sharp I think it is a cry of pain, or a desperate call for it’s suffering to end. Yet it also doesn’t feel like it’s demanding something. It’s a strange call. I can’t help but feel if I only understood what it called for; I might be able to save it” Cayas eased back from the wall, swishing his tail as he spared the dying primate a long look. The more he thought about it, the more he felt responsible for the small thing’s plight. Surely it had been driven from its troupe because they had sensed it was aiding him and disapproved. Why else reject a strong young pup. “I’ll be back” he spoke to the creature, hoping it would understand, even if his words were meaningless sounds, just as its were. Cayas padded for the path out of the cavern, just wondering how best to find the troupe’s foragers. And how best to avoid scaring them away from their quarry. The woods around his lair were becoming more and more familiar, Cayas observed with content amusement. It did mean though that his trails and preferred routes were starting to show the lasting effect of having a dragon stomp through them. The troupe must have a pretty good idea where he lived, he considered. Yet they hadn’t moved their camp or tried to hunt him. It was puzzling to wonder where he fell into their perception, if neither something to flee or something to hunt. Perhaps it was that line of thought that caught him before he ruined his chance. Through the trees, he spotted one of the primates. It was hunting, he was sure. The stance, the long, sharp weapon in its paws, the precise, slow movements. But then, another passed a lot closer. So close he swore it should have smelled him. Cayas pressed lower, watching. He started to notice more. They certainly always moved together… and yet, not as a singular group. They cast a bigger presence than he did, oddly enough. Those weapons they had, he eyed with some discontentment. They seemed, dangerous. Not to break a scale, he doubted one of these things had the strength alone. But his scales weren’t utterly uniform. Particularly where the light scales along his body met the heavy plates at his underside. The patterns had never quite matched, not on any dragon he’d known. It posed no risk, against dragons. Cayas remembered quite unfondly when another young dragon’s claw would find one of those spots during play fights in his youth. It stung, but their claws were the wrong shape to exploit such a small gap. Any blow strong enough to drive the tip of their claws through such a space, followed by the widening claw, would also be strong enough to just rip his scales. Those long weapons were different. They didn’t widen. A strong rush, hitting one of those points with the tip, could press in with little resistance but for his leathery hide under the scales, and the muscle. Not lethal, he didn’t think, again, not alone. But the words of his induction before his… failed trip still burned bright. When a dragon had to hunt to live, it didn’t take a fatal wound to cause their death. The idea of being surrounded by their hunting pack was intimidating. He only had two eyes, and they pointed in the same direction. Would one of the troupe not eagerly try and drive its weapon where his scales looked thin if he was batting away one of its pack? He shuddered, and pressed himself lower, letting the hunting pack move on, before carefully following. He felt sure they were aware of him. This group was bigger than before, and their net was cast wider. Almost like they were readying for him to come for them and offering themselves the best chance to surround and flank him. And ensuring only one of them could be pounced on at once, were their quarry sufficiently large. The adaptation to the threat he posed was unnerving enough he hung back. Maybe it would be better to avoid the hunters of the troupe entirely. Although, he might not mind seeing their weapons in action a bit more. Still, he had to focus on feeding his primate, and it had turned down flesh… but maybe he had picked the wrong animal? A chill pooled in his stomach. It wasn’t a poisonous creature, was it? He’d never heard of a poisonous mammal, they just didn’t take that route… normally, but this was a place of abnormal mammals so far. A familiar squeal of sound caught his attention, driving his ears to perk. The primate’s voices rang out in response, and quite efficiently he saw the far-flung hunters spring as one from their hiding, descending towards the hunter that was calling them. That squeal was the same preyish cry of the prey he had eaten that morning. It’s calls ebbed quickly, very quickly. They were efficient hunters. Cayas briefly thanked his luck that their net hadn’t been closing around him, before starting to back away. The hunters were dispersing again, seeming to return the way they had come… bringing their catch back to the nest… He frowned to himself, so, they must eat these things, and they hadn’t, done anything particular to it. It gave some relief he hadn’t consumed something deadly, but still, why weren’t they eating their share before bringing the carcass home… was it the same unknown reason that his own primate hadn’t eaten it…? The dragon made his retreat. He didn’t want to be found. Still, maybe the nest was where he should be looking for his answers. That was troubling. He doubted they’d just allow him close. They would know he had been watching them there, the primate who had spooked him with its, four-legged companion would have raised the alarm. He wanted to give the creatures room, much as he could. Still, his little primate’s life could depend on it… The troupe’s settlement was harder to approach than ever. Cayas frowned to himself, watching one of the primates patrolling the edge. It seemed quite alert. He kept a wide berth, peering through the trees and keeping to the denser foliage. Still, he doubted his visit would go undiscovered. Just so long as he was already gone by then, he’d be content. He got glimpses of the troupe and caught scents when the wind blew in his favour. They were certainly busy little creatures. There seemed a reason to all their actions, those he spotted acted persistently. He noted one that seemed to be, altering the hide of some creature into a sheet of, something resembling their garments. If nothing else, the hunting group’s actions were being gradually explained. These primates desired the hide, intact, and he had seen before they repurposed bones as tools. Good enough reasons not to rip into the carcass, instead carrying it back whole to be, deconstructed. In equal parts Cayas found himself impressed and disturbed by their efficient use of their prey. Not a piece left unused. It was efficient, but it struck a deeper urge to never be amid their prey. Images of what his bones might be used for by such, resourceful little primates. Their mindset was something he was trying to get his head around. How must they view him? Did they respect, or distain their prey, he wondered. Considering one beast was source of meat, protection, nesting, and weaponry. Cayas shook his head with a faint snort. It was a pity they couldn’t communicate more fluidly. He could think of several dragons who would adore to get their paws on one of these things. If they could build all this from the carcasses of their prey, what might they come up with exposed to world of his kind. A snort escaped his snout as he chided himself. He wasn’t here for that. In time, he spotted the hunting group on approach, bringing their prize to the nest. Cayas flicked his tail, agitated. So, they must eat these things… He lifted his snout, inhaling. He smelled, them mostly, traces of their prey, and of blood. The scent of blood was notably strong… their nest wafted of danger. His head cocked just a bit. He smelled something else distinctive. Fire, or more, wood burning. In that trail of scents, he caught something else, a scent he hadn’t sensed for quite some time. He recognised it though, the shaped tinge of meat, juices in the air as it was exposed to flame. They were cooking meat in there. Cayas pondered that for a long moment. Why would they do that… A sharp ear perked, the sound of steps in the brush. One had gotten close while he was in thought. He dropped to all fours and dashed into a retreat. The faint sound of an alarmed call echoing behind him. It was a sweet scent that eventually caught Cayas’s attention, once he has moved far enough away he trusted the troupe wasn’t following. Were not fruits meant to be sweet? Somewhere in distant memory he recalled when he was very small. As a young, young dragon he may have eaten fruits… hanging sweet things. A memory so long ago he could forget it, when he wasn’t smelling it. More encouraging was the lingering trail of the primates. Some had moved back, and forth from the source of that scent. As Cayas padded after his new lead, his mind wandered to what he had been considering before he had to flee. Cooked flesh. He’d had it before but had never much liked it. His mother had given it to him when he was sick once. But he had always found the scent and texture unappetising. Though, if these primates had developed the practice too, maybe there was more to it than old dragon superstition. His paws halted, Cayas pressing low as movement caught his focus. One of the primates… no, two of them, smaller, younger maybe. He’d almost missed them till he spotted their movement in the branches ahead. He bit back a purr, eyes roaming the tree in question. Amid the leaves were round, green orbs. He’d have missed them completely, but those were fruits, surely. Pressing low, the dragon watched, keeping himself still left he disturb the creatures. They were gathering those greenish balls, dropping them down to, some sort of container. As he watched, he saw one of them hesitate, and bite into the green orb in its paws, chattering something to its companion as it stopped it’s gathering to eat. Cayas licked his chops. The two tasty looking morsels in the trees looked ripe and tender… Cayas snorted a little. He didn’t want to make things any worse. Slowly he padded closer, considering the fruits. The way the primates handled them, they seemed firm to the touch. Perhaps even he could carry some. His ears flicked back as he heard the primates alarm, their voices were sharp, high, it carried well he supposed. They dropped from their tree, fleeing. Cayas watched them go, ears drooping. Still, he spared their abandoned harvest a look. He doubted they would hurry right back for it… and his human could need it. Reluctantly, he grasped one of the containers on the ground in his mouth. It bent, and was prickly to his palate, but he looked past that. He rose and padded back for his den. He could try and feed his human these, and if it worked, maybe he could try catching more prey, and charring it. On his arrival, the strewn human didn’t move. Even as Cayas settled the container inside his den and leaned in close enough for his breath to ruffle its fur. But he saw the rise and fall of its chest. It wasn’t dead. Cayas exhaled deeply. His hope wasn’t growing. Carefully, he reached into the contained with two claws, trying to pluck one of the small greenish orbs out. It took time. The tips of his claws speared and obliterated them with little effort. Eventually he grasped in with the wider part of his claws. He caught a fruit, lifting it free, though he felt it pop in his grip. He grimaced but didn’t go for another. He spread his claws, seeing the pulped, juicy mess of squished fruit on the dark claw. Well… his primate wasn’t in a good state to chew things. Carefully, Cayas propped the primate up a bit with his other forepaw, stirring some life into the creature as it mumbled. He brought the claw with the fruit mess to the face of the primate, pressing very gently. He saw a flick of its tongue and relaxed a little. A tilt of his claw, and he could gently feed it. It was eating… that was good. When the human stopped, Cayas lowered it back down, stepping back to watch it. It curled up into a ball, groaning that, same sound again. Still, it had consumed some sustenance and moisture. With luck he could feed it more later. Cayas spread his wings slowly, letting his luminescence free to its full potency, and padded to the wall of his cavern where he had left off, setting his claw to write. “As disappointing and worrying as today has been, I feel a warm satisfaction that my little primate has finally eaten something. Time will tell how it recovers, but maybe it now has a chance. The body cannot rebuild without materials after all” Cayas glanced back to the strewn primate “but I have to admit, I still fear I only prolong its misery. My claws are too big to try and attend to it’s wound. I attempted to produce a plant mix like it had, when I was injured. But knowing not the plants used, it lacked any of the scent. I could apply it, with the hope some, natural weapons in the plants might stave off infections, but I could as easily poison it. The more I see of these creatures, the less I know them, or so it feels” A new sound brought Cayas’s attention from his work, a sharp look over to the strewn primate. It was shuddering, a sound from the throat that sounded all too familiar. His tail coiled in distaste as he listened to it retch. Cayas sighed and brought his claw to the wall “I fear it is much worse than I could ever hope to mend it. I think only its own kind would have any chance of saving it. The very ones who injured it so gravely” Cayas grit his fangs with a snort “so I ask myself, what to do. Do I put it out of its misery, or should I bring it back to its kind? If they hate this one so, is it not likely they’d just kill it, possibly with much less mercy than I would. Do I risk extending or worsening its suffering for the unknown hope of helping it” Cayas drew his claw from the wall, shaking his head. His thoughts raced too frantically for his claw to keep up, and in constant circles that would just eat up wall space. He spared the shuddering, pitiable creature a long look. His wing grew better every day. He felt sure it would mend if he gave it enough time. There was a strong debt weighing that wing down. Cayas padded closer to the helpless pup, his claws flexing at the stone, muzzle looming a little closer. What to do. One bite would end it. A sudden spearing of fangs. No more pain. No more life. The dragon looked off towards the exit of the cavern. That was easy for him to say. Ending its pain felt selfish, for it spared him needing to see its painful struggle to live. But the primate was alive and staying alive. What sort of repayment was it to crush its efforts just to spare it pain? He’d seen mortally wounded prey expend its last moments trying to crawl away, trying to escape. Life never rewarded those who gave up. Cayas exhaled and lowered his jaws slowly around the shivering primate. It was hard to keep his head steady in the trees. For several reasons he didn’t want to carry the primate deeper in his mouth than he had to. Lest it slip to his throat, lest he need taste the bile of its sickness. But his tongue was softer for it. The troupe wasn’t far now. Cayas braced himself for the chance of attack. All too likely, if they thought he came to raid their nest. He was trying to walk as fast as was safe for his passenger. Soon enough the distinctive blend of scents that made up their nest was drifting in his senses. Somewhere off to his left he could hear one of them alarming. Still he advanced, getting closer to the nest than he ever had before. Till finally his muzzle pushed into a more open region, a clearing of sorts made by their growth. There were a lot of them. Stood in a half circle, tools in paws, smaller ones behind. He could see their nest readying to drive him away. His heart was pounding in his chest. Fleeing back and choosing the other path flickered as an option in his mind. He pushed it away. He took one step closer, head lowering as his jaws spread, showing the frail shape on his tongue. Watching them, he saw their stance shift, heard chatter amid them. They were surprised, he assumed. Why wouldn’t they be. He was surprised he was doing this too. Gently Cayas let the creature slide out onto the ground before himself, before lifting his head away, jaws clicking shut. He kept his head high to survey the lot of them. A quick glance back to be sure he wasn’t, currently being surrounded “Can you help it… please” Cayas murmured, knowing all too well they couldn’t understand him. Still, he felt, some of those weapons weren’t being held as tightly. A figure pushed through those braced for him, followed by a two more. The first crouching by the primate he had lain down. His eyes surveyed, but they hadn’t come with blades of bone in their paws… that was a good sign, he hoped. A small primate paw cupped the jaw of his primate, one of the two others was watching him, intently, while the other crouched with the first. Cayas hummed a deep note, backing away a step. More of the tools lowered. He spared the downed primate a long, forlorn look, but turned and padded quickly away. He’d made his choice. So far, it, seemed it might have been the right one. But the best thing he could do was leave, leave, and let them feel comfortable to care for their young… he just hoped they wouldn’t kill it.

“Are you going to be alright, captain?” Brock grunted in answer, hand rested to the weathered wooden railing around the edge of the main deck, closing his eyes and willing his stomach to settle. It was proving insubordinate “Give me peace, James” he waved his navigator away with a slight brush of his hand “Fifteen years I’ve captained this ship, and not a lick of seasickness. The storm has set a whirlpool going in there, but it will settle. Better use of your time is telling me where we are” He opened his eyes long enough to shoot the younger man a look. James as a lithe sort, pity he hadn’t the balance or he might have made a fine deckhand, he had a good built for a mast. Still, in that head was a talent most of his crew could never dream of. That was enough. James looked away. Proof enough it was bad news. Brock kept his eyes moving, surveying his ship with a quick glance. Nothing was missing at least, the ropes were still bound, the mask unbroken. The left railing on the upper deck was draped down the side of the ship however, hanging on by soaking splinters. “I don’t know, captain” James finally admitted “The storm blew my window in, and knocked my chest clean over, my charts got waterlogged. The maps are fine, I could sail us clear if I knew where we were, but we were already well clear of seeing shore, and the wind took us, somewhere” “How bad” The captain supported his stomach a moment, before flinching his hand away. James wasn’t a member of the crew he needed to look strong for, but he never knew who was watching. The rest may lose some faith if they thought he was seasick. “It’s salvageable” James concluded simply “I wish we could sail west, but depending where we are, we’d either get back to port, or sail forever. But south, we go far enough we’ll hit land, and can follow that back to port. Can’t say how long it’ll be” “If we know it’ll get us home, I’ll agree” Brock considered “But first, the hold” “The Leos went to check that” James noted quickly “first thing they did once the deck was still, should be back up soon” Brock nodded slowly. By happenstance, two of his crew were named Liam, though one had long misspelled his name Lian, one trip it had been joked to lion, and seeing the two had already ended up a good pair in their work, they’d ended up being the Leos. “With a little luck, the hull will be intact” Brock noted to himself “I suppose we’re lucky we got caught on the way back, not out. Maybe” he reflected as an afterthought “Silver is a lot less bulky, but heavier maybe. Would be a harsh thing if our coin turned into little shattering bullets, ripping our hull apart” “If it’s much consolation captain, I think if we’d be sunk by now if that had happened” Brock just grunted in answer, easing up from the railing. His stomach was in knots still, but it had given up trying to crawl up his throat. The thud of boots on wood caught his focus, and he turned, observing his crew filtering up back onto deck. They were six, including himself and James. The Leos, certainly built like lions, who tended to mind the cargo, but also Simon and Nick. Nick tended to the sails and ropes for the most part, he was a smaller fellow, but still, likely older than he. Simon was, a touch simple. But dutiful. “We came out in decent state captain” Nick noted, tugging at the ropes nearest him, checking they were taut “dread to think where we’d be if we hadn’t gotten the sails down quick as we did” he nodded to Liam, silent gratitude for the assist of a strong arm “Cargo is loose, we’re going to need to get the hold fixed, broke a lot of our barriers, near punched a hole in the hull, but, she’ll sail” “Good” Brock conceded, exhaling a slow breath “James tells me navigating home isn’t going to be as easy as we hoped. Our westward trip isn’t possible, storm could have blown us north of the peninsula, well north. So we’ll be sailing south, and up the coast” He could sense the lingering disquiet on the news “so it’ll take a little longer” he continued “I know we all hate the ships biscuit. If we see anything on the shore, maybe we can stop for a bit of fresh meat and water, fix the railing up there, get some time ashore. But I’d sooner we get back to port soon as we can, lest they think they storm sank us, and the coin along with us” Brock dispersed them with a commanding wave. He saw no point adding exactly why that would be such a headache. For his crew, their life was the ship. The annoyances of trade were his headache, not theirs. So, if the fellow ashore who commissioned their boat to do his business started to panic and made some bad choices for fear the boat wasn’t coming, well… it wouldn’t trouble them, only him. Reluctantly, Brock eased from the railing, walking with intent despite how it made his stomach lurch. If he could get to the wheel, he’d feel better. He insisted that to himself. Then his body would be the whole ship, and it would be easier to ignore his stomach. “Raise the sails” He commanded casually as he rose the stairs “Aye Captain, but a moment” Nick called back “Lian’s going overboard, spies a barrel we lost” Brock looked off the side with slight interest. He saw it, bobbing in the water. A rue smile took his lips “Aye, so heavy with biscuit it’s a wonder it floats. We might be needing that” The barrels they got the hard, flavourless biscuit in had a distinctive look. They were foul, but they lasted just about forever. Couldn’t have bread on ship, but that stuff lasted. With no need for haste, he indulged his body’s yearning to move slower, trying to frame it as just taking his time, setting one, then the other hand on the wheel and looking out over his battered ship. He spared a look out over the water, to the bobbing barrel and the man swimming out to get it. His blood ran cold. The water beneath Lian grew darker, odd shifts and waves breaking against the tide. It was like a shadow, a long, weaving shadow, but it was growing larger. His sailor suddenly rose from the water, a sleek, blunt, scaly shape pressing up under him. He saw a nostril venting water, the weave of a delicate tendril, and a single luminous blue eye rise from the water. The shape of that head was something out of a legend. The word dragon came to his mind in an instant. More horrifying was the sheer size. The head weaved a little as Lian pushed down, it looked like he was trying to stand, or maybe just slide himself off. Yet he remained atop the vivid blue snout, kept in balance by the small adjustments. The muzzle split in a show of bright fangs, a shriek as Lian slipped between the twin rows of teeth. For only a moment Brock saw the pink abyss within, saw a soft wall of muscle roll back and smother Lian before the teeth sealed away, the muzzle as smooth and elegant as before. The eye facing him seemed to settle on him for a moment, but in the next the head was gone, sunk back under the water. “By the gods” Brock murmured, only able to stare at the spot where his sailor had been… eaten. But the shadow didn’t sink away. An array of claws spread from the water, long, taloned digits hooking up and over the barrel, dragging it under the water as the shape started to move. The shadow seeming to stretch towards the side of the ship, and under it. A swell in the sea breached into a long, winding tail, brushing the side of his ship, as on the far side a set of talons rose again, hooking around the railing. Grasping to the wheel, Brock kept his feet as his crew stumbled to the deck. Their ship creaking its complaint as the dragon’s weight made it rock. Unevenly, Brock stumbled down to the main deck in time to see the second forepaw rise, depositing their barrel almost delicately on the deck. With a firm hand he grasped James’s shirt and hauled the lad to his feet, giving his navigator a none too delicate shove towards the mast “Captain!” he heard Nick shout to him, looking back to see that tail again, curling itself around the opposite railing, a behemoth limb rising briefly into view, claws flexing at air. The ship gave a fresh wobble before that limb slowly sank in time with the second forepaw grasping the railing as the first had. “Dammit, it’s on both sides of us” Liam assessed, grasping up the nearest blunt object, which unfortunately was the deck mop. Unsure where to look, gaze flicking between the long, dangerous tail and the hooked talons, the rise of that muzzle gave Brock a place to focus. Supported by their ship, the dragon rose its head and neck out of the water, the muzzle in full dredged out of the sea. Rivulets of water ran the streamlined angles of its scaly face, bright eyes dancing between the crew. The underside of the dragon’s jaw was moving, small twitches under the lighter scaled hide of its throat. The nausea made a comeback, as Brock heard the beast swallow, and watched the faintest hint of something solid moving under the scales, and down out of sight. At last he felt it’s gaze was resting on him, and he met the eyes of the beast. He knew inside himself in that moment that he was looking at his death. The beast was longer than his ship, with a mouth of teeth more deadly than any weapon aboard. They were in this animal’s domain, but the eyes that bore into him weren’t an animal’s eyes, but nor were they human. Something disturbing in-between. A human looked at another human with a certain attention and assessment, while an animal, they looked at you only to decide where you fit into their world. Then they ran or ignored you based on that. He’d never been under the gaze of curiosity before. Curiosity with a dark mix of dispassion. “What do we do captain?” It was Nick’s voice again, the normally confident tone breaking and becoming high, desperate. But what could he say? They couldn’t fight this thing, they couldn’t out sail it, wrapped up in its body as they were. Nowhere on the deck was far enough from its reach, even the hold would offer no safety, it could sink them on a whim. And abandoning ship… he didn’t see any of them out swimming a dragon. Those eyes narrowed, he could see every muscular contraction as the scaly lips bore back, flashing the fangs. It was definitely watching him, specifically. “You seem, fun” A voice, feminine, unmistakably so, but far from human cooed into the air. Watching the dance of deadly fangs as the dragon spoke was, mortifying “Fun?!” Brock choked on the word, nothing more intelligible coming to his tongue. That the beast could speak was shocking enough A deep sound between a growl and a purr seemed to vibrate from the giant reptile’s neck “I quite like your taste… let’s play a game” “Go away, damn you” Liam shouted across at the dragon, though it seemed to ignore him easily “We want no part in your games” Brock asserted, shooting a look back, checking the tail wasn’t up to no good Fresh fear stabbed right into Brock’s chest as in the otherwise quiet of their situation he heard a familiar, awful sound. A slow, scratching scrape echoing up from the hold. It was a sound he’d learnt to dread, the sound of a boat ripping itself apart on a reef. But this wasn’t a reef. He looked back to the dragon’s eyes. The amusement was only intensified. The scratching stopped. “Captain, what was that?” Simon asked, the fear in that voice mirroring the mood. Even he knew that scratching sounds from the hull were bad “The beast is raking it’s hind claws against us” Brock muttered, mind swimming with his options “Sharpening my claws” the dragon added “What’s your game?” Brock asked, reluctantly “It’s very simple” the muzzle loomed in closer, and Brock stumbled back till he hit the mast. The finned ears on the beast fluttered, the fangs on better display as it grinned “stay out of the water” With that, the boat rocked violently, the dragon’s head withdrawing as it’s tail unwrapped, foreclaws releasing. It left them to wobble, disappearing under the tide. Brock slid down to his backside, back still to the mast, and cursing under his breath “It ate Lian” Liam boomed, slamming his fist to the railing “We can’t trust the damn thing” It hadn’t been long since the dragon left them. Enough time to check the hull, though only from the inside, and peer into the waters for its shadow. The boat moved only from the waves, for now. “I don’t trust it worth a damn” Brock asserted “it’s a damn beast playing with it’s food. Maybe it can’t eat us all at once so it’s letting us bob around, alive for it’s eating pleasure. Who in all the hells knows? I’m not saying we trust the thing or invite it round for tea, I’m just saying we play along. I for one don’t want to go into any waters it calls home anyway. The plan hasn’t changed. We sail south, and hope a better meal or game takes its eye. What else can we do” He got reluctant grunts of agreement. In the end he couldn’t blame them. The whole event had him on edge too. By all rights they were dead men. Dead but still walking around, for now. Lian was somewhere on the bottom of the sea in the dragon’s belly. Beyond help in any number of ways. As alluring as it was, he fought the flicker of hope trying to grow. The dragon was gone, for now, but he had no doubts they were still very firmly in its grip. The sails came down to billow, James manning the helm. For now, Brock let his navigator handle it. It was a nice distraction from what just happened. He couldn’t get the images out of his head. Brock sat on the stairs to the higher deck, closing his eyes for a moment. He could still see it, Lian sinking into that maw, being so near it’s head when it swallowed him. He’d still been alive… what must that have been like, sent down it’s neck to die in the cruel pit of it’s insides. A fate he was dreading but expecting to experience just the same. “Damn” he muttered to himself. It pretty much summed things up. Idly he watched the crew going about their duties. Dusk was falling now. Still, now they were moving. Maybe, just maybe, if they were lucky, they’d manage to sail out of whatever this beast considered its territory while it was distracted elsewhere. It could happen, in theory. The dragon took a risk of losing it’s food by playing with it. But… that was based on factors entirely outside their control and knowledge. The sun was setting, before the dragon made another appearance. Or rather, her presence was felt. In an instant the ship went from a smooth if tense sail to something akin to a storm. The deck tilted, and rocked back, throwing the crew from their feet as wood creaked and complained. Brock clung to the wheel with all his strength, riding out the fearsome tossing of his ship, managing to keep to his feet. There was nothing normal about that movement, he was sure of that. The sea and sky were both calm and even. He heard a splash, as the boat settled. It took a long moment to settle his spinning head, long enough that by the time he cast his eyes around the deck, noting his crew stumbling to their feet, he got a look at the last of one of them. That devious, long muzzle was poking up the side of his ship, a flailing pair of legs poking from the scaly lips. “Damn you, beast” he heard Liam’s voice echo out, the larger sailor charging for the edge, only for Nick to grasp his arm and tug him back “Don’t get near the edge, fool, it’s what it wants” The dragoness seemed amused, or the grating rumble of sound from the throat sounded that way. Her snout bobbed, jaws parted, and the legs of Simon, still frantically kicking sank away into the predatory maw. And then she was gone, sinking back under the water. The ship wobbled again, less intense this time as her shadow passed over to the other side of the deck beneath the waves. “Captain?” James’s voice caught Brock’s focus, his navigator stumbling into view from the cabin “We lost Mr Simon” Brock grunted, easing his head onto one palm “She kicked the underside, or something, and he went over the edge” “We can’t just ride this out, Captain” Liam sounded again, advancing from the edge of the ship “The damn beast is toying with us. We don’t fall in; she’ll make us fall in. Don’t think she won’t capsize us to get us in the water” “Do you believe we can fight such a beast?” Brock pressed, and Liam looked away “No captain, but this leads to the same place. I’d sooner go down fighting and bloody it’s snout” “If we could even do that” Brock noted “Or deny her the fun of tormenting us” Came Nick’s bitter addition “Enough” Brock asserted, rolling his fingers through his hair “I’ll lose no more of my crew today. With luck, she’ll be filled with two, and lose interest in her game. I doubt she considers us important enough to hound if her whim is sated. James and I will keep us sailing through the night, we may even lose her when she sleeps. Just keep yourselves from doing anything foolish” His remaining crew dispersed back to their duties, leaving Brock to weigh the problem. He’d meant what he said. While her game seemed hopeless, there were paths he could believe, that might make her give it up. How many people could the big serpent even want to eat… and surely something so snake like must take some time to wish to eat again. “Do we have a heading sir?” James broke into his thoughts. He spared the youth a look “Same as we planned, south. Might not hurt if we don’t go in an, entire straight line. We sail for home, dragon or no…” “Aye, captain” James seemed reluctant, though said no more, darting up the short stairs to the wheel, leaving Brock to muse. Though, soon enough he dispelled his thoughts and ambled for his cabin. He’d best sleep if he had a shift at the wheel coming. James had been quiet, when he’d come to hand over control of the ship, though Brock had felt little urge to press. There were plenty of valid reasons to be troubled at the moment. Although, as Brock held to the wheel, guiding the ship along through the pitch of night, something felt, off. He couldn’t quite place it. It went away, after a while. The unknown sense of unease and disquiet leaving. The night started to feel, normal. Or normal enough. It gave Brock more time than he wanted to mull over their situation. If they did make it back to port, he’d have to report this beast. Though where she resided was tricky, when he had little idea where they’d been washed. A lot closer to the port than anyone would feel comfortable about, certainly. And he’d need to give the news of his losses. He knew Simon had a family, no wife and children waiting for him at least, but he’d seemed close to his kin, they’d take it hard. Brock shook his head just slowly. He had little to look forward to, whether they escaped the dragon or not. Had to beat being sealed in the fleshy, digestive pouch of the giant reptile though. As dawn started to creep on the horizon, James rose to join him. Though remaining quiet, the lad seemed, quite focussed on something, and nothing, looking out to sea and around, squinting in the gloom. As light began to pour into their world, James finally spoke “there, captain… land” The tone was so, muted and neutral, the significance took a while to hit, Brock turning his head to see… a shore. It was close, very close, shallow waters off to his left. No shore he knew. “I’ll be” he murmured after a moment “Captain, this should be impossible” James noted, looking away from the bountiful sand “We can’t have hit the coast we were headed for yet, and more to the point, it would be ahead of us, not to our side” “I’d hear your point, James” “She’s been guiding us, I think” James murmured “I felt something off while I was at the wheel. I sat up thinking about it for a while after I turned in. The wheel would resist me, for a bare moment, and… how to put it, my own compass was telling me something was wrong” Brock gave a knowing nod. You got a feel for direction, not in a way that could be easily described. Experience he supposed, intuition. The direction of the wind at a time of day, at a time of year could speak volumes to the subconscious mind. “Sounds like what I felt, for a time” “It was subtle, but I’m sure” James asserted A nudge here, a push there, but she’s nudged us off our course. I can’t say where we are now” Brock grunted, walking to the edge, gripping the railing firm enough his knuckles whitened, no wish to share Simon’s fate, peering off into the waters between them and the shore. “The beast couldn’t have been so calculating, could she… to pull her trick with Mr Simon just to make sure we would stay clear of the edges, and wouldn’t see her if she, manipulated our ship” The familiar creak of the doors on deck caught his ear, sign enough the crew were rousing. “So, what do we do, captain?” James sounded notably plaintive this time, but Brock shook his head “I haven’t a notion. I’ll say this, I’m not dropping anchor anywhere she wants us. The waters beneath here could be the centre of her territory for all we know” “We made it?” A hopeful query echoed up from the main deck, luring Brock to the stairs and into their view “It’s no shore I’ve seen” Brock informed them “Our course changed in the night… the beast’s doing” “I’ll drop anchor” Liam offered “No” Brock near shouted “No… I’ll have nothing to do with that island” he looked out; it certainly seemed an island… the way the shore curved Liam bristled, peering off the edge “captain, the beast can’t get us on land. And you want us to stay on the tide? Look, the waters are shallow enough, she can’t be hiding beneath. She’d beach if she tried to stop us” “All sound reasoning, Mr Liam” Brock folded his arms “but if the dragoness nudged our ship here, I’d sooner not do what she wants” he looked back to the shore “ten minutes and we’ll be past it” “ten seconds and we’d be ashore” Liam countered “even if the beast is nearby, she couldn’t catch us that quick” “I’ve made my decision” “Brock asserted, though as he met Liam’s eye, the man didn’t back down “Then consider me resigned captain, I have no intention of staying on board to be a dragon’s dinner” Liam stepped to the railing, not even hesitating as he launched himself for the shallow waters. On reflex more than anything, Brock moved to look down off the edge as Liam landed down, only up to his waist in the water. Certainly, it was tempting shallow… too shallow for a dragon to swim in. Still, Liam managed two steps before he cursed, and was suddenly falling to his face, reaching for the beach even as, he slipped back for the boat. There was nothing Brock could see making it happen, but soon Liam was slipping under the boat and from view. A crash of water breaching sounded behind them, the crew turning to see the smirking muzzle of the dragoness rising back into view. The tendrils on her jaw, smooth and clear as water were drifting, one, less than the other, and the reason rose, squirming into view. Wrapped like a serpent, the tendril was binding around Liam’s ankles. “Let him go, beast” Brock shouted across the deck “Naturally” her voice rang out, as the snout lifted, elegant muzzle parting in a horror of deadly fangs, the tendril weaving above, and indeed letting go, Liam falling the short distance into the pink abyss. Teeth clicked smoothly shut, the dragoness fixing them in her gaze once more. Her underjaw moved and swelled, till her snout jabbed delicately forward, a squelch of sound echoed wetly, and the bulging resumed in her neck, slipping down out of sight off the edge of the boat. Forked tongue glanced along her scaly lips, before the dragoness slipped back, splashing into the waves. “We’re just damn playthings to the beast” Nick murmured “she nudged us to land just to get us into the water” “Nobody else leaves the ship” Brock asserted, shaking his head slowly as he stepped back for the wheel. The sooner they were away from the island, the better it would be for them The voyage was almost calm. The waters were easy, the wind snatched at their sails. Despite every instinct being against it, Brock conceded they might as well abandon the wheel. Deep inside he felt they were all doomed. The dragoness was nudging their boat where she willed it. There would be no escape. Why spend their last hours or days at the wheel… what remained of his crew, he’d sooner let them spend their time as they wished it. She was still around. He spotted her, a couple of times. Peering off the railing, with his hands very firmly grasping to the edge. Deep in the sea, he spotted the shape of her. Sometimes swimming, other times seeming to drift along, kept with them by some current… or perhaps she simply had put their ship on a course she could more easily follow. She was waiting, of course… waiting for one of them to hit the water so she could eat them in her dark game. Brock found himself staring, as the day ebbed into the afternoon, to the lightly undulating shape down deep. He couldn’t even see the end of the long shadow. How far down were his crew… were they still alive, or, were they stewed to their bones. His curiosity was mostly the morbid interest in how he would spend his last moments. Did she digest slow… or quick, He knew she’d swallow him while he was still alive. He’d die, inside her. He just didn’t know what he’d suffer first. Maybe if he was lucky, the muscles inside would crush him on the way down. He grunted, crumpling his body’s attempt at a bitter laugh. That was a dark thought. His eyes turned to the barrel he was leaning against. The same one the dragoness had returned. He’d been snacking on the awful biscuit inside. It wasn’t like he felt conserving their food was particularly important right now, and unpleasant as it tasted, chewing on it brought some small comfort. He took one of the rounded, stamped biscuits, hard and appetising as the wood of the railing, and tossed it over into the sea, where it plopped under the waves. As he had thought, for a moment, he saw the dragoness react, no doubt hearing the, faint splash. He was sure she’d dismiss it as quickly as not heavy enough, but it brought him some pleasure to tease her, in the small way he could. It brought a certain shock, when her undulating shape began to weave up towards the edge. He stepped back, looking upon the blue muzzle that breached, the dark claws that hooked the edge of his ship as the head lifted into view. Those scaly lips were curled in a smirk. She shook her head lightly, casting water onto the deck, watching him as he stood, a touch dumbfounded. One of her sharp ears twitchedHe stepped bac He hadn’t expected to draw her attention. Brock grunted to himself “won’t go away, will you” “The game isn’t over” she answered, a playful edge to the ominously, inhuman voice “Where are you taking us?” Brock probed, flicking his gaze to those, lethal talons of hers “I know you’re guiding where we sail” “Swim with me, and I’ll tell you” she responded jovially “I touch water, and you’ll eat me” he observed “I will” she answered simply “after I answered your question” “This is our lives… you don’t see your game as cruel” Her ears, or, the sharp fins he took as them anyway, made a slight twitch, the large head tilting to the side a little “no” she responded, a contemplative edge to her voice “I want to eat you, you understand. This way is more fun” “Not for us” A rumble stirred in her throat “neither is digestion, I believe. Yet I eat my prey regardless. If I wanted this to be more fun for you than me, I wouldn’t be playing with you” He shook his head “you’ve eaten three of us, aren’t you sated?” he slapped a hand to the railing “leave us be” “I will” she responded, dipping back for the water, scaled lips peeling back to show the teeth “soon. I’m halfway there” Brock shuddered to himself. Halfway… they’d never survive this. It was evening before the beast returned, her long and winding form circling the ship, long snout probing up at points to stare, then diving back beneath the water. It was a reminder just how deep the sea really was, that such a reptile was lurking in its depths, unseen when she didn’t want to be. Nick had been lingering by the edge of the ship, hands firmly to the rail, rolling on his heels when the ship rocked, nudged by the dragoness. Brock would have worried about the experienced sailor, but, even when the nudges got firm, Nick just swayed with the boat. In time, it seemed to draw the attention of their aquatic stalker. The whole ship gave a lurch as dragoness eased up the side, right where Nick was standing, shimmering eyes coming to meet his. Brock looked over in some alarm, but Nick seemed almost calm. His breathing visible quickened, but he held his spot, even as the breath of the predator gusted through his hair. “You won’t eat me, will you, assuming I don’t get in the water” Nick reasoned, his voice held tightly to a steady note “That’s the game” the dragoness spoke back “Say I don’t want to play that game” The tendrils drifted closer, a bubbling chuckle from the long snout “say you don’t have a choice” “Surely a dragon has more than one game. Is there another game I could play, one that doesn’t get me eaten?” “What are you about, Nick” Brock called over, though both seemed to disregard him “Another game, you say” the dragoness’s head cocked slightly “We are playing this game, but we can play, another game as well” “And I’ll be alive as long as this new game lasts?” Nick suggested “That’s right” a grin spread those scaly lips “It’s a simple game” her head withdrew “when I say to, you just, jump off the edge” “I see” Nick spoke quietly now, seeming to consider as the dragoness sank back off the railing “Nick” Brock murmured slowly “you’re not thinking of doing it are you” He looked back “not got a whole lot to lose, captain” “What is she going to do, catch you? How hard would it be to let you hit water, then just eat you”? “Easy as anything” Nick answered simply “but captain…” Nick looked off the edge, to where the scales of the beast were weaving “we’re in her game now. We’re her toys. Respect your reluctance, but way I see it, better to yield to that, might get kept longer” “The devil you know” Brock muttered, though as he watched, Nick eased a leg over the railing. “Now” the crooning voice echoed, and Nick didn’t hesitate. Brock saw his crewmate slip off the edge of the ship. But he didn’t hear a splash. He rushed to the edge, seeing the coiling sea dragon sinking under the water again. Wherever his sailor had got to, he hoped it was better than here. It was a hard reality, Brock reflected, sat to the steps to the upper deck, watching a ripple of the sails as the wind carried them along. At this point, even if the dragoness left them alone, they were likely still doomed. His crew was whittled to just him and James. The lad had been staying in his cabin since Nick leapt to his watery fate. He could understand the feeling. Who knew what the dragoness might do to get her next meal? Were James a more, seasoned sailor, maybe they two could handle the ship in some reasonable way. But even then, who knew where they were. The sea stretched in all directions. They were snugly in the grip of the dragoness. The evening was drawing in… and judging by the dragoness’s current, appetite, would they both be added to her diet tomorrow? Brock sighed. It was going to be a hard night to sleep, he foresaw spending every moment wondering how his bed compared to the inner lining of the dragoness’s stomach, where his next night may be. Still, he rose, stretching and looking forlornly over the familiar deck. Would she leave it a ghost ship, or even sink it? Who knew. He hoped his ramshackle old ship wasn’t turned into some dark lure the beast used to draw in more prey. He couldn’t stand that. Not that he’d be alive enough to care. Brock headed into his ship, sealing out the night and thoughts of the dragoness. Tomorrow would be soon enough to contemplate his imminent demise. The rapid, frantic thud of hands on his door roused Brock from his slumber. For just a moment he was irritated to be disturbed, then he remembered. The array of catastrophes that had been wrought by the dragoness… and the risk of another underway. He scrabbled out of his bedding, throwing his coat back over his shoulders and stumbling to the door, pushing out and almost barrelling James down. “James, is she back?” he pressed as the smaller man stumbled “Yes and no, Captain, look” James gestured off to the side, drawing Brock’s gaze, and his disbelief. It was a good distance away, but land was on the horizon, and more than that, the distinctive glimmer of white off the buildings of the port. Home. “It can’t be” Brock mumbled to himself, rushing to the railing, and as a sudden afterthought, grasping it tightly, lest this be one more trap to lure them to the water “What are your orders, captain?” Brock glanced to the sails, practiced eyes considering the wind. It was in their favour “turn the ship, straight for the port” “Aye” James sounded, decidedly relieved, boots thudding in his hasty rise up to the upper deck. So, taken with the tantalising view of home was Brock, he only realised he wasn’t enjoying it alone, when a familiar splash of water caught his ears. His eyes went down and met those of the beast. He stepped back from the railing quickly, as the head rose into better view. But he had no intention to quail… sight of home was emboldening. “You’re cute, hackles raised, and teeth bared” the dragoness rumbled “I’m not going to interfere” she looked back over her shoulder “that place, is where you were going, yes?” Brock’s tension flickered quite suddenly as he realised something “you’ve been sailing us here, haven’t you… the whole time?” “But of course,” her muzzle curved in a grin “where else would your bobbing ship go? It was fun. I’m not sure why your little tasty companions thought so deeply I wasn’t being sincere. We have played our game, and you… stayed out of the water” “You didn’t exactly explain there was a time limit” “No, I didn’t” she agreed with a rumble. The head lifted a bit, looking down over him with a certain, ominous glee in those eyes “I’ll assume you can sail from here, and I want to go home. I have a meal to digest… Do come back to visit someday. We can pick up our game where we left off” With that, the dragoness slipped back down the edge of the boat, sleek form sinking smoothly into the sea, diving down, to a world her own, he didn’t doubt. “Damn creature…” Brock murmured, tone slow and neutral, reflecting the indecision inside. Once more he let the distant port take his view, feeling his ship turning beneath his feet to ride the waves for the landbound sanctuary. “Think it’s about time I got my land legs” Brock muttered to himself before collapsing to his rear on the deck.

The town of Lia’ter, translating in the older tongues as veined stone, sat on the north-western edge of the ring of civilisation that looped solidly around the untamed dragonlands. The reason for the naming of that place was a lot more obvious than that of Lia’ter. The market was loud as usual, voices crying out fresh deals as competition stirred, the whiney of horses coming from the traveller’s quarter at the northern end of the long, open path that ran through the district. The hubbub bred from the endless to and fro of the haggle. Amid the bright colours, brighter smiles and array of curious wares sprawled upon wooden stalls polished to a reflective sheen was conflict. Like a branch of twittering birds, the joviality and hues hid the harsh reality. Those birds every song was a battlecry, and every trader’s elaborate ploy was an attempt to sink their rivals and enhance their own worth. It was a game Arn knew well, and yet he found the noise eating at his concentration more than usual… or he was just paying extra special attention to his choice of words, considering the customer. “I assure you sir, I have learned from a long, proud line. Every concoction here is as effective as you could ever dream, crafted with precision and care. You won’t find better in or out of Lia’ter” Even through the market’s hum, the deep, grating rumble of sound that echoed from his customer’s thick neck reached him clear as day. Arn tried to keep his wandering… or fleeing… thoughts in check, even as they wondered if he felt so hot because of the stress, or the billowing gusts of hot breath rattling his bottles with a pleasant chime. Dark green scales, fading to a light hue like tarnished copper covered the long, blunt muzzle of the beast sitting in the middle of their market, before his stall. Its tail settled half under the table, almost against Arn’s feet to keep the dangerous appendage in check. Surely half his height in length if not more, the snout loomed a little closer, as eyes large as his fist focussed on him. He hated looking into those, it made his skin crawl, the almost human intensity, in those very inhuman eyes. Or maybe it was instinct. Made sense somewhere in his lineage the instinct to avoid being the entire focus of a dragon’s attention had been of benefit. “Quite the bold claim” the voice that escaped the muzzle was disarmingly smooth and charming. Heavy and masculine… or, well, Arn assumed a dragoness probably spoke as heavily… but certainly deep and commanding. It wasn’t the first time the dragon had spoke since sitting, but it still caught Arn off guard slightly. He expected such a creature’s voice to come out with a sharp hiss, or a bestial growl, punctuated with roars. But the voice fell in line with the smooth grace of the predator. “And not the first time I’ve heard it” the dragon continued, amusement lingering in the gently spoken words “You do know I can fly to any town and I’ll be promised the same thing” Arn had a lifetime of practice putting on a cheery smile, it served him well as he looked at the beast large as a small building, squatting, looming over his wares, and him for that matter “Why not be the judge then. How about a trial discount? I guarantee you’ll like it enough to come back and pay full price” The reptile snorted, though the edges of its lips were curled “persistent. You’d say anything, wouldn’t you” Arn offered a slightly more sheepish version of his normal smile. He’d practiced this one too “Then how about taking the fact I’m still in business as your proof I’m good to my word. You’re tall enough to see over the crowds, there are two other merchants who sell what you’re after, I’m doing better than them. You’re also hard to miss, you didn’t go to them first” “True, and true” the beast rumbled again “shrewd little chancer… very well. I will indeed sample your, discounted wares” the dragon noted, emphasis rolling smoothly along the word discounted “Naturally” Arn continued “two bottles of the pain remedy, and one of the…” he gave the dragon a slight, coy look “the, ah, allurant” The dragon raised an eyeridge slowly, the rumble a touch quieter “discreet, if you please. Deliver them to the intermediary before the sun passes the crags there” the dragon looked off, Arn following the gaze to the marble cliffs outside Lia’ter “That is when I am leaving” Arn bowed, allowing himself to exhale. The relief was overwhelming. “Of course, Sir, I…” The screech of a roar came accompanied with a tremor through the ground. The words in Arn’s throat evaporated, and his eyes widened as the demeanour of the beast before him changed. The head lifted away, eyes looking towards the sound. Scales drew back to show the savagely ragged fangs. A growl, low and threatening built in the neck. The beast weaved a few steps back, a fresh tremor, closer. A second dragon burst over the line of the market, landing in the street, people parting and screaming. A bright pink abyss descended, Arn staring up, realising with an empty feeling that it was coming for him. The abyss flashed out of his view as a forepaw of his customer slammed to the jaw of the new beast, a savage roar tearing the air… though from which, Arn had no idea. His customer pressed the advantage, shoulder to the flank of the new arrival, driving the dragon back over the line of stalls, for the edge of the town. Arn could see there was no contest. There the dragon he had been serving was sleek and elegant, the new beast was in poor state. Rough, scale-less scars were along it’s neck, and the plates on its belly settled unevenly over the bones beneath. He stepped from his stall, to peer around it, as the new dragon was all but thrown from the town, staggering away as his customer placed its impressive bulk between the new dragon and the market. New sounds echoed dangerously in the air, two more of the immense reptiles stalking in, left and right, eyes on the feral arrival, blocking access to the town. Rising high in a whip, before descending in a dangerous swipe, a lashing dragon tail all but demolished the stall next to his, the sound of shattering wood barely audible over the screeching roars as the dragons faces each other, fangs on display, ferocious nature unveiled. Quite suddenly the feral dragon made a lunge to the left, though not for the dragon there. Arn couldn’t see but could only assume someone like himself had caught it’s eye. Its shoulder met the shoulder of the guarding dragon, who met the charge, and with a growl tossed the feral back. There was no contest. Despite its sheer size, the word scrawny came to Arn’s mind when he considered the feral. Certainly, compared to the others, it was a withered creature. His eyes fell upon its muzzle as it roared, angry, savage, wordless surely, even in the growling dragon tongue. But then the voice stopped. It was shockingly sudden. Scales shuddered with a spasm in the muscles beneath, ground quaking as the feral dragon’s left forelimb buckled, and it fell to the ground. The tail lashed, a hind leg kicked and sent a cart crashing into a wall where it split in three ragged segments. But then all was still, quiet. The three dragons who had faced it silent now as well, though their eyes were locked on the strewn titan. A pitiable wheeze of sound echoed out, the fallen dragon twitching as its last breath whistled out from its own weight upon its chest. Arn has never seen a dead dragon, and yet… it was obvious. He finally felt his taut frame relax a little. Good riddance. The three dragons parted, one padding to the fallen feral, grasping at it with their teeth and forepaws, pulling it away from the road where it had fallen. Though Arn’s focus was back on his, customer, that dragon turning to return to the market, eyes flicking over those below. The long muzzle lowered, considering the shattered stall “Whichever human claims this one, may seek compensation of me. Inform the intermediary” those eyes flicked back to Arn “our business is concluded?” “Yes, sir” Arn felt the words in his mouth, but had to force them out. The events had been, stunning to say the least. With a slow nod of its head, the dragon rose away from the market, padding away, seemingly to help remove the body of the feral. Arn shook his head slowly, and reached onto his stall, lifting away the purchased bottles. He supposed he was fortunate his breakable wares hadn’t been struck by that lashing tail… not that he’d have minded being compensated for them all. “Master Arn” A younger boy approached by his side, a mousy sort of child. Rough, muddy brown clothing stained with the reds and greens of the profession he was learning. Arn shook his head “missed a right moment, didn’t you, boy” “Sorry, Master Arn” the boy dipped his head with little sincerity behind the words “the dragons were amazing to see, weren’t they”? Arn frowned, throwing a bag to the boy “pack up the delivery for the doctor, and don’t blather nonsense. You’ll end up dead if you idolise those reptiles” That comment earnt him a disheartened frown from his apprentice. Not the first. He paid it little mind at this point. “They protected the market though, didn’t they, Master Arn?” Arn sighed, fixing the boy with a look “Rilo, dragons are trouble. Civil enough, till they go feral like that one. When they walk the streets, they break things, and when they walk the woods, they eat people. I had that one sat in front of the stall for twenty minutes, and you know how many customers I had in that time? Not a one” “Bought all that though” Rilo noted, gesturing to the separated bottles “Granted” Arn observed, putting the dragon’s tonics in a bag “But take it from your master, Rilo. When you’re on this market yourself, you don’t want to be the trader attracting dragons if you can avoid it. Just be polite, try to get them to buy big, and hope they don’t tell their friends” Rilo didn’t respond, but the way the boy looked to his boots, wasn’t all that encouraging. Arn grunted “away with you and be back quicker this time. But break one of those bottles and I won’t feed you for a week” His apprentice nodded curtly, hurrying away, leaving Arn to settle his nerves. He flopped to the chair he kept behind the stall. Like as not there’d be a slow period now. Feral attacks had a way of driving the customers inside. He’d be lucky if he sold enough to make it worth the time of sitting here. Damn dragons… “Settle Rilo, pest” Arn chided his apprentice, waving the boy away as he turned the stew out into bowls, shooting the lad a sterner look. Obligingly enough the boy sat in his chair, the smaller of the two around the small table in the front of Arn’s home. “Do we have bread today, master?” Rilo probed “Optimistic as always” Arn grunted, though a little better natured than he’d felt earlier in the day “yes, I closed the stall early before the baker had turned in. So, we have a nice loaf today. Thanks to the damn dragon I suppose” Rilo only grinned wordlessly. Only apprentice Arn had taken. If nothing else the boy was predictable. He who controlled the food, controlled the boy. He a bowl of stew before Rilo and his own spot, settling the pot down and reaching into the pocket of his coat, inside painted white with the flour. Loaf still a nice crisp brown as he set it down, round as a plate. “You can have some, after, you tell me the most important ingredient for a pain curative” Rilo’s hand hesitated in it’s eager reach for the loaf “Sorrowbark” he answered after a brief moment “Almost” Arn answered with a wry smile Rilo frowned “it’s Sorrowbark…” he exhaled, lips pursing “oh, you mean Peach Syrup…” “Correct” Arn waved a hand, offering permission for Rilo to go ahead… and the boy, did, ripping away a spongy boulder of bread “and it’s correct because?” Arn prompted, taking a mouthful of his stew, and frowning a touch. He wasn’t a good cook. “Because any tonic will make people feel better if you say it does…” Rilo answered methodically “but they’ll buy yours if it doesn’t taste awful” “Close enough” Arn noted, tearing a strip of break for himself, dipping it into his stew. “You can read the chapter on human versus dragon allurants tonight, since you find the beasts so very enthralling” Arn commanded offhand “and mind the house tonight. I’m going out to gather some supplies” Rilo’s hand froze, soaked bread mere inches from his mouth. A chunk of carrot dripped back into his bowl “Master… you, shouldn’t” “You’ll learn, my boy, that the freshest ingredients work the best, and that the freshest is the closest. And the closest are in those woods” “The dragon’s woods…” Rilo observed quietly, chewing into his meal “There are a lot of dangers other than dragons in this world” Arn spoke as he stirred the break piece into his stew “You’re taking one risk or another. If I go foraging out and around, I could suffer any number of accidents for little promise of reward. People stay out of those woods, means there’s plenty there, and close to town. I’ll be back by morning with all we need. Sooner that than spending days roaming far and wide to find the same” Rilo shook his head slowly, but didn’t argue, eating more slowly as Arn spooned up the rest of his stew quickly, rising once it was done to wander towards the door out. He paused only to grasp his heavy, dark cloak from by the door, and shoot his apprentice a glance. The boy would be fine on his own. Arn threw the cloak around his shoulders, cold but would warm soon enough, and stepped out into the evening. The woods the dragon’s called their own was pressed right to the edge of town. He should be able to get what he needed and be back before true dark. The dragonlands, nestled in the wide circle of human civilisation known as the dragonring, were certainly a world apart. Trees grew tall and wide, leaving gaps between their ancient trunks big enough for a dragon to weave. Younger forests didn’t suit the beasts. But though the immense trees fended off rivals with their roots, often there was just enough space for smaller shrubs and stems to grow. Especially those that drew life from, different aspects of the soil to the grand barked titans. Is was plants like those that always seemed better for medicine and tonics. Arn sliced sharply with his sickle, taking the flowers of a small, unassuming plant. So low to the ground, so assailed by insects, its leaves had developed a curious compound that killed those who fed on it. But crushed, purified, it seemed to kill many small things, including whatever carried illness from person to person. A potent salve for wounds where they could sneak beneath the skin. A good find. These plants were near impossible to find growing so well, outside of these, semi-forbidden lands. He stood slowly, arching his back… that, if nothing else, might drive him home sooner than later. If Rilo wasn’t so wary of the woods, his apprentice’s young, lithe frame would be well suited to crouching and cutting. Still, the risks of coming here were real. Arn slipped the herb into one of his pouches, hand easing beneath to feel the weight of it. He probably had enough for one outing. Maybe come morning he would return while the sun was low, and the dragons were warming themselves, and head to the river, bound to find some sorrowbark on the dragon side… A sound put Arn on alert, familiar, yet not one he’d heard on his outings before, nor wished to. The sharp exhale of a dragon’s snort. Immediately he dropped low, looking around himself, listening. They normally didn’t hunt so close to the edge. Humanity spooked their prey… or so he heard. Most dragons hunted deeper in, closer to their dens so they didn’t need to travel far with their bellies full. But one was close. One visiting the town maybe? His mind raced. That made sense. In the midst of small talk with one once, he remembered they said their kind tended to hunt any chance they got. Maybe, one that was staying in the town overnight was trying its luck… The night was still and quiet. It made Arn uneasy. Had the dragon heard him, as he heard it. He’d hoped it would pass by, but if this was a stalemate… no, he just had to stay still. It might assume its prey dived into a burrow or was already gone. The bush nearest him exploded. Branches torn and tossed aside in a plume of demise, the much more solid, scaly shape of a muzzle lunching through in Arn’s direction. He didn’t think, only reflex threw him clear of the snap of teeth. That same evasion threw his balance, sending Arn to his backside, looking up as the scaly head rose into better view, lit by moonlight through the canopy. “I thought I caught a familiar scent” the voice stirred in the long neck of the dragon “hello, poultice seller…” Arn’s heart skipped a beat, eyes flashing over the shape… he could never tell the creatures apart, but by colour, which was lacking in the monochrome of the moonlight… and yet. “You’re, the dragon, from the market” he concluded quite suddenly, almost relieved for once to actually know one of them The head loomed down, like it had in the market. Nostrils flared “Why are you here” the voice, and tone was level, far from the softened, jovial tone the dragon kept before. Arn’s faintly returning smile faded again. “I… well” he considered the vast snout before him, but the dragon was hard enough to read in daylight “I was gathering some herbs, for my concoctions” “I thought so” the muzzle lifted away slightly “I caught the sharp herbal hint of…” the eyes drifted off to the ground “well, one of the plants that so interests your kind. I have never seen it, but I know it’s smell…” “Sorry to have bothered you” Arn apologized with more grimace than smile “I was just heading back” “You’re not leaving” the dragon exhaled the words deeply, and indeed, as Arn backed away, he felt the firm, muscular cord of it’s tail sweep to his back, knocking him forward again “Now, hold on…” Arn murmured. Fear, returned in full force as he looked over the vast, reptilian predator “you, surely you don’t mean…” “I’m going to be eating you, yes” the dragon observed, little passion tinging the deep voice “Come, human… you knew that was what would happen if you were caught here” “I’ve never wronged you, dragon… it’s, just a few herbs” Arn reasoned, eyes seeking an escape, but that tail was long, and he was a flick of it from being back before the settled bulk of the dragon “This isn’t about that” the dragon snorted “It is far simpler a matter. These are our hunting grounds, and you are edible, and I have caught you” Arn felt hot air, and stumbled away, realising the muzzle was lowering to him again “We command your kind to not attempt to strip these lands, so our prey may flourish, as part of our, agreement to hunt here alone. But Quite honestly, I care not about a handful of green leaves. I care about the emptiness of my stomach” The maw parted; the dragon seemingly was done talking. Arn gazed into the abyss of the mouth. Inhuman, long, fang lined, the tongue forked and thin. The throat a dark abyss… “Wait, please” Arn blurted, staggering away form the jaws, noticing the ring of the tail was closing in to give him less room to move “You saved me today, in the market, you’d, end my life so casually, just like that” He choked on the gust of hot, rancid air as the dragon sighed over him, the edge of a growl, frustrated “There are two sorts of dragons in these woods, human… those who make exceptions, and those who do not. Believe it or not, I’m the former, where once I was the latter. But not for you. Had you wandered in here lost, or perhaps even seeking to thank me in some… foolish way, just maybe I’d have considered. But you chose to take this risk” The jaws snapped for him, Arn ducking to the side, bumping to the tail again with a grunt. The beast was trying to eat him whole… else he was sure he’d be dead already… going into that body alive did not sound pleasant… “I have an apprentice, let me return to him, please” The muzzle lifted faintly, the growling note deepening “do you know what made me choose to believe exceptions need made…” the dragon began “a little human, gathering herbs, like you… I ate him, despite protests. Claims he needed a rare plant to help a sick relative, I paid them little mind, humans would say anything, to save themselves, now wouldn’t they. And yet, the next day in town, my meal a memory, I heard a distraught female screeching for her son, staggering amid your kind, before eventually collapsing. I’m told she had an illness they can cure, with the right medicine” the fangs bore slightly “now, maybe it was all a coincidence, maybe the human I ate only knew of another human’s plight and lied, maybe it was a friend of this one’s son, maybe another dragon ate them, who knows. Desperation, heartfelt and pleading… you’re just here for greed, human. You’ll find no survival from me. You only prolong your suffering. Be still” Arn opened his mouth to protest, but instead found himself ducking from the jaws again, hitting tail once more, looking around to find, he had no more room, looking up, seeing only tail and the snout above. A flick of damp tongue on those scaly lips. “Damn it, why protect me from a feral, if you care so little for human life” “That poor dragon wasn’t feral” the voice dropped in volume, in sharp contrast as the snout came down “only starving. Hungry enough to cease caring about our rules and go for a meal of communal human just to stop the pain, a last desperate burst that ended their sorry life. I’d have loved to let that one eat you, eat his fill and sleep on a full belly. But I get enough looks. We drive the starving to their deaths, that we may continue to interact with your kind as benefits us… and I eat you, with the hope I can stave myself off from the same desperation” Arn tried another argument, but the dragon only heard a muffled sound, mouth finally closing on the struggling prey. A short jab down, a lick of his bright tongue, and the human was scooped in to fill his mouth. The regal head lifted, moonlight glancing along the neck as the head tipped back and highlighting the contours of the long lumpy shape as the dragon swallowed. Thrice, each lunging gulp forcing more human into the tight path down. But after that the throat had a good enough grip, the dragon exhaling with some relief. Good riddance. Humans were such an awkward prey. Other animals understood the way of life. They tried to escape, fought to the last for their own survival, as was their right. But they knew even in their simple way, there would be no mercy shown if they were caught. They knew hunger and satiation. Yes, humans were strange. The weight of his meal settled into the pouch of his stomach, stretching the chamber delightfully. A snug, perfect fit. A purr left the muzzle, dragon swaying off on his way, mood improving considerably, now that the ache of hunger was abating, a warm, sleepy fullness replacing it. He’d sleep well tonight. And he did, sprawled out on the wood’s edge, belly exposed, only a couple of thick belly plates showing the fight of his prey, twitching as it struggled for life. Juices flowing every nook and cranny of the trapped human, softening flesh, then cartilage and bone. Not a cry escaped the hide, and every desperate movement was efficiently contained as the body of the predator did its ruthless work. By the time the sun rose, all movement had long since ceased, a thick pool of meaty nutrients seeping out of the acrid chamber. Nobody was awake in the early morning, to hear the single, muffled snap of sound from the dragon’s midsection, or see one of the plates that had been bulging settle back into its normal place as the acid-worn bones gave out. Rilo’s head hung low as he sat on the chair behind his master’s stall, fingers shifting nervously as he tried to remember what all the bottles before him did. Master would want him to, do a good job… till he got back. He sniffed slightly, dapping his shirt to his eyes for a moment. Master would be back… he took those, risks but he always came back. His stupor was snapped slightly, as the bottles he was watching rattled. He looked up, a startled eep of sound escaping him as he saw a dragon in the market. People obligingly fleeing to either side to keep out of the way of the paws. The beast’s eyes roaming left and right over the stalls, before focussing on his. Rilo sat up a little straighter… he just, had to make sure he was polite and didn’t show any fear… but why was his first customer a dragon… “H…ello, sir” Rilo murmured, edges of his smile shaking as he looked up at the massive reptile… they were scary up close, and so very big. The dragon settled to its haunches, muscular thighs bulging as they squatted. He had to admire the creature… it was beautiful in a way. His roaming eyes traced up the belly, hesitating. The plates that ran down were perfectly uniform, except one. Just one, below the ribcage. One side of the scale was risen, but it was fixed by the next. “Hello” the voice drew him out of his daydream, back up to the snout. He trembled. That head was so big, he’d be like a sucking candy, if a big one… “please do relax little one… I won’t hurt you” The edges of the jawline curved in what… looked kinda like a smile “Rilo nodded slowly “welcome… to our stall, sir… my, my master isn’t here right now, but if I can help you…” “heartburn…” the dragon spoke slowly “something I ate seems to be setting my stomach awry… you have something for that, yes?” Rilo nodded shakily, trembling as his hands reached out for a dark bottle on the edge of his stall “Yes sir…” he felt just a little relieved, though his nerves… at least he knew that concoction well “that’s an easy one”

Short Stories of the Dragonring: Merchantary It was the most devious of rain that cascaded onto the long blunt muzzle of the dragon sitting just outside of Lia’ter. Water came down in a fine mist, so fine he could barely feel it against his scales. But the air was thick with it. In no time at all he was soaked and cold. He hated the rain, he reflected as he hunched his shoulders down, curling up as much as he could while sat on his haunches. Mylos shook his muzzle slightly, a forming puddle shaken free to splash down against his foreclaws. He had never seen the lands his ancestors hailed from… but he bet it didn’t rain much there. His scales were a creamy white, almost swirling patterns in the scales. His mother had always told him, it blended in with the bare rocks of the region. There, he could have prowled between sandstone boulders and been unseen despite his size. But the dragons of the dragonring had long since made their pact with the human primates… it was double edged for any dragons who still lived out in the world. Humans were more placid things now… but their expansion was protected by dragons. Join, or keep retreating further from the growth. So his mother had said of her parents. His colours may have made him a hidden predator there… here they only hurt his chances. In the end, that was why he was sat in the rain, watching the human settlement, waiting for a very specific building to light it’s fire. It was called the, intermediary. A way for dragonkind to indulge in the hoarded resources of humans. If they were willing to serve… and earn the tiny metal disks the humans used to mark their… Mylos cocked his head. Status maybe, he had heard the word wealth, but it meant nothing to him. It was a concept so far removed from the world of dragons. Finally light plumed beneath the sheltered roof of the small building… it was shaped like a tree trunk, cut about a third up, to Mylos’s eye. Straight, and thin, and round. Not the, textured lumpy, angled shapes he saw in the human nests. He eased from sitting, a winced hiss as he stretched his muscles… they felt so unwilling from the cold, it almost hurt to move them. But he was sure they would be fine once he got in motion. A lone human was in the building, little paws moving over the flat surface that faced in all directions, but for smaller pillars keeping the roof above. It looked, so small. Mylos’s stomach growled at him, enough that he winced. He must, must not have it sounding in front of humans… After a moment of hesitating to feel sure it had finished its objection, Mylos crouched lower, and padded to the intermediary, catching the human’s eye. As his muzzle got close, he regretted not keeping more distance. Hot air blew from the fire inside, carrying human scent to his nostrils. He wanted to eat it so badly… “Oh… Mylos, wasn’t it?” the human spoke, glancing briefly to the sheets on its desk “Yes…” Mylos murmured “I was here a few days ago, asking about work?” “Right…” the human mused “we set up your account, then you had to go hunting. Have much luck?” “Nothing worth mentioning” Mylos huffed, trying not to think about that… “I’m really quite interested in finding, work to earn me your… coins” “Well…” the human reflected “I thought about that once you’d left. I don’t have any requests on my desk right now. You could ask around the quarry maybe. They have a dragon who has been working there for years. Sadly, employment is more a… go and find it. Just ask around. Unfortunately, unless somebody comes to me with a desperate need for a draconic workforce, I don’t really know that much. My line of work doesn’t keep me social. I’d say other dragons here are your best bet. They should know if, you can do what they do, or if they’ve been approached with offers they turned down, or… something” Mylos felt his ears pin, a sigh escaping his muzzle, deeper than he intended. The human had to snatch at its papers “I had hoped this would be easier… but I appreciate your time” The look the human gave him, he took as pitying “sorry I couldn’t be of more help” the little creature’s eyes moved for a moment, a pointed, direct moment, down Mylos’s underside. A deep flash of embarrassment took the dragon. He sat quicker, snorting “I’ll go ask at the quarry…” he turned to pad, shaking his head with a growl. Even a human could see he was getting thin… he needed to eat, he needed a good meal. Whatever it took… even if he had to do what he once would have considered a sign of weakness… serving prey. “Sorry… there’s really no question of hiring you… I can’t justify it” The quarry was bigger than Mylos had expected. Hard to believe humans had cut most of this, immense hold in the ground, taking the curious, veined stone they liked to build with so much… Down in the bit he could see their resident dragon. He was big, adult, strong. There was a curious glint off his claws as he scraped in the stone, brushing aside boulders larger than a human with deep grunts that echoed up from the depths. “Please…” Mylos felt the word slip off his tongue with, a lot more of his true desperation than he intended to show “I’m still young, but I’m stronger than any human, I can help” “I’m sure you could…” the human who, he had been told was in charge answered “but I don’t need another dragon” he gestured down the hole “Greth works full time, only dragon I’ve ever known to do that. I won’t deny, having him around is invaluable. But I only need one” Mylos huffed, looking around the site “He digs... I can carry things maybe. I’m stronger than the beasts you have pulling the stone” “I’m sure you are” the man noted “but, I can’t stack your back like I can theirs, wings and all, and most importantly, they cost me only what it takes to feed them. Dragons are more expensive. It’s not worth it to me. I can get the same amount of pulling power, distributable over more area, for cheaper. Sorry, dragon” Mylos looked down at the… Greth dragon despondently “I could dig, like he does, surely I can outdo humans” “Look… I said Greth was invaluable, but you need to understand how costly it is to keep a dragon on staff. See his claws? I needed to have metal claw sheaths made for him specially. Cost a fortune, he’s still paying them off, and that’s with us splitting the bill down the middle. It’s to protect his claws from the wear. Those things will only fit a dragon exactly his size. Had to get him on a long contract before I’d even accept putting in an order for them. I don’t need another dragon so badly I want to go through all that again. If Greth quits when his contract is up, then talk to me. I can’t help you till then, dragon” Mylos opened his mouth to object, but the human was already walking away. He swallowed back the powerful urge to pounce, bite, and eat the creature… it was a struggle. This had been his best lead, he reflected sourly. Now where did he go… a part of him scolded, that this was all time he could be spending hunting. The pickings were slim, but he could get by… for now. But the animals were getting wise to his colours. Every time he hunted the beasts seemed to react a little faster. Spotted him a bit quicker… and there were less and less that strayed behind the herd. This had to be his best hope, he reasoned, hopefully. Earn the human coins and come here to buy a good meal when he got desperate. Keep his strength up so he could hunt at his peak. So lost in the sweet, alluring thought of food was he, that it took several moments to realise Greth was thumping his heavy way up out of the quarry. Mylos approached on quick steps. “Morning” the larger dragon greeted him; head faintly cocked “don’t think I know you” Mylos dipped his muzzle respectfully “you don’t. I am Mylos, I was looking to work, like you do” “Ah” Greth rumbled, padding off of the main path into the quarry, sitting beside Mylos “I wouldn’t recommend it, little dragon” “No?” Mylos cocked his head “I need to find some work; I need the food” Greth dipped his larger, dark brown muzzle lower. Mylos though found himself looking at the slightly bent and scratched claws of metal the big dragon was wearing, and also, a strange strap of leather hanging down from the bigger beast’s neck “The human who leads this working group, won’t want another dragon” Greth observed “he bemoans my salary often enough. He’s nice enough, when you get to know him” “I already asked “Mylos admitted “And he said no” Greth confirmed with a faint smile “you’re better off looking elsewhere. Besides… this sort of work won’t suit you well. I am paid, I am told, an immense amount, but also… equivalent to the work I do for them. I have been eating little but what I can purchase from humans for a while now… and it has its drawbacks” Mylos nodded along, ears perking at the mention of food “Humans cultivate food for their kind, and how much they can produce is, limited” Greth explained “in the end, humans put humans first. They won’t sell me livestock beyond what they have already promised to their kind. And I have competition for the surplus. They do, encourage their animals to breed more, but that then requires more land, more space, more humans to work fields… it seems a slow process. I take animals, whole… which I understand is a lot of meat… which is normally, a smaller part, luxurious addition to the human’s meal fare… that I eat it exclusively, makes my meals more, expensive than that of a human” he shook his head slowly “and this work, it has me active, very active. I feel so heavy with the muscle it has gained me; flying is a chore. I worry I’ll lose the skill. And my appetite only grows” he looked to Mylos “Spend too long in this sort of work, young dragon… and you lose the ability to do anything else. I would not fare well on the hunt anymore, but I have become an impressive digger. If you wish to find human work… I would recommend not losing your… dragon self to it” he snorted something close to a growl “and don’t be foolish…” he tapped a claw to the leather strap at his neck “these are… humans call goggles. They are for my eyes, to try and keep shards of stone away. It isn’t perfect, but first the humans spoke of metal. They forget sometimes that we are not human. Their heads sit atop their spines, it is fine for them to weigh their heads. I have even heard of humans who carry immense loads balanced atop where it doesn’t bend that vital cord. I’ve seen dragons ruin their lives, doing human work that is bad for their bodies, and then living with the consequences for their long lives… never let a human put metal on your face… your neck is a lever, and the weight will damage it” Mylos nodded along quickly “I understand…” The older dragon eased from his haunches with a sigh. Mylos would, certainly admit, the dragon was… bulging with muscle “and remember… humans largely don’t want to hurt their kind. That’s another reason the humans here won’t hire you. To pay and feed you, they would need to send many, many of their own kind out of work, and so back to their village every day, to angry snarls of humans now going hungry and coinless… and when humans do not get their coins, they start to claw and attack each other for them. Something to bear in mind, when deciding where to try and find work. Find something they can’t have a human do instead… and you’ll have much more luck” Mylos watched the older dragon wander back into the quarry. He felt bad, realising the elder had taken his, working break to talk to him… but what felt worse was the gnawing in his stomach. He supposed he’d need to ask around… there were other dragons who worked in this nest, he knew it… he just had to find them and ask… “Well… I work through the intermediary” the red male reflected, a faint purring sound breaking in the words, as the sleek, beautiful dark dragoness by his side licked up his neck. A, somewhat fetching piece of bright human cloth decorating her neck Mylos felt his ears press to his horns “I asked there first” The dragon he had approached rolled a shoulder apologetically, glancing briefly around the road they were sat on for their talk, checking they weren’t blocking humans “the need for dragon labour is infrequent. You’d have more luck in a larger settlement I hear… where there are enough humans the need is a little more, constant. Most dragons I know though live it like I do. Check for work they like the sound of, do it occasionally, then use their gathered coins for, trinkets” The female by him chuckled, shoulder rolling to his. It was enough to make Mylos jealous… “I want to be able to supplement my diet” Mylos observed “my scales don’t do me any favours on the hunt. Humans seemed a good way to survive” The male scratched a claw at his jawline “that’s a little bit fraught. The price of animals is high here, what with that dragon in the quarry. The more you lean on their livestock, the higher the price gets. There’s a reason the land we forbid humans from is the one we chose, it’s lush and bountiful. Prey can breed wildly because there is plenty to nourish them… and we manage our numbers. Humans… they live anywhere, for different reasons. They live here for the stone they gather and trade, for example. There isn’t much contained prey here to begin with” Mylos sighed faintly “I’m not, strong enough to contend for territory near larger human settlements… there are dragons who have been living off humans for over a century, they won’t move… and the deeper woods are so traditional…” The other dragon nodded “territory is a challenge… this is a nice settlement of the humans, not too overwhelming… the bigger ones are, insane. You spend more time watching your step and tail than anything, it’s not enjoyable at all. This place… has its charm “he looked off down the main street it was built around “but, as I said, work for dragons is infrequent. Myself, I got hired to help them build a new nest. It was easy work, just hold things in place for them to save them time and effort. But I couldn’t live off of that little job. Though I’d do it again… it was fun” he rumbled “it helped pay for my mate’s decoration. But I was hungry while I spent time there. It’s a balance” “I need something more extreme” Mylos lamented The dragoness looked to him with a rumble “I might know a dragoness or two who would accept feeding you if you enthralled yourself to her demands…” Mylos grimaced “I have my pride… that’s a tradition that can’t die soon enough” The male hummed “well, unfortunately all I can tell you is to keep checking with the intermediary. Humans who need a dragon for one-time work will go there and lodge a request. There will be something, a human who wants to travel somewhere faster than their animals can carry them… construction maybe, or haulage… pulling logs or…” he hesitated “actually, there’s that dragoness who sits by the road past town sometimes. She carries larger loads for the merchants… and they don’t tend to go through the intermediaries as often… they travel around. She might know some work for you” Mylos perked up slightly. A slim home, but a new one “I’ll ask her… yes, thank you” “Good luck, young one” the male chuckled, though the female grinned “cute… I’d love to keep him…” Mylos padded away quickly as the male gave his female a slight chiding muzzle bump, before they padded on their way in turn. The dragoness who was strewn by the road, Mylos had heard of before. She was considered an eccentric of sorts. Mostly because she spent so much time idling time away with the human who did the majority of transit between the merchants and the town. Most would say reasonably surely that she was looking for a chance to eat him. Today she was alone, the human presumably taking something too small for her services into town. “The merchants, hmm?” she noted with a slight smile as Mylos sat before her “they’re a strange group, even for humans” Mylos nodded slowly, huffing “I’m just looking for work, I don’t much care about the humans” “They may have something, if you’re willing to travel” the mused “Best would be to approach one… one with a large cart, or several behind them. On occasion one has offered coin to me, if I was willing to fly, following the road they travel to the next settlement on their route, ask a few questions, and fly back” “Why?” Mylos cocked his head “I haven’t the faintest clue” she stretched herself out with a low rumble “the offer isn’t terrible for the time, if you have nothing better to do, but I don’t care to fly away from here. It’s not particularly much though… but considering the amount I used to be asked… it might be reasonably consistent?” Mylos frowned to himself… it didn’t sound like the saving grace he wanted… still, it was the closest thing he’d found yet “I see…” She rumbled to herself “unfortunately I can’t suggest much more than that… there truly isn’t enough work for even me to be here, but for, enjoying the company” Mylos snorted faintly, remaining quiet on that note “I appreciate the help” “Anytime” she noted with a gentle smile “good luck” It had been a long day, Mylos reflected as he sat by the edge of the human settlement, eyes considering the humans known as, merchants, or traders… He watched them move about their carts heavy with, things he gathered were important to humans, and tending to the delicious looking four-legged beasts that pulled them. His stomach growled, impatient and angry. Instinct demanding to know why he wasn’t filing his empty stomach with the living, moving food before his very eyes. In the end, he concluded, he didn’t have a lot of choice. If he did this, surely, he could get at least something to eat for certain… and, maybe if this worked out, and they wanted him to fly often… maybe the human livestock was less expensive where he’d be flying… Reluctant, both to get closer to his temptation, and to invite the exertion of flying on top of his weary, food deprived body, but yet determined this was his best chance, Mylos padded over towards the settled carts. Wary looks were thrown his way. He couldn’t blame them. A less than hearty looking dragon approaching them and their meaty beasts… he hoped his mouth wasn’t watering noticeably. Mylos sat himself again, lowering his stance to be as unthreatening as he could “I’m looking for work” he announced Some of the humans seemed to relax at least, but he saw many of their heads rocking side to side in denial… he just, wanted to bite those off, bite, chew, eat… he could feel his breathing deepening… temptation was, so delicious… he wanted it to win… he wanted to eat them… “Hey, dragon” a voice called from his right, earning a look of his eyes. One human was wandering closer from a cart off to the side “I’ve got some coins for you if you’ll do something” Mylos swallowed back his urges, with difficulty, bobbing his head “I’ll do anything…” The human was a reedy thing, that helped him resist the urge to shove it in his mouth. The clothing was… bright, compared to the dull tones he saw most humans clad in… the way it drifted in the wind slightly seemed intended to catch the eye. “Simple” the human gestured past Mylos “down the road that way, can’t miss it, is the town of Areel” the human moved closer still, voice lowering, glancing to the others, which had moved back to their own carts “you willing to fly there and back?” Mylos sighed, relieved it was, at least the job he understood… “Yes, I thought that was what you would ask me to do” “Grand” the human grinned, flashing white teeth “flutter over there, and ask for a man called Michael. Tell him Jason sent you. Ask him how much wheat is going for, then come back and tell me what he said. Easy. I’ll make it worth your while” “How much” Mylos probed “Say… half a silver leaf” the human, presumably called Jason, responded Mylos hummed. He had no idea if that was a lot… but he didn’t feel he could afford to say no… “will that buy me a meal?” The human seemed almost, taken aback, cocking his head “I mean… it won’t buy you a cow, but you can buy meat with it” Mylos sighed, ruffling his wings “Michael… Wheat” “That’s right” Jason grinned “should take a dragon a day or less to fly there I reckon. I’m here for a few days. Get back before sunset tomorrow and I’ll get you an extra copper piece” Mylos snorted… he didn’t know what that was worth either… but more was more, and he had no reason to dally “I’ll see what I can do” he answered, rising to his paws, and turning to get himself some distance before spreading his wings. His eyes were focussed on the, beaten trail of dirt and stone that the humans followed… he just had to keep that in view, and fly. Do that and he would get at least something in his belly. It was the best odds he’d had all day… Mylos was tired, but he tried not to think about it, letting his wings beat on instinct alone as he glided, eyes on the path down beneath. But the sky was growing too dark for him to feel confident he wouldn’t lose the track. The world below had been changing. Hard stone had sunk below the ground, and in it’s bowl had formed a drenched swamp. The trees and soggy ground making the path harder to see, even looping around the edge as it did… fortunately there were still high rocky places he could land on and stay dry… for now. That last thought was what spurred him to descend for a perch that looked wide enough to lay on. The trip was making him miserable. There was the promise of food at the end, but he was tired, hungry, sore… he wanted to have a full belly and a warm place to curl up and digest it. This didn’t promise that future… but it promised the best one right now. But having to sleep in the mud of a swamp sounded like the worst thing in the world for the end to the day. The pale scaled dragon landed upon a rock, which matched his hues reasonably well, he noted a little sourly, and stretched out on it. Muscles collapsed under him, at the very suggestion of rest. His stomach complained at him yet again, that he shouldn’t rest without something to digest… but he didn’t have anything. Mylos groaned, folding a forelimb before himself, resting his head on it with closed eyes… Next he knew, the world was darker still… a sensation of both rest and fatigue eating at his mind… he was waking up, he realised… made sense to him, he noted with a yawn. He had been tired… but why awake now…? One ear perked, a panicked whinny of sound. The animals the humans favoured… the distressed cry of a prey animal put his body on full alert, pushing sleep out of his eager reach… it was very close though… Groggy and weak as he felt, he lifted his head, peering down off his rock and saw, a human foremost. Below his perch, amid the rocks on the swamp edge, was a human, with a cart. A flickering flame lighting the creature as it pressed closer to the stone. Fear, he could recognise in an instant… but of… then he saw the horse. Kicking wildly, mouth moving silently, neck clamped in the unyielding deathgrip of, a belly dragging water lizard, dragging its spoils back to the mucky waters. Mylos felt his stomach-ache at him desperately… there were animals to eat down there. The water lizards were heavy things… with strong jaws, if one of those got his arm in it’s mouth it could break the bone… his predator eyes dismissed the horse reluctantly. It was the juiciest, meatiest thing on display, and it’s pale hide showed even in the gloom, but it was sinking into the water for its grisly fate… no, his eyes moved to the easier prey… the human… who would miss it, his belly growled to him, nobody would know… and better yet. He noticed, the dark scaled creature crawling for the human across the ground. Another water lizard, going for the second, trapped meal. Mylos didn’t even need think. That was his prey. He sprang from his high place, wings bursting wide only to slow his fall in the midst of his diving pounce. The lizard saw him first, a deep, guttural, hiss of contest, though it was trying to turn… but the water was its domain. Its scales were heavy and thick, it’s jaws strong and immense. It was heavy and unwieldy when not supported by water. But he was light, scales thin as a razor, light as a giant reptile could be… the air was his domain… and the beast stood no chance. Mylos crashed down, hearing a shriek from the human, but it was for later, one paw hammered down on the jaw of the big water lizard, his teeth descending to grasp the tail and hind, biting in… but it was immobilised. It would be his prey too. No thought but finally filling his stomach, Mylos grasped with his teeth, lifting the heavy lizard with a pained growl, before slamming its bulk back to earth, stunning it. He jabbed, bolting more of it’s deliciously heavy flesh into his mouth, paw returning to keep the jaws shut as he ate… it was cold, it tasted like dirt, and it’s rough scales and claws were unpleasant on the mouth, but he ate like it was the most tender, succulent meal of his life. He took in the hips, swallowing the thick tail, jabbing, lunging, letting his teeth break scales just to be sure he had it held. He kept his head low as his neck swelled, jabbing, swallowing, jabbing and swallowing. As desperate with each swallow to have it where it needed to be, his stomach. He heard a hiss, confirming it still lived, before his head lunged, his paw away, and he swallowed the head, letting his throat squeeze those jaws of its shut. Wild eyed, savage, Mylos panted hard, just swallowing when the urge came, head raised and aware as the heavy, thrashing and long piece of reptile slid down his neck… into his chest, and in sweet relief, started to pool in and stretch the needy flesh of his stomach pouch. His senses detected the thrashing of the other one taking its meal in the water, but he dismissed it, unimportant… he heard, the faint scratching sound of human movements behind. His tail was rolled to block it in the corner… he listened to his own breathing, deep and excited, before his heart rate slowly dropped, his breathing came to normal… his wild burst ebbed back into the instinctive cavern it had sprung from, and he relished the sensation of his scaly hide swelling just slightly with the thrashing fight of the strong… but long and swallowable reptile. It was his food now… it would trouble him no longer. He sighed, relief. Relief from his hunger, and the competition was gone for the… prey. Mylos perked an ear, remembering where his mind had been… right… he was going to eat the human… he had gotten so, carried away. But his senses were returning gradually. He looked back, seeing the small primate curled in a ball against the rocks. Just eat it, a part of him reasoned easily. It was lost, alone, the water lizards could have eaten it… it would end this night so nicely and simply if he just gave it to the lizard in his belly and slept… it’s fear encouraged that… it was prey, acting like prey… it knew where his body needed it… but, those thoughts gradually ebbed as he stared at it. In it’s scared, whimpering heap. His belly felt heavy and full… he felt sleepy… and he wasn’t supposed to eat humans out here. Finally, Mylos yawned, closing his eyes a moment as he made his decision. He lumbered closer, off of the mud, to the rocks where the human had settled, and collapsed to his belly. He set a head on his paw, looking at it pointedly “I… need to sleep, wake me if they come back…” The human met his gaze, nodding mutely with a shiver “thank… thank you, oh, thank you…” Mylos snorted and closed his eyes. That would probably haunt him if he decided to eat it in the morning… “Uh… dragon…?” a voice probed into Mylos’s mind, and a touch probed into the scales of his snout. Sleepily he opened his eyes and saw a human in his view… lit by the sun. It was a relatively young human… though adult he supposed. It was dressed a bit like the trader he met… with that thought, he drifted his eyes to the cart it had… laden with odd shapes and boxes. “Oh… good…” the human murmured “The lizards?” Mylos queried, lifting his head with a stretch… a wonderful, warm feeling emanating from his stomach. He swore he could feel the life-giving nutrients flowing into his body, like water through a parched land “They’ve stayed away…” the human folded it’s arms “gods… the sheer size of you, I’m not surprised… they know who the bigger, hungrier lizard is…” Mylos rolled to his belly, stretching his wings slightly… he did feel good this morning… good enough that, glancing to the human, he was feeling charitable… he’d let the little thing live, he thought… “Look… dragon” the human murmured “I know, I’ve no right to ask anything of you… damn it, you saved me life from…” the creature paled, looking away from the swamp “gods… the fate of my poor horse… but, can you help me, please… I’ll pay… I can’t offer much, but I’ll pay” Mylos found himself watch the small mammal, a strange sort of sympathy welling. In some ways he hadn’t, ever had to imagine what it would be like to be torn apart limb from limb and eaten in chunks… or swallowed alive. This one had just had a very, close escape from both of those fates. His eyes strayed to the cart, putting the events together “you wish me to pull that?” he queried “If… you would be willing” the human noted “or… or carry me to the next town, if you… refuse to do that. But I can pay you more if you take me with my cart” Mylos considered the offer… looking to the human “are you offering more than a copper piece?” The look the human gave him was a strange one “good grief, of course, my life and my wares are worth more than that… I won’t cheat you dragon, I owe you that much… and, I can’t exactly afford a lot but… I’ve more dignity than that” Mylos yawned and stretched… he couldn’t go as fast if he was trying to move that thing… but if he got back to the other human before the… three days, he could get the promised coins… it would be worth it to help this one “you have a deal then” The next little while was a slightly confused blur for Mylos. The human guided him to stand, back to the cart, and had seemed to play with his tail for a bit, before a tight sensation had wrapped around it. He’d looked round to find, whatever had been around the horse’s neck, now wrapped around his tail... it was loose, hung, but the tip of his tail kept it from sliding off… still seemed nicer than pushing it, Mylos conceded… and if he could keep momentum it wouldn’t feel like his tail was being constantly tugged. The human scurried atop its cart, and Mylos started to walk… the first steps were uncomfortable, but then the wheels started to roll, and he could trot along at a decent pace. “I really am grateful to you, dragon” the human chatted at him as they moved around the swamp “I’m Riss, by the way” “I am Mylos” he responded, glancing back to the human. It looked very pleased… he felt some slight satisfaction in that “Uh, but I’ve got thinking” Riss mused “this town… the intermediary might not know you there… I can ask for a, transfer bracelet you can take with you back to, wherever you normally visit… assuming, you do… but paying you is starting to seem complicated” “You pay me, or I eat you” Mylos noted, his tone jovial enough… though he realised he, really did mean it. Fortunately, the human chuckled nervously “right… don’t worry, I was always taught you pay your debts to dragons on time” the human clicked their tongue “I’m just trying to think what I can do to really repay you properly… my coin purse is light at the moment…” the human’s tone lowered “and my horse… I didn’t have it long, but I liked it, it was a good one… I’ll need to buy another, and they’ll bend me over a damn barrel if they see I don’t have one… going to have to sell those at a loss… damn it…” the human muttered to itself for a fair while longer before going quiet again. Eventually it piped up again “so… Mylos… what has you out here anyway. I hope I’m not keeping you from something important” “I was going this way anyway” Mylos noted “A trader is paying me to ask a human named Michael about wheat in the next town” “Oh…” Riss responded, seeming to understand in an instant what Mylos was still puzzled over… it had to be a human thing “Oh, hear me out, I have an idea” Riss blurted, clapping their little forepaws together “I know how I can repay you, out of someone else’s deep pockets. A little, merchant advise, sound good?” Mylos looked back at the human suspiciously, but the little hands rose “Look, don’t kick me back into the swamp… If you’re a messenger dragon, I’ll set up a little account with the intermediary here and pay you, I will. But as I said, I need to buy a new horse, and a merchant without money or wares isn’t much of a merchant, right? I owe you everything, but if I give you everything, then I’m dying, right?” Mylos only fixed the human with the same long look, before rolling a shoulder “coins I understand, sort of… I’d prefer just more of those” “I’ll give you some” Riss confirmed “But I want to be nicer to you dragon, nicer than what meagre financial reward I can offer… let me give you some advice, it’ll earn you lots of coins, more than I could ever pay you” Mylos perked an ear… he needed more, much more. Yet… human ways were confusing and strange to him. In a way he was just unwilling to listen, not understand, and look stupid “I’m listening” “If I had to guess, whoever sent you is interested in one of two things. Whether it’s worth buying wheat there, or worth selling. It’s how we work. To put it simply, people want all sorts of things. Some they have a lot of, because they grow it there, make it there or so on. Others they barely have any of. So… we buy something cheap where it’s plentiful, because people don’t need that much, and sell it where it’s rare, and people really want it. We transport what people want from one place to another, and the difference in the passion of their want for it, is our profit, is our coin” “I have heard that” Mylos snorted “meat is more expensive where I am from… because little can be bred, and much is eaten” “Supply and demand, dragon” Riss added “Don’t believe what you hear about us though, we’re not as… mercenary as people think. A good merchant doesn’t cause harm but causes good wherever they go. If people have more, wheat for example, than they need or can eat before it spoils, then the coin we give them is more valuable, because they can trade it for things they really need. And, wherever we bring the wheat, if they need it then they have coin for it… or, can trade us something they don’t need, for something we do. If a merchant is fair, really all they do is distribute things around and get paid for their trouble. Only place it gets a little grey is when more people need it than you have it… but well, in that case why would you give it to whoever is paying least as opposed to whoever is paying most. We need to eat too, and you’d hope they earnt that money fair and square… and if they didn’t, well, that they have it isn’t our fault, that’s their problem to root out villains in their community, you know?” “I don’t, nor do I care” Mylos observed “Ok, ok” Riss muttered “well, your merchant is probably wondering whether the place you came from has more or less wheat than where he plans to go next… if less, he may keep his wheat till he gets there, if not, he’ll sell it now. Simple. Information is powerful in our business… which is where I want to help you, dragon” Riss grinned slightly “see… a merchant can be made or ruined by just a few minutes… Say a place really needs, something. It could be anything. The moment someone sells to them, the price goes down, because they don’t need as much anymore. They’re not willing to pay as high a price anymore. A little foreknowledge can double or more what you get” Riss chuckled “now… did the word, exclusive, cross either of your lips when you talked to this merchant?” “No” Mylos noted easily “Great, great” Riss chuckled “because… the information he’s asking for would be valuable to other merchants there too, I’ll bet. If two of them know that wheat is good, or bad over here, it could turn into a race to sell first. This isn’t the best example… but with time you could find better questions to ask, even just ask what they are hoping a trader will bring in… that’s valuable to know as a trader on your way there. It’s something we normally have to guess. Now… you have to be fair. Find out what he wanted, bring it back, give it to him… offer, say… two hours of exclusivity free of charge, before you put the information up for anyone to buy, assuming he doesn’t pay for a little more silence. He says yes, you just got more than you were expecting for the effort of uttering a few words, he says no… just offer to the lines of carts what you just came back from learning. Might be there’s someone there who has a whole lot of the stuff, who could make a huge profit or loss on the information. They’ll throw a few coins your way without blinking an eye” Mylos nodded slowly “I can do that…? They won’t be mad?” Riss chuckled “some might, some might not. But they’ll respect it. It’s all part of our game, dragon. If they don’t discuss exclusivity in their contract with you, then you have no reason to give it. You play your cards right, you could have a whole lot of merchants paying you, just to keep up with the advantage the others are getting. They’ll try things. Get informants, coded messages, your business will ebb and flow as they try to get out of needing you… but the others will crack those codes. Just act as information broker, and you could earn a lot more… got to be better than running one errand for one human at a time, right?” “It sounds too easy” Mylos huffed, shouldering around a tree… which held pretty firm. They were past the swamp now… couldn’t be far now “Well, maybe it is. Look, you will only earn so much, linking two towns like this. But you could expand. Make some friends, learn what resources places need, further afield, take notice of what traders are carrying. If you’ve a sharp mind, and enough time, you could make a living off this sort of thing, dragon” “You’ve given me a lot to think about” Mylos mused, glancing back to the human “Just trying to repay my debt” Riss countered, looking back over their wares “I’ll even try and help, if we run into each other again” “Just don’t ask me to putt this thing again” Mylos rumbled faintly Riss laughed behind him “I’ll be honest, you scare me half to death. I’d go mad if I had a dragon pulling my cart” Mylos snorted slightly “you hide it well” “I’m a merchant” Riss noted, the tone just a touch less jovial “Nothing against dragons, mind you. Always wanted to see one when I was young. Born and bred in a village off the ring, no dragons have ever landed there in living memory. No reason to. First time I came to the ring, I was trying to be a merchant, trade between home and there. Well, I say merchant. Just trying to earn a little extra money really. First time I saw one, awe like I thought… and such a stab of fear I have barely known since, barring last night mind you. I knew they wouldn’t hurt me, but damn if my nerves and instincts didn’t get the message. I may have actually wet myself” Mylos snorted faintly “I must have seemed a feral thing last night” “Well, you saved me, can’t fault that” Riss observed “thought for a minute I was out of the frying pan and into the fire, and was trying to figure out which death would hurt more” The dragon glanced back again “I like you; I think… for a human. I’ll be honest, I did consider it. I was ravenous” “Yeah, I thought that” Riss offered a light smile “secret is safe with me. I owe my dragon rescuer a whole lot after all” Mylos rumbled faintly, trying to quicken his pace a little “You’re just lucky what wanted to eat you looked a lot meatier than you did” Riss laughed lightly “I’ll be sure to keep my next horse well fed then, thanks for the dragon tip” He rumbled a little, swaying his gait from the rocky rim of the wet region, pushing out into more even paths, catching sight of the distant structures of a new human settlement. “Just leave me off near where the other merchants are… one hell of a story I’ll have to tell. If you can try to strut a little and show off, I’ll appreciate it. If you make them want to hear this story enough, maybe I can get them to toss me a coin for it… sure would help the new horse fund” Mylos shook his head slowly. He was learning what that dragoness had meant… these merchant humans were strange… even for humans “It will cost you” A burst of a laugh erupted from his passenger, Riss reaching over to pat the tail attached to his cart “you, my new scaly friend, are going to be a natural” The flight home was a lot less eventful than the flight through. The nap and the stretch of walking had helped work enough of his meal through he managed to, return a fair bit of its weight to the swamp… enough the flight wasn’t too laboured. His wings were surging with the energy of a decent meal. He did contemplate diving in for another… but he had been lucky. Those lizards were easily overpowered on land… but in the water, they could damage him quite badly, especially if he didn’t see their well camouflaged shapes. Not worth it, never worth it. When one was strong enough to feel confident, then there were other, better prospects… and when one was desperate enough there were no better prospects, they were also weak enough they could even be overpowered. There were pristine white dragon bones under the murk in that swamp… not a whole lot of them, but they were there. A few of those lizards latched on would make any dragon too heavy to fly, and a set of those heavy, strong, clamping jaws around the neck could drag a dragon’s head into the water to drown, or even rip the plates off, and into the throat. Mylos had no intention of returning those parts of the lizard he’d already added to his blood back into the swamp… The sun had long since set by the time he got back, the humans were sleeping, and he had needed rest against a building, warm and solid till the morning. But the human he was returning to was right where he expected it. Mylos approached the, Jason human, who had ushered him away from the carts “good to see you” the human murmured, ushering a paw down “do… Michael have anything to say about wheat?” The dragon hummed, keeping his voice low “Yes, he said, the northern harvest was poor, no merchants brought wheat south this year” The human bobbed his head with a grin “very nice to know. I do think I’ll be shortening my trip here… do feel free to hurry on over to the intermediary. He recognised you by description. He’ll confirm the amount to be paid has been added to your account. Minus the… speed bonus of course” Mylos bobbed his muzzle slowly… he recalled what little Riss had said… if he understood correctly, this did seem, a particularly wanted piece of information… there must be very little of this wheat stuff over in that town… “actually, human, there is one more thing” The smile fell just a touch “is that so?” “Yes…” Mylos tried to feel confident about what he was going to say… he had to hope he wouldn’t look like a bumbling fool in this human game of words… “I am satisfied with, the payment for the information, and would like to enquire, if you want to keep it exclusive” “Exclusive” the human sounded out the word “yes” Mylos noted, looking along the human’s features, trying to judge the reaction “I need to visit the intermediary, to check on the payment, but when I am done, I was thinking there may be other humans who want to know what Michael has to say about wheat as well” The human’s grin returned slowly “I didn’t know you were sly, dragon… silly me. Tell you what, how about I come along with you to the intermediary and we discuss your next twenty-four hours, shall we?” Mylos lifted his head with a rumble “yes, lets do that” he tried to hide his elation... he might really, gain more coin just for flying into the woods trying to hunt like he normally would, rather than staying here and talking. He let the human lead, as he swayed along behind it. If this worked out, he might need to thank that little Riss… odd to think he’d have a human he actually wanted to spare from his stomach.

A wisp’s coming of age The wooden daggers in Ral’s hands were splintered and worn, his tightening grip into familiar grooves. His breath came out in quick but controlled panting. Behind him, his expansive wings were half flared for balance, his stance forward to allow his short blades greater reach. A flash of yellow, as his opponent lunged, powering a stab with a surge of their own wings. It was desperation that fuelled such a lunge. Ral’s wings folded in a moment, the wisp ducking under the strike, shoulder cracking up against the other wisp’s wrist, tossing the blade aside. One of his own hit the floor with a clatter, the free hand grasping the wrist of his opponent, the one still bearing a weapon. He rolled his hips, guiding the wisp’s momentum to continue, ripping his opponent off his feet to bring them to the ground. Only then did his remaining weapon lower to the back of the yellow-wing’s neck. “Not bad, Ral” the voice that spoke trembled the air around the young wisp, it’s confirmation permission to release his grip and stand, panting as he looked down to the yellow, who rolled to his back and stared up dejectedly. The fallen wisp near gasping for air. “As for you, Cit… I appreciate you put in your all, desperation can be a motivator… however, if your attack leaves you open, you’ve lost. The wisps were cast in shadow, the looming visage of scales and muscle gazing down on them. The dragon was a reddish hue with hints of brown, a mottled pattern that wouldn’t look amiss against clay rich soil “Still… you’re improving” the voice softened, a faint curl to the scaly lips “do not lose heart” “Yes sir” Cit responded, accepting Ral’s hand to help him up. The yellow wisp’s wings flared and fluttered for a moment to discard dust and flecks of broken wood from the floor of the sparring arena. Their tutor passed them, shudders in the legs of the young wisps with the stride, heavy scaled flank briefly obscuring all vision in that direction, like a building wandering by. But then the dragon was off and approaching a separate pair of sparing wisps to advise, leaving the pair alone, but for the drifting tail that still slid past Cit wobbled once back on his feet, small flicks of his bright yellow wings helping his balance. Yet the disorientation wore off, and he picked up his wooden blades, easing them into the twin sheaths on his hips. “You’re getting better” Ral consoled him with a gentle smile, taking a guess to the mindset of the yellow-wing “I’ll never be as good as you” Cit noted sourly, stretching for a moment, with a slight wince “You’ll never have to be” Ral observed with a slight smile, nodding into the distance “And I’ll never be as good as him” Cit spared only a brief glance to the brownwing wisp on the other side of the sparring ring, almost toying with the silverwing he was sparring with “Well, Rist is a force of his own” Ral rolled a shoulder dismissively, he didn’t much care that the brownwing was he better fighter “We greens may go out of the nest as often if not more so than the brownwings but, we’re the outsider castes, we need to be ready to fight, and my colouration is more… float like a falling leaf, pounce like a mantis. Where the brownwings are more, solid as tree bark, immovable as the ground. That’s what my mentor always told me anyway” Ral clarified “that how, stocky we got was relative to what we blend in with out there… everything green is in motion, so, we are too. The brownwings blend in with solid objects, so they’re, stronger, but less quick maybe. He’s very skilled though…” Ral felt a hand to one of his weathered wooden blades “I know I can’t beat him in a duel, you’d need a violet or something” “Or something?” Cit mused “Dragon maybe” Ral grinned, before flicking his blades back out into his hands “now come on, you’ve had a breather… you’ll have plenty of time to catch breathes assuming you pass the trial” It was a reluctant grunt from Cit that agreed with him, the yellow-wing drawing his twin blades and taking a ready stance. As normally was the way between them, Ral took the offensive. Two more bouts of Cit’s defeat passed, Ral quick and agile, while Cit was less practiced in moving himself. After the final duel of their session, Ral helped Cit up once more, offering the yellow-wing his arm while Cit panted. “Ugh, I should just throw myself in our teacher’s jaws and get it over with…” “Yellow-wings do pass, you know” Ral’s lips curled in some amusement, nudging his friend in the shoulder “I wish I knew how” Cit grunted, pulling himself from the support, and wobbling. “Being rough on him again?” The new voice had a feminine edge few but a wisp would notice, the bright wings of a red-wing flicking on her approach. Between the wisps were few differences to the eye, assuming they wore the simple garb common to their kind. Like the other wisps, Bie wore a pair of close-fitting shorts that stopped just above the knee and nothing else. To wear more was to restrict their wings or risk catching a wingtip in fabric. “I wouldn’t say that” Ral objected, though with an irrepressible curl to his smile. He shot Cit a glance “Duelling, is not his strong suit” “True that” Bie offered a slight shrug “hope you’ve got some tricks planned Cit, would hate to see you ruin our teacher’s diet” “Why are you better than me too?” Cit complained “I get weapon handling in the forge” Bie noted, folding her arms “Personally, I think you both have the advantage when it comes to it” Ral added “you get to bring help” “You bring your, ‘green-wing training’ “ Bie noted, making a point of rolling her eyes “you’re being trained to avoid wild dragons even when you’re not here, and your skills are for outside, not inside” “Fine, fine” Ral conceded with a shrug, flicking his wings with mild agitation. She had a point, he supposed “what are you bringing anyway?” “Secret” Bie smirked “wouldn’t want our teacher finding out. Element of surprise is key” “I see your point” Ral glanced to Cit “same for you?” “It, is advised” Cit confirmed apologetically “Anyway…” Bie interjected “we should all be fine… I mean, we can all bring our training to the fore… I feel bad for the silver” Ral frowned a touch “I hear because of rarity and, for that very point they get a little extra combat training. It’s not like they need to learn the inner workings of a trade like yourselves” “Don’t know why we don’t all do that” Bie noted “I mean, having to focus on my apprenticeship would hurt my chances, you’d think” “Hence you getting to bring whatever you make yourself” Ral pointed out “Besides… you only have so much time to learn it… sooner you start, more time you spend having mastered it” “Or, more time my master could have been doing his work, instead of training me” Bie’s tail flicked “what’s the point of the training when it could all be for naught…” “Same could be said for the wisps who leave” Ral shrugged “take it as a sign of confidence maybe?” “Maybe” Bie didn’t sound especially mollified “still… Rist is sure doing well” Ral and Cit nodded in quiet agreement, glancing to where the brown-wing was talking with the teacher. The older dragon sat to his haunches, towering high. “Nothing is good enough for the teacher though” Ral mused The dragon’s head turned, considering the younger wisps scattered around the marker circle that made the sparring arena, a lone wing spread in gesture “students, we’re done for the day, please gather” Eighteen young wisps hurried in fluttering leaps to form a line before the seated dragon, a curl of the scaly lips, sharp eyes considering each in turn “But a year ago, there were twenty of you, small, but with potential… you have all learned well, I’m proud of you all” the dragon exhaled, a slow, pent breath, his head looming closer to the young wisps “Some are more ready than others, some are more skilled, such is the way of things… and when next we meet, it shall be your greatest test. I hope you all shall prepare. It is your chance to become adults and earn your metal blades…” the dragon paused for emphasis, as small wisps hands felt to their hips, to the sheathes with the worn wooden daggers, they had been gifted new from the day they could stand. “I will miss each of you that does not pass… and wish you all well” their teacher added weightily “those of you who do pass, it will be a delight to teach again, until you can use metal as easily as you wield wood, but then your prowess shall be your own to maintain” He snorted “none of you, are to forget the significance of your test. Be rested, be fed, and be prepared for what will come. I will play no favourites and will test your skills thoroughly… now…”. The dragon paused, looking along the line, muzzle moving to Rist, who was first in the line “Rist, you are strong, there is not a wisp in the class who matches, but remember that it is not a wisp you shall be fighting in your test” The teacher’s sharp eyes waited for a nod, before he followed down the line “Ral, your agility is your best asset… use it. But do not forget in combat, you cannot strike with weakness. You spare your strength when fighting those you like. Do not do that on your test.. for I shall not” Ral nodded meekly, watching the muzzle pass him, to address another wisp with advice. His hand felt to the familiar grip of his blades… he wouldn’t fall into that trap, he told himself. At least, he didn’t need to worry about hurting his teacher like he would another wisp. He perked up his attention as the muzzle passed by Cit on the line “Cit, remember that survival is part skill and part ingenuity… what you lack in physical prowess, you can make up for with your wits… you are a smart young wisp, prepare yourself well. I hope, you will have a plan” Bie was next in line, and the eyes flicked onto her “Bie, you’re a balanced fighter, I am confident you can pass. I am sure you intend to bring a tool from your caste to serve you but remember why we test you with your wooden blades not metal ones. An unfamiliar tool could throw off your balance and doom you, however capable an item it is… be sure that your hands are the right hands” “Yes sir” Bie added quickly, before the muzzle moved away. Ral frowned slightly to himself. He wished he felt more confident.. he was sure Bie would be fine. He’d never lost to her certainly, but she always kept him on his wits. He didn’t know what she had in mind for her test but… he was sure whatever her secret project was would make her better than him when she wielded it… she’d pass but, what special skill could be bring… The teacher finished his advice, and padded from the group, an unspoken permission for the wisps to disperse. Much as Ral longed to talk with his friends, a glance to the arc of the sun told him he didn’t have time. In passing he nodded their way, but hurried away from the arena. He didn’t want to be late. The tree Ral called home had many a layer cut into its insides. The outer bark kept a thick layer for support, and the life-giving tubes that fed the tree were left untouched, but other than that most of the tree had been hollowed, leaving floors for the wisps and their dragons. The floor with the arena had but the one purpose, broken into three rings for three classes. Below that was a floor Ral hated to pass, it stank with a harsh reek of chemical concoctions… the workshop of the yellowwings, below that were three layers of mixed residentials and workshops, amid which he lived, below that a floor where dragons came to be groomed… and yet below that, near the floor of the world, was a floor for the rangers, a floor Ral knew only too well… but for now his dive off the edge of the tree wasn’t aiming that far, but instead for the lowest floor of the residences. A landing platform extended from the tree like a mushroom, marking the entry door, but his goal was on the platform itself. She would have blended into the wood if not for the circular patterns on the landing, the soft brown scales of the young dragon Ral flew down to see. His dive broke to a flutter, drawing the attention of the young dragoness up. She greeted him with a light rumble, as Ral landed down in her shadow. “You’re late” she rebuked him with a grin, tail flicking to tap against one of the rings in the wood “you were supposed to be here before the shadows reached this line…” “My apologies” he gave an overly extravagant bow “my teacher was extra thorough in his advising today… seeing it’s the last lesson” “Is that so?” a muzzle large as he was dropped down, pressing itself to his chest. Air tugged against him as she inhaled from him “you shouldn’t keep me waiting, I should probably eat you for that…” Ral snickered, and petted the muzzle “you’d miss me” “True, true” her tongue flicked out, up his chest to his chin in a quick, playful lap “but I’m going to eat you eventually” “I know” Ral hugged around her muzzle, with a bright smile “but I’m not done hugging your snout yet, so you’ll have to wait a bit” “I can live with that” she lifted her wisp covered snout, shaking her head gently till he fell off, glancing down with a purr “but seriously Ral, it felt like I was waiting for ages” Ral plopped down onto his backside, looking up along the graceful form of his friend. She was elegant, strong, powerful. She was a dragon, even young like him she filled him with a giddy awe “I am sorry, you know I wouldn’t keep you waiting on purpose” “Because you’re my good little wisp servant” she smirked “Exactly” Ral grinned “so, how are you? It’s been a while…” She let out a low humming sound of agreement, settling herself back to her belly and delicately slotting her muzzle onto Ral’s knees, uttering a lighter purr as he compliantly started to massage along the finer scales of her face “my father is so determined to have me flying as good as he can right now. I only started to fly a few months ago…” “It’s not so hard, I’ve been airborne for a year” Ral teased. The muzzle he was caressing shifted, enough for her to clack her teeth. He laughed on the idle threat, hugging her muzzle in apology, resting his cheek to warm scales “It’s harder for dragons?” “Yes and no” she snorted, bumping her snout firmer to him “we fly better but start later… we’re heavier I guess… we live longer too” “No need to rub it in” Ral resumed his stroking, along her jawline, fingers poking in at the solid teeth of the massive carnivore. The dragoness’s name was Pila, Ral couldn’t remember a day before knowing her. Her smooth sandy coloured scales were as familiar as his own hands. It brought a calm, soothe state to him, to get to roll his hands along the fine scales, feeling her warmth and life. She was beautiful, and she’d be the death of him. Pila hummed faintly “I guess we’re both at our, big coming of age things, aren’t we… it’s funny how it lined up. I don’t get considered an adult till I can fly this, gauntlet… and you need to fight your teacher right?” “Yeah” Ral noted more slowly “well, survive against him for two minutes” “Are you scared?” Pila probed gently, head titling in his grip “I mean… if I fail my test I just have to try again but… if you fail…” “Then I’m his dinner” Ral observed with a sigh “I guess I kinda am. But I’m going to be a ranger, I’ll need to face much scarier things than my teacher, bigger things too” “I was, sort of thinking about that” Pila observed, pulling her head slowly from Ral’s grip “I, haven’t eaten today yet and… I was sort of, thinking I might like to eat you today, Ral…” Ral stared up at the muzzle above, dumbfounded for a moment, before smiling lightly “I don’t really know what to say to that, Pila… I don’t really want to be eaten just yet; you know…” “Well, I didn’t want to eat you yet either” Pila snorted, eyes drifting off of him “but… I do think you’ll pass, of course I do but, if you didn’t then… you wouldn’t be my wisp” “I’ve thought about that, sure” Ral sighed, easing up and walking closer, hugging himself to the belly of the dragoness, looking up to her muzzle “I want to be your wisp, I mean, I’ve known you forever, I’d never want another dragon to have me but… it’s just so soon, I’m not an adult yet, I want to at least do that in my life, and being a ranger sounds exciting” “out there with lots of things that could eat you…” Pila pouted “I worry about you, you know? What if you get snatched up by a bird, or you fall and some wolf decides you look crunchy, or worse… you’d be out there all lost, alone, filling some strange stomach. You should stay part of the colony, part of me” “I’m a greenwing” Ral observed “it happens… but it’s what I have to do. I’ll always come back though… I’m quick, they won’t catch me” “It’s just, what if you get unlucky” Pila’s muzzle dipped, licking along his head “my stomach is empty, you’d have it all to yourself, just you and me… I’d make it special, and then nothing else would get you” Ral petted at her flanks gently “I appreciate the thought Pila but… I’m not ready” “Ok” Pila sighed, heated breath gusting down over him, before she rolled to her side, offering herself for his grooming hands “I thought you’d say that…” “Sorry” Ral paced closer, reaching to rub down the scales of her chest “but you know… you haven’t decided what you want to do… I know your family tend to hunt but, you could be a ranger dragon, you’re not a bad colour to blend in, then we could be together out there” “I suppose that’s a thought” Pila conceded, head resting on a paw as she involuntarily purred to the caress of her wisp “then if something ambushed you, I could swoop in and chase them off… or eat you down myself” Ral smirked “chase them off” he asserted “I mean, that’s why we have the two minutes in the test… it’s meant to be, if we shout for help, and a dragon hears us from as far away as possible, how long it will take them to fly to us” “Oh, I didn’t know that bit” Pila mused “I like to think I have pretty good hearing…” “And you will fly pretty fast when your wings are practiced” Ral smiled “you’re lucky, we can only, flutter” “I always thought it was cute how wisps fly” “Hey…” Ral shoved at her body, but earnt only a pleased purr “Well it is cute… like a butterfly” “It’s unpredictable… supposed to make it hard for hungry rude dragons to sweep us out of the sky” Pila chuckled “whereas hungry beautiful ones just need to lay right out and you’ll flutter right to us” Ral shoved the dragon’s chest, and did manage the faintest wobble of her long, strewn shape. She only rumbled at the impotent rebuke “is that so?” Ral challenged “you are beautiful, but do you think you could charm me away from another dragon, if they were the one I’d been introduced to as a little mote?” “Well…” Pila grinned, in a decided showing of, lethal teeth “that would be a fun challenge… but you’re already mine” Ral folded his arms from the attention to her “well, who knows… I could decide to pledge myself to another dragon… there are so many fine dragons… my sister really likes that bright red one who lives across the town from you, he’s very sweet and attentive” Pila snorted “Him? He’s sizing her up for dinner… she’s lucky he’s built up eating her so much in his head that doing it intimidates him, or he’d have gulped her down months ago” “Maybe” Ral rolled a shoulder “but he’s a regal creature… who wouldn’t want to groom his immaculate hide, feeling his muscles stir beneath the scales as he stretches… oh, a grateful look from his amber eyes and a word of encouragement as I massaged him would just make me melt…” He shot her a sly look, with a little smirk, enjoying the bunching of the scales around her muzzle. Her tail whipped at the floor “you’re my wisp… I do all that for you” “I’m only teasing” Ral assured her, stepping close to boop one palm on her muzzle “you’re the elegant huntress who swept me up and carried me away… literally. Sure, your mother had to force you to spit me out, but you purred so eagerly the first time I groomed you from tail to muzzle” “You were lucky I found your brother first” she huffed “I was scolded so badly for that one… I was just a dragonling, I didn’t know better” “mmm…” Ral nodded slightly, he sometimes forgot that detail. He’d had five siblings with his brood. There were only two of them now, he and his sister. They’d been unlucky, most broods of size would only lose two on average before adulthood “I mean, he should have known what would happen… we were told not to play swallowing games with dragons unless our parents say ok” “Let’s not touch on such morbid topics” Pila interjected “we’re wasting good stroking time…” Ral flicked his wings with a warm smile to the sprawled dragoness. She was cute when she was begging for attention. He wandered back to her, gripping around her ankle and working his way up the leg, listening to the deep vibrating sound of the immense reptile purring. Nothing better after training he felt, to help him relax. The sun above crept past the highest point of its arc, and in time beckoned Ral to leave the dragoness, indignant as she ever was to have her grooming halted. Still, there were always more capable wisps, Ral knew she could find someone if she really wanted to lay and be attended for a while. He doubted she would though… deep down he suspected she didn’t have the patience, unless it was him. On the floor below, where the rangers based out of, Ral knew he was expected. Even when he leapt off the edge of the tree from his dragoness and began his glide down, already he could see the distinctive green against brown of his mentor, waiting where he always did. As ever he found himself lamenting the future… the ranger station being at the bottom meant he had to fly up to get home afterwards, he knew he’d be tired, and his wings would ache. He wasn’t looking forward to that. He started to beat his wings as he got lower, dampening his momentum till he could alight safely on the landing perched below. His mentor wasn’t so old a wisp, wings the same green as his own. The glint of adult blades on his hips and a pair of leathery straps that crossed over the chest, carefully positioned to not obstruct the wings where they folded down the back. The closest thing to protective gear most wisps could accommodate. “Afternoon, Ral” His mentor greeted him with a nod “you’ll be glad to hear I’ll be taking it a little easy on you today” Ral offered a bow of respect “oh?” “Your test is tomorrow, right?” The older wisp offered him a slight smile “you’ll do fine, I’m sure. Still, wouldn’t do for me to overwork you when you need to be at your best. Would make me feel I’d been wasting my time training you, if you ended up weighing down a dragon’s middle” “I appreciate your time all the same” Ral added “Anyway, to the point” his mentor noted “I’ll mostly have you flying today, evasive movements” the older wisp clicked his tongue “I know flying is, very ill advised in the test. That dragon teaching you has seen a thousand wisps in flight, his aim will be good… and in the end he can fly better than you. Still… your caste makes you one of the finest fliers among wisps, don’t be afraid to use those wings” “Yes sir” Ral agreed, flicking his wings for emphasis “But don’t worry… and don’t overthink it, understand?” the older wisp’s features turned to a light frown “your instincts work faster than your head. You spend time thinking while dodging jaws, you’ll be slower than they are. Think beforehand, and act during. You’ve no reason to stress over it. Greenwings have a pretty good survival rate in the test, on account of your training. You’re light and agile. Not even a violet wing can move like you can, use it” his mentor’s features turned to a faint scowl “I suppose we’re second to darkwings mind you on evasion… but physically you have every advantage you need” “Thank you sir” Ral nodded “I ramble” his mentor sighed “short of it is I don’t want to lose my apprentice when I could have offered some advice… but seeing that’s over, time to get you flying” Ral was gestured to the edge of the platform… down below, on the rest of the tree till it reached ground, were rings, branches… a gauntlet for flight. The rangers flew further from the nest than anyone, encountered more predators than anyone. Imperfect fliers as they were, a greenwing had to know how to use terrain and sight to their advantage. An experienced ranger could jink behind cover and disappear into the leaves. No matter how powerful a beast chasing, they couldn’t eat what they couldn’t catch… but there would be no hiding from his teacher. Ral took a step back, to give himself more room, before launching forwards, and leaping off the platform to dive off the tree. His wings pulsed to force him down faster, glad now for the opportunity to burn off some of his nervous energy. His life up till this point had been training, tomorrow he would come of age, or die trying.

A Wisp Coming of Age: Part 2 The wisp Ral flicked his wings, short, controlled adjustments as he dived through the gauntlet on the lower section of the tree he knew as home. Largely it took the form of rings or barriers he had to avoid while manoeuvring through the route… the first section tended to be straight down in order to clear the floor it was attached to, before making a full ring of the tree. Sometimes he wondered if that meant the gauntlet got harder each generation, as the tree steadily if slowly grew… Not that the question had much time to linger in his mind. The gauntlet wasn’t intended to be easy. His path broke into the circle of the tree, requiring he manage his height constantly, while evading the obstacles. He was told, when he would be expected to fly the adult course further down the tree, they would have living obstacles too… dragons to chase, and, any landbound predators that happened to be nearby, and wanted to try their luck for a mouthful of wisp. He hoped in equal measure that he survived to take that course, and that they were joking. If nothing else he found it hard to believe anything too dangerous would be allowed to get close to the tree. Today, the arrangement of blockages was new to him, but he pushed his wings, knowing well, his mentor would expect him to get through it with little more delay than the course he had flown the day before. He hadn’t yet figured out the pattern to when they changed it, and they did so without warning. As his mentor would tell him. The course was intended to train his reactions and reflexes, not his memory. It was a huge world out there; branches could change because something big enough happened to land on them the day before. A wisp didn’t have the luxury of assuming the world they flew in the day before would look, act the same the next day. Such was his training. Ral weaved around a barrier, sharp eyes already planning the next move as his wings grazed past it, diving to sweep below another, before needing hammer his wings to rise through a high ring. By the time his darting path had followed back to where he began, every muscle in his chest ached and his breathing set each on fire. Yet, as he arced his path through the last ring, and began to flutter more casually back up for the platform above, he got to enjoy the delicate thrill of running a new course without catching his wing on something. There were decidedly unpleasant memories lingering, of the first time he dived to find the course had changed. It had been the only time they warned him pre-emptively that it was a different course to the day before… but that hadn’t helped. “Not bad” His mentor nodded to him, already back on the platform and awaiting. Not only did his mentor tend to fly, higher and hence closer to the platform but, his observation was without obstacles. A bitter part of Ral sometimes wished his mentor needed to fly such a gauntlet, while observing him, but he suspected while it would be good training for the older wisp, his own guidance would, diminish. “New course” Ral observed after he had panted for a long moment “didn’t think you’d change it day before my test” “I did argue against” the older wisp mused “but we don’t play favourites. Course changes when it changes” “I see” Ral shrugged, it didn’t matter too much to him… he had the night to rest. Though the risk of clipping a wing the day before his test was sobering to think about “anyone else from here has their test tomorrow?” “Plenty” His mentor mused “think you said there was another Green in your class even, Eld, right?” Ral nodded quietly. Despite both attending ranger training, he didn’t really know the other greenwing. They lived on different floors and had different mentors despite sharing combat training. Eld was a good fighter, Ral considered, better than him even. “Anyway” his mentor interjected “that’s you for the day… go have fun, just make sure you rest well, hmm? You’ve a good set of wings on you, would be a waste if they got digested to wisp stew so young… and give the old dragon my regards, hmm?” his mentor smiled slightly “had the same beast trying to swallow me for lunch when I was your age. Just remember, don’t overthink it. Your instincts are faster than your head. Get all your thinking done before you face him, you need to be quick, speed is your advantage, alright?” “Thank you, sir” Ral bowed quickly, before turning as his mentor waved him off. Ral gazed up the tree with the abject dread of getting all the way back up. He was nervous of overworking his wings before such an important day, and with little particular planned for the remainder, he somewhat reluctantly started to walk, taking the long route. Around the edge of the tree, rising in a helix from the lowest floor where the rangers lived, to the highest that housed the ruling dragons and their guard, was a pair of pathways, one on each side of the tree, opposite each other till the top few floors, where it reduced to just the one. Mostly the paths allowed transport of anything too heavy to conveniently fly up the tree, or, for those just wanting to take a slow walk with the view. Or in Ral’s case, wanting to work his legs rather than his aching wings. The path was a lot longer than flying, though Ral didn’t mind the time to think. He honestly wasn’t sure how to avoid his teacher for any length of time… dragons were big, their necks and tails long, muscular and powerful. He’d have to focus on evading the dragon, he mused… and yet… He had been told a lot about dealing with wild dragons, often the advice was not to flee, but to fight. Hence the combat in the ring. The dragons were faster in the air, if not as agile. Perhaps, he supposed, he would be better at flying away. Green-wings flew alone a lot, scouting, and the point of the advice to stay near the dragon was based on the hope of rescue. If no rescue was coming, then being able to fly well, dodge through tight branches and gaps was his best hope… but there were none of those for his combat test. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he was at a disadvantage. Half of his training was for one strategy, and the other for an opposite strategy. He sighed to himself, pausing to watch a dragon flying out of the floors above, gleaming in the light of sunset. For his test he had to stay close, use his agility to stay out of biting range, stay out of sight using the dragon’s own body, and strike… jab where he might be able to hurt, to discourage the beast… and yet, his teacher wouldn’t give up… not till the time was up, so.. was fighting at all worth it? A wild drake, he could maybe jab where its scales were soft till it decided his meat wasn’t worth the pain, or it worried his blades might find an eye, or something else vital, and flee to find more placid prey. But those wouldn’t work on his teacher… he wouldn’t want to actually harm the dragon either. He supposed the trade off was that the old dragon had to swallow them alive. A wild drake might try to crush them, snap their bones with its tail, or just bite them in two. Any method to stop them moving around. The idea made him shudder. From outside the tree, as he rose to the residential region, he could just faintly smell the tinge of the yellow-wing workshop above. While it made Ral grimace slightly, it did make him wonder how Cit was doing. A yellow wisp, he understood, could bring any project they had worked on in their training. He’d heard of lots of chemical weapons the wisps had brought, or tricks they’d tried… but Cit had never seemed the prankster type… so he doubted the wisp would have any sort of harsh powders to throw on a dragon’s snout. He liked Cit. He hoped the wisp wouldn’t just be part of their teacher’s diet, come the next day. The evening was gathering around when Ral wandered up to his floor. Wisps were aplenty, moving steadily to the centre of the residential floor… and he had every intention of following, soon. With a quickening pace he headed for home. The home of his family rested between two others, huddled as most were against the surrounding walls. Not far away was the looming abode of one of the floor’s dragons. Forming the points of a perfect triangle, the three dragon homes rested on the floor, carved into the natural wood. A stairway ramp to a high plinth, with wooden panels up top for privacy… the dragon homes were more, open, to give them room and to account for their difficulty with doors. His home, like the rest bore an amber sheen given by the firm resin that composed the bulk of it, lathered on thick to hold the thin frame of wood together. They were glued to the walls and each other. He eased inside, to the warm thrum of youthful noise. The floor of their main room littered with the smaller forms of his young siblings. There were six, a fairly standard clutch of little motes. They all bore simple names like his own… though he’d come to like it. A lot of wisps took an adult name, assuming they lived long enough to become adults. The simple names of young wisps were a nod to inevitability. His clutch had been small, only four. But only he and his sister remained. He was sure she’d already headed to the communal area. His mother looked to him, from her efforts to pry two of the motes apart, offering him a familiar gentle smile. Her wings bore green like his own, and while half of the young motes could say the same, the rest bore blue, red and silver. “You’re back late” “I walked” Ral explained, crouching to brush at one of his young sibling’s heads “I wanted to rest my wings” “Yes, tomorrow is a big day isn’t it” his mother stood straight, rubbing her lower back. Ral could only wonder how long she’d been hunched down “Have plans for after the test?” “Nothing special, was going to groom Pila for a while” Ral tried to hide his unease behind a smile. She always talked like his passing was certain… whether overconfidence or an attempt to nurse his own he wasn’t sure. In truth besides agreeing to see Pila quickly to confirm his survival, he had no plans… it had seemed like tempting fate to plan for after His mother sighed, and nudged the young motes towards the door “you spend a lot of time with that dragoness…” “We’re friends” Ral eased aside to let his siblings out the doorway “I’m her wisp” “Ral, there are other dragons” she observed “you shouldn’t spend all your free time fawning over her” “I enjoy being with her” Ral folded his arms His mother petted his cheek with a knowing smile “Oh Ral, I know it’s easy to look to the first dragon you know and think, I’ll be theirs forever, I had a thing for this regal dragon who I knew as a mote, but it can all change in an instant. When I was assigned to Rivice as his ranger companion, it all changed. I can’t see myself being any dragon’s but his now” she ruffled at his hair when he grunted as reply “just don’t make promises, ok? You never know what life will bring. You’re too young to be deciding which dragon you want to carry you” “Ok, ok” Ral murmured to placate her attention… though his sense of certainty remained untarnished. Of course his dragoness would be Pila… He helped to nudge his mote siblings along, shepherding them with his mother towards the middle of the residential floor, the smell of food alluring after his day. Flanks of beasts larger than he was cooked on the wide grill, huge berries the size of his head cut and portioned as the floor gathered to eat together. Indeed, he saw his sister, wings a bright blue. Bluewings were rare on their floor. Which, he supposed, did allow his sister a luxury he lacked. She knew her father… or was pretty sure. Of the four males his mother frequented, only one was bluewinged. Two were green like her, another was a redwing. In theory his father could be any of them, seeing he could have inherited his hue from her. The one she had considered her, primary mate, who had lived with the family had been lost to a wild drake a while back. Ral had tended to assume that one was his father. Not that it mattered to much, he cared for all the adults who raised him. Once he felt sure his younger siblings had locked onto the food, and needed only mild overseeing, he tended to himself. A plate of polished wood, with a fine piece of roasted mouse and a sharp slice of citric yellow were his first course, which he carried to sit by his sister. She gave him a glance, continuing to eat. “Evening Aza” Ral greeted, sitting himself heavily, a flick of his wings in greeting, which she responded with. “You look exhausted” Aza commented “And you look ravenous for a wisp who spent her day reading books, not flying around blocks of wood” “Don’t you know that the brain consumes more energy than anything?” she responded with a brief grin, that quickly vanished behind a forkful of food Ral shook his head with a twitch of a smile, before letting himself eat… the food always tasted better after he had flown “confident about tomorrow?” Aza paused in her eating, to chew for a few seconds, an uncharacteristically long time that betrayed her mood. “are you?” she asked in turn, though the question hung with a rhetorical weight “Fair enough” Ral conceded “spent the last week reading up on the last few tests my teacher led” Aza finally continued “I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of her normal behaviour. She tends to start the same way, same pattern of approaches… I’m hoping if I play on that I can trip her up, keep one step ahead” Aza twirled her fork “feels pretty pointless, I’m exploiting the nature of the test, the fact that she is new and hasn’t learnt to mix up her strategy… she is so focussed on the test and giving us all a fair shot, she’ll be predictable…” “One could say that you’d pass by seeing a pattern others would not, and finding a way to exploit your situation” Ral reasoned “it’s not like you’re likely to be flying out into the wilds unaccompanied anyway… you don’t need to be able to, deal with completely unplanned situations” “Perhaps” Aza rolled a shoulder “I’m just frustrated. That I need to risk my life so early for the sake of a scenario I’ll never need to face” she grunted “and I know why… it’s about maintaining a standard, so if I happen to have any young greenwings, say, one day, which is likely, then they’ll have the best chance of being strong and agile enough to evade a dragon’s jaws… but it still frustrates me, even if I do understand it” Ral ate quietly and let his sister talk. He wouldn’t begrudge any wisp needing to vent a little, tonight… well, any wisp who had their test the next day… “You’ll do fine, I’m not so sure about me” Aza shook her head, tapping her fork to her plate “you’re agile, graceful, I’ve seen you fly, Ral. You’re good” “If it was a flying test, I’d be confident” Ral frowned slightly at his food “But taking wing is the last thing I should do tomorrow” “True” Aza noted, looking off as the rest of their family stumbled over to join them at their table. Their talk came to a close, to not bring the dark topic up around their mother, and as the young motes needed help to attend. Even when the fathers of the family stopped in to help, Ral already felt too tired to keep talking. The energy just seemed to flee him. Stress maybe, he wondered. In the end, he headed back to the house early, to find a soft spot for himself in the bedchamber. Curling up in the corner. He was lucky to doze off quickly, before the hubbub of his siblings could keep him up, the family gathering in a wing-laden huddle in the softer room. Ral stretched in the light of the morning sun. The angle casting its light deep into the combat floor, across the three marked rings where the tests were running today. He was taking a long moment, to fix the amount of space in his mind. It wasn’t small, all things considered. There was room aplenty to move and dash. Though he had to stay inside it. It would look smaller with a dragon in the middle of it. “Morning” Bie spoke from behind him, and Ral looked to her with a forced smile, nodding in greeting. Although, his curiosity rested on the pole she had in her hand. It had the gleam of metal, seemed nearly as tall as she was “So, your project” “Yep” she made a show of spinning the staff and balancing it on her palm “took time to get it right… has a secret but, I’ll be keeping that one to myself. My plan requires a bit of surprise, can’t have our teacher overhearing it” “Fair enough” Ral couldn’t see anything particularly interesting about the unorthodox weapon, though he supposed maybe that was the point “Hope you know how to wield that” “I’ve been practicing” Bie shrugged A thump through the wood paused their conversation, eyes moving to the landing of their teacher on the far side of the ring. Wisps of their class were, gathering near them. Nervous huddles talking, preparing. “Oh, hey Cit” Bie observed cheerfully, calling Ral’s attention off the settling dragon. Cit seemed, about his usual, nothing obvious that he’d brought… though a tremble was running the yellow-wing. “You need to calm down” Ral observed “I know” a sickly little smile curled his lips “you two confident?” “About normal” Ral offered vaguely. In truth he wasn’t sure how to feel “Pretty confident” Bie answered optimistically “going to keep him running around and, if I get in trouble… plan B” Cit took a moment to look up and down the metal staff “oh… I think I pretty much just have my plan B… but I guess I’ll be trying to not use it for as long as possible” “Guessing you’re keeping it hush too?” Ral mused “Works better that way” Cit’s hands met to fidget together before himself “do you know what order we’ll be in?” “If I recall…” Bie noted “we volunteer. If two want the same turn, the one with the better duelling scores gets to take the spot… if nobody volunteers, the lowest scored goes first” Cit nodded, though his eyes drew to their teacher “I know mine are bad… but I want to go as close to last as possible” “Pretty common wish” Bie observed ruefully “Morbid as it can be, by the end of the session, he’s likely to be a bit tired… and may be a bit, heavier in the belly. It’s easier, in theory. Although, he’ll also be back into full predator mindset by then too. There’s a tactic to getting him at the start when he’s rusty… and maybe acting a little more impulsively from hunger” Ral clicked his tongue “preferably I’d be near the end too but… if it comes down to it, I’ll let you take it, Cit” “Me too” Bie smiled slightly “I may volunteer near the start anyway. My plan doesn’t work better or worse at any slot so, I’d like to get it over with” she shrugged “in the off chance I fail, I’d rather go down early, not be shoved head first into half-digested wisp” Ral grimaced “eww” “Risks of going last” Bie smirked “an empty, hungry belly is the nicer way to go, I’d think, even if the later end is… probably faster” “I’d rather not think about that” Ral murmured, looking back to their teacher as the dragon cleared his throat. A familiar flick of the wings was their signal to line up like they did every class. In order of their duelling scores. Ral parted ways with the others… all in all, he scored fourth. Rist was first of course… followed by the class’s other greenwing, Eld. The third spot was, oddly enough, a greywing. The unlikeliest of wisps… though Ral had heard her mother was a purplewing and trained her herself. “Morning class” their teacher spoke, padding his way towards the centre of the ring “I’m proud to see all of you here, for this test of your skill… would be that all of you would pass. I wish you all well… however” he snorted for emphasis “I have fasted, for three days to be ready. I am hungry, wild, and eager to sate it. Like any creature you meet out there with an appetite for wisp… you must survive me, for two minutes, until rescue can arrive. In that time, you must avoid being swallowed, or I’m afraid you will be acquiring your second life early” Ral tried not to grimace, he felt so unready… but then was he ever ready for this? He did want to be a ranger… what better training was there than this. To the sides, he could see other wisps, other dragons, gathering to observe. There was a wisp who had been, infrequent teaching assistant to them, who was likely doing the counting today. His whole life came down to this test… no pressure. “Is there a brave young wisp who will volunteer to be the first to face their future?” Ral looked up and down the line… it was an uneasy silence, before he saw Bie step forward from her place down the line. He was realising now, the only thing worse than facing the dragon early, was having to watch his friends do it… “Well… our confident redwing” the dragon rumbled, stretching his wings, as he sat back to his haunches “I hope not overconfident, young Bie… enter” Bie moved into the ring, hands shifting on her staff. The twin daggers they all wore, sat in her spot beside the ring. She was unarmed but for the, strange weapon she had presumably made herself. A bell echoed from the assistant by the ring, and, the first strike was so fast. In all his time, Ral had, never seen a dragon truly try to catch a wisp. Hind legs solid with muscle kicked, taloned forepaws and spreading jaws descending on the, small shape of Bie. A shocked eep of sound escaped her, but she managed to stagger back, and to the side, clutching her staff to her. That first pounce, Ral felt was a terrifying thing… he was glad beyond all words he hadn’t been first… just seeing his teacher that way was unseating his thoughts. He felt frozen with the shock of it. Even after that pounce it wasn’t over. Their teacher turned in mere moments, a second spring after his fleeing meal. Bie looked so small, so uncertain now. She dodged the wrong way, and a sweeping paw struck across her. She flew like a doll, shoulder hitting the wooden floor before she rolled twice. Ral could feel his own heartbeat as their teacher padded over to the strewn wisp, as his jaws parted and lowered down. It was, almost gently that he scooped up Bie as she struggled to stand. The bright red of her scales and wings disappearing behind his scales as she lips closed behind her. Ral shivered… how many, seconds had it been… A swallow didn’t follow, the head of the dragon shook suddenly, an unnatural twang of sound before the teeth wrenched open, a choked growl in the parted jaws. Bie came into view, hair matted in wet tangles against her face, cheek pressed to her staff, hugging around it for dear life. It looked longer now, tip wedged into the palate and tongue of their teacher. Jaws strong enough to splinter bone clenched, a whining creak of sound as the staff seemed to shrink, for a long moment, before the pressure eased and it snapped back into place with a twang. Bie seemed to crouch, fumbling at the end at the tongue, pushing to keep her staff in place as the muscle below wormed. She kicked the tip of his tongue as it tried to curl around her, her weapon. The struggle seemed to last forever… but then, Bie jumped out past the teeth, fluttering to soften her landing, looking back. The staff, seemed to slip, before the jaws sealed again, a low snort as their teacher shook his head again. He visibly winced, a cough echoing past the teeth. Then his head turned, and the long pole was spat to roll and slide along the ground away from him. Bie looked, more ready this time. When the dragon pounced, she was running, around him on the opposite side from her staff… lucky, or planned it seemed the right call, as his hips, on landing pivoted to swipe his thick tail over the spot the staff had fallen. Bie dived under the next bite, wings beating against belly plates to throw herself from under the dragon. By the time his head turned, she was pouncing on her staff, taking the slimy metal back into her hands with a death grip. She was panting, as she levelled it at the muzzle aimed her way, a grimace, if a determined one on her face. A bell rang from the side-lines… and the teacher’s stance softened in a moment, though Bie remained tense and ready for a fair few moments longer. Their teacher raised a paw to his throat, rolling his claws to the scales with a cough “you bruised the back of my throat with that… springs?” Bie nodded slowly “spring-loaded…” “Heard of an instructor losing a tooth to something like that once… I’ll count myself lucky… well done” Bie nodded mutely, and staggered to the side of the ring, collapsing to her backside, and laying the staff before herself, staring at her weapon, before seemingly trying to reset the springs. “Any volunteers for next?” Their teacher noted. Ral felt his senses coming back.. that, was just the first, and not even his own turn yet. His dread was only multiplying. In the corner of his eye, Ral saw Rist step forward. So, the brownwing has wanted to see someone else go first. Ral couldn’t deny the wisdom in that… deep down he was starting to feel that, more than a test of skill, this coming of age was, about understanding what dragons could be… what the wild dragons would be like. He’d known dragons all his life, they were big, a little intimidating, but easy enough to handle with some petting and scratching, they could be doofy or graceful… they were wonderful… but, that visage of savage hunger… that was part of them too. Just a side they were fortunate to be spared. The Brownwing stepped into position, their teacher facing him. The stance Rist took was one Ral knew well. The blades were drawn, posture ready for a duel. Ral heard the greywing to his side sigh, and shot her a look, noting how she shook her head. His eyes snapped back, as a bell noted the new round was beginning. Their teacher surged forward, but Rist held his ground, using his strength to bring both blades down on the approaching muzzle. Their teacher halted his advance, though a little too late, his chin being smacked to the wooden floor by the strike, not that the dragon looked injured. The dragon stepped back, as Rist followed through, advancing with elegant strikes. The head just, couldn’t seem to draw back fast enough, Ral observed… something felt off about that, surely the dragon could avoid a blow… but Rist seemed to be in control. Each strike batting the muzzle of the dragon in one direction or another, if only slightly. Their teacher’s stance had changed though, Ral noticed. The dragon had turned to his side, while backing away. Rist swung for a new blow, and the muzzle wasn’t there. So fast by comparison to the previous retreat, the muzzle swung back and away. Rist missed his footing, his blow swung, seemingly with the expectation of impact. The tail of the dragon was already in motion. Their teacher’s legs held firm, swinging his hind to bring the tail sweeping, to strike Rist between the wings while he was off his balance. The head that had retreated, parted to show the innards of the maw before lunging back to its spot, in time for Rist to be thrown off his feet into the damp abyss. The teeth clicked with finality. The arena was silent, only broken by a slight leathery creak of dragon scales against hide as the muzzle rose and their teacher sat. The snout tossed up, and the neck weaved. A soft, wet pulse of sound, heavy around a mouthful as their teacher swallowed. A flicker of movement showed under the thinner hide of the throat, small deformations, hidden as the head lowered again. Still, from his position, Ral could see as the slight shape merged to the scaly chest. Their teacher turned his muzzle, tongue seeming to work to his jaw, before he spat a soaked wooden blade towards the side of the arena, where slick as it was, it spin and skittered to a stop not far from Bie. “Volunteers for next?” Ral felt his heart sink to his stomach… seeing Rist, sink to a stomach of his own. Rist had been so skilled… and yet, just like that. “fool” The greywing beside him exhaled, her wings flicking. Ral looked her way, and she met his gaze, raising an eyebrow “you do see, don’t you?” Ral shook his head quietly. “He was overconfident” she explained with a sharp shake of her wings “he forget he wasn’t fighting a wisp… sure he was excellent at that, and a lot of the skills are transferable… but he was too used to being the strong one… a dragon is always the strong one… whoever was coaching him outside of these lessons wasn’t doing a good job…” “Easy for you to say” Ral murmured “I suppose” she shrugged a shoulder “teacher warned him enough times though, I know that much” The next round began, and Ral watched with a certain dread… that did ease slightly with time. A lot of the students took their turns, only one more failed, not that the day was over. He got to see the greywing fight. She did well, he felt. She had fought so differently from Rist, agile, retreating, the teacher had been chasing her, and in that Ral felt he saw what she meant. For one thing, their teacher hadn’t had any opportunity to use his heavy tail… he needed the right footing for that. He had almost been managing to relax and, enjoy the display of skill… till their teacher asked for a volunteer, and was met with silence. “No one?” their teacher asked again, sat to his haunches and panting softly from the exertion of the day “If I don’t have a volunteer, we shall begin in reverse order of your duelling scores” The reminder of the rules struck Ral… he had almost forgotten… Cit. A glance down the diminishing line of wisps showed him Cit at the far end. His friend was trembling. If he didn’t do anything, Cit would be called… He grimaced… did that mean, he had to volunteer… or, wait and improve his own chances… would Cit forgive him… would Cit even expect that of him… He had said, he’d let Cit go later than him. If Cit got eaten and he hadn’t taken the yellow-wing’s spot… would Bie hold it against him… Ral really didn’t want to go… he didn’t want to face the teacher at all though… and he’d have to so, why not? That argument seemed so sensible, but he struggled to step forward. Yet, he had to, didn’t he? He grasped for his courage. “I’d duel you, dragon” a voice Ral didn’t know called from the edge of the ring, most eyes seeking it, their teacher included. Just inside the ring, the air seemed to shimmer, the shimmer turning into a wingbeat, before into view, appeared a small, wisp figure, the wings that folded, ebony black. A darkwing, Ral couldn’t help but stare… he’d never seen one, only heard of them, and normally not favourably either… The darkwing folded his wings, offering a low bow to the watching dragon, before taking another step into the ring “You are no student of mine, darkwing” their teacher finally answered “I am student of no dragon” the darkwing observed “and yet it is my time to come of age. I would fight for that title, as do the others” Their teacher snorted “is that so? I could eat you, you know” “I invite you to try… for, two, three minutes isn’t it?” he glanced to the wisp with the bell “I was never told the specifics… had I come to be trained when these wisps did, I’d probably have been eaten then, no?” “Perhaps” their teacher rumbled faintly “depends on the teacher, your kind do not have a fond reputation” The darkwing drew his blades, wooden like the other young wisps, flickering his wings as he pointed them at the dragon “all I want is a fair chance to earn what you would offer to the other wisps, nothing more” “Very well” their teacher turned his bulk, facing the wisp that looked, so small “I have never sampled darkwing” The bell rang, and in an instant the darkwing was, gone… vanished. Their teacher padded quickly to where it had been, taking a swipe through the air, but seemingly finding nothing. He snorted “and how, little darkwing, are we to be sure you are not breaking the rules and are within the ring…?” The dragon suddenly hissed, looking down his flank, thick tail swiping to the ground. The darkwing was visible for a moment, leaping free of the tail “you’ll feel me” the visage disappeared just a moment later. The dragon snorted, tail flicking, looking around himself, strangely still despite the challenge. Slowly he padded a few steps, then flared his wings. A cry echoing in the air before a thud, the darkwing visible on the ground, before rolling and disappearing as forepaws and talons slammed to the ground where he had been “do not think my other senses are so weak you can trick me, darkwing. I do not need to see you, to find you” Their teacher stood, looking around again, rumbling faintly “you may have thought this would be easy… for one such as you, but I am an experienced dragon…” The dragon suddenly let his legs fold, flopping for the ground. A cry called, but was muffled, as the belly hit the ground. The beast glanced down his flanks “predictable…” The body rose, the dragon peering under himself with a hum… no wisp to see. He inhaled, lifting his muzzle, padding away, and pawing to the ground “I’ll admit, I am impressed at your willpower to remain invisible…” The dragon’s ear twitched, a rumble, before his tail swept. The darkwing reappearing in a leap away from the long tail. Closer to them, Ral finally got a better look at the darkwing… it looked, just like any wisp, but for the hue of the wings… and yet, he couldn’t do that… he could make his wings invisible if he focussed on it, even wrap them around himself to hide behind them while they were so, unseen… but because of that he couldn’t both move and be unseen. Darkwings were scary… The dark wisp panted for a moment, before disappearing from sight again as the teacher rushed the spot. Talons raked, paws swiped… Ral found this, more frightening than any of the other displays… the teacher had been gentle with the others, his goal to swallow them. But if he couldn’t see the wisp, he had to incapacitate it, it seemed… The dragon inhaled again, rumbling, and turning his head, seeming to track something “in case you live, darkwing, and I do not get the opportunity to correct your behaviour… it was crafty, to smother your scent as you have… but you paid little heed to where you were going. I’d never track your scent in a forest like this… but your new scent stands out in this arena… you have made it easier to track you, not harder…” The dragon pounced, forepaws slamming to one spot, triumphantly… although, he snorted discontentedly, lifting a paw to sniff, drawing his muzzle back with a grimace. The head jolted down suddenly, before the darkwing appeared on the muzzle, one hand grasping a horn, the other aiming a blade at the eye of the dragon, the tip hovering so close to the wide globe. “Yield” the wisp shouted into the stunned silence. The dragon rumbled slowly “you deal with a hungry dragon, little wisp” “It would be a foolish dragon who sacrificed an eye” The teacher rumbled again “desperation is a powerful force… trade an eye, for a meal, or rather the chance of one. A chance diminished by the loss of the eye, and all future chances equally diminished. A dragon ravenous enough to lose an eye to eat? Surely such a dragon is so unskilled it needs the eye more than most. Such a dragon would live longer with the meal but be doomed thereafter perhaps?” the dragon shook his head, but gently and with a weak rumble “I yield, little wisp…” The darkwing leapt from the muzzle, as he slipped away his blade, turning to bow to the seated dragon before disappearing again. “I want to know, before you go, wisp” the teacher reflected aloud “I mentioned your scent… was I wrong? The scent clung to my paw so noxiously, was it all to allow you that diversion?” “If I’m honest” the wisp’s voice called from… somewhere on the other end of the ring “I thought of that in the moment, instant you mentioned it” Their teacher shook his head “good instincts… seems my ploy of using talk, to stir observable reactions from you backfired then… good to know” He yawned, shaking his head “well now class… since that diversion is over…” Ral felt the weight of the moment resume, and glanced down the line… nobody, seemed more willing than they were so, reluctantly he stepped forward, and had the immense pressure of his teacher’s gaze focus on him. He watched the eyes narrow, honed upon him. He felt so small. He drew his blades as a surge of… something he couldn’t explain and hadn’t truly felt before, surge into his belly… The bell was distant and yet distinct, more important was the way the muscles in his teacher flexed to power the mighty shape of dragon in his direction. Ral drew his blades, and yet felt he didn’t need them. His eyes were more vital weapons. The way his teacher moved, he’d seen it before… not just today, but in all dragons. His teacher was powerful, faster than he used to believe, and yet… Ral leapt to the side, a puff of his wings to drive some momentum into his legs and nothing more… they were cumbersome and would only slow him down, he realised. His teacher couldn’t turn very quickly. Not on the ground… he turned fastest on his haunches, exactly the pose he’d be in if Ral took wing. The young wisp darted around the charge of the dragon, weaving towards the predator as his teacher turned… those big wings, they were cumbersome on his teacher too. He darted under the dragon’s body before the head could follow round, running out the other side and near the tail… His mind was calculating even though he wasn’t thinking… angles. If his teacher’s front was turning after him, the tail… would be this way. Ral dived under the sweeping appendage, allowing himself a moment to breathe and look back. The dragon’s confusion was only brief… his teacher was experienced. One glance to see the wisp wasn’t where he expected, and he had deduced where Ral was. But the dragon didn’t turn quickly. Ral’s heart skipped a beat… surely then, his teacher would sit, to turn faster. He saw the forepaws rising, as the hinds turned. He’d seen Pila do that so many times. Ral backed away, only looking down to make sure he stayed in the ring. His teacher didn’t have the reach like this. He wasn’t losing. The excitement of that thought was encouraging… and yet he questioned his latest move… his teacher could see him plainly. The dragon dropped down to his paws again and loped towards him. The gait was slower… it made sense to Ral. The initial charge hadn’t worked to overwhelm him. Now the dragon was being careful. Yet, something the darkwing had done gave him an idea. His teacher was advancing on him so, steadily, wings half out and hanging low to block Ral against the edge. Ral glanced to his blades… only useful to sting the dragon really, distractions, or mild deterrents. He could make one of them do just that. He hoped all his training aiming his body through hoops would help, as he swung his arm, and tossed one spinning blade towards his teacher’s face, his piercing eyes. The head rose, the eyes closed, and Ral bolted. The forepaws scrabbled at the ground, blind but sweeping, expecting Ral’s move but, Ral ran to the side, under the cover of a wing, making a sweep with his remaining blade up at the membrane… the wooden edge harmless but to sting, right where his teacher would feel it most. He heard a rebuking hiss, and hoping it was enough of a distraction, he ran beneath his teacher’s arching body once more, diving beneath a belly that emitted gentle, ominous gurgles. It was almost enough to cut through the adrenaline… though only served to motivate him. Much to Ral’s relief, his teacher fell for the same trick, head looking first where his wing had been struck, before eying where Ral had run. Yet, Ral could feel himself flagging. An ache was growing that was hard to ignore, energized or not. He had been doing a lot of running. Though his wings felt fine… His teacher turned, practically in a jump, snorting through both nostrils as he advanced on Ral again, faster, head low, jaws already beginning to spread for a bite. He must not be able to see though, Ral reflected… not that it was comforting, if he leapt to either side, he’d be chased again. Still, Ral was feeling bold, encouraged. He had a blade left. He flicked his wings… if his teacher couldn’t see him… He waited, with wings flared, keeping his blade held tight. As the jaws grew close, he jumped, beating to rise over the gaping jaws, hands thrusting the blade forward, between two of the deadly teeth. Unable to clear the muzzle, he had to cling to the jabbing snout as a low whine of sound escaped it, the head recoiling like the dragon had been stung. One large forepaw batting Ral off and to the ground, while the other raked its claws between the teeth of the dragon, till a shake of the head dislodged the offending weapon. Distantly, Ral heard a low ding. A bell… no, the bell. The forepaws of his teacher thumped to the ground either side of him, the muzzle lowering with a low exhale. “Well done Ral, you pass… retrieve your blades and go sit with the others… nice use of your limited weaponry, effective if unorthodox, and good use of your breed’s natural speed” “Thank you, teacher” Ral murmured, nodding before scrabbling from the looming muzzle. Still… he collected his blades less quickly… his legs were starting to ache more intently. A few moments later Ral was sitting down beside Bie, who offered him a cheery smile. “That was terrifying” Ral murmured “You did good, told you so” Bie smirked “I’ve never seen you run like that” Ral chuckled slightly, unsure why even to himself… giddy perhaps “I’m starting to think my training grounds are on the bottom floor for another reason… they wear out my wings… and I have to train my legs coming back up…” “Sneaky” Bie nodded “speaking of sneaky… ever seen that darkwing before?” “Never seen one till today” Bie nodded slowly, rubbing her chin “I didn’t think I had but… you know, having seen him, I’m starting to think I might have spotted him watching our class before… I guess darkwings want to learn too, huh? I don’t really get why they are so taboo… just because they can go invisible like that… I think it’s interesting” “I suppose” Ral shrugged “got to be a reason, right?” Bie made a neutral hum as reply, looking back to the test. The teacher had repositioned himself, looking along the line. Ral’s heart sank a little to see Cit being called forward. He’d bought his friend one round… but nothing more. The yellow-wing looked nervous… rightly so of course. He barely moved when the bell rang, and their teacher advanced… though, the approach seemed slower, more cautious? Ral wondered why, though, maybe it was because he didn’t know what tricks Cit had brought… with a greenwing, there were no tricks, only speed and strength. Yellow-wings though, they were alchemists. Suddenly Cit was running, to the side, along the edge of the ring, forcing the teacher to pursue, though faster. Cit paused to throw something, something their teacher did stop to avoid… a small tinkle of breaking glass. Ral didn’t see anything though, was it a bluff? Cit had made a little distance with it though. Their teacher was soon chasing again, faster this time. Suddenly the dragon changed course, to intercept the wisp, forcing Cit to stagger and stop himself. The tail of the dragon swept past Cit, then back, smacking the wisp across the chest… no, the hip. Ral peered with some shock, noting Cit’s hip bag flicked halfway across the arena. So that was it. Cit rolled twice onto his belly, starting to crawl towards his thrown bag, but not their teacher was bolder. In three bounding steps his shadow loomed over Cit, the jaws dropping. In an instant, Cit was scooped up around the middle, tossed high, and left to squeal, flailing his way through the air back into the waiting jaws that shut with a sharp snap. Ral’s heart sank as the head drew level, their teacher exhaling slowly. The underjaw undulated as the tongue moved to guide the morsel of food back. But then it stopped. The muzzle of their teacher wrinkled, disgust before his head dropped suddenly, spitting Cit to the ground with a hacking cough. The dragon rose his head, paw lifting to rub his tongue against the scales, shaking his head with a snort. “Eugh… so that is your ploy, Cit…” their teacher huffed “you yellow-wings always want to go last… counting on a partly sated dragon not being hungry enough to endure your flavour, hmm?” Cit was shaking his wings of saliva, shuddering as he clambered to his feet, half running, half falling for his bag. The dragon advanced again though, snorting “I’ll choke you down even if I don’t enjoy it, Cit” The yellow-wing fumbled in the bag, bringing out something else that he held in his trembling hand. Their teacher hesitated, though Cit suddenly threw it… though not at the muzzle, which rose to avoid it, but at the ground before the dragon. A fine dust exploding into the air. Their teacher’s panting, laboured breaths drawing it in. A grimace took the muzzle, before their teacher backed away with a hacking cough, shaking his head “get out of my arena… blasted yellow-wing…” Cit nodded and scrabbled quickly away. Their teacher looking to the class while pawing his muzzle “excuse me a moment, I need to go find some water to dip my face in…” The dragon turned, padding away with haste, while Cit, slimy as he was, settled down beside Ral, still trembling. “What was that?” Bie mused thoughtfully “Just a mild irritant” Cit answered slowly “I make it from crushing up these, hairs in flower pods… meant to itch anything that tries to eat them. Make it fine and it turns into a very light powder… I was hoping he’d be breathing heavily, otherwise it wouldn’t work… he could just hold his breath. His throat and nose and… possibly his eyes too will be itching soon. I guess he knows that though… it’s a pretty common thing we’re taught” Ral smiled to himself… relief washing over him… he still had some classmates at risk but, his friends had made it, he had made it “you had me worried there, Cit” “I had me worried” Cit smiled weakly, before looking over his bag with a sigh “he tore it… I’ll need a new one…” Ral petted Cit’s head, despite the lingering ooze… nothing could bring him down today… he couldn’t wait to tell Pila… though maybe he should wait… till after he had his metal adult blades to show off.

A constant thrum echoed around Newton as his dextrous paws pushed at his bulging backpack, patting down the lumps to better arrange the contents, only to add more, crammed into the opening. A squeaked grunt with his exertions, yet he finally tugged the flap down and sealed it with the buckles. He was fond of this bag… it had been a good find, an artifact of a different time… His paw rolled to his face, the heat… he wouldn’t miss about his hiding spot. The refrigerator unit above put off a lot of it, and the constant noise. Still… it had been a good hiding spot. The mouse wriggled his arms through the straps of his bag and pulled it good and tight. It was a risk… a bag tied tightly was easier to carry if he had to run, and more secure… but also made it near impossible to discard if he wanted to be lighter. But he had long ago decided to accept that risk and learn to live with it. Replacing the contents would involve a lot of work, a lot of little risks. That was his trade off. His every movement was slow as he crept for the edge of his hiding place, peering across a vast kitchen floor. It was a pity… it wasn’t a bad place. He’d hoped to get a good month of living out of it, maybe even try and cut into the cabinets and try for something longer… but he’d been spotted now. It was a matter of time. He saw nothing… no immense furred paws or shifting shadows. Good as time to go, as he was going to get. Newton stepped out, ears turning as he listened… the drone of the machine he had been under was double edged. It had meant he could live without much fear of being heard… but he also couldn’t hear anything subtle, and even as he stepped from it, his head felt foggy, his hearing still ringing with the aftershocks of the constant noise. He focussed on his eyes, looking up, and around. Nothing hiding on high places, no traps ready to drop… it seemed fine. He let himself relax just a bit. It was better to be cautious, but there was a reason he’d hoped to stay here a while. The cats hadn’t seemed the most attentive or crafty sorts… he’d been seen once, they’d be looking for him but… with any luck he’d be gone before they mounted any sort of real attempts… in short, they didn’t have traps on hand, he was pretty sure. Newton turned to see his destination. The kitchen had a door into the outer world, and like such back doors, it was in disrepair… enough for a mouse to slip under. He was lucky. Some houses he’d encountered, they’d have already patched tried to find out how he got in and block it… but then again, he’d need to be doubly cautious before exiting… he’d known more than one mouse to be lured into such a false sense of security and run too eagerly for the outside world… there could be traps out there too. Quickly he bolted for the door, dropping to all fours to let his primal side take over. His bag tight enough it barely bounced as he ran. And yet, as he got distance from the refrigerator, he heard it… felt it. Vibrations in the ground, thumps, steps… he couldn’t hear them before, but now… He looked back, in time to see his nightmare wandering into the kitchen. It wasn’t the biggest cat. Female if he had to guess, with the markings of a calico. One sharp ear was pierced, half of a shirt and barely half a pair of jeans the only coverings of the sleek, lithe furred shape. Her long whiskers pressed up against a juice carton. He could make out the unrealistically huge cranberries etched on the packaging. One ear, the pierced one… turned like a radar dish, and vivid eyes fell down to meet his. The relaxed, swaying gait of the feline changed in an instant. It sent a chill to his core as he saw those slitted eyes widen to large, dark pupils, watch the sleek… beautiful form tense. The carton was dropped, revealing an eager grin behind it, whiskers angling forwards with predatory intent. “Damn it…” Newton looked towards the door… he was close, very close. He didn’t hesitate, if anything he just ran faster as the first earthquake hammered through the ground. He spared a look as the long, shapely legs were leaping disturbingly long steps towards him. The feline’s posture built for this acceleration. Already she had closed the distance by half in her starting leap. Newton ran for the door, readying himself to jump under it. In the corner of his vision he saw her stance lowering, claws out on her hands as they descended. Newton jumped, twisting himself to land on his side, sliding on smooth tiles under the doorway, his backpack able to clear from this angle… it was a jump he had taken time to practice. He felt air, and a brush of contact against his tail… but then he was through, a thump and yowl against the door. Once out Newton sprang to his paws, jumping down the stone steps, regardless of the shaking recoil of each landing, no time to worry about that. Once he was close enough to the ground he leapt off the side and pressed his back to the stairs. Already the tinkle of keys had been sounding, and no sooner was he pressed to the stone as he heard the door open. The feline thrust herself into the world… he looked up to see one toe of a bare paw poking over the step above him, could see up her leg… out of some sense of modesty he looked away then… not that he had the option really. The feline was off in the next moment, bounding a few steps into the grass, peering around herself with a frustrated sigh. He knew the cats who lived here had a teenager… he’d not seen her before today, spent most of her day in her room, much to his delight. He wouldn’t have been surprised if she had been coming down specifically to look for him… teenaged cats, they were the most persistent hunters, so he had been taught… and so he had experienced. He moved from his hiding spot, running into the grass away from where she was looking. Inexperienced cats always charged out to see if they could spot a fleeing mouse, before thinking to check if they were hiding nearby… but she’d get there… and if she got her paws on him… Newton shuddered faintly… teenage cats were best avoided for other reasons. Either way it would be the death of him, and the obliteration of all he had been in her digestive tract. Newton took a moment to tighten his bag again, the chase having loosened it a little, and scurried off, at a slightly more leisurely pace, sparing a single look back to the titan padding around in the grass. She wouldn’t find him though… and he would be best not to draw attention or wear himself out… he had no idea how long he’d be travelling. All in all, Newton mused as he sat on a rock, just high enough to peer over the grasses, munching his way through a large seed he had found… all in all he could have chosen a safer place to live. Rising like mountains, the homes of cats were littered around… it was a suburb, or so he had heard it called. Lots of homes… but also lots of young cats… but the adults were frequently busy. The nooks and crannies of their homes were frequently unattended. It was well suited to his nomadic existence. Perks were that when he did go outside, there were, all in all, fewer threats… large birds, snakes, any number of large mammals. He’d even heard in some places in the world, insects could eat mice. It was a horrifying thought. But here… such encounters were relatively uncommon. Which was lucky… for while the felines were by far the most obvious threat, the craftiest, he’d always been taught they were, oddly enough, not the worst of it… normally. Wild animals, they were focussed on eating… the cats had other things to worry about. Jobs, family, hobbies. If he met a snake in the grass, it would be hunting, probably waiting to ambush him. If he met it, it would be as it struck and coiled. Of course… the cats were the big threat to settlements… like where he had been born. Big enough settlement, and the wild animals could be kept at bay… but if a cat found you… it was time to abandon it. That was the lesson he carried strongest. There was no staying somewhere if a cat knew you lived there. He finished what he wanted of the seed and tossed the husk. He’d need to be careful. Judging by the sun, he’d stumbled into the time the cats started coming home. Soon there would be kittens around… there was nothing he feared more than ending up in the grip of a kitten. Memories came back to him, as they always did… a mouse he’d travelled with for a while, had been snatched up. Most often kittens ate what they caught, once they were done playing with it. But such games were frequently fatal. He’d watched from the shadows as his companion was used as a doll and squeezed till he stopped moving. Seemingly once he stopped being fun the kitten had discarded the new toy. Newton remembered, he’d had to make a choice… check if the mouse was alive or move on. He still didn’t regret choosing to check on the mouse… he would be haunted more deeply by the thought he might have abandoned them to a slow death. But the mouse had been dead, dead and crushed. Broken and twisted in the firm grip. The image haunted him. Newton exhaled, shaking off the thoughts. He wasn’t safe right now; he didn’t have time. The grass was a good cover, but it made his view near zero, except to see vast looming shapes that towered high. He could try to follow paths in the grass but, it was too risky… he might meet what made it. For better or worse, his goal was a house… not the next in line, too obvious. Cats talked. The feline of the next house would hear a mouse ran out in this direction… too risky they might set traps, or at least acquire some. No… he’d skip a house, look for a way in, and if he didn’t find one, move on. It was a pattern he’d followed countless times now. And he wasn’t eaten yet. It was a bit of a trek at his size. Newton took careful stops to break and drink from his flask. He might try for a kitchen again, he considered. It was a good place for everything he needed, if a little obvious. He’d heard from some other mice he passed that the bedrooms of younger cats were pretty good. Toy parts could be handy for tools, they tended to leave food and drink laying around, and general mess provided good cover… problem of course was being, as close as possible to the worst-case scenario. Risk and reward? Newton hadn’t tried it, and those mice had, been alive… so maybe it would work. He might consider it, though he hated the idea. He liked somewhere he could feel safe. He’d never feel safe hiding in such a place… and if they brought another mouse home one day… that would be harrowing to hear or see. In time, Newton found his way around the vast home beside the one he had been living in and approached the next in line… looked much like the others, but he could tell a few things. Relatively untended garden, no toys scattered in the front or back. No very young kittens probably… maybe the inside matched the outside in its, basic care. That was double edged… could mean the house would be cluttered, little effort to clean it beyond what could not be avoided… or they might just be a minimalist… and lots of open space was not good for hiding. Still, observations aside, Newton knew he would be trying to get in. Scouting the house was exhausting as always… it was huge to him, but at least he could see most details from a distance, hiding in the grass. The doors looked well attended and all the windows were shut… it looked very mouseproof. Still, that wasn’t going to deter him so quickly. There was one move avenue to check. Newton found his way to the drainpipe, and after checking it wasn’t clogged with gunk, he started to climb his way up, one jump at a time. He’d found his way into an attic once. Had the fortune to stumble on a small town based in it. Attics were a mixed blessing. Mice could live for years in them… but eventually the cats would come up there for one reason or another… but there were old boxes, clusters of junk that had held settlements that stood for decades. The one he’d found even had a name, Tinsel town. Not very original… seemed the resident cats had stopped decorating for their winter holiday after their kittens moved out, but it had stood for a long time… he wondered if it was still there… in some ways he would have liked to stay but… like any established settlement, they had population issues to contend with. Already more mouths to feed than they could manage. They had been polite about it and had let him stay a couple weeks in exchange for trade, but he’d moved on all the same. Course, attics might have a lot of potential tools or resources… fabric was always in high demand if he met some mice he could trade with, though he could only carry little bits… better yet to find some pre-made clothing, and then modify it. He only wore something around his hips, a tan pair of shorts he’d pulled off a doll… he’d needed to cut and sew them into something usable though… such clothing was not made to be worn… but it provided a good framework. He’d lined the inside with nicer fabric. The colour was good, it matched his fur. So many such garments were far too garish and noticeable. But attics were also not good places for sustenance… that meant trips down. Still, an entry was an entry… if he got in, he could move around inside… not that he’d want to be too far from an exit. Already Newton was planning his options as he eased up onto the drain, and hopped onto the tiled roof, sitting up for a view. The sea of homes stretched out… the distant spires of, feline city… he’d stared at it so longingly as a little one… in some ways, deep inside he’d like to see it before he died… but going there… was exceptionally dangerous. Besides, it would take near a lifetime to travel there without trying to hitch a ride on a vehicle. He swept away such thought, and proceeded further up the roof, small claws clicking on the tiles. He just hoped there weren’t any big birds up here. His advance came to a sudden halt, as the tile he was standing on slipped under his paws. In a flurry of steps he tried to get to the next one, and did manage to grip on, even as the tile slid down to rocket off the roof. Yet his flailing paws found no footing… under his feet was, empty space… a hole under the tile? It looked like, rot. His paws sunk, and he fell through the roof, hands losing hold, left to tumble till he hit solid wood… or mostly solid. It felt a little spongy… the roof had a leak maybe? Either way it was pitch black. Newton cursed, and stumbled a few steps, feeling around himself… was he in an attic or, another space? He wished he could tell. His eyes were adjusting but slowly to the gloom. Not fast enough for him to see as his next step was onto empty air. He cried out, flailing his hands for something, and he did find a cord… but it slipped through his fingers till his back hit metal with a clank, and an ominous creak. Light trickled into his surroundings… he saw, a hole bored into solid wood, and metal below, metal sinking with his weight. He peered into the light and saw… a room below? It clicked… he was, in the cable hole of a ceiling light fixture… and the light was sinking. He tried to turn, to get to the wood, that would have enough texture to hold… but his feet skidded uselessly on the metal of the light, forcing him to slip, for the light and for the void. A terrified shriek escaping Newton as he felt himself fall to his belly and be shot out into open space to fall. His eyes struggled to adjust properly to the sudden natural light… wind whistling past his ears as he fell. He twisted in the air, panicked… uncomprehending. Below he saw a room from an angle he’d never known… the sight cats saw maybe… no… he was higher than that… higher and falling. He’d break every bone in his body. He felt his eyes watering to think that but… his fear was, washed aside with, confusion and shock. It was a bedroom; he could figure out that much. Below was a vast sea of sheets… where he would land? He thought hopefully. Yet more intriguing was everything else. On the dressers, and the tables… taking up each cubbyhole on a bookshelf were, buildings… the floor was littered with the grandest city he had ever beheld. Build against the wall, using the sturdy feline furniture as a base, was… a building of mice taller than a cat… how could this even be…? His awe dulled his fear… but it didn’t soften the impact. Newton plunged down onto a sea of duvet, sheets and mattress… momentum absorbed in soft embrace, yet the shock still rattled him. He heard a dull twang, bouncing about an inch before hitting down into sheets again. The whirling emotions, and the rattle to his bones and body were too much for the little mouse. Newton managed a faint groan before blackness consumed his vision. His home, his true home touched often into Newton’s dreams. They were not memories… but nightmares. It had been so carefree, when cats were from fairy tales and the world felt so much smaller. It was ironic to him in his waking times, that the world had felt small when he was young and small himself. But then, everything had been sized to him… not the land of giants he had come to know. In his dreams he was back there, walking streets with his parents, enjoying roasted nuts glazed with sweet nectar when he had been good. The lessons from the elders, and the stories from the brave mice that adventured into the unknown. From the highest point in the city, he could just make out a tiny bit of the feline towers so very far away. But in his dreams he couldn’t taste the treats or the scent of his kin… in his dreams a shadow fell, and gleaming eyes, bristling whiskers and sharp teeth took the place of the sky… In his dreams friends and family sank into feline maws as those eyes widened in terrifying intent. Thank every force he had ever heard of, that it was only a dream… Newton stirred to waking, with softness against his back… it felt nice… it felt strange.. it couldn’t be right. He woke with a start, sitting up and flinching and shapes stepped back. His eyes wild, but softening as he took in the figure standing, a slight distance from him. Mice… he let his breathing slow, offering to them a respectful nod as he considered them. One was an old mouse… a very old mouse. Only time he’d seen any mice that old were… back home, and in Tinsel town. Settlement had to last a long time for any mice to survive old age… and had to be doing well enough too. He’d seen settlements where any mice past a certain age were driven out… it had left a nauseous feeling in his gut, even though he understood why… “Sorry…” he croaked slightly, feeling to his throat… or trying to. He must have screamed himself hoarse coming down… he wanted a drink, he realised. But he also realised his paws were bound before himself. That wasn’t good. “Who are you?” the elderly mouse asked, though the question, while pointed wasn’t accusing, more, sincere with curiosity. “My name is Newton” Newton cleared his throat for a moment, trying to shake his voice a bit more normal… “I’m sorry I, I’m a little confused right now” “As are we” the older mouse admitted. Newton noticed the clothing of the mice then… some sort of robe. At first he’d taken it for, just fabric draped around themselves. He’d seen that plenty. He was lucky, in knowing a little of how to sew. But it didn’t look like that. It was white robes, that didn’t match to their golden-brown fur. Didn’t look so primitive either. He also noticed the two with the mouse were younger, same garb although… yes, simpler… one of them had rope… but that was strange to him. He’d met some unfriendly mice but, mostly those he met had a sense of solidarity… a shared trial, and a shared duty to protect each other’s secrets. Most of those he met who were aggressive were desperate. These didn’t seem like desperate mice. “Why the ropes?” Newton probed “we’re all mice here” The elder mouse frowned slightly “I’m afraid outsider, unless Bartholomew wills it, you shall remain bound… you have entered so, strangely, and onto the alter of our god” “God?” Newton fumbled on the word… these mice had a god? He’d heard of religions, heard some mice still held to a faith but he’d yet to meet one… and who was this Bartholomew… their leader? “Please, I’m just a traveller, I mean no harm” Newton reasoned, nodding upwards “see the light? I slipped and fell, lucky to be alive honestly… Take me to this Bartholomew, we can straighten this out… if I’m not welcome, I’ll move on. I don’t want to trouble what you have going on here” The older mouse considered him for a silent moment, before nodding to one of his companions, who stepped forward. Newton, did note it was gently that he was helped to his feet… that was promising, though the ropes remained “I apologize, I would like that we could offer you more hospitality, and should Bartholomew allow it, I would be interested to hear what sort of realm you hail from, but we live in his domain by his divine will, and he has decreed that those from realms beyond must be confined until he may judge their worthiness” Newton’s whiskers twitched to the strange talk, mind trying to piece it together… so this Bartholomew, was their god? It brought a slight frown… did remind him of one town he passed through before it fell. He’d met a place where the leading mouse ruled with absolute power… the city he’d seen, was impressive… he’d love to meet the mouse who set it up… but how could it be? Those questions lingered as he was led away, across the bedding… he could see a building rose to the foot of the bed… had the look of an altar. “You are in luck however” the elder mouse observed “had you arrived another time, it could have been days until you could have your audience… but today is when out god shall grace us with his presence” Today? Newton frowned… why today. The mice led him out, onto the, wide alter, and Newton got a good look down over the city… it was, unlike anything he had known. The floor was wood, allowing a foundation for the buildings… he could see where the walls were screwed into the floor… this place was permanent… but how? Each building seemed, well made… made with care not haste. And there were, so many mice… they walked at peace… they reminded him of home… but home had been far from cats, they were in the room of a house… strewn out on the floor and walls. It was an impossible place… He had heard, legends of abandoned buildings where mice lived safely, legendary megacities, where the mice had come to an arrangement with the cats who owned it… labour for the purchase effectively, was that what this place was…? The house hadn’t seemed abandoned… the grass was cut, and this wasn’t a building cats wouldn’t want… unless the mice were providing some intense service… and yet. One thing he noticed was, the door was shut… if they ran the whole building, they would have removed it, right? Just this one room… but that… that had to mean… Newton’s felt nausea course deep into him… he realised something else. Something he knew about today. Today was Friday. The end of the feline working week. Why did their god only visit on the weekend… why were they living safely in a cat’s home… a house that didn’t seem abandoned? He hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but thinking back… hadn’t he seen a car in the drive? It was so common he hadn’t even thought about it… but he hadn’t noticed it absent… their god had to be… He heard an all too familiar sound, the soft, padded thump of feline paws… it echoed from the direction of the door. He saw the mice in the streets, their ears perked and swivelled just like his did… but not a drop of fear did he see in them… excitement. “You worship a cat!?” Newton couldn’t keep the words from tearing out of his already sore throat, head turning with wide eyes towards the doorway as the hinges creaked… Sheer black, luscious and untarnished… the smooth fur coated every inch of an unclothed, toned, sleek feline. Elegant and graceful… so much so he found it hard to tell male and female apart sometimes… though there was no mistaking what he saw the shapes of, amid the fur between the legs… it was a male cat. A panther. He couldn’t deny the muzzle was regal, the predatory creature had the build of some ancient deity… but that was undoubtedly a cat. Newton trembled as he saw the door shut, watching the panther step forward, into the wide streets… small brown forms he saw clustering near the large feet and deadly claws. The deity of these mice crouching low, a paw, large and powerful stroking at the heads of cheering, squeaking mice. The sharp ears of the giant cat twitched with the sounds of so many mice, and that gaze, with luminous eyes turned over the city, reaching the alter, where he was held. Newton felt his stomach tie itself in knots as he stared into the face of a cat. The slitted eyes pulled wide into focussed, excited pupils.

Newton in the city Sleeping rough was, as the name implied, unpleasant. Newton stirred with an ache in his arm where he had been laying on it, and the ream of fabric he’d fetched from his bag to act as a bed of sorts felt damp under him. The mouse sat himself in the brushland of grass, peering up over the top of the trimmed cover. The world of felines spread out before him. The road was a place he hadn’t seen reason to go. It was open, hard on the paws, and of course there were cars. But from what he understood, while cars seemed, a big threat, being fast and huge, roads elsewhere would have a lot more cars then that one… seeing as it met a dead end amid the cat homes. It also led all the way to the city; he had been told. Even here he could see it, through a gap between houses on the other side of the street. The buildings there so tall they could be seen even here. It had always fascinated him… The mouse packed up his things, taking a few moments to rearrange his backpack’s contents and keep the slightly soggy fabric contained where it could cause the least damage… maybe he could hide behind a radiator and get it dry, he mused as he shouldered his bag. He’d felt little inclination to run off from the spot by the door of the… panther Bartholomew. The light had been fading, and there were quiet predators who roamed at night. His eyes were good in the dark but, he still preferred his chances in the day. But where to go. He considered the surroundings with a mild frown. The last house had unsettled him. Still the talk with the cat, about freedom, about perspective, it itched in the back of his mind. Part of him wanted to prove the cat wrong. That he was free to go where he wanted… that his freedom allowed him to, find a way, even if it seemed impossible. He shot a look back towards the city… impossible he had always told himself. Farther than he could walk in a lifetime, even assuming he didn’t get eaten by something. And there were a few mouse colonies in the sparse woodland near here, so smaller settlements scattered around the houses were all but assured… but out there, who knew how few or many mice persisted. He had heard stories, guesswork mostly, that there could be grand mice colonies out along the stretched of road, in what were called farmlands. Huge fields of food… for while the cats were primarily carnivorous they were, to his knowledge, technically omnivores… a step from their feral cousins. And Their livestock needed the feed. He’d heard of some of the animals they farmed… they sounded, terrifying. He had heard too that mice could live safely in some places, beside the feline roads, where the cats rarely trod, and few predators saw fit to be… but there was a reason for that of course, toxic air and low resources or sustenance… the cats overtook so much, it was easiest to live off of them. Newton shook his head faintly. Wild as he may be, he wasn’t knowledgeable about the natural ways. He lived in the environment cats had built for themselves… it was bountiful as it was dangerous. To get to the city would be quite the quest, with little promise of finding food… the plains and fields would be like a desert to him, he was sure… he’d be counting on finding other, helpful mice to survive. His eyes narrowed… scowling… was the cat right… was he no more free than the mice he kept, than any mouse in a cage… his walls weren’t made of iron, but they were there… places he couldn’t go… Newton rolled a paw to his forehead… he had to think, he told himself. He couldn’t walk, so he had to find the Newton way, the way of a mouse who makes use of what cats have. Something clicked. Newton paused his thinking, focussing on a single realisation. The cats got there. The cats here went there every day, there and back even. So, getting there quickly was possible. His eyes strayed back to the road. There was a car… right before the panther’s house. He’d never paid the things much attention. They held nothing for him, and they stank… but he looked a bit closer this time. It touched the ground, and there were lots of bits of metal, hanging under it, and leading up… he could climb that wheel, he mused. The insides looked sealed, but under it? It seemed so risky. Was he being stupid? He sighed, was trying this mad stunt worth it… but the city… it had always felt like a dream world. It seemed dangerous, true, so many cats, a place, entirely made of feline things, not here where houses dotted around… it seemed bizarre, intriguing. And where there was such danger, there must be so much bounty. Surely if anywhere mice lived in safety and luxury, it could be found in there… there were stories of course, utopias for mice held within concrete walls, too thick for a cat to find them, or feel it was worth going after them. It was a place he longed to explore… Newton took a long breath and decided. He darted for the settled car, shooting a look back towards the house. The cat would be going to their work. Judging by the sun, soon too. He knew little of what the cats called work, but he assumed it was akin to his early days. Every mouse in the colony had a role… but then, what were the roles cats had? It was a question he was sure he’d have answered eventually. The mouse neared the huge, hulking metal monster, his resolve wavering to see the thing so close… and it really did stink, of… he barely had words. Chemical smells, he knew that much… there was nothing natural about this thing… As an afterthought, he set his bag down and with some reluctance undressed of his limited garb, packing it away. Already he could see grime all over the pipes… his fur was easier to clean, than the clothing was to replace. With experienced leaps, Newton scaled up the inside edge of one of the wheels, paws finding reasonable purchase against the dark rubber and the metal holding it, scaling to the belly of the beast. He knew little of these vehicles but gathered that pieces would be moving. He eyed for something that looked solid, and unlikely to move… deciding against the tube at the back. He knew well the nasty stuff that would come out of there… he had no interest in choking to death. He scurried along the workings till he felt he was central, and settled himself down, holding around a metal pipe of some sort… he could see his fur had gone black where he had touched the car… but he held back his revulsion. He was sure he could wash it off… and that much grime, he was pretty sure no cat would ever want to choke down. Newton didn’t have to wait long. He heard, and then saw the huge dark paws in the corner of his view as they neared the vehicle. A shudder ran through the whole contraption as the paws left and presumably the feline got inside. Terrible, deafening sounds roared into life above, and Newton clung on for dear life, clenching his teeth… it was too late to change his mind now, he concluded… he didn’t want to be beneath the thing when it started rolling. And roll it did. The mouse felt like his brain was rattling around inside his skull as the world around him began to vibrate, the noise hard to endure. He kept his eyes closed, and focussed only on holding his grip, as the sensation of motion lurched in his gut. One way or another he was on his way. Every inch of Newton felt numb by the time the vehicle stopped. In fact, he only realised it had stopped when he heard the paws of the cat moving away. His ears rang, his head spun, and he felt like every molecule of air had been shaken from his chest. He was sore all over… Was it over? The thought was enough to loosen his death grip on the pipe, and though he fumbled to get his grip back, he failed, falling from the car to thump to the ground below, his backpack cushioning the landing slightly. Newton wasn’t sure if he blacked out, as he panted for breath, but gradually he felt his senses returning to himself. Never again, was the one word that struck him. He regretted his choice immensely… how far was he now, from every mouse he’d ever known… thrown himself somewhere utterly new, submerged in it, maybe there were no mice here at all. He wavered in a pool of self-pity for a bit, before he got bored of being strewn on the ground, the need to be doing something overcoming his dark thoughts. Newton stood, on slightly trembling legs and wandered for the edge of the car, moving from it to peer out. His view was dismal. Above was solid concrete where the sky should be, below was solid concrete, and he was pretty sure the walls in every direction were the same rough grey of concrete. The only colour was on the scattered cars in the vast concrete tomb. Was this the city? He didn’t see any sign of the tall buildings, surrounded by sky and light… He sniffed at the air… and past the car stink that clung to him, he caught a hint of cold damp… reminded him of the earthen tunnels back home… was he underground? He mused that, if all the cats needed one of these cars to come here, they did have to, put them somewhere… maybe that was where he was. It was hard not to feel disheartened. Newton bounced his bag on his shoulders and wandered away from the car. No sense staying here… he supposed he could wait all day long, bored out of his head, and try to endure a ride back… but firstly that sounded unbearable, secondly… he wanted to look where he was. He was here now, so, he might as well get moving. His chances didn’t improve by sitting around getting hungry. In one part of the room there was a ramp, it took a while but he managed to the top of it… and tried not to lose hope when he found himself in a near identical room, but for the fact it was… absolutely crowded with cars. He saw a similar ramp, and made his way there, moving between the vehicles. There hadn’t been many cats around. That said, he heard cars moving… he saw flashes of their wheels under other cars, but didn’t see the whole thing, much to his relief. Up the next ramp, he saw a cat. Huddling to the wall, he watched it moving to scale higher in turn… so there must be something up there. While he was huddling, he saw another of the cars… it made the ground quake, driving so close as it went down the ramp he had come from. This place felt like a death-trap. Newton groaned to himself, wondering just what he had gotten himself into. Once he felt there were no cars immediately incoming, he hurried on. Wary of the massive things, he kept to the outer edge of the wall, away from the cars in general. He realised his mistake when quite suddenly one of the doors pushed wide. It was quick, and so was the cat that leapt out of it. At first, Newton stared at the cat, thinking, maybe it was off to do its work like the others… but those eyes locked onto him… why? Newton cursed his choice. Had he been ducking under the cars, he would have been better hidden, and have hiding places to run to now. The cat was between him as the cars. On instinct he ran, bolting, with little thought to where… it, rarely mattered outside of a house. He had grass or cover to find. But ahead were just more walls… and a corner. Newton turned but found the cat descending. He wasn’t sure what type it was, not that it mattered much. An orangey brown… conspicuous in this place. Needing an escape, Newton bolted for the cars again, only to fall back with a squeak when a paw slammed in his way. He looked up, to find a clawed hand coming for him, but he backed away, till his back hit a wall… trapped. He was trying to think, what he could even do, when a paw swept down. Fur, and firmer padding pushed at his left side, before the caging fingers hooked around the other side, Newton’s heart sinking as his legs were pulled from the nice hard floor to dangle in the air. “Damn that was lucky” the cat spoke, more to himself than anything, Newton thought. The cat was already moving back to his car, leaving Newton feeling a bit, ignored in the paw. Most cats he had seen ate mice quickly… though he supposed he was still grimy. Why did the cat even want him… it couldn’t be that hungry, and surely it must be too busy to prepare him? “Let me go” Newton commanded in a shout… and as he expected, got no reply. He could only watch as the vat felt into the car, bringing a small glass jar out. It went from Newton’s view below him, before the fingers relaxed. He fell through a tunnel of cat paw before thumping into the jar, looking up in time to hear a soft click, and see a meshed lid, too tight a mesh for his paw to get through. It felt designed for a mouse. That unsettled him… Still, contemplating his fate seemed a poor way to use his last moments. Newton buried his face in his paws… what a stupid decision he’d made today, he scolded himself… now he was good as dead. When he looked up, it was to see fabric, a pocket engulfing his enclosure. Soon the bobbing sway of the feline’s gait was all he could experience, leaving Newton alone with his thoughts. Maybe he’d be in here all day till the cat had time to eat him. He supposed if the cat had containers like this… a moment taken to grab a stupid clumsy mouse… could get them a treat for later. Newton sighed heavily, thumping his forehead into his paw. He’d been so stupid coming here… but maybe he could escape. He wasn’t in a stomach yet. He doubted he could get out of the jar… but maybe when it opened. He doubted the cat would just tip him into their jaws… he was grimy. And if they didn’t notice… they might spit him right out. He nodded to himself… he had at least one opportunity to escape in his future. That was something to hold onto. The trip lasted long enough to become monotonous. Newton felt himself bumping to one side of the jar then the other with each step the cat took. It was a miserable journey… trapped with the smell of the car grime that coated his fur, stomach getting nauseous with the shaking. Only a faint spreading heat for company, pressed to the leg of the cat as his prison was… The end of it was quite sudden, all things considered. The shaking stopped, and a paw blocked out what little light had been filtering down through the fabric. Newton startled as he got a very good view of feline paw, wrapping around his prison jar. A rare chance to see the delicate pads, curled digits with their folded claws exposed with the pressure… then he was lifted. Despite the brightness of the surroundings, Newton forced himself to look around, to better assess his location. A bathroom was his first realisation, but he questioned the guess briefly. It didn’t look like any bathroom he’d seen… but though it was in a strange, tiny room, he saw a toilet, and sinks, and the walls and floor were tiled. It had to be. The jar lowered down towards a sink, Newton’s focus going to a foamy mass atop a layer of water. He heard the lid pop free, his prison turning, leaving him with nowhere to go but down. The glass offered no grip, much as Newton scrabbled in instinctive panic. The fall was brief. He splashed into the water, choking on the heavy smell of soap. A paw joined him a moment later, grasping, and rolling its digits roughly against his fur. He kicked, punched at the fingers in the foam, feeling half blind, trying to spit out soapy water where it flowed into his mouth. He could barely breathe, being manhandled amid the water, turned this way and that. His fur felt cleaner though, a sign of his doom, as far as he could tell. Mercifully the experience wasn’t that long, before both feline paws enclosed around him, capturing him in a pocket between them, a world of cushioned pads and barring fingers. But it was a chance to catch his breath. His disorientation was barely dented before the next ordeal. Through the gaps in the feline’s fingers came an angry whine and whir, and a gale of searing wind… was he being thrown into a fire? Newton held his breath against the dry desert air as it blasted through his prison and his fur, finally collapsing to the pads when it stopped… he barely noticed when the paws shifted, parted just enough for him to slide out, and plop down into the rounded walled cage of the jar again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his world, his backpack, plucked from the water by the cat. Newton was on his paws in an instant “No, give that back!” He froze as his prison wobbled, only then looking down… he was on the edge of a sink… freedom, was not worth that fall, in a glass jar that would shatter. When he looked back up, the cat was watching him quizzically, and the dripping bag was slid down into one of its pockets. Its paw came for him again, lifting the jar by the rim, Newton’s view taken with the muzzle of the cat as he was lifted into its view. It was very orange, he reflected, staring into its disturbing eyes. “You seem in good shape considering where I found you” the cat mused, a smile curling the muzzle “look, little guy… don’t panic, this doesn’t have to end badly for you… look, be a good mouse, I’ll give you this thing back, and drop you out in a park somewhere, how’s that?” Newton swallowed, not mentally prepared for this talk with a predator… the offer was suspect of course “why would a cat let a mouse go… it’s illegal isn’t it? Besides… why catch me anyway if you’re just going to let me go?” “It’s, frowned upon” the cat deflected, it’s other paw making a strange circular waving motion as the cat looked away from him for a moment… but then it’s eyes were back “anyway, I’m being honest, I’ll level with you… but I don’t have long” The cat paused for a moment, looking around the room, then back “I don’t expect a mouse to understand but… suffice it to say there’s a hierarchy here, I’m not that far from the top, you know” a smug grin took the predatory features… well, smugger… it was a cat after all. “But I’m only, recently moved up, so…” the cat left the statement hanging, like it meant something. Newton stared at the cat blankly “So, my footing isn’t the strongest… anyway” the cat cleared his throat “We have a friendly contest, a little race with little mice. Breaks up the monotony, gives you something to look forward to in the morning, you know…” “I don’t” Newton snapped Teeth showed for a moment, annoyance flashing across the features before the cat grunted “anyway, my daughter ate my mouse… so I was going to be there empty pawed, but here you are…” he shrugged “I can find another, but for now I need a replacement. That’s you” “And if I refuse?” Newton muttered “Then down my throat you go” the cat noted simply “after I present you of course. Mice who refuse to run are lunch” The other paw of the cat came to rub between his temples “look, I know you’re probably pissed, but this doesn’t need to be tense. I’m only explaining this to you for your own good… but I need to get up there. You don’t need to win, just run, ok? The other mice are probably faster than you are anyway. Try not to come last I guess… that would be best. Make a decent showing, and then, I’ll let you go on my way home, simple deal, ok?” Newton opened his mouth to reply, but already the paw was lowering, slipping his prison into the pocket again… the cat moving before even finishing. The mouse exhaled heavily, curling his arms around his bent legs, trying to think… was the cat being honest? Did he have a choice? He could hope he’d have a chance to escape during this… event, but he had little idea where he was… he heard a lot of cats around though. Even if he got away right now, he’d be without any of his long-collected equipment… every tool, every scrap of decent cloth, every memento… without that bag he was… just a mouse. One thing he believed, was the claim that mice who didn’t play along would be eaten… that sounded, likely. So, his best hope, he mused, was to play along for now. Maybe even try to win this game… surely if this cat was vying for dominance amid its kind, it wouldn’t kill a successful mouse… though, perhaps wouldn’t want to let one go either. That was tricky. Time passed, enough that the rocking of each step was almost soothing, as opposed to nauseating. Newton kept his ears perked, though the world was muffled through his glass prison. The cat came to a sudden stop. Furred digits descended into his world again, grasping around the glass, giving him a close view of the texture of the cat’s paw. The bottle raised out into the world. Through the gaps between fingers, Newton could make out the shape of more cats, a lot more. When the fingers parted, leaving his prison on the palm, he got a better look. The cats were, heavily clothed like the one who had him, a similar neat attire. He felt his heart accelerating, to be in the direct focus of so many predatory eyes. “New mouse?” One asked “Noticed, did you?” the cat with him added with a nervous seeming smile “my last one had an accident” Newton scrabbled back, a pale, white furred face looming closer to his view… the features of feline were always elegant… honed to kill. He found himself staring at the nose and the teeth past moving lips “that one’s just my type… want to trade? I’ve got a spare” Newton looked frantically to the cat who had him… then this new feline… it’s type? Another cat snickered “don’t do it, he’s totally lying… that’s a good-looking mouse though, might even win…” The white furred cat looked back venomously, before stalking off. Newton’s cat turning seemingly, thoughtful eyes onto Newton “think so? I mean, that would be great…” Another face loomed in, taking Newton’s focus. This cat a bit patchy and brown furred… a nice shade of brown, Newton found himself thinking… on a mouse maybe “oh yeah… where did you get this one anyway? Looks strong, bet it’s fast” “Just scampering around the garage, honestly” the cat with him muttered “Really?” the newly close feline mused “huh… “Come on guys, can we get on with this?” Another cat Newton couldn’t see past the looming face spoke up “Not that I don’t love our little contest, but my project is behind… I don’t have all morning” Fingers overtook Newton’s view again, and the swing of feline steps. The container inverted, his backside hitting the lid, which opened. He fell into a gloomy chamber, a short distance, and onto reasonably soft fabric. Other mice were here. He stood, looking up to see a plastic lid clamp down over the entry, and so instead considered his surroundings. It was a box… walls looked wood, one side was metal, it looked loose, but the wall was a solid sheet, he wouldn’t be moving that. There were, to his eye, seven other mice in there with him… “New guy” One of the mice confirmed “Not Marvin?” “Marvin’s owner, I saw the fur” another spoke up “Damn… I liked Marvin” Newton looked around himself, to assessing eyes. He didn’t get the friendliest feeling… not exactly hostility either. The mice were sitting in clusters. He decided to speak after a moment of uncomfortable silence “was… Marvin that cat’s last, racing mouse?” he mused “he told me this was a race of some sort… and his kid ate his last one…” “Rip” one of the mice muttered “Look, new mouse” another addressed him directly, taking his focus. The mouse was very, grey… it suited the city. Most of them were pretty uniform in colouration, he realised “I’m Newton” he interjected The mouse addressing him didn’t seem that intimidating, once Newton got a look… larger than him but, something in the stance, the movements… “I’m not going to remember it” the mouse observed pointedly “Look, you’d be better not running, new mouse. Just stay here, your new cat will eat you sure, but you’ll not need to run yourself ragged in your last moments. We here… most of us have run countless of these races… I’m thinking you haven’t” “What makes you say that?” Newton noted, a defensive edge creeping in. He’d decided he didn’t like this mouse The mouse’s eyes flicked up and down him “I can tell, this is all new to you. New mice don’t make it, and last place will see you eaten. So just save yourself the trouble” Newton considered the mouse levelly “by that logic there’s a new mouse every time, you telling me they always lose?” “There’s new mice to this race, and new mice to racing” the mouse explained with a grunt “you’re completely new… my cat, bought me, three years I’ve been running for cats” “Good grief” Newton muttered. Maybe then the cat who had him really would let him go… if he survived. If they could just… buy racing mice “what sort of hell is this” “It’s not so bad” another mouse chimed up from behind him “one race a day in this place, weekends off, a nice warm safe life so long as you don’t lose” “And so long as the cats don’t get careless. Poor Marvin” another added Newton grunted, looking to the mouse before him. So… these mice ran, so what… he ran every day too, he ran if he wanted to eat, to drink, to survive. It was a strange fire that burned in him… he wanted to prove this stupid stuck up mouse wrong “you just watch” he grunted “maybe you just want me to stay back here so you’re not last” The mouse shrugged “however you want it, new mouse” Newton exhaled, as the mouse left him alone… the others resuming quiet conversation with each other. His eyes roaming around with, renewing pity. Maybe that mouse had wanted to get him eaten, but then… he knew the others, and one of them was going to die soon… that was a realisation strong enough to abate some of his anger. He just had to run… and hope the cat was good to his word. If nothing else, more time alive offered more chances to escape. The metal panel rose, light flooding in. For a moment, Newton felt blinded, though as his vision cleared, he saw that beyond the panel was a long, covered corridor, he could see the cats, through a plastic covering… so they could view the race. There were eight distinct lines… the other mice choosing one. Newton padded to join them. There was enough room to his sides, he noted, that he could run unimpeded… he still meant to show these city mice what a wildling could do. He didn’t wish death on any of them, not even the rude one… but his sympathy was not enough for him to throw his life away for them. “Normal rules” a cat spoke above “Don’t run, you’re eaten, stop running and you’re eaten… ready, and go” Newton hesitated, the call to move catching him by surprise… the other mice were already moving. Suddenly fearful of… digestive disqualification, Newton bolted. Already the mice ahead were splitting… into two groups mostly, mice at the front, and mice at the back. His sympathy flared anew as he passed the trailing mice. The moment one fell into last place, they broke into a frantic sprint to get ahead again. But it wasn’t going to be him… his eyes were ahead, on three mice who were furthest. They seemed to be pacing themselves. Newton found some scorn at that. It wasn’t that long a track… their stamina couldn’t match his. Their lives were only this long… he’d run between houses. Panting air into his lungs, Newton charged ahead, eyes focussed on the goal, intent to get there first. The other mice, in the corner of his eye, fell behind him. It was exhilarating. Not long, till he leapt triumphantly past the far line, coming to a stop to catch his breath. He looked smugly back, wanting to catch sight of the mouse who had taunted him. His face fell gradually. The mice on the track were staring at him. One, then another finishing. Including the mouse he’d set to prove wrong. Another, a doe, punched that mouse firmly in the arm “dammit it… you didn’t tell him, why didn’t you tell him!” “I didn’t…” the mouse muttered “I didn’t think that…” Newton’s mind rushed, what did they mean… “We have a winner, and it’s our newest mouse, what a turn up” a cat chuckled. Above Newton saw, what he knew to be feline currency exchanging paws “really nice find” Newton looked sharply to the mice at the finish line… taking a step towards them, before suddenly grated metal slammed down across his path. Trapped in a new, smaller room at the end of the track. He thumped a fist to the panel, looking to the mice beyond… distantly he saw the mouse who was last, staring fearfully up… but Newton had his own problems “what! He demanded of them “what don’t I know?!” The doe grimaced his way “dammit… sorry… I’m, so sorry…” The larger mouse sighed “look, I, I’m sorry too, I didn’t think you’d even…” “Tell me” Newton demanded, looking up… cats were reaching for the entry above him “Two mice get eaten” the doe explained “The loser, and the winner…” Newton felt the anger chill to fear, staring at the mice on the other side… were they sincere… or had they purposefully not told him… and could he blame them? That wasn’t the focus now though… He backed away from the metal, looking around himself. There was only one way in and out, and it was opening, a brown furred paw larger than him grasping in for him. Newton exhaled slowly and didn’t move. He’d only get himself hurt, and there was nowhere to go… he, had to find another escape. “There we go” a feline crooned, clawed digits grasping Newton tightly, pulling him free. The grip slackened, and Newton slid down, back into a familiar jar. The lid clicking into place. Around him he could see most of the cats… the one who had caught him, was notably a distance away… it didn’t look in his direction. Newton shivered… he’d have no rescue there. Instead, it was the browner cat from before that was holding him, a, golden brown lioness of a feline beside him “pity we couldn’t have seen more of him” the cat seemed to muse… Newton realising they were talking about him. Already the world was moving, the cats dispersing. “Hey” he shouted, and saw the ear of the cat holding him twitch, eyes focussing onto him “I won… why am I on the plate? How does that make sense!” The cat’s lips curled in a smirk “well, if I had my say you’d not be, little mouse… but it’s our boss you see. He has a thing for speed… fast cars, fast women… fast mice” he added with emphasis “Fast food” the lioness added, the cat holding him snorting before covering his laugh with his other paw, looking to the lioness “good grief, you’re lucky he’s not here” Newton saw a doorway parting before the cats, before his attention was drawn to the new room. It was a kitchen; he knew that instantly. There was a dark cat in a pale uniform that looked their way. The earthy toned feline placing Newton onto a pristine metal counter “race is over, here’s the boss’s snack for his, lunch of champions” the feline added with a hint of mocking The chef grunted, waving them away, and they quickly left. Newton watching the door, before eying the cat he was alone with. The room was ominous. Large machines made to process food, knives longer than his whole body. Being cooked or worse was not something he had ever expected to be on his menu of fates… yet here he was. The chef came quickly to him, after finishing… whatever it was doing with a pot of something that, granted did smell nice… the room had a pleasant, savoury aroma around it. His jar was scooped up with little ceremony, and in a quick motion, Newton felt himself tossed, the lid parting before him, and a skilled thumb pinning around his chest and arms. The chef looked at him in a way he’d never known before… and which was chilling. Dispassion. He could see reflected in that feline’s eyes, a hundred, or a thousand mice before him… just another mouse to prepare. He’d find no sympathy… and worse, no complacency. This was an experienced cat. The cat’s other paw lifted into view, though instead of a knife, or sharp prong, or some other instrument of torture, instead it brought up what looked like a cotton bud, the tip coated in something thick and clear. The cat’s thumb slid up, under Newton’s jaw, another finger pushing down, holding his head in place. He could kick now, but he felt only air against his paws, eyes focussing on the bud as it came closer and closer. “Open your mouth” came a simple instruction from the cat “I can force your jaw but that will hurt, and I’m not precise enough to promise I won’t break it” Newton shivered. The words were matter of fact. It wasn’t a threat; it was a calm explanation. Grudgingly he opened his mouth, feeling his muscle trembling… what was going to happen to him. The bud pushed into his mouth, the thumb sliding up again to force his mouth to close on it. It was sweet, and hot… not painfully, but uncomfortably. Newton murmured muffled protests but got no reaction. The bud drew out quickly, leaving the clear sweet liquid in his mouth. The cat’s thumb rolled up again. Gently, Newton thought… but unyielding. He could only breathe slowly through his nose, tongue poking at the thick fluid… that was hardening. More frantically, his tongue felt around it… it was on his teeth, his gums, and solidifying. The thumb removed itself, and Newton tried to open his mouth… it didn’t. He could only express his distress with a whimper, paws moving to his muzzle, or trying, before the cat pinned them down with his thumb again. A single thread of string came into view, before Newton felt it bind around his sides and wrists, tying tight. He looked desperately to the chef… and to his surprise the cat spoke. “my employer has some stomach problems, little mouse… that and if you bit him I’d be in trouble, so I’m afraid you’re not going to open your mouth again. It’ll all be over soon. He takes his lunch early.” Newton wriggled impotently, as he was slid back into his jar, which was placed on a plate, a small dish of some, brownish liquid. His sight cut off a moment later by a covering dish. Alone in the dark, Newton could only squirm pitiably, trying to think of an escape. He probed his tongue at the hard stuff… it still tasted sweet. Some sort of hard candy? He doubted it would be glue… a cat was going to eat him after all. Maybe it was just a sort of sugar… diligently he licked, with little else to pass the time. His licking only becoming more urgent as he felt his plate lifted. Soon, the light came back, the top dish lifted. Only one cat, the chef, was around. Newton looked around but saw no other… he was on a desk; papers were stacked on the other end. It was a sizable room, full of cabinets on one wall, the other walls decorated with, papers held in glass. But the back wall was a window… and that captivated the mouse. Beyond it, he could see everything. He was in one of the huge buildings, and high. Only a few rose higher. He could see the city below, sprawled, sectioned with roads… tiny cats like the smallest insects. Far out there was greenery… he wondered if his home was there, or another direction. He realised; he had no idea. A door creaked, drawing Newton from his thoughts, and he looked around to see, the plumpest cat he had ever had the displeasure of laying eyes upon. The cat was elegantly attired in a smooth, golden brown suit that matched the fur; the golden, black spotted hide stretched around the lumbering feline. The face, regal in a way, elegant black lines joining eyes to muzzle. Hungry amber eyes finding Newton immediately. The big cat grinning. Newton curled up in a ball in his jaw, worming his arms, and licking at the blockage to his jaw, as his death swaggered to their desk… and their lunch. He didn’t want to imagine how many mice had helped make the cat so plump… instead he tried to imagine how to get himself out of this… mind filling with nothing but that, as a seating quake ran through the desk, and a wide paw blocked out the sun, coming for him.

Newton the Warrior It wasn’t how Newton had ever imagined his death. The bright sky outside, dominating his view, with the world, buildings, fields, like pebbles and moss far below. And there, looming to block it all out, the fat cheetah who had been served his near helpless self. His jaw was locked shut by some sort of hardened sugar; his arms held tight by twine. Devoid of any tool or trick he had ever possessed. Newton whimpered past his sealed lips, watching a huge paw looming closer, fingers pinching around his middle. A tight enough squeeze might break bones. That thought kept Newton from struggling too much as he was lifted. The feline’s eyes had a certain excitement. At least, Newton mused darkly, he was going to be enjoyed… not thrown into those jaws with utter disregard or thought for his ultimate sacrifice. Although the latter option might have offered more chance for escape. This cat was wholly focussed on him. Assessing the movement of the paw, Newton realised he wasn’t aiming for the mouth, not quite. He looked around, below, and saw it. A single, simple dish of a reddish sauce. Of course… Sure enough the paw lowered him, though the grip didn’t relax. The wrist turning to aim him headfirst for the offending substance. It didn’t look like a thick sauce, Newton observed. Fresh horror sinking in as he got closer. He was still far away, but close enough, to catch a hint. Caustic fumes rose off of the little dish, making him cough to breathe it in, his body rejecting it. Spice. The scent rose off it in a fiery plume, and no less heated. Newton thrashed in the grip, biting back a call of denial for the fate below… when he realised the paw was lowering him faster. He closed his eyes and was in some ways glad his mouth was sealed shut… only wishing he could do the same for his nose. He held his breath. The sauce was a little cold, as his head and shoulders sank into it… the pain delayed for only a moment. It burned along his lips and muzzle, and into his skin as it soaked through the fur, leaving him to whimper impotently. His head was drawn out, and only then did he exhale, snorting out air to make sure none of the offending sauce stayed around his nostrils to be sucked in. He gave his head a shake, before hesitantly cracking his eyes open a little. His eyelids were burning, a tickling pain that turned savage. He didn’t dare open his eyes more than that. Gravity inverted, and he felt the sauce sink up around his feet and hip, soaking into the fur and beginning to itch intensely. For the first time in his life, he hoped the cat would kill him quickly, and chew… Inhaling rapidly, shuddering against the creeping pain, he looked up, much as he could, at the muzzle of the feline. It seemed to sink, then pass him as he was lifted above the features. A cavern of pink widening below. The feline still watching him with glee. The idea that came to Newton was fleeting, drifting around in a desperate mind, but he grasped it tight. Carefully he flexed a foot, feeling the moisture of the sauce in his fur, heavy, sinking down to his feet. He waited, just a moment as he was lowered for the mouth and burst into a flailing kick. His paws hit only air, though his aim was still true. Small, droplets of culinary magma drifted off of his fur and kicking feet, to the intense eyes below. Newton knew quickly that his ploy had, struck the mark. A distressed wail boomed loudly at him, the claws hold releasing, as the paws rushed to the feline’s face. That had to hurt… harmless he imagined, in the long run. But what became of the cat after today wasn’t on Newton’s mind. The mouth wasn’t below him now… but it was a long way to the ground. He fell, past the mewling jaws, thick neck, and found he impacted something, softer… bouncing and sliding as he met the wider feline’s body, left to slide down the chest, over the crest of the stomach. He thrashed, wanting his arms free, but the twine held firm, aching where it chafed to his wrists. Rather than the floor, his momentum off the rounded gut thrust Newton onto the desk, the cold polished wood proving no more yielding. His head spun with the impact. The sounds of the cat were becoming angrier. Fearing a vengeful strike that would splatter him across the wood, Newton forced himself over with his legs, though unable to get off of his back. Above, he did see the cat… eyes reddened and watering, fixed on him. A paw clenched into a solid fist, sweeping in his direction. Newton had little options. He could see the edge of the desk in the corner of his view and rolled for it. It was just close enough. He slipped off into the void again, as the impact with the desk rattled in the air. Falling again, into the twilight of the feline’s shadow. Newton could feel fabric batting at him as he fell, the feline’s legs rushing by. His arms were bound, but he grasped at it with his hand. It slipped through his fingers, but he clenched hard as he could, past the pain. It felt like his wrist would dislocate, but his fall was halted, for a moment. But the momentum broke his hold, and he fell again. Newton bounced off the foot as he landed down, gasping with pain. It lanced up his back ominously, but he couldn’t pay it much mind. Squirming again, he wiggled off till his feet hit ground. He staggered for dear life, wobbling to keep the precious footing. If he fell again… would he ever get back up before the cat found him… No sooner than he felt balanced, Newton ran. Away from the shifting feet, below the desk, and past it. There was no plan, no deep thoughts. Just running. Running till he couldn’t smell cat and darkness was surrounding him. Those were his only goals. Behind him he heard the feline’s fervour, heard paws beginning to pursue. It only gave him more motivation to ignore his discomfort and his pain. Ahead he could see a door, a door with a gap beneath. A sight he’d rushed for enough times that it held simple hope. He rushed to the door and dived. No arms to protect him, he hit hard to his chest, but he couldn’t stop. Pushing with his legs he wriggled under the door, out into somewhere new. A tunnel of sorts, corridors, he could see distantly many paths and many cats… where now? The sounds behind the door he’d come from told him, where, wasn’t here. He forced his knees under himself, and with gritted teeth, forced himself back up, leaning to the door for support. Once back up, he ran again, sprinting down the seemingly unending path. Just running, for no other reason than to not be there anymore. It was sudden. A wall of white fur darted into his path, too fast to avoid. Pressure surrounded him, his side, then his back. He smelled cat. His feet were taken from the ground, though he didn’t see much more. A leathery portal, leading to a cavern of assorted items was before him, and he was thrust inside, the opening shutting quickly behind, casting Newton in gloom. Calm reigned, for enough heartbeats that Newton’s breathing began to slow. The world was muted, darkness everywhere. There was a smell of cat around but not so strong… rather overwhelmed by something more herbal. Mint, he knew the scent. His mind eased back to a state of thinking, as time passed without direct danger. He was in a bag, he observed. Caught again. The sauce had seemingly mostly dried… though his skin itched everywhere it had even touched. His whole face burned with discomfort. He wanted it to stop… but tried to push it from his mind. It wasn’t easy. Fumbling around, he couldn’t make out the purpose of most of the things in with him, and while his eyes began to adjust… the angles and sizes didn’t give him enough to figure it out. High above, he could hear feline voices, muted but just about audible… he tried to focus on the sounds. One was louder, he assumed the owner of the bag that now contained him. “I’m heading out for the day” the louder voice spoke… a murmur replied that sounded, edged “I know it’s short notice, but I can file them tomorrow right without the office burning down? I have a prior engagement, almost forgot about it…” the murmur returned, Newton couldn’t make it out, but it sounded dismissive. The louder voice didn’t rise again, and he focussed on his situation again. He did consider trying to chew his way out of it, but a feel around told him there was a fair bit of work involved for that… and no guarantee he wouldn’t be leaping into something worse. Further ideas were difficult, as the sway of the bag increased, the feline apparently in motion. He had one immediate priority. Wriggling and squirming, arching and flopping around, he twisted his arms every which way to try and be rid of the annoying twine holding them down… it was strongly tied, though he was flexible… and tied by a feline that had seemed to know the perfect spot to allow him the least movement. Though eventually he felt some progress… a little slip, a centimetre more room. Once he had it moving, it was a matter of time, till finally a paw popped free, and the remaining rope loosened without his body to support it. His wrists felt raw… he was sure he must have lost fur, but he was able again… With little else to do, and still curious of his options, Newton felt at the contents around himself. There was a leathery thing… heavy and thick. The sides seemed ridged… his hands slipping inside a ridge felt paper, or something… wallet maybe? He found something else that startled him at first… a fabric layer, with hard things inside, like a bag of rocks… but a push, showed the objects were not as heavy, clicked gently when they nudged each other, and were very, unusual but precisely shaped. Newton eventually gave up deciding what he was dealing with and settled back for the ride. Nothing he could do till the cat stopped… but this was good, it offered a chance to be free… He didn’t need to wait long. The bag suddenly thumped to something, becoming still. The top opening to give Newton his first good look at the feline that had caught him… the sharp eyes were yellow, a triangle of white fur poking between them, and down over the nose and mouth, where the eyes were surrounded by grey that stretched from the cheeks to the ears. A friendly smile… on a mouth large enough to devour him, was the greeting. “Well, hello” the cat announced, a white paw reaching in… Newton sidestepped it out of instinct, before tripping over the sack of objects. Only moments later the digits were scooping under him and lifting him free. The visage was a stark change. Greenery all around, though he could still see the buildings rising higher than the trees. Below, and around was stone, forming a large fountain that tinkled pleasantly. A better look at the cat showed the white fur to be dominant, down his neck and body… though the grey reappeared on the feline’s forearms… and though he couldn’t see, maybe ran down the back as well… “Geez, I knew it” the cat’s smile turned sheepish “you’re totally the big boss’s lunch aren’t you… man I’m lucky nobody saw me snatch you. That’s gotta be quite a story. He burst out of his office, like one of those boulders in every cliché badass archaeologist movie, barrelling down the corridor. Not a word about why he came out so fast… but he was looking for you, huh?” Newton was left, a little stunned by the sudden, familiarity with which the cat spoke to him… it wasn’t what he expected… the paw drew him closer to the muzzle… a gust of air as the cat sniffed, eyes focussing “oh, ow… that looks like it itches… here” just as suddenly the paw was lowering, past the cat, to the fountain, descending into the water even as the digits unfolded. Swim, was Newton’s first thought… swim for it. But all in all, he wasn’t much of a swimmer… and he wasn’t even sure he could climb out of the fountain. Like most mice, he didn’t have much call to learn to swim. Given that escape seemed unlikely… and the itch under his fur was pressing, he gladly took the chance. He plunged under the water, little claws scratching where he itched, peeling off the slight film of dried sauce, revealing reddened skin to the cold water… it was bracing, but the itch abated… for now. He knew it would be back… but the path to healing was begun. He shook his head under the water, making sure to rub his fingers to every place he could think… he wanted none of that sauce left. Once he felt, clean, he paddled back to the waiting paw, climbing onto soggy fur. The feline pulling him up from the water but leaving the digits open. Newton gave a quick look around… but jumping seemed a bad call. Stone or the water for landing… he bolted, down the paw, and down the wrist… realising he was still very heavy with water… before he got far, the cat’s eyes had narrowed, and the other paw had swept in to grasp him. “Now now, calm down. I’m not going to eat you” Newton, freshly wrapped by the coils of fingers, gave up squirming… for now. No need to waste his strength. He wasn’t going to overpower the grip “you’re not?” he probed, letting his incredulity linger on his tongue “Well, probably” the cat answered, the shoulders rolling, bouncing the mouse’s world “Look, I could let you go here…” the cat gestured across the greenery “but you’d find it’s a lot less mouse friendly than it looks… So, as payment for saving you..” the cat leaned his muzzle closer “and… come on, lets be honest… you weren’t going to survive in the office… as payment, I want you to… at least see and consider an alternative I’m going to offer you, ok? You decide it’s not for you, you can leave, but you need to give it a chance first” The cat’s words were tricky to decipher… what alternative? He grimaced… he had some ideas… the cat, when he got a good look, did seem adult but had the markings of youth still… he knew of the games cats played with their food… he expected the alternative was a certain firm, fleshy piece of feline meat to serve. He shuddered Yet before he could say anything, the paw was lowering from the cat’s face, dropping Newton into the bag again. The light sealed away, and the cavern rose. The mouse left to wait again as the feline moved off again. Would he have died in that workplace of cats… Newton’s inner survivor said he stood a good chance… but there was a darker voice in him today… a dismal one that was swamping his thoughts. He’d never been caught in his life, till today. He didn’t count the situation with the… cat god. Being offered up by the serving mice… no, mice who got caught got eaten. He’d barely survived several times today and been in several feline paws. The situation in this city felt hopeless… it was a knock to every shred of self confidence he’d held… it was by sheer luck he was alive now. Sheer luck at least three times over. Luck the first cat who caught him had needed him for something… luck that the overweight cheetah had dipped him into hot sauce, not just eaten him on the spot, and luck this feline seemed to also, have some other plan besides swallowing him immediately. Maybe he did owe this cat, in a way. His pride, and in truth, also his experience warred against the thought, but the miserable chill in his thoughts kept those fires at bay. Quietly, bouncing in the feline’s bag, he let the treasonous idea grow. Maybe it would be best he consider this alternative… whether it was what he feared or something different. If nothing else he needed time to recover. He had lost his clothing, tools… and most of his self-confidence. It had been a rough day. If he got a meal, somewhere to sleep… and a little time to think, he had to take that. Whatever the price… So, he waited in the bag, as the cat moved along. Taking, a little time now to better feel his surroundings. Either purposefully or accidentally, the bag didn’t seem as… utterly sealed above, this time. A little more light was filtering in. Naturally, Newton’s focus fell on the thing in the bag that confused him most, as his eyes adjusted to the gloom… most of the objects seemed, understandable. A wallet… some sort of bottle, a small plastic box, empty… but commonly used for food. But at the bottom of the bag… a, reasonably large, green furred bag.. the lumpy bag. He could see how, it was fastened with string, the sort that shut with a sharp pull to both strings… meaning the puckered entry could be opened with some force. Whatever it was, its purpose was unknown. That knowledge called to Newton. It might give him some insight to what he was dealing with. Crawling up the bag, twice his size, he could feel the objects inside shifting against each other. Already his weight and pressure seemed to be loosening the opening. He reached in, pulling it apart as much as he could… before jumping, thumping to the bag, till one of the objects pressed to the entry… and with another jump, popped free, to settle at the bottom of the bag where Newton could see it… even then he wasn’t entirely sure what it was… It was plastic… not a rock. A strange shape. Lots of sharp angles, with ten, triangular faces, each bearing a number stamped deeply in black… He didn’t have time to ponder the object further. A sharp creak echoed… then another. Doors, in quick succession, before the cat’s voice above called out “Hey guys, sorry I’m late” Voices answered… though too far away for Newton to hear. They were getting louder though. The last of them to speak, he actually heard. “Let me guess… new mouse?” “Yep” the feline spoke chirpily above “got some real hopes for this one, you’ll never believe the story. Literally escaped being lunch, with his paws tied behind his back” “He for this game?” A voice echoed out. Though Newton only barely heard it… his focus above, as the bag loosened, and the white paw reached in. He saw no point in fighting it. The digits found him quickly, and scooped under him, the thumb holding him to the pads as he was drawn out, and releasing once he was out, and the paw levelled. What he saw was, cats. There were three more of them. One took his focus though, just for the startling features… it was female, he was pretty sure, head rested to a paw, watching with a smile he… didn’t like at all. The fur seemed cream, except for the face, and the paw her head was resting on… but the eyes were what caught him. Shocking icy blue in the dark face… the contrast catching his focus… Almost as an afterthought he realised they were all sitting around a decidedly large table… with… he didn’t really have words for the collection of clutter across it. It sort of, reminded him of his time at the home of Bartholomew… when he had been high on the windowsill, looking down across the city… it looked, like constructions of mice… but there were no mice to see. “No, I’ve already got a mouse in mind for tonight, he needs to go through creation anyway” the feline holding him observed One of the cats Newton hadn’t been paying attention to, a gingerbacked male with a white jaw, gestured a paw to a door on the other side of the room “then go get them… come on, the session could run long as it is” “Ok, ok” The feline with Newton noted, turning suddenly, blocking all view of the others from Newton… only the white fur of the feline’s underside on display to him. Instead of staring at the belly of the beast… he chose to focus on the door he was being carried towards. Through it, once the cat pushed it ajar he saw… something he hadn’t quite expected. The room was considerably smaller… containing only a wide table that stretched nearly to all walls… there was… something on it, Newton wasn’t sure what exactly, but he could see a distinction between table and… tray? A tray filled with soil… and wide as the table was… but more notable was, the village… or maybe town would better fit, that was built on it. It was, like something out of a storybook. Wooden houses… bright colours and banners, buildings of all shapes, settled within the confines of the tray.. he could see a village square, with a statue of a mouse in the middle, benches… it… reminded him of his view of the city from above, through the window… if a lot older in style. “Welcome to Muringard” the feline holding him declared with a light chuckle. The paw, approaching the settlement, which seemed, even bigger as Newton came down to its level… the paw came against the side, allowing Newton to step, onto dirt… there was grass growing, around the edges… he had to step through a little of it, before he got to more tended ground… looking back to the towering feline… though not towering, quite that much. The town was level with his stomach. “What is this?” Newton muttered “Ah… questions, after the game” the feline noted with an apologetic smile “actually, we normally take a break mid game, to get fresh drinks and that… I’ll nip in and give you the short version then, ok? Till then, uh…” the feline seemed to look over the settlement, seeming to focus on something “Ah, John… can you take care of our new mouse for me? Thanks” Newton looked but couldn’t see who the cat was talking to… there were mice around though… more and more. Coming from the houses to watch him. They looked bizarre to him… it was a highly mixed colony for one, but most were dressed, relatively completely too… one, especially notable… was it wearing metal on its body… he swore, bent, shaped metal… that mouse was looking to the cat, not him, and a moment later the paw came down to scoop that mouse up. The cat wasting no time in backing out of the room, shutting the door. Above, a lamp cast light down over the village… in the gloom, Newton could… almost forget there was a world beyond the line of grass and the buildings, and the mice. “What on earth” he pawed at his face, looking up as one mouse in particular came running round the corner. That one, was dressed strangely too… leather it looked like, bound around him like, protection. Except protection had never really been functional in Newton’s life. It slowed one down, and was ineffective against digestive juices… “You’re the new mouse” the arrival noted with a smile, panting gently “I mean… of course you are… ok, Hi, I’m John…” “What is this?” Newton asked again “Muringard” the mouse gestured around, looking to the mice who had gathered… but were starting to disperse “home. Uh…” the mouse seemed to hesitate “so… what’s your story? Another of Matthew’s rescues?” “Matthew… is that the cat?” Newton probed “Yeah, he, brings in the most new blood” John noted with a gentle smile “both my parents actually” Newton barely knew where to begin questioning this… suddenly he was just… amid mice. Sure, the village was far too exposed to exist naturally… it needed more shadows, and preferably to be half inside a tree… but it struck him how much it reminded him of, home… his, well… the only place he’d ever truly considered home. “Look… can you just, tell me” Newton pressed “How is this here… what’s the situation… you’re living under cats…” “right, yeah…” John rubbed a paw to his jaw “sorry, I forget sometimes… new blood” He looked around the settlement, gesturing with a forepaw “well… this, is our home. We live here in peace, under the watch of the cats out there” “Out of the goodness of their hearts…?” Newton pressed with folding arms “How to explain…” John considered to himself “it’s mutually beneficial… a contract I guess. As you heard Matthew saying, their game… mice from here, go and play their game. In return they win, rewards for the community. But the game isn’t always safe, so, a lot of us… like me, like the mouse you saw go with him, we train ourselves. In the rules and ways of their game… and train our bodies. We are like, the scavengers of a wild clan, or so I’m told. We go out, take risks, to support everyone” Newton clicked his tongue, letting the mouse’s words sink in. Ok… that sounded, believable. The cats were in this for something… but a game? Still, he imagined this was all phrasing to avoid the word, livestock… “So…” Newton mused, considering the mice around. It wasn’t all that common for his kind to wear clothing… or to build free-standing structures… they weren’t nearly as far from their feral cousins as the cats were, physically. But this village… it was, like the next step his parents had talked wistfully of... it reminded him of the stories the elders had told of how things used to be… It felt different to the city he’d seen under the… cat god. That had been unmistakably feline. Built into and around the furniture… this place had a different feel… except for the light above, too bright to stare at, there was… nothing that screamed cat here… he barely even smelled them. “What exactly, am I doing here?” John beckoned him to follow, and Newton did, walking towards the centre of their community. It was bizarre… he saw, shops, mice plying a trade. It felt similar to the city he’d been in not long ago… but there was a difference that he was starting to pin down. This place was built by mice, for mice… where, the last, the feline had been eternal in their focus. These mice almost felt, free in how they lived… these felines knew how to control them, he added bitterly to himself. “Do you have any particular skills?” John mused, looking back to Newton. After a moment of consideration, Newton found a fairly simple answer “Surviving” “Alright” John considered “you’re a pretty wild mouse then, huh? Noted…” he gestured around the village “see, some mice come to us with a few skills… so honestly we see if they can find a trade… carpentry or such. A lot of it is, relearnt, but we wear the imperfections with pride, it’s ours, you know?” He offered a smile back “me, I’m a ranger, so I go out in the game. I’m a really good shot with a bow” “Bow… like, a weapon?” Newton muttered. The concept was honestly a little foreign to him. Sure, he’d held a sharp object… handy to fend off smaller threats… but his greatest strength, that of any mouse, was to flee. Fighting… against almost any predator he could imagine, seemed suicidal. Still, he faintly remembered archery being present, back home. Even then though, it had only been to try and buy time, make a cat retreat if it came bare pawed. “I’m feeling that you’re not very proficient with that either” John considered with a frown. Their path had led to the right of, a larger building that sat before the central circle. John considered the building “oh, by the way, that’s the guild, or heroes guild… it’s where mice like me stay, where the… ahem, quests are posted” “Quests…” Newton murmured the word… that wasn’t exactly common parlance… Before him, was… he supposed a training region. There were little, mouse shaped dummies, other mice striking at them, with, indeed, weapons… “Let me give you the short version” John reflected “generally new mice have… a couple of conditions on being accepted. First is, earn your keep. We all do. Second is to, well, follow the rules and not make trouble, that one I hope is pretty self-explanatory. As for earning your keep… a lot of new mice want to… leave, but we kinda insist that you play one of the cat’s games… they expect it too. If you decide, you don’t want to be part of the community after that, well, we won’t stop you, and we’ll consider your slate clean with us” “Right…” Newton muttered. The cat had said about, giving it a chance… this must be what he meant “so explain the game…” John smiled brightly, seeming, relieved “ok. Well, each of the cats pick a mouse, that mouse with the others go off to, play the game, complete a mission set by the cats. To complete it, you have your own personal skills… also a few, make-believe abilities, depending on what they decide your type is” He clicked his tongue “Matthew will probably explain more… he’ll be talking it through with you anyway, really what my job is, is to see what you can do, physically. See, everything else is up to the cats. The one thing we control above all else, is our, well, selves” John turned, reaching into a bucket, drawing out two polished sticks. Newton took one offered to him, looking it over with a frown… a stick… straight, cleaned, but a stick none the less. “Try to hit me with that” John insisted Newton frowned, eying the mouse for a moment. This felt, sad… they played in some cat game… as, warriors or something, he didn’t know… fighting other mice maybe. This mouse, if he gathered right, had probably lived here his whole life… meaning, a relatively safe life, waiting his turn to be eaten, likely. Newton clicked his tongue “you sure? I actually survive out there for a living… I don’t want to hurt you” “you won’t” the mouse responded Newton bristled slightly… the rebuttal was smooth, confident… John was smirking. Well fine. He lunged, sweeping the stick at the younger mouse. It was, fast. John’s stick struck at his, near his paw, wrenching it from his grip, though not a moment later, he felt his wrist gripped. John was against him, and he was, falling. His back hit the dirt with a grunt, left to, look up at the triumphant young buck… gritting his teeth, he wrenched his arm… but it didn’t move. He stared in disbelief… John had a grip of iron. He shoved up with his other hand, at the fur along John’s chest… and something became apparent. This mouse was toned… “I think we can rule out warrior” John noted, easing up, and tugging Newton with him. For his part, Newton glowered at the mouse, his self-esteem dealt yet another blow today. But his arrogance was plain to him. He’d overlooked something. He’d consider himself well honed… but he was balanced. He had to be fast… too much muscle slowed him down… this mouse hadn’t needed to worry about that… he was strong. He could afford to be… perhaps had to be. “Ok, you’re stronger than me” Newton conceded “More weapon savvy too” John observed “Now, normally you won’t be fighting other mice… they consider that cruel… even to use mouse fighters as a proxy for something else. But… a lot of the concepts are a bit similar. For now, let’s focus on weaponry” Newton fetched his stick, eying it discontentedly. John, meanwhile, was nudging a shield of a thing with his foot.. it looked like the head of a nail “Now, a fair few mice take a shield… personally I don’t recommend it” “Why is that?” Newton wondered aloud, grimacing as the shield was thrown at him suddenly… it showed that there was a harness, sort of, offering a handhold on the back of it. Slightly reluctantly he lifted the heavy thing… “Firstly, it tires you out… and most things we’re fighting are bigger than us” John reflected “there’s something to be said for the defence it offers… but I take you for the, avoid harm type” Newton nodded faintly, lifting it higher, as John came at him… he swung his stick a bit, keeping John at bay… till the mouse ran in close on the side of his shield. Try as he might, Newton couldn’t swing that far. He saw the fingers of the mouse hook over the top… and a moment later it was torn from his hands. The tip of John’s stick inching up under his chin while he was unbalanced. “Secondly it restricts your movement, your range of swing… and honestly if you’re fighting a mouse, who has a hand free, it’s worse than useless. You’ve just given them something heavy and attached to you, to grab and use to toss you around. If I’d grabbed the side of it, not the top, and just, pushed, I could have spun your back to face me… instant stab” Newton grunted “this is all over my head… I don’t really care” John smiled a bit “that’s fine, I think I’ve seen all I need to, really” “Well lucky me” John sat himself, stick discarded to the side “so hey, can you tell me about the world outside?” Newton cocked his head… quite a change. Still, he shrugged and sat himself… this John, seemed young, maybe younger than he’d first assumed… some of his apparent age could just be from, being trained physically. “How about in exchange you tell me about growing up here first” “Oh” John mused “well I grew up looking up to the heroes, you know? I wanted to do that. Everyone loves them, when they come back with their rewards. So, I grew up learning the game, I’ve been in a few games now. I’m not affiliated to any of the gods really… maybe Matthew” “Gods?” Newton felt his tone darken slightly “In character” John explained “in the context of the game, they’re the world’s gods, understand?” “Right…” Newton grunted John frowned slightly “you don’t want to be here?” “I didn’t want to be caught” Newton answered, considering the… startlingly… innocent face of John “I was almost eaten today, a few times actually… I’m from quite far away originally, the woods. But I always wanted to see the city, so… here I am. Worst mistake of my life” “Well, you’re here now… so it’s not all bad” John mused “I’m serious… this place is nice, I should know, I’ve lived here my whole life” Newton sighed slightly “so this game… mice die?” John’s smile faded slightly “sometimes. See, on the adventure, you have to fight monsters… fake monsters mostly… sometimes, something acting like a monster. And you’re to beat it, together as a team. There are also traps to avoid and stuff. If you get defeated, then, one of them eats you” “I see… and what decides, when you’re defeated” Newton probed “do the cats just… decide you didn’t do well enough?” “Oh, there are rules” John noted, easing to his paws “speaking of… damn, I was supposed to go and figure out your base stats… that’s important” “Stats…?” Newton mused “Ok, right” John beckoned him insistently “quick rules… you, and everything in the game has stats… how strong or fast or stuff you are… and how much health you have… since the cats don’t want to actually have you beaten within an inch of your life… it’s a game” John grimaced for a moment “well… most of them… anyway” he shook his head “your physical skills… decide your stats… they’re sort of a score, to give the cats an idea what you can do. But for the more, fake fights it effects the damage you take… on paper” he looked back “you are defeated… if your health number hits zero… and we figure out your numbers, with a few tests” “Good grief” Newton muttered… he didn’t like the sound of this… life or death based on some game? Still, he followed John along. The part he took away, that if he did well in these… tests, then he’d have more protections in this crazy game… With that in mind, he played along… John had him throwing balls, dashing short distances, tossing and catching things, doing mathematics quickly… it was bizarre, and frustrating… although the young mouse approached it with… remarkable enthusiasm. While he was enduring, Newton found himself considering the village. The mice did seem at peace, for the most part. The description he’d been given first, mollified his concerns slightly. Ok… so the foragers of this community foraged by playing a game the cats wanted… it seemed ridiculous… but if it got them resources… otherwise the village seemed… peaceful, and above all, normal… The last thing John had him do was the most onerous. Simple, repetitive, running circles on a wide track. He wasn’t allowed to walk, or stop, except for what he estimated was about five seconds between each loop. A sense of agitation, as much as his will to outdo whatever tests this mouse was offering drove him on, but eventually he shook his head to the command to run another loop, yielding to the endless test. While he panted, John wandered closer, scratching at a small notebook “good, good…” the mouse grinned to him “that was really good. I didn’t think you’d get such a high constitution, considering your strength score” “Whatever” Was all Newton managed “Ok…” John finally said after a long moment considering his sheet “Strength is… ok, agility is good, dexterity is good…” he looked up “technically the original game only called for dexterity I think, back when they started… wanted agility to be a mix of constitution and dexterity I guess? But the cats overruled that” He shrugged “I guess, they felt dexterity wasn’t the same as being physically agile, which also wasn’t the same as your physical stamina… anyway, you scored well in all three, really well” The mouse clicked his tongue “intelligence was pretty good too… not mage level but not bad… wisdom and charisma are for the cats to decide, so… yep, you’re done” “And what, pray tell, has all this nonsense taught you?” Newton grunted “Well, like I said, it sums up your physical capabilities” John noted “So… if a cat is looking for a fast, agile mouse… they’ll want you. If they want a mouse with rock hard muscles, they’ll pick me” John smirked Newton made a point of rolling his eyes, standing straighter as he caught his breath. Any further questions he intended, was stifled by a long, piercing creak. He’d heard it once before. The fabric of reality seemed to tear, as the darkness split with the opening door. The large, looming face of that same feline… the one called, Matthew. He’d spent just about enough time amid mouse sized people and buildings, that the sudden arrival was chilling. Just a looming tower of pale fur, bending over the settlement like it was a box of wriggly chocolates. Beside him, John started to wave his arms, drawing quickly the sharp feline eyes… narrowed, focussed. It wasn’t heartening, to Newton, when the cat proved he had enough room to move around the table this town was sat on, bulky shape edging to be closer to their corner of the mouse realm. “How’s the game going?” John called out, as the sharp predatory features loomed yet closer, the cat seeming to crouch. That radiant fur looming in made Newton feel like the moon was falling towards him. “Oh, could be better, think we’re in line for a tpk today…” the feline responded. There was an edge to the voice that gave Newton the impression, whatever the cat meant, was probably not the case. “Yeah right” John chuckled “Billy isn’t playing” “True, true” Matthew’s smile briefly went sickly. A small twinge of the lips, Newton could have missed if not for the closeness and sheer size of the facial features… “Anyway” the cat continued “how’s our new arrival looking?” “Better than I thought” John considered “Strength… I’m going to say three, not two… dexterity is a five, agility is eight though, and I gave him an eight on constitution too” “Nice, nice” the cat smiled “gonna take him through creation on our break, any thoughts?” “Not sure” John mused “nothing warrior, but I’d still recommend a melee class. He’s never handled a weapon… so archery, while it sounds a good fit on personality and stats, just won’t work, not without training. Thoughts for the future, you know?” Newton watched this, exchange as he was discussed… though the words were mostly sailing past him, what caught his eye was the cat. The head nodding along as the mouse spoke, eyes focussed, attentive. He’d never seen a cat pay… that much attention to a mouse it wasn’t hunting. “Still, I think daggers are the wrong call” John continued “too technical… I feel you need some experience to get the most out of that build. So, I’m thinking a shortsword would work best. Easy to handle with his strength, versatile and simple to fight with. Better reach too… he might be really good for something like daggers but… not till he knows what he’s doing… maybe some sort of ranger class to start with? Or, well, something in the rogue family honestly… a rogue, swordsman hybrid maybe? He’s a fighter, no doubt, and he’s not weak. Gotta make him a fighter class. I don’t think he’ll see eye to eye with support roles, he doesn’t know the game” The cat grinned for a moment, eyes drifting to Newton “noted, informative as ever… now” a paw rose into view, flattening it’s back before the mice, offering a furry perch “want to come along with me?” Newton considered a remark about the word, want… but he choked it down, stepping up onto the warm fur. He’d never get used to it, the feeling of living flesh under his feet. The body of something huge and alive. Moments later the paw was rising away, the cat standing himself properly and turning to leave the room, bringing Newton into the light. Most of the cats who had been seated were still in view… moving around, talking, some scribbling at paper all the while. He however found himself lowered again, to a much smaller table than their big, room dominating one. He was tipped off the paw, onto a sheet of paper. Below he could see it was, full of writing, shapes, some of which were obviously decorative, others were maybe functional. Before his eyes, the paw returned with a long, tall pillar of a pencil, beginning to add numbers. He recognised them as the numbers John had been saying. “Right then” Matthew mused, seating himself before the table, presenting himself as looming wall, blocking off the rest of the room “lets talk your character… you look like a forest sort of mouse, going by colour… little understanding of the world of the game so, maybe raised by ferals…?” the cat inserted the blunt end of his pencil between his teeth “or… distant forest kingdom mice. They’re pretty traditionally ranger type classes… ooh, spurned from their society at a young age, lost and alone, devolved into theft before being adopted by the guild, huh?” the cat smiled slightly, watching Newton’s perplexed reactions “eh, I’ll work on that” “Look” Newton cut in “you’re… disturbingly excited about playing with me” he noted with a grimace “can you just tell me what this damnable game is?” “Oh, it’s the best” the cat grinned “mmm, ok, ok…” he looked off “I’ve got a minute…” his eyes flashed back to Newton, the excitement plain “right, so we play a homebrew version of a fan made version of the best roleplaying game they ever made. Castles and Cats” Matthew’s pencil tapped to the table near Newton “it’s a real classic in our time. See, its makers have been making roleplaying games for quite a while, their first one was, Apiaries and Avians, I think… story of a group of adventuring cats washed ashore on an island where these birds fought giant bees. I never played it, before my time and all. It was… super high on diplomacy, as representatives of a castaway, predatory species, with distrusting birds being better than the bees… it caught some attention but never got mainstream. Me, I got into their next one, Bastions and Bulls. Really great, minotaur’s and mythology themed, beautiful piece of work… but then there came this one. Real, adventurous” the cat’s grin didn’t seem to abate, Newton listening… half disinterested, half unnerved… “Castles and Cats. See, you played as feline adventurers in both, naturally.. but with this one, you play as mice, it was really, interesting. The weapons, the lore, the whole… miniaturised perspective. Monsters which were just, you know… basic animals. Honestly, maybe more of a cult classic than Bastions and Bulls… but we loved it, and… though I wasn’t here at the time, the group here, picked up this… fan version. Someone wrote rules for, you know… making it, real. Sort of. So… little mice adventurers” he gestured to Newton “What, exactly, are you expecting me to do?” Newton muttered “Fight, adventure, save the day as a heroic little mouse… and try not to die” Matthew noted idly “normal quest stuff. You’ll do fine. I’ll cover the rules more when you’re actually going to play. We’re only taking like, five, ten minutes. I mostly wanted to get a better look at you as I filled out your sheet…” the cat tapped at the paper below him “and maybe get some feedback… hint hint” “I know nothing about this mad game of yours” He muttered “Noted” Matthew sighed a bit “ok… you’re a wild mouse, how do you normally, you know, defend yourself? What’s your style, tactics? Maybe more to the point, would you consider yourself knowledgeable in plants. I like to make my mouse characters, fit the actual mouse. You’re, actually going to be in the adventure and all” “I run from danger, or else I get eaten” Newton muttered “I’m reasonably knowledgeable on how to avoid cats and other large predators… not today apparently… but normally” “Beast lore, got it” Matthew smiled slyly “Ok, ok. If you’re not into it, I can take you back. I got what I really needed from John. This is all pretty sudden for you… but we’ll get you in a game tomorrow, and then you’ll understand. This is, you know… a pretty good deal for you, I think. You’d be happy in our village” Newton folded his arms “tell me honestly… you just told me about this… game of yours… what happens to your village if they make a new one… without mice” Matthew blinked for a moment “ouch… I get your implication and I don’t like it, little guy. We love this game. I’m sure we’ll love the next one too but, well, either we’ll keep playing this, or adapt some new rules or ideas into it. Muringard is here to stay” The paw scooped down under Newton, lifting him aloft. The cat sighing gently over him, hot air billowing… a scent of, cheese maybe, and something sweet “and I’m pretty sure the next one isn’t going to revolve around mice, pretty sure” Newton huddled, as he endured the new ride, back towards the door to the… contained mouse settlement “Personally, I think it’ll be Deserts and Dogs, cause they had this… race of jackals in the canon of BnB, it just makes sense to me, lots of expansion they can do to that lore… but I know a few cats who are pretty sure it’s going to be demon themed… and fair enough, deserts isn’t exactly following their naming scheme… something about dungeons perhaps…” the cat talked away to himself, as Newton waited to be amid mice again. None of this made sense to him… he wasn’t a toy for cats to play with. That was one thing on which he felt very sure.

Shay flopped her elbows and chest to the outdoor table, nestled near the middle of the small village she knew as home. Her sharp ears flopping to her head with equal lack of motivation. As was her daily routine, the vixen settled in the same spot at the gathering place of the village, and wondered what to do with her life. Other foxes bustled about. Some sat, eating or drinking. There were a few of these tables, coated against weather, where folk gathered. She listened to them sometimes, considered what their role was and imagined herself in it. Generally, few jobs had appealed to her. She had wanted to ride an amaran when she was younger, maybe venture out on its back… but she’d gone off the idea. There were only three of the big lizards… like smaller, wingless dragons, in the village. Two with riders, and a younger one, bred of the two. She had, hoped to try and bond to the younger one, but… her brother had wanted to as well. Except he had gotten too curious as a pup. It was an occasional tragedy. One morning he was missing, and the belly of the amaran had grown wider overnight. They were predators as well as beasts of burden. The young and overly curious just looked like prey to them. But, riding an amaran which had eaten her kin didn’t feel, as nice. She knew she’d think about it. She wanted a bond without such lingering threads, or not at all. Conversation bubbled around. Those wandering by, those sitting… her eyes and focus was drawn to a slightly larger clump of people than she was used to seeing, at the core, a fox she didn’t know, a traveller? Her ears perked. Travellers were normally relatively interesting. Though it pained her to do so, she stood, stretched, and left the lazy half draped state she had been wallowing in, instead approaching the group. As she got closer, she moved to the edges, leaning to the table the traveller was sat at “what’s all the excitement?” Her arrival gained a few glances from those around, one of the local hunters nodding towards the traveller “wanderer was telling us about a minstrel and his troupe, down in the next town” “Oh” Shay mused… that didn’t seem so very exciting The travelling fox grinned “A truly amazing performance, I was, thrilled and shocked. Honestly, I don’t want to ruin the surprise, but any of you who can make the journey should go and see for yourself before they move on” The hunter rolled a shoulder “and no amount of prying will get him to say much more than that” Shay clicked her tongue, backing away from the group, disappointed it hadn’t been more entertaining. Although, it did leave an idea lingering in her mind. A performer’s troupe? Seeing the world… being far away from here, would they let her join if they asked? Surely a group like that needed ready hands? She stroked at her jaw, as the idea took hold gradually… might at least be worth going for a look… the next town was within walking distance, if, quite a commitment. But what else did she have planned… Given some thought, she decided to wait till the next day, but spent the afternoon procuring a suitable bag and filling it with what she cared to keep. In the back of her mind, she suspected she’d end up carrying it all home but, once she began, she found a strange excitement in preparing to leave. Just maybe, this really was the right thing, stupid and impulsive as it sounded. But she liked performers, and music, why not travel with such a group, help them out, see new places. How bad could it be? Not a word of her thoughts did she slip to her parents, or anyone else for that matter. She knew their voices would be, rational. Instead, she wrote a note detailing what she meant to do, to be left on her bedding when she left. She doubted anyone would find it unless she actually went off with the troupe, in which case they’d feel inclined to search for her. The hardest part was waking early, honestly she still found the sun had risen more than she wanted by the time she slunk out of the house, with her backpack shouldered. Some of the villagers were about, some shot her strange looks, but she ignored them, padding quickly for the pathway through the woods that led to the town. It was a walk she wasn’t looking forward to… since it would take her to at least midday, but, she tried to fill her mind with expectations of fine entertainment to amuse herself with as she wandered away from home. The town wasn’t somewhere she came especially often. Most things she needed to live could be found in the village, and one of the amaran riders came out here periodically to purchase goods, one could simply task them to bring home anything required. All the same, she could tell as the entered that the feel of the place was different to normal, there was an air of excitement. Promising. The town was at a crossroads, while not literally a cross shape, the town did fall into four quarters around the roads. Paths wide enough for two amaran plus carts to roll through without bumping into each other. In the very centre, at the corners were clusters of stalls. She’d enjoyed peering at their wares as a pup The buildings were, sturdy and straight to her eye, and there were breeds of folk, beyond foxes. Mostly wolves, she knew there was a family of dragonkin around somewhere… and she’d seen humans a couple of times… though they looked bizarre to her. What was different, was a lot more colour. There were, bright triangles of fabric billowing from cords strung up around the edges of some of the buildings, and the normally vacant middle of the town… vacant for the sake of it being the middle of two well-travelled roads, was taken up by, a wide if more crudely cobbled platform… where the performers did their act, she presumed. It was her best guide so far, so she approached the makeshift stage. There was a sign, leaning to it, suggesting there was an afternoon show. A glanced skyward gave her the impression she probably hadn’t missed it, but, it wasn’t going now. How long would it take? She huffed, rolling her shoulder. Already the bag felt heavy. Looking around for, some further sign of when things would start, her eyes caught on something else that hadn’t been in town before. Down one of the roads, and off nestled in the trees, she saw tents, some pretty large too… had to be the troupe, right? She clicked her tongue, she had felt she wanted to try and see them after the show, after she, got an idea of what they did, but… wouldn’t hurt to go and peek while she was waiting. As she got closer, she could see more activity around the tents. A fair few vulpines like herself, some avians… she didn’t see the bird people often, and she spotted the odd, other creature. Walking down the road, eyes lingering on the tents, she was rather caught by surprise when, from behind one of the buildings of the town walked… a beast, right into her path. She startled back, eyes wide, with the impulse to flee, but also the glimmer of curiosity. Whatever it was, was bigger than an amaran… Her roaming eyes tried to comprehend the looming creature. Bird, was her first thought… there was a thick, heavy, slightly hooked beak, black and glossy amid dark feathers… sharp green eyes focusing on her. There were, green feathers, at the edges of the head, almost, where she might expect ears, and they speckled into the feathers of the avian chest… her flicking gaze went down… there were very, avian talons… savage looking things, pressed to the ground, but there the resemblance to a bird ended. The body of the beast, was four legged, like, well, not so different than her feral cousins, if much more, muscular and heavyset… feline, she wanted to say… a little past the shoulders, the feathers seemed to break into coppery fur, right after the wing limbs… massive wings, that rested folded to the sides. They were dark as night as well, except the edges, those looked, shiny, and bronze. Neither bird nor beast, the creature was… but her quick survey told her one thing. It was big enough to eat her… she looked to the beak again, if it was more like a bird than a beast, possibly big enough to swallow her. Images, of the herons at the creek flashed before her eyes… it didn’t look like a heron though.., that, avian half looked more like a gigantic raven. She couldn’t help it, she staggered back, wondering where this thing had come from… in the edges of her senses, she didn’t see people fleeing, didn’t hear panicked screams… it confused her enough that she didn’t, simply turn and run. Then, the forelegs bend slightly, the head lowering down, past her chest height, the eyes lingering up on her thought “My apologies, for startling you” It talked? She found herself staring, mouth parting a moment, but, not finding words, only a wordless murmur of her continued confusion. That voice, it was, a lot nicer than she expected, deep, yet smooth, not grating, or edged, it flowed out from deep in his chest, and hummed in the air. She’d heard that dragons could speak… this was no dragon but, it could talk… speak. He, she decided this, thing was a he… The creature didn’t linger. No sooner than it had dipped itself to her, then he was standing tall again, and padding past her, leaving Shay to turn on her heel to watch the, catbird saunter off. The tail, wasn’t bushy like hers… but longer, thinner, tufted. It didn’t hide, all that much. She averted her eyes with a small grunt. Whatever it was, it was a male one. She tore her eyes away from the strange beast… it had come from the direction of the troupe, right? Maybe it was theirs… did they, fly between towns, were there more? Either way, she mused, if that beast was part of their performance… then she could see why the traveller was so cagey… it sounded a fascinating show. Her tail was swishing with, yes… actual excitement as she walked closer to the troupe’s camp. The closer she got, the clearer it was there were, some who were more in charge. It was in the way they stood, the fact others kept moving to, and then away from them. One that caught her eye was a vixen like herself. Tall, lean, with, a fetching hat. It was a sort of, triangular shape, with a feather poking up and back from it. She recognised the feather, jet black… with an edge of green, the, big beast. Maybe this vixen was the rider and handler of the feathered beast? As she approached the edge of the camp, the vixen in question glanced up to her, gaze lingering for a long moment. “Can I help you?” the vixen spoke out as Shay got closer “sorry, but we’re a little busy at the moment” “Sure…” Shay rubbed at the side of her jaw… well now what? “Thing is, I was wondering, about joining you, or something” One ear of the vixen perked against her hat “Oh…” she seemed to consider Shay for a longer moment, before a slightly sly smile curled at her muzzle “well… maybe. Wouldn’t be my call. We’re the troupe of the Bard, Robyn… and he’s out right now, but if he said yes, you could come along with us. Might be easiest to have a word with him after the show… I can pull him aside then, if you like” “I mean, I hadn’t quite decided yet” Shay countered… she hadn’t, well, known what to expect. Sure, seemed easy though, except, would this bard like her? What would they be looking for? The, sheer suddenness of her decision to come here and ask was finally starting to press to her mind” “Well, he leads the performance” the vixen added “tell you what… stick around for the show, and if you want to be part of the troupe after that, come back over here, I’ll tell him we have a new applicant” “Sure, yeah” Shay nodded along. That sounded good… she’d see what it was they did, it also delayed having to make a choice. With that point put aside, her mind turned, elsewhere “uh, by the way…” she added “I walked into, a pretty big… creature, is it with your performance? I’ve never seen or heard of such a creature” For a moment, the vixen frowned, before, a slight smile curled her lips “big as a small dragon, looks like a blend between a kitty and a raven?” “Yeah” Shay confirmed “He’s a gryphon, so I understand” the vixen noted “pretty unique, never seen another one in these parts, but you’ll… see him plenty during the show, look forward to it” The vixen turned back to a few of the assistants which were crowding at her back, and Shay decided she had been, dismissed. The show. It did seem interesting; she’d give it that. She wasn’t sure when to expect it, but wandered back to the market, idly examining the wares… already the woodcarvers had begun to stock, little miniatures of the gryphon. Made sense to her, she was even tempted to get one, if she had anything worth trading… It wasn’t too long, till she became very aware that people were moving towards the stage. Quickly she hurried from her idling to follow, and saw, that gryphon sitting on the middle of the stage, flanked by, quite a few of the vulpines and avians from the troupe. Despite her best efforts, she struggled to get near the front, and had to content herself with peering over a few shoulders at the gathered performers. Her tail swished slightly. Excitement… it had been a while since she’d really felt it like this. The gryphon stepped forward on the stage, his wings flaring out, commanding all eyes onto him, and, with their spread, a strange, flurry of sound whistled in the air, like the hum and twang of readying instruments. “Good afternoon” the gryphon spoke, dipping his head and beak to the crowds around, spinning in a slow circle, to cast his gaze all around the watching folk “and welcome to the show. Be you new faces or old, my troupe and I will surely delight you, so watch, and listen, and enjoy” The head rose, a deep, reverberating caw booming out of the wide beak, before with an almost feline spring, the gryphon leapt aloft, wings catching him… and, echoing music across the town. In awe, Shay watched the gryphon… the one the other vixen had called, Robyn apparently, as he rose. It was bizarre in the best way. When his wings moved in the air, it was really like music. She heard what sounded like stringed instruments, pipes and flutes… but she had no idea how. It was like a magic trick, how he moved, generating music with his every motion… as he rose high, the music kept tempo, it had to, it spun with his every wingbeat. His flight sung by the orchestral wings. Once he was high enough, his lithe, powerful frame began to, change directions, sharp stops, sudden dives, there was a pattern to it, and his music became more melodic in turn. And then he began to sing. It wasn’t birdsong… but nor did it carry distinct words. His voice was, deep, powerful, it cut its own long, haunting melody through the whistling music, but another element to add, to rise, and fall, and twist with his notes. She gave only a sparing glance down… the rest of the troupe were performing. She saw, dancing, balancing… tricks of dexterity, but she didn’t care… not right now. Her eyes were drawn back, to the impossible bird that spun above, casting the song his wings sang out across all beneath. She felt herself sway with the melody, her heart raced when he dived and the pitch sprang higher… faster wind, her curious vulpine mind deduced. Figuring out his tricks was as interesting as the display itself. It was, disheartening, when she suddenly realised his latest dive wasn’t reversing, he was getting lower and lower, landing… it was over? The gryphon alighted heavily, yet gracefully to the platform, and made a bow as the audience around him applauded. The members of his troupe who had been on stage with him stepping around him, to bow in turn. Already, people were starting to disperse. Some rushing back to whatever they had put aside. Shay stayed in place, watching as some approached the stage, talking with the gryphon. She heard, when he seemed to laugh, it was a cackling caw of a noise. But even those left, except one, who stayed close, petting at the gryphon’s beak. Cautious, Shay let herself draw near, once just about everyone had departed. She could see the vixen with the hat speaking to the ear of the gryphon as she approached. “Hello there” Robyn spoke to her… his voice had, still, an impact to it “The vixen I, spooked earlier, apologies again about that” he glanced to the vixen by his side “I’m told… you want to join our troupe” “I do” Shay felt herself say it… how could she not. She’d wavered before but, she wanted to hear him do… all of that again, it was the last piece she needed to confirm her whim “Well, why not” he smiled slightly, looking to the vixen with the hat again “we’ve got some space?” “One or two spots” she answered “she can have Ailie’s old tent, it’s just taking up space on the carts” “Perfect” Robyn looked back to Shay with a gentle smile “my delightful assistant here will tend to you, why not come by my tent later, and we can talk, I like to know and understand those who travel with me, alright?” “Ok…” Shay found herself glancing to, well, the other vixen present, the one from the audience still stroking at Robyn’s beak. As she watched, his beak grasped her wrist, and tugged her up his flank, onto his back, before he trotted off in the direction of their campsite. “Ok then” Shay looked back from the gryphon, to the vixen with the feathered hat “you can call me Fel, and you’ll do what I tell you, alright?” “Sure” Shay cleared her throat “I can work” “I should hope so” Fel noted “he’s said yes, but he can turn you away in an instant if he wants to, understand that… lets consider this provisional. You show willing, I put in a good word, he lets you actually follow us. We leave here tomorrow” “Ok…” Shay murmured, taking in the information. She felt a lazy pang, at the sudden addition of effort to her day plan “You picked a good time to show up” Fel noted “lots of work to do, packing things away, ready for the morning” she gestured, and Shay followed as they moved for the campsite, Robyn disappearing ahead with his sprightly, long gait “Who’s that, by the way” Shay wondered aloud “the one riding him” “No idea” Fel shrugged “fan, enjoyed the show… and it is following him back to his tent” Shay felt colour come to her cheeks… surely, she didn’t mean “Ok… it, uh, I didn’t realise at first that he is… Robyn, your leader” “Yeah, got a kick out of you asking what he was… he’s a nice critter, you’ll like him” Shay nodded mutely. She couldn’t deny she was looking forward to having a talk with the gryphon. She’d never talked with something so big, or, like him at all. It was an exciting prospect… but first she had work to do. That dampened her mood. The camp wasn’t far, and no sooner had they arrived, than Fel gestured her to stop, and hurried to one of their carts, coming back with an armload she dropped beside Shay “Ok, we’ll get your tent set up, and… give you this” with a flourish she drew a triangular hat from behind herself, offering it to Shay. It looked a lot like her own, without the feather. Shay took it, feeling to the shape, it had ear holes, she noted. She wasn’t very familiar with hats, but she slid it onto her head, using Fel’s hat as a guide. It felt, strange, and snug around her ears, but… she liked it, she wondered how she looked. “Do I get a feather too?” “You earn the feather” Fel noted, reaching up, and feeling along the dark plume “He’ll give you one if you earn it” “How do I earn one then” Shay mused “You’ll figure it out” Fel offered a sly smile, before nudging the folded heap of tent with a paw “for now, we find out if you stay long enough to have any chance of getting one” Shay lifted the untidy heap of a tent, and followed Fel through the camp, to the edges where she was guided in setting it up. It was simple enough, sharp wooden stakes, with fabric strung between and over them. At the end she felt fairly accomplished, looking at, what she supposed would be her home. That thought, dampened the excitement slightly. The tent was small, probably cold, it sounded a little interesting, but all the same, didn’t seem as nice as a warm bed in a solid house. Once the tent was settled, she was put to work. It was, quite different to her normal day to day, but, she conceded, wasn’t too hard. As she’d been told, it was lifting things. Boxes of props and tools, sacks of supplies they had purchased for their travel, all set on two wide carts. She even got to see the pair of amaran the troupe had pulling their things along. Big, sturdy beasts, they looked powerful and healthy, slightly larger than the ones she’d seen back home… but then, she supposed the roles they filled were different. Briefly she helped an avian with the evening meal. A radiant bird, with feathers of blue and white, though she’d felt a little shy to say much to them. The dinner, when it was served, was simple, a warming stew, freshly cooked meat and vegetables cooked down to a thick broth, but her tail swished as she ate it. It took her a moment to realise Robyn hadn’t joined them, and she found herself wondering what he ate. Did he hunt for his own food? He looked a carnivore, so… it was easy to imagine purchasing food for him would be troublesome. Still, the initial sense of danger he’d given her, had faded after watching him fly and sing. It was hard to imagine him with bloodied feathers and talons. Maybe she just didn’t want to. As she put her empty bowl aside, she noticed Fel beckoning her up. “Robyn is ready to see you” “Oh, he’s around?” Shay murmured “when he didn’t join the, dinner, I thought maybe he was hunting?” She saw a slight smile curl Fel’s lips “in a sense he was… but he’s ready to talk with you now” Shay just shrugged, it was what she wanted anyway, so, she followed Fel towards a distinctively large tent. She’d already guessed it must be his. Since he talked and, well, seemed to act like a person she had assumed he probably didn’t sleep outside. If nothing else she suspected since he was the lead performer, keeping himself from being dirty was probably important. The one tent, towered above the others, big enough he’d fit, and maybe have room to stretch his wings, she wasn’t sure. Fel lifted aside a tent flap, and allowed Shay to ease inside. Her eyes had to adjust to the gloom, but already she could make out his shape, his presence was, hard to miss. As she adjusted to the low light, she made out, strewn blankets that made his bedding, and upon them, the gryphon himself. His chest was to the floor, but by his hind legs his body had twisted, giving room to… a lump around where she assumed his stomach must be. She’d seen amaran after a heavy feed, if they truly gorged… the swell was visible to the eye. He must have eaten well. She flicked her gaze back to the fore, and the beak that turned towards her. His luminous eyes perfectly visible even in the shadows that blended into his feathers. In the tent which, suddenly didn’t feel so big, Shay felt so aware of his every movement, the rustle of his wings, the adjusting of taloned claws for his comfort. Trapped in with he sounds, and his presence. “I’m told your name is Shay?” “Yes” she answered easily “And you’re Robyn…” “That’s what they call me” the gryphon chuckled, a foreclaw lifting, beckoning to her “come closer, let me get a good look at you, our, newest troupe member” Shay scurried a little closer, holding still as his head loomed in, moving past her, on both sides, as he sized her up. She felt, truly aware how large that beak was when it brushed past her side “You’re a nice-looking vixen, Shay” he concluded, as he drew his head back with a slight smile “cliché as it may be, looks do have their place in the performer’s profession. Nice age too… we can make good use of you; do you have any performing experience?” “Not really” she conceded reluctantly, watching the beak that loomed before her now, glancing to his eyes… the intensity of the focus on her, she couldn’t look at his eyes long before nervously glancing off. “That’s fine” he mused “you can be taught, and in any case, you’re an extra set of paws, and we’ve been needing another” Her tail swished behind her “so, you’re going to let me join?” The gryphon’s beak tapped to her shoulder “I am, you seem determined, inexperienced… but that’s fixable. And… I like you” he chuckled slightly, turning his head to fix her in one eye “I struggle to turn down a vixen, you see” Shay gave a slight nod. Memory drifting to her “so, that other vixen, from earlier, is she joining too?” Robyn cocked his head, before a slightly, clicking chuckle escaped him, his gaze flicking down himself “ah, you mean the one who came back with me? You, could say she’s joining the troupe… but, not in the same way” Shay followed his gaze, down the powerful, muscular frame of the hunter, distant were his strewn hind limbs and… on display, the faintly swelled midsection. She felt her mouth go a little dry. A lot of little details suddenly fitting together in context “Wait… you…” she looked to his beak again, and found his eyes were both, very focussed on her again “Now Shay” he began slowly “there is another reason I asked you to come here, and it is to confirm what you’ve just figured out” he glanced down himself again “yes, she was a very sweet vixen, and is my meal for tonight. Such is a thing you will need to be able to, accept, if you are to be part of the troupe” Shay hesitated.. so, her evaluation wasn’t over. Questions flurried in her mind, but one did rise to the fore “why… did you eat her?” “There’s a few answers to that” the gryphon mused “the simplest is because I was hungry, and she, was a size to fit. But it wasn’t so mercenary, she didn’t fight, or object, you see” Shay took in that statement for a moment. It was hard to believe. Robyn smiled slightly to her “you see, little Shay, I’ve never found a female of my kind, but the smaller people… and vulpines especially, are sometimes, curious enough of me to wish to come within my tent, and help with those basic needs” he explained “I’ve learnt a gentle touch, you would, likely have heard it clearly through the camp if I did not… and should my hen of the evening be agreeable, I allow them to become part of me” his wings spread, far as the tent would allow, a slight whistle from the feathers “you may find it surprising… how many will agree” Shay glanced to the feathers… she was still so curious about those “you mean they’re… caught in the moment, like… with a song…” “Not a bad comparison perhaps” Robyn mused “and perhaps it would be kinder to allow them a day to change their minds… but I am, a predator, Shay. Drawn in by my song, to my very den… I think asking first and taking no for an answer, is still relatively polite” Shay felt herself frown some. Polite… that was one way to put it, she supposed. In truth, she couldn’t think that she, faulted him, not exactly. But it was a pretty significant detail, and one that took adjusting to. In some ways, she felt foolish for assuming he wouldn’t, but, he was charming and polite, why would he have designs of a meal. She wondered if that vixen, had thought the same… “She really, let you do, that?” she murmured “She did” he answered smoothly “It might be easier to understand were you in her position…” he smiled to her slightly, beak easing, just a little closer “my tent is always open, by the way” Shay swallowed as… the suggestion triggered her imagination… some very, strange images in there. She pushed them away, and cleared her throat “uh, noted” she rubbed at her arm, seeking a different topic “so… uh, can I ask about your wings?” “Ah… you want to know why they make sound like they do, perhaps?” “Among other things” she noted, glad to turn her attention to his folded wings… they looked a lot smaller against his back, but then he unfolded one, the wingspan almost coating the roof of the tent “The edges, are where you should draw your eye” he told her, and needing little encouragement, she hurried closer, and felt a paw to the feathers… most of them were soft, fluffy, they moved from her paw’s press… but those on the edges, they looked browned, a bit like bronze, and they were harder “The singing feathers” Robyn chuckled “The bristles grow quite hard on those feathers, you see, right on the edge of my wing. Some curl around themselves, forming something like pipes, others remain straight, and vibrate when the wind billows against them. The air, off my wings, reaches those feathers and… with practice, I can learn each sound they can make, and, fly accordingly. Some will whistle, others thrum like the strings of a violin. For any deeper sounds, I need to use my own voice” “Wow” she traced a finger along one of the feathers which, indeed, seemed to have curled around itself before hardening. It was like a hollow tube of bristles. She breathed firmly at it, and heard a dull toot of sound “It’s rare those ones fall out” Robyn mused “since those feathers seem adapted for, this task, not for flight. Once hardened, there is little need to replace them unless damaged. On the rare occasion they do, members of my troupe have sought to make instruments of them… with limited success admittedly” “It’s very unique” Shay mused, leaning back from the wings of the huge gryphon “Mmm… tomorrow, I will likely feel more like leaving my tent… then perhaps you can examine them in the light” “I’d like that” Shay felt her tail swishing, only just realising how much his, predation had already been shunted from her mind by curiosity. Feeling the meeting was, over, Shay made a light bow to the gryphon and eased back out from his tent, a passing glance to the, lump on his underside, his meal, before she was back in the fading light of evening “Go well?” Fel was leaning nearby, waiting. “I guess” Shay looked to the, more experienced vixen “only just clicked what he… uh… what that vixen from before, well where she went” “Ah… rattled you a bit” Fel noted “does at first. You get over it. Lots of bellies in this world for a fox to find, Robyn could just hunt folk in the woods if he got hungry, this way is, nicer” “He told me she went willingly” Shay mumbled “And she probably did” Fel rolled a shoulder “Robyn can have an enchanting presence… now, would she second guess it right now… possibly, but… you agree to letting a predator have you, that has some consequences” “I suppose so” Shay sighed “I can get used to this… not so different to an amaran” “Good to hear” Fel noted “well, evening is yours… I’d recommend turning in early mind you. You don’t seem used to the work, and tomorrow will be busy. Going to want to be well rested” “Thanks for the advice” Shay noted. She wasn’t really the, sleep early type, but she did concede she was feeling the day’s exertions. A good rest would be best. She shrugged off the voice that called to never sleep, and wandered through the camp, for the tent they’d given her. If nothing else, she anticipated struggling to sleep tonight, if it was as cold and different as she expected… As she feared, sleep didn’t find Shay easily. Though bundled in a sheet and surrounded by the walls of her tent, there was a lingering, chill she wasn’t used to… if mostly just on the parts of her that poked out. There were also sounds, just people moving around the camp, flickering light that illuminated the walls around her. Different experiences and scents, it kept her mind from settling. And her unsettled mind sought something to fill it. The gryphon, was a natural choice. Whether she liked it or not, Robyn filled her mind. He was so, new. The way he moved, the immense feathers, he was exotic in a way that busied her mind… and though it was certainly never something she would have imagined, his, offer, lingered in her mind as well. His tent was open… she had little experience with males… she’d had a couple, but that was about it. What would it even be like? The question could not be buried, and the answer was unknown to her. Apparently vixens not so unlike her sought it out, even at risk of their lives… that sounded pretty good… She could find out. It was an observation she couldn’t escape. She rolled over in her sheets, regretting it quickly, as it caused a brief gap that let cold air wash in with her… she wasn’t exactly dozing off… maybe she should go for a walk… maybe she should go to his tent and… and what? She huffed to herself. Maybe just see if, he was awake… her tail whipped with agitation under the sheet. Part of her knew she couldn’t shift the curiosity without investigating… and perhaps sleep would continue to evade her until she knew… Shay rose from her bedding eventually, shivering a bit in the cold, arms folding around herself to retain what heat she could. Her tail hung close to her legs as she stepped out into the night, it was colder still out here. On hurrying paws, she moved through the empty spaces between the tents, nobody around or not many, she moved unseen as she scurried… she knew where she was going, the biggest tent that loomed, catching the moonlight. What was she doing, she asked herself… she struggled a bit on that question. It was a compulsion, a curiosity. She exhaled slowly, it was common of the vulpine breed, and her family, she mused to herself as she paused before the entry to the tent, and pushed herself inside. It was warm. She noticed that immediately, and the air felt heavier, she could smell gryphon. It wasn’t a bad scent, he wasn’t unclean, but he was a very big animal. She let the flap close behind her and… now what. She swithered in the entryway, letting her eyes adjust to the gloom. He was mostly a shadow to her, a big, looming presence in the tent. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw, the luminosity of his eyes, open and aim at her. “Can’t sleep?” his voice was gentle, quiet, but still it seemed so clear “How did you guess” Shay muttered “It’s common, the first night, our new members are restless” the gryphon seemed to roll over, and rise. She found herself looking up more, to the eyes that focussed on her “I’m not used to a tent” she explained, rubbing at her jaw, neglecting to mention, the other reasons she had struggled to sleep A soft chuckling caw escaped the gryphon. And she saw, a shadow cast out over the top of the tent, accompanied by a gentle rustle of sound “want to sleep here tonight? You’re very welcome” “Yeah…” Shay murmured, hesitantly padding closer. He’d be warm, she knew that much… his feathers seemed soft too, such thoughts spurred her to get closer to the great looming beast, till her paws could rest against his flank. She felt, pressure to her back as the wing folded against her “there you go… comfy?” Shay nodded, and let herself sink into the feathers some… it felt really good, better than her bed at home, she realised. Her paws sunk, into the fluffy downy feathers under the outer layer Robyn observed the vixen, for a moment, a slight hum coming from the bird “Now Shay… is there any other reason, you came here to me tonight?” The vixen hesitated. Right, his, offer. She eased a little from the feathered flank, letting the idea brew… would it be so bad to, give it a try? Normally something so big she’d, think it was madness, but if he was familiar with people her size. Maybe? “I don’t know” she admitted “I’d never have thought of it if you hadn’t mentioned it” The beak of the gryphon lowered, and she felt the firm surface, despite its size, sliding gently to her side “I’m gentle and careful with my smaller lovers… it would just be for fun’s sake, and quite a unique experience for you, I don’t doubt” Shay huffed. She suspected males had said that line a great many times over history… but to be fair, in Robyn’s case it was probably true. She couldn’t deny it. She was a little curious. Anxious, already second guessing the idea, but part of her, just, wanted to know what it would feel like to pair with something like Robyn… “If I say to stop, you’ll stop?” “But of course,” the gryphon chuckled “It’s an offer, not a demand. At your say so, we stop” “Then maybe” Shay mused Robyn’s body moved again, the chest rising, and leaving Shay peering under his frame, not that she could see much in the gloom “then, maybe…” he teased “you should make yourself comfortable upon my bedding, and let me take care of the rest” Shay gave a faint nod. Giving up all control felt scary when her partner was that big, but, he’d stop if she said, right… so really she was in control, she reminded herself. The vixen ducked down, considering the shadows of the bedding, sitting, and wiggling herself under him. The belly and thick chest muscles becoming her ceiling. She settled onto her back with a grunt, and stared up, watching the forelimbs shifting, till his head came down to view her. She felt, the scaly forelimbs slide to her neck and shoulders, framing her head. “Just a little, bracing” he explained “I won’t lie… this will be very tight” “Will it hurt?” her voice turned hesitant, though his eyes above seemed, calm and confident “Nothing so intense to call it that” he noted “we’ll go nice and slow… and I won’t try to slide entirely inside… just about a third to a half of me, ok?” “Sure” Shay hummed, scolding a little part of her brain that was disappointed to not get all of it… she didn’t even want to know how long the gryphon was. His chest lowered onto hers, and she felt, pinned, held snugly by his body and limbs. A warm, damp presence brushed against her inner thigh, bringing a gasp to her lips. Even, that brush made it feel, big…” “Second thoughts?” the gryphon above mused “No…” Shay muttered “just nervous” “It’ll be fine” his head came low, and she felt, a nibbling pressure along the edge of her ear… it felt nice “this isn’t my first time, I’ll be careful” She gave a light nod, and drew in a slow breath. Out of her paws… she just had to rest and try to enjoy… she nodded to herself… easy. His weight settled upon her body, his presence loomed over her in such an intimidating way, but his beak, rubbed to her jaw, nibbled at her ears with, tender precision. She felt, pressure between her legs, and drew in a sharp breath when he pushed. Already, just the tip seemed, wide as a normal fox’s widest spot… There was an exotic thrill, she could feel in her chest. She was letting a wild animal mount her… well, one who could think and talk, but the description still felt like it fit, to her. She could look up, to the large beak, the thick neck that could, pass a vixen like her down, hear the size of him in his breathing. She was utterly pinned now… only trust that her voice would stop him, gave her any level of control… she found she didn’t mind it. She felt him push again, and huffed out a breath, feeling a stretching... she hadn’t gotten a look at him… but maybe he was tapered in shape… thinner at the tip, gradually wider… or maybe his width was uniform… either way it didn’t seem to be getting much worse just yet. “Feeling ok?” he hummed above her, rubbing his beak to her again “tell me if I need to stop” “I’m ok…” she huffed, and felt him roll his hip again in answer… even more, filling her. He was sliding in, deeper than a fox normally sank, there was discomfort… but not pain, she found. She felt him draw back, slowly, then slide in again, slowly, like he was testing, sliding a bit deeper this time, stretching walls that had no experience handling a guest. All the while, Shay was panting, having him inside like this, it was intense. She could feel her walls trying to squeeze, but they almost felt too stretched to get a good grip on the column of gryphon pushing its way inside her. The discomfort, started to get worse, and she wiggled a bit under him, the gryphon pausing himself “deep enough?” “Maybe…” shay conceded She felt, stretched, in a word. The entrance to her loins felt tight… there was a moment, when a fox knotted, where she felt like, the bulb was stretching its way through the entry… it was like that, but constant… that was just his normal thickness. But deep inside… it felt now that her body was just saying no, to letting him deeper… Robyn nodded, and she felt him draw back, then slide in, just a little shallower than he had been. It was a feeling of, emptiness when the shaft withdrew, the walls left to gape, before he returned, pleasurable and snug, the roll of his length to the walls giving her a warming, pleasant spike. He looked to her pointedly, and she nodded with a slight smile “more please…” A deep chuckle escaped the gryphon, as his forelegs tightened to her shoulders “brace yourself, Shay… I will be gentle… but this will still be intense for you” He wasn’t lying. Shay huffed, briefly squirming as he slid in, firmer, he didn’t go deeper… but it was a sudden, spike in sensation. She felt him pause, but nodded to him, and he drew back, to rock again. Her stretched loins felt so, empty when he drew back, and so, filled with heat when he plunged deep. Her whole body recoiled with every thump of his hips, his forelegs doing their work to hold her steady. Her mind swam as it went on, leaving her to sprawl, pant and just, experience him. It was impossible to focus on anything else but that slightly too thick rod of superheated flesh being rolled back and forth inside her. And it just kept getting faster. She felt her body give in to pleasure long before he stopped, the stimulation was, overwhelming. Her loins, tried to squeeze the shaft, before leaving her limp under him, still bouncing with his quickening, shallow movements. When he was done, she felt it. A caw, muffled by his tightening beak sounded above her, he sank as deep as he’d been allowing himself, or maybe a touch deeper and, hot fluids flowed. She felt them, driven by pressure to flow deep, quickly. Nowhere else to go. Weakly she reached to her belly… there was nothing to feel except… the shaft swelling her lower belly just slightly, but she was aware of a lingering heat pooled within. Her panting, slowly calmed as she looked up to the beaked head above her, her eyes had adjusted to the gloom, though his dark feathers still made it tricky to see him clearly. She could make out, the glisten of his inner beak as he panted with her. She felt warm, content, fuzzy. Briefly the concern she was in no state to stop him eating her came to mind.. but she felt it slip away. They laid like that for a time, Shay feeling the gryphon’s shaft softening while still inside her, and his weight settling upon her a little more fully, the bedding below cushioning her against it. “Have fun?” Robyn finally asked with a gentle smile. His head lowered, and Shay felt a nibble along her ear again “Yeah” she exhaled, her own features contentedly giddy… she’d never been mated like that before “Feeling a little worn out?” “Yeah” she agreed easily “Want to stay here tonight?” “Yeah” Shay repeated. It sounded good; his tent was warmer than hers.. because of him most likely. Walking back to the tent sounded, awful right now. The gryphon chuckled, his beak tenderly rubbing against her jaw. There was a moment of silence, as he just groomed her. “Want me to eat you?” “Y…” Shay caught the word on her tongue, ears flicking to brief alert before they relaxed… the reply had flowed so easily… her mind felt too foggy to examine the question in detail… right now though, did it sound so bad… she imagined he was warm and soft, she wanted to sleep… why was the idea not as scary as it should be… He chuckled again “Not yet?” “Yeah…” She felt him rub his head against hers, before it settled beside her, and she was left to drift… under the weight of her immense lover, in his embrace. She found a faint smile… she sure had found a more exotic life… Robyn kept an eye open, feeling the vixen in his embrace slip to sleep. Only then raising his head again, taking a moment to consider her. Shay. He smiled a little to himself… he’d had a feeling about this one. His head turned, into his plumage, running his beak through the feathers, till he found a suitable one to grip, and tug. The ebony feather he brought down, and gently tucked behind one of her ears, before settling himself to sleep as well, draped over the little fluffball he’d added to his collection

Newton in a house of two cats It was considered common wisdom amid mice. Stop, listen, then move. Even as Newton eased from the cage that hung around the strewn cougar’s neck, wading into fur that reached his ankles, he fell into the habit. He stopped, crouched low, perked his ears and just listened. Something was wrong. Her breathing changed. It wasn’t much, but, just for a moment the slow, steady deep breaths halted. He felt it under his paws as well, the rise and fall of her chest. Was that a reaction? A chill set into the mouse. Had he been too keen… was she still awake. The worst case flickered in his mind. Just run, his instinct told him. In the moment, he didn’t have a better plan. Newton bolted, running on all fours, keeping low. His ground was her body, and his rapid, firm steps weren’t helping. It wasn’t like running on sand, her flesh below the fur was too, springy for that but he felt his paws sink, robbing him of some of the sure, firm footing he needed for full speed. In his periphery he heard it again, a reaction in her breathing. She was awake. In the corner of his eye he saw movement, and reacted without thought, his hind feet found one of her ribs, and he kicked off of it, leaping for the edge of her body. Before his eyes he saw claws, pads, her paw grasping onto the spot where he had been. His back brushed her wrist as he dropped over her side and landed on the bed. The jarring sensation dazed him, honestly the slight bounce of his landing made it worse. Still, his run was powered by instinct, he pressed on. Unable to stop himself, he glanced back, seeing the paw sliding down to the bedding again. Had it been unconscious, her movement? Didn’t matter, he concluded. The bed was better for running on, he felt. More predictable if still bad footing. Better yet, he wasn’t standing on the warm fluffy plains of her body. Here she couldn’t literally feel his every movement for locating him. Even in the gloom, he felt a shadow, glancing up to see a tidal wave of fur rolling for him. How his legs ached, but he commanded more speed. Ahead the spot between her legs was becoming the only exit to the cavern her body was making, unless he wanted to fling himself from the bed entirely. The floor below, he’d gotten a look at before. It was one of the first things a mouse had to assess when somewhere high… how did the fall look. It didn’t look good. There was no room to manoeuvre as her body rolled over towards him. Behind was the chest ahead the shifting legs… he had to just keep going. Already he knew he, wasn’t going to make it. Darkness surrounded before her weight flopped onto him, pinning the mouse to the bed beneath the yielding stomach. Sounds, he didn’t want to think about echoed from the ceiling above. Digestion… of Craig. Newton pushed his paws forward, crawling on his belly as he continued for the now invisible spot between her legs. The bed and fur above were flexible enough he could move. The, purring he heard distantly… it strengthened his determination, he would not, be her plaything. Paw over paw he crawled for the remaining distance, aware of some sort of… disturbance? He could feel the bedding under him sinking ahead. As he crawled close enough to the, hell pit of her body to feel the traumatic sting of her scent on his nose, he realised why. Something brushed against his side. And ahead as his head wormed into the twilight he could see, paw. Cupping… waiting. Intense heat radiated from overhead. The, thing that had brushed him was scooping itself to his side, beneath him. “No!” he shouted, curling himself to kick violently at her clawed finger. It was, solid at least, his force pushing him against the pads of her paw. Already he could see… feel her fingers closing against his fur. The moments were a blur. Like a moth his mind was driven by a primal urge to seek the light. He kicked at what he was sure was her thumb, pushed himself between two of her fingers, which squeezed on his middle. He shoved with all his might, till he could wiggle his hind legs between the fingers, and kicked again, enough of a gap to let him fall out of her paw, rolling against the back of the paw before he landed to the bedding again. Newton spared a look back… his, intended fate largely hidden by the cupped paw. He didn’t linger to give her another try. He ran, between the cliffs of her legs, praying she didn’t try to trap him between those too… but they stayed apart. A glance back, and he saw her paw sliding away from herself. A low, woozy chuckle echoed in the air “aww” her voice admonished him, the immense body shifting over, back to her side. Newton dived beneath the leg, shifting back against its partner “catch you sometime tomorrow then… have fun” Newton grit his teeth, scrabbling back to his paws… fun. Her confidence in his, inability to escape wasn’t heartening, but he dismissed it. Of course she’d say that. His path took him finally to the end of the bed, the cougar’s paws, close but not that close… now what? It wasn’t his first time on a bed. Normally, he found either clothing clutter tossed near the foot end, or the sheets would have been dragged out and draping down… none of that seemed to his favour here. But his eyes moved to another option. The bed had a frame, and the corners, went to the floor. It was just a metal frame, far as he could tell, but it was fine for his needs. Hopping carefully from the mattress, clutching to the poles of the bed he managed to wrap himself to the corner leg and slide down the pole to floor level. It was a relief, being on the floor again. Newton let himself take stock… he doubted she’d come after him till she got up, and while the feline world above loomed higher now, he felt, his hiding options were better. All in all, his plan to leave her hinged on one fact. It was a house, it was designed to be entered and exited. Hiding in a bag wouldn’t work, she’d check. The windows and under the doors, seemed too obvious, he’d already gotten a peek at those. He recognised the, style. Effectively mouse proof… certainly to the, nothing, he had in terms of tools anyway. There was no way he was going to try his luck with a drain. That left the most, well, obvious route to leave. The front door. Newton made his way, a brisk run, across the floor of her bedroom till he reached the door to the hall. Ajar… luckily, though a glance at the frame… maybe he could get through. He shrugged, not dwelling further on maybes. The door to her bedroom didn’t seem mouse proofed, but, as he got into the hall, looking towards the door to the outside world. That door, was a different story. Tight frame, metal edged. He’d never even think of trying to go through such a door normally. But there was one way. The cats had to come and go eventually. Running past a cat’s feet was a pretty desperate measure… but, what other option did he have? The mouse hurried towards the door, considering his window of opportunity. Briefly his path paused by a different door. Open, looking in upon a room very much like the cougar’s, same furniture. But empty of felines. Her room-mate. That cat had to come home sometime, they didn’t know he was loose in the house, she probably didn’t even know the cougar had a new mouse… and it was dark. Honestly, he mused with a smile to himself, it was perfect. Everything was lining up to get him out of here. He just had to be sure not to miss his chance. This wasn’t something Craig could have done, he reasoned as he approached the door. The room-mate would know about Craig. Newton hesitated… didn’t Craig have the same freedom he had now… he considered that. He’d need to be careful… if these cats, were careful about keeping mice unable to escape, surely looking down to be sure a mouse wasn’t, running by… He shook his head. It didn’t matter, this was still his best window. He’d just need to be aware, the cat might check for escaping mice. Craig had given up though, he reckoned… maybe this cat would have gotten lazy. Either way, he told himself. He just had to run, full speed, not look back. Just, mind shadows and listen for reactions. Same as ever. Soon enough he had made his way to the door itself, considering the frame. Looking up as he was, he learnt of the next problem when his paw suddenly fell on air. An involuntary squeak escaped him as he felt himself falling. It was brief. Looking down, he saw carpet… but, brushing it aside, the cause became clear… the section of carpet beneath him had a hole under it in the floor. A mesh of wires covering that hole, the wires bore carpet strands atop them, keeping up the appearance. The gaps, were big enough for a mouse’s leg, and he saw no pattern to them. He rubbed at his jaw as he considered the obstacle. It was worse the more he thought about it. Those, carpet strands would make standing on the wires themselves harder, guiding the leg to slip into one of the gaps. His claws dug slightly into his fur, a sharp exhale as he accepted what he could not avoid. He couldn’t run across this. The unexpected obstacle narrowed his options. He would have preferred to time himself, start running when he heard keys, bolt through the door as it opened, already be out of reach before they realised he was leaving. But… if he couldn’t run, he’d have to position himself by the door and dart right past them. While he mourned the lost promise of momentum, what choice did he have? Crossing the wires was a nuisance. The inconsistent mesh more than once stealing his footing and plunging his leg down into the space beneath. The wire bit into his fur, the tough fibres of carpet jabbing into his skin. It would be followed with a flurry of frustration, paws grasping to further strands to pull himself free, ready for his next step. It reminded him of thick grass, after a while, each step onto a new wire, followed by the brief prayer that the sag his weight triggered wouldn’t snap anything. He missed grass, he was realising. The blades felt so soft between his toes and brushing against his legs. Not like the course fibres. His clawed toes grasping to each wire so firmly, he felt sure he’d have a rash between his toes from the friction. Somewhere he could hear the dull tick of a clock. How long would it be till this other cat came back? When the next step sagged the wire Newton grimaced, and pushed on. It must be springy enough to endure the weight of a cat… he’d be fine. At last, his next step landed on something more solid. He wasted no time kicking off the other paw and tumbling himself to it. A short laugh escaped him, one of relief, tinged with mania. He was committed now. The door rose above like a plain wooden cliff. The mouse sat himself, looking over the door from his closer vantage. Not much space to the edges. Enough for a mouse though. He could avoid its swing. His plan set, Newton eased up, pressed himself up to the moulding at the bottom of the wall, close to the door at he dared. Now he could only wait. The hall was pitch black, but it didn’t bother Newton as he waited in the darkness. Darkness was a comforting cloak, inside anyway. Outside, night predators were terrifying. They certainly saw better than he did, but within the four walls of feline structures, it offered calm. True the cats saw well in the dark, but their lifestyles commonly kept them up during the day. At night they were tired, and slow, or sleeping. One of his ears twitched, paws had been occasionally heard going by outside, but this one sounded different, closer, and faster. A soft chime of metal on metal, a rustling tinkle caught his focus. All through his body adrenaline surged. It was time. Newton looked up along the door, dropping to all four paws, stretching himself one last time. The runup he’d wanted was lost, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get a good burst of acceleration. A rasping sound grated above, ending with a dull clunk. The clack of the lock’s inner workings in motion together as the mechanism turned. Before his eyes the insurmountable wall of wood began to move towards him. He could feel his heart racing, feel his pulse in his ears. A little further, the gap widened. He ran. A full bodied leap, rushing his legs under him as he built as much speed as he could muster. In his view, he began to see the bare paws of the cat. His route banked around one paw, in the corner of his view he noticed a twinge under the fur. Ahead was the second, he rushed for the space between the two. It was almost painful to see the paw he rushed towards in motion, sliding its pads forward on the stone step. He couldn’t make out the hue of fur, not that he cared, but in the moonlight the matted darkness of the toes began to grow a sheen, long, arcing glossy lines flexing into view. He rushed past the paws. Above he heard a drawn, sharp breath. She hadn’t taken a step yet. Much as he could he pushed that realisation from his mind. Don’t look back… just run. And run he did, past the paw, till his view was free of cat. Ahead he could see a… fence? No… a metal railing. In the corners of his view, wide, open space, a corridor of sorts. So taken was his mind with the sudden concern he might need to try and outrun a cat in a coverless dash, he almost failed to notice the next problem. The stone ground opened up before him, a dark hole whose depth he couldn’t see. Sheer instinct dug his claws into the rough stone, scurrying himself to a halt, a foreleg slipping over into the abyss before he could snatch it back. Breaths dragged from his throat, his eyes moved, quickly around. Still, he felt his heart hammering in his chest. Where was the route… where should he run now? Precious seconds were lost to the stupefied moment before he could collect himself. There was a hole… not quite as wide as a cat’s paw. It ran the whole length of the doorframe and past it. His heart sank, barely holding itself above despair by threads of desperation. A pure and wild part of him was already delivering its verdict. He knew without needing to think about it. The jump was too far. Maybe, he amended, teeth gritting together… maybe with a good running start. His lament was brought to an end, as pressure thumped down onto him, bringing with it panic. His legs bent, and buckled backwards, a last attempt to try and leap into the abyss, to pursue, the only option that didn’t have a cat in it. But the pressure came down fast. Solid stone met his fore, a wheezed sound escaping him with the air driven out. He felt a spongy surface pinning him down. Squirm as he might he couldn’t move it. The texture rough against his back. A toe pressed onto his head, and he became very still. His jaw was pressed to the stone by the digit, and between his eyes he saw the hooked edge of a readied claw. He didn’t want his hide torn, or his bones crushed. Those thoughts kept him still even as all hope for escape fled him, leaving Newton to draw in shaky, miserable breaths. The pressure on him eased, only enough that he could feel more dextrous digits fishing under the paw, grasping his sides and pulling him out, in their grasp. Very little of the cat was visible to him, sheltered by the shadow of the doorway from the radiant moon. He could tell the fur of the paw, feeling further fingers around him was dark furred. The body of the cat seemed paler, even in the minimal light her frame stood out with that fur. With little apparent ceremony the paw rose higher. Staring down her wrist he could make out the angle, mentally picturing how high she was reaching. He squirmed in her grasp, though it was half hearted. He could only fall to his death if he succeeded, unless he got lucky. The certainty of death below became stark in his mind, as a sudden gust of hotter air washed up along his paws and ankles. It felt humid against his bare toes. “No…” Newton could barely murmur the words, barely a breath had slipped into him between being pinned under paw, and grasped firmly in her hand. With all the force he could muster he kicked. His paws glanced against solid slippery shapes, and something, much squishier. Warm, leaving trailing slime on his feet. The world bounced as she started to walk, her paw lowering without preamble. That, squishy presence came under his rear, and every violent rejection he delivered with his legs only slid across its surface. A new, pinching pressure sent a shudder up his tail before her hand removed itself from him, the fingers peeling away. He grasped to one finger, but the fur slid through his hold, her paw removing itself. Gravity’s grip replaced hers, and Newton felt a moment of falling, rear sliding down the slippery welcome mat. Pain shot up his tail, Newton’s hips going no further, forebody flipping till his muzzle hit what he had to assume was her tongue, a sudden impact, splattering slime across the fur of his face. His paws pushed, and he sat up best he could, a firm wall coming onto his head to pin his ears down. Her mouth had levelled out he realised, sometime during his flip he supposed. The floor rose, walls closing in and pressing Newton to the roof of her mouth. A shuddering whimper escaped him. The tongue, fitted itself to his form as it rose and pressed, sinking into every crevice, indenting itself with mouse. Once more today he felt slime seeping into his fur, soaking him through. All he wanted was… nothing concrete filled the end of that in his mind. Not this, was the best answer he had. Newton thrashed, kicked, shoved, trying to force the tongue to give him room. Sections of it sank when he attacked, only to squish back up the moment he drew back his limb. A rolling squeeze came across his body, threatening to suck the air from his lungs, a wet slurp of shifting goo as the mouse found himself being sucked on like a hard candy. Each tightening of her mouth pressing squishy flesh into his fur, where it deposited its slimy load. Still her body was in motion, he could feel it, but, a sudden intense shake through her saw it come to an end. Now she was at rest. He redoubled his efforts, aware what that meant for his personal timeline. The grip on his tail hadn’t relented, he found bitter hope in that. She wasn’t going to just swallow him, as he was powerless to resist. She, wouldn’t keep hold of him unless she meant to draw him out again. It sounded better than the alternative, but, the reasons she wanted him alive, the very thought drove a shudder of raw revulsion through his body. Quite suddenly the pressure eased off, the tongue sank down to rest with Newton sprawled on it. He felt heavy, slimy. Time to play… He could only whimper, feeling the dampness in his eyes, expectant tears and her saliva both. What awaited him out there… plaything of this cat, and then what? Eaten? Handed back to that cougar or kept for herself. A life of this. Being eaten afterwards, it almost sounded better. Could he end it? The thought flickered across his mind, and while he tried to push it away, it didn’t move, it lingered, horrifyingly tantalising to his instinctive core. His feet felt back, he could feel the teeth, a solid presence. His tail… he couldn’t just detach it but… could he drag it from her grip, could he, tear his tail. A shivering sob ran through his chest… that sounded painful… would it be? He wriggled his hips back a touch, placing both feet to the teeth… could he do it? If he, kicked with all his might, could he break her grip? Slick as he was he had little doubt his momentum would… would carry him to her throat. Nature would take care of the rest whether this cat liked it or not. She wouldn’t, surely, retch him up just to torment him further. His clawed toes flexed against the solid teeth, his willpower sputtering like an old, worn engine as he tried to will himself to do it… just, don’t think about what happens next, just the action. He’d been kicking and flailing all day, just one more good kick… one good kick to defeat her, to stop her using him as a toy. Escape… he could escape like this, he told himself. His legs were trembling, but they didn’t kick. Newton pressed his paws over his muzzle, and gasped a wracking sob into them. He couldn’t do it… that voice deep inside, the one he’d always followed said no. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to get away. There was, no relief down that throat, a faster death… a shorter life, it wasn’t what he really wanted. He wanted to live… live without being a plaything. The latter, the throat could offer, but briefly. The choice, as expected, was soon taken away from him. He felt a wash of cooler air across his back, and his tail was pulled. The tongue rose, easily brushing his feet from her teeth and offering a safe ramp for her to drag him from her mouth. Newton curled up into a ball, burying his face in his paws. Playtime. The paw came under him, the leathery pads becoming his seat. He could make out the shadow of her head, the sharp ears, the pointed muzzle. Breath washed against him. He could smell cheese on it… Should he say something, he wondered as he panted heavily. Before he could decide, the cat spoke. His ears perked slightly, a frown touching Newton’s muzzle as he listened “didn’t know Jess caught herself a new mouse…” the feminine voice crooned. The movement of her lips, only a shadow in the gloom of, what Newton assumed was a room just like the cougar’s. What shadows he could make out seemed similar. “We’re going to play a little game, you and I” Newton grimaced. His tail was still pinned by her thumb. The game, he could guess. Already the paw was lowering… “The little mouse, caught by a ravishing feline” she purred “soon to be placed down between her thighs… what will he do? His choice will decide how his encounter plays out… will he try to run, or pleasure the almighty feline” Something clicked. Newton felt a wash of realisation. That voice. The cats all sounded, so similar to him, he couldn’t claim to recognise individual cats with perfection, but he had thought the voice was familiar. She was treating this like a game… a more literal game “Raina?” he shouted. Was he wrong… more to the point, what did he have to lose? He got a reaction. The paw halted. Could it be, that he was right. He drew in a slow breath… should he identify himself though… was it too late to avoid that? He’d shouted without thinking but, he didn’t remember that, cat from the gaming group giving him, safe vibes. But given his current situation… anything sounded better, unless it, only excited her. The paw rose again, a slight discontented grunt from the feline. Her whole body leaned, for reasons Newton couldn’t deduce, until suddenly there was light, half blinding the mouse. When he adjusted, he found the muzzle of his captor was close, very close. Dark face amid bright cream fur, and those striking, piercing blue eyes. Same breed of cat as Raina. Behind, he saw her tail swish, rapid, sharp movements. Her eyes were focussed on him, the intensity unpleasant. “That’s my name” she commented, head tilting a little “now how do you know that… If Jess can name you I’d be surprised, never mind giving out mine…” an ear twitched “Craig maybe…” Newton hesitated… he had a reaction sure… but what now? Press it, or, not. If not, she’d just go back to her game, right? Finally he, had to make his decision. If it offered any slight chance of avoiding being her plaything. Hesitation made his tongue heavy. “I’m Newton” he said with force “I was in your games, with Matthew… and Billy, remember me?” Her ears perked suddenly, and her face, took on a look that made his blood run cold. He recognised it. The relaxed, but attentive look he’d seen on her face when first Matthew had brought him into the room where his friends were gathered “Right… of course. What are the chances, huh? You got caught fast. Figured that was the last we’d see of you when you scurried away” she chuckled faintly, her paw bouncing slightly under him “But Jess caught you, of all cats, Jess?” Newton grimaced, the implication stinging to his remaining pride, his eyes locked on hers, narrowed and attentive “It was a pity when you left, you’re quite the, special catch” a soft purr escaped the feline “Lucky me. I wonder if our brave adventuring mouse will fare so well in this goddess’s domain…”

Newton and the Gray Newton was a mouse of habit. His first instinct was to check the locks. They weren’t the sort opened easily. He was, effectively, trapped. With the other mice, he exchanged only a few words. They shared his wish to leave this city, he could tell that much. The reasons why, they didn’t want to say, nor did he. It left them relatively little to talk about. After a time he gave up on that and just sat himself, trying to find some mental peace. Though that wasn’t easy either. Too many mice around and not enough cover. From time to time, the tiger returned, would read a name from a clipboard, and leave with whichever mouse responded. Time was hard to judge, he guessed every quarter hour or so she was back, a new name, a new mouse left with her. He wished he could, see more of their process. The empty spaces left him with, unease. Grudgingly, Newton eased to his paws, his rear sore from sitting. Maybe he should look for that, Phil mouse again. Vaguely he remembered seeing the mouse greet another newcomer, then wander off to a different part of the cage. Though mostly open, the cage did have some dividers and Newton moved around the side of the one where he’d last seen Phil. A couple of sections he moved through without, any sign of the mouse. He hadn’t heard the name called… so where was he, Newton mused. It, had to be close to the next arrival by the tiger, he considered. Maybe he could ask her. He scurried for the front of the cage, lingering by the bars… and now to wait again. Bored, his eyes found some curiosity in the other cages on the opposite side of the room. There really were a lot of mice here. In some ways he was comforted so many had escaped the paws of cats. On the other, concerned so many had ended up on the campus, or had experienced enough to throw themselves on the mercy of cats. His roaming eyes fixed quite suddenly. Phil. He was sure of it, the waddle of that plump grey mouse his eyes had fixed on over in the opposite cage… how had he gotten there? He quieted his mind to think… he hadn’t seen Phil removed, maybe they mixed up the cage occupants sometimes? Even so, as far as he knew they hadn’t done so. Curious, Newton let himself consider another option. Maybe there was a way out of the cage, something linking them? He was pretty sure he, had seen paths down from the cage above, but when he dwelled on it, not in the direction Phil had gone before. Newton doubled back, a few questions to passing mice. Vague recollections of seeing Phil going the same way he had seen. Hurrying that way, Newton rounded the last partition to an empty space. It wasn’t surprising. The last partition seemed meaningless, it separated off a sliver of cage too small to be of much use, unless one wanted to be alone, he supposed. It was right in the corner where the back wall met the door wall. Newton felt along the bars, considered the ceiling, felt to the partition, but there were no obvious breaks. One thing did catch his eye though. The mice were spared the cold metal of the cage floor by a layer of, he’d not call it carpet, but cloth, bound down to the floor. It was loose in one corner. He cast a look around but, he was alone, out of sight. The cloth rose to a firm tug, and below, metal. But, not uniform he mused. There was a square of metal sitting on the floor of the cage under the cloth, and a good push, showed what it covered. A neat, round hole. A smug little smile touched Newton’s muzzle. He wasted no time lowering himself through, pulling the cloth down behind him, and carefully, pushing up at the square of metal, shimmied it so it would cover up the hole. He found himself in a bored circle of rough wood. Phil’s scent lingered here strongly. He had a tunnel… how long had that mouse been here? And why keep it a secret… Newton shrugged to himself… he could ask the mouse personally. The tunnel was unpleasantly tight, choked with the scent of torn wood even presumably so long after it had been cut. Each step he was mindful of his paws, though while the sides still looked splintered, the bottom was largely clear. Before long, he found a split. The bored hole broke into, what seemed an empty section of the wall. To his side he could see, what he took for part of the doorframe. There was a route to climb up there, he noticed. Where might that lead… over the top and to the other cages? Most other possible routes were blocked off by rough slabs of wood that had been jammed into the cavity. But the, hole he had been following kept going. That one caught his interest. He had a hunch where the first route would take him… but what about this one? It led to, wherever the cats had bored this hole from, presumably. All he’d seen so far was leading him to a conclusion. This had to be how Phil was getting around, but more than that, it seemed like this route had been made on purpose, and by feline hands. The hole he was crawling through, it was too perfect to be done by a mouse, it had to be a tool. These, wooden pieces to keep a mouse’s options down, no running wild in the walls. And thinking back, what about the hole in the floor of the cage, surely a mouse didn’t cut that. One route took him to Phil, he wasn’t sure he’d get a straight answer. The other… if he was quiet, maybe offered more clarity. His nerves were reigniting as he moved along, scurrying on all fours, sniffing ahead. As he moved, strange scents were coming to him. Just faintly he remembered some of them, disinfectant. Memories of cats dressing their wounds as he hid in their homes, flickered back. Medical, that checked out. Ahead the hole stopped, opening out into a room. All he could tell was the walls were white, and from that he could see, he’d have a shelf to stand on. Pausing by the exit, he considered what was ahead… open shelf, a pale wood held to the wall by black painted metal. There were boxes ahead though. It was a distance… Carefully he poked his head free to survey the room. By feline standards it seemed tight, there were counters, strewn with metal objects. A table in the centre with, some sort of device. Notably there was one feline. Pristine white fur, but for a single, dark tuft on one sharp ear. Or at least, what he could see was all white, white as the coat the feline was gowned in. The clawed paws shrouded in tight blue material. They weren’t looking his way. Still, he didn’t feel the hole was a safe place. They might look this way, expecting an arrival. Newton readied himself and bolted, leaping behind the cover of the two, stacked boxes. Images on the outsides displayed those same, unnatural blue gloves the cat was wearing. They were taller than him at least. Carefully Newton crept around to the far edge, and peered at the cat again. They seemed to be fiddling with the device on the table. The more he looked at it, it seemed like, a chair, mouse sized. There were lenses suspended on gangly metal arms, casting bright spots down onto the sling of fabric. He heard a door opening, out of his range of view and soon that tiger stepped into sight. Her paws held ahead of herself like when she had been carrying him. Sure enough, a small brown shape of fur was settled on her dark pads “I’ve got little Gavin for you Doctor…” “Don’t call them little, Rachel” the pale feline chided gently, offering a paw, soft pink islands amid fluffy white fur. The tiger’s face fell, a slow nod as she tipped the mouse carefully onto the daintier paw of the white cat “sorry…” Newton squinted as the white cat lifted the mouse in paw up to his features. A slight smile seemed to curl the muzzle, the off paw adjusting a set of small glasses that half covered muted green eyes “I’m just going to set you into our chair here” he explained as he crouched down, easing the mouse into the contraption. They, sank slightly into the fabric, pawing to the metallic shapes on their sides. The white feline reached to a tray beside the chair, drawing out a fine rod of metal, and adjusting the lenses before him “kindly open your mouth…” The mouse complied, and further commands were met with, similar compliance. The whole procedure seemed practiced, routine. It put Newton at ease. They couldn’t know he was watching… why put on a big act if it was just for one mouse?. “You seem in good health” the doctor mused “I just need to check your ears…” he glanced to the tiger, her ears pinned “It’s still not working properly” A low sigh escaped the white cat, fingers pinching to his nose “I hate these machines…” he crouched lower, paw easing before the seated mouse “May I handle you? The headrest there is supposed to turn your head for me but… I’d not trust this to a machine on the fritz” From his angle, Newton could make out a slow nod from the mouse, who eased up back into the doctor’s paw. How to get out of here, crossed Newton’s mind. It seemed this medical check would be over soon… that tiger apart from following fetching instructions occasionally, was just standing there, casting her eyes about. He doubted she was looking for anything in particular… but she’d see him if he moved. He’d, rather not be seen here. Maybe if he waited till she took the mouse away he could slip out again… His focus drifted back to the events before him, watching the doctor’s hands scoop up the mouse. Fingers of one paw holding to the belly and chest, supporting the small mouse while delicate fingers slid to the sides of the mouse’s head. “Ok… just relax” the feline’s voice so soft Newton barely heard it, carefully turning the mouse’s head “Nurse… lens” The tiger’s ears perked alert, a small slip of glass lifted between mouse and cat, the doctor squinting “Ok, good” the doctor’s fingers slowly turned the mouse’s head the other way “seems healthy so far, are you in any pain?” “No” the mouse’s slight voice carried in the silence. “Very good” the doctor murmured, before his paw moved, more sharply, a quick twist. A short, crack of sound carrying in the silent room. The paws relaxed, lifting from the mouse that flopped limply onto the pads of the lower paw. Newton stared, frozen in, shock, mind reeling to, comprehend what he’d seen. The tiger turned, picking up a small box from a side table, offering it to the doctor, who carefully eased the mouse inside, finger nudging the limp body into a better position, before the box was shut, and the tiger pressed a simple label upon the box’s lid, placing the box down with. Newton shivered. More, there were several on the table by a door from the room. Did they all? “I don’t know how you keep your hands so steady” she mumbled as the doctor pulled his gloves free, tossing them to a bin by the side “It comes with practice” the doctor noted with a gentle smile “this was how we used to have to do it, before…” he eyed the chair with distaste “someone had the bright idea to trust everything to a machine. It needs to be quick and clean and precise. Fine when a machine is working, but when its not?” He left the point hanging “that said, this is an outdated chair. You should see the larger facilities. The largest has a rather elegant method, the holding room is airtight, they leave liquid nitrogen canisters open, it fills the space with nitrogen. Funny way the body works, the sense of suffocation is driven by carbon dioxide quantity in the lungs. So, if it is simply displaced by nitrogen, they fall unconscious without realising anything is wrong. Turn the system on overnight, they just drift off peacefully to sleep” the white cat clicked his tongue “never happen here of course, they’d never pay for it. Never mind we’re on a campus. Their decisions are based on facility size not, intake. Ridiculous” The tiger nodded slowly “well, that was the last one, you’re going home now?” “I’ll let you clean up” the doctor confirmed, stepping to the door, paws sliding under the boxes “I’ll slip these into the cooler on my way out” “Oh, thanks” the tiger chimed in as the pale feline left. Newton eased a paw over his muzzle, exhaling shakily into his fingers. Barely noticing the tiger’s wiping of their, contraption and tools. He had to get out of here, now. Where could he go? His mind reeled with the horror of his situation… what were they even doing here? The path back just led to their cages, a wait, till… this. Could he warn the other mice…? What then? They’d be caged together. From what he could see, this shelf was too high to jump. Could he… use a glove like a parachute? Would that even work? His mind reeled, so taken he, didn’t realise his predicament until the boxes before him suddenly rose away, and his turning head brought him eye to eye with the tiger. She, was as shocked as him, and just perhaps, almost as horrified. The boxes fell from her grip, as did the drenched, slightly pink cloth she had been bringing to the shelf. He had to go… if he could warn the other mice… maybe, maybe someone could do something. If nothing else, he was a mouse, and a cat had seen him. He bolted, for the hole, for cover. “No!” He heard her blurt out the word, a paw slamming ahead and in his way, across the path back into the wall. Bite, it was the only thought that came to him. He lunged for the blocking paw, but before he got there her other paw slammed down on him. His mind went black for a moment, flopping to the shelf as his brain rattled with the impact. A plaintive squeal came from the tiger “oh… what have I…” her paws lifted away, before darting back in, scooping ahead and behind him. Newton cupped up into her grip before he could regain his senses. He felt thick fingers curling to his body, binding his limbs down. A thick, padded thumb squished down on one of his ears, another curling to his jaw. His eyes widened “No, Stop, don’t!” he shrieked the words, shaking his head violently in the snug grip, looking to her wide, panicked eyes. His whole world shook with the tremor in her paws, her features grimaced, paws tightening. He felt his head turned sharply, wrenched but, it brought a gasp of pain, not the feared, void. She whimpered again, paw lifting from his head, as fast as she might flee a lit candle “I… I can’t, I…” the world blurred as she turned, her paw with him in thrown this way, then another. But quite suddenly he was rushing down, pushed past an entry that scratched at his sides, thumping down on cold, hard metal. Bars were in all directions as the world became, still. He was in a cage, a cage that suddenly lurched up, then down, thumped on the shelf. “Just… just be calm… just, stay” the tiger babbled, backing away from him and the confines he found himself in “I’ll, I’ll get the doctor, I…” if she meant to add anything, it didn’t come out. She turned, scrabbling at the door handle before disappearing through it. A heavy thud of paws hammering away into the distance. Newton’s heart felt like it would burst from his chest. He ached, his neck hurt. His paws barely knew where to move to check himself. He had to get out. The reminder came to him starkly. He couldn’t wait, he didn’t care if he was injured… she was getting that, white cat. He turned in a frenzy. Walls on all sides, above there was an opening. He jumped for it, she hadn’t latched it but, it was too high. He turned, ramming his shoulder to the cage walls, it barely moved. If he could just tip it over, or something… The thump of sizable paws only charged his efforts, but the cage was too heavy. The huge door on the other side of the room swung wide with force, bouncing off a table with a startling thump. No sign of the pale cat though, the tiger stepping back in, face half covered with her paws. Newton found himself meeting her eye before she rushed over again “he’s gone… but… you can stay here, he’ll be back, early, you’ll see… or…” her paws seemed to tremble, a flash of fangs as she fumbled with a box on a side table, lifting a small device which, Newton got a better look at, as suddenly she lurched closer to his cage with it. Long, relatively thin, with a barely visible extending, sharp looking point. Something deep inside Newton wanted nothing to do with the thing. “Get away” he backed up in the cage till cold bars pressed into his fur, eyes locked on the advancing tiger. Her eyes were on the paw holding the implement, her other paw grasping to her wrist, but barely stopping the way the tip jumped around with the shake in her limb “Just… hold still, please” desperation clung in her voice as she crouched lower, one paw moving to support the cage, while the other.. brought that thin metal spike closer to the cage itself “It won’t hurt… maybe a little nip, it’ll relax you, it… it won’t hurt you, it’s just for mice who are nervous… you’re nervous but, this will help” “Just let me go, please” Newton shouted to the towering mountain of orange and black fur “I’ll go away, I promise just, let me go…” “No” the word blurted out of her, the tiger flinching at her own volume, crouching closer “No… no, you’d tell the other mice, they’d be… they’d be sad, and scared. They’ve gone through enough” she grimaced, eyes lingering on the paw with her implement. The tip was jumping around with the tremble in her fingers. With a shaky sigh she drew it away “we, failed you, but… just relax, please… the doctor, he’ll make everything better for you, you, can still be at peace” Peace? The word rocked through Newton’s mind, with it a flare of anger over the fear “You’re killing mice, they, they think you’re taking them home!” “You will go home, you will” she asserted, rising and putting the needle tipped device into the box again, a dejected sniff “and, no cats will hurt or eat you when you get there” “I don’t want to die” Newton half screamed the words, having some, small satisfaction from seeing her flinch back. He could reason with her… he, had to hope so “Please just… I won’t come back, I won’t tell the others, I just want to go… can’t you understand?” “It’s, better for you this way” she mumbled, already, she was stepping back, further from his cage “you’ll see, you, you can think about it, you’ll see tomorrow… just, sleep, and…” she trailed off, turning, rushing back through the door which shut behind her, leaving Newton alone. He delivered a kick to the cage, but it proved as unyielding as ever. Tomorrow… he had all night to get out of this crazy place. It, had to be enough. The cage was a heavy thing, refusing to move despite Newton’s best efforts. The lock, not in a place he could reach to try and tamper with it, if he even could without tools. At some point the lights had gone out, a sudden click putting him in darkness. The room bore no windows, offering his night vision little to work with. Only small, green and orange lights in the darkness, glowing the status of their machines kept the room from being pitch black. Still, silhouettes were the most he could make out even after adapting to the conditions, and unfocussed ones at that. After time he couldn’t count trying to get himself out, Newton had collapsed to the cage, and drifted. His mind too alert to his situation to allow him true sleep, his body too weary to stay fully awake. The balance was tipped by the creak of a door. Not that Newton felt confident which side of the divide he was on. Still, he concluded he was probably awake. He liked to think his dreams were kinder to him than this. He sat up, alert. Was there movement in the gloom…? It was hard to tell. The cage walls suddenly felt, slightly less oppressive, as he stared out past them at… he didn’t know what. “Seen something you weren’t supposed to, huh?” an amused voice thrummed from the darkness “Well… this could work out nicely” Newton yelped as the floor under him moved. In the corner of his eyes, he saw claws hook to the bars of his cage. His stomach dropping as it was lifted easily from its spot. Before his view, he could see deep, golden yellow irises, luminous in the dark, narrowing on him. “You want out of here little mouse? I can help with that…” Newton couldn’t make out the face, but close as he was, he could see the movement of, the jaw even if it was only a shadow. The warmth of feline breath pouring in through the bars “Who are you?” Newton asked of the darkness “Gray, you can call me, Gray” the voice chuckled “Now… to the point. Do you want out of here, mouse?” Gray asked, a sly bemusement lingering in the tone “I’m guessing you’re my kind of mouse… a survivor. You’re in this little cage, not a cardboard coffin, after all” Newton exhaled slowly… the answer… it was obvious. He knew nothing about this cat, except they seemed to find his fate amusing. They’d probably kill him. But the cats who were coming back in the morning would definitely kill him. “I want out” Newton responded tersely “I can see it in your eyes… I like you already” the cat purred “that look. But hey, we understand each other. You’re pretty sure I’ve got a warm, churning future for you… and I’m pretty sure you’ll try to get away from me first chance you get. I can work with that” Gray tilted the cage slowly till Newton tumbled to the wall. The door was, more reachable now. “So, I’m going to be blunt here mouse. I’m here to take every single mouse they’ve got locked up. Not going to promise you, or them a glowing, lovely utopia, mind you. Full disclosure, at least a few are going exactly where you think you are. But I won’t eat all of you, no point. Still, I think we understand each other, right? You’ve got more chances to get away if you come with me than staying here…” Newton grimaced. He didn’t like that… he didn’t like that this cat knew his reasoning so perfectly. He didn’t like the voice of cold, calm experience this cat oozed. Whatever this cat was, they wouldn’t be easy to get away from… but… they were still right “I’ll take my chances…” “Thought so… now, don’t try anything, I’m going to let you out of the cage. Just so you know, if you try running, I’ll flatten you, and if you get away… you’re not getting out of this building” the cage tipped again, till Newton had flopped onto the door. He could hear the clicks of the cat working on the lock below “Besides, like I said, I want all the mice. You can help me with that” The door fell away, and Newton slid out onto, the tough but flexible padding of a paw. The heat of the feline washing up at him. Should he run… he couldn’t see much but, if he ran down the cat’s arm, jumped, grabbed at fur on the legs, maybe he could get to the floor… could the cat really stop him in this light? He sighed. A cat had better eyes in this light… and Newton realised he had no idea which way to run… If he couldn’t get out of the room, that option was little different than staying in the cage. “So?” Gray probed “What would you want?” Newton pressed, hearing the cage clatter as it was tossed aside “I want the plant” Gray noted, more coolly “I want you to think… when you got here, there was probably a mouse who approached you to parrot back everything the kitties told you. There’s one in every establishment, it’s part of their script. I want you to point them out to me when I confront the cages. This will be easier if I can get my thumb over their muzzle” Newton felt his features harden “I know the mouse…” “Excellent” Gray chuckled “see, I knew you could help me” “What are you going to do with them?” Newton muttered “Not Phil… the other mice” Gray clicked their tongue “Well, I’m not going to systematically snap all your necks, how about that? Look at this as a, lesser of two evils thing, is my advice” Newton rubbed to his face. No matter what way he looked at it this seemed better. What was the worst case? That he ate them all? If that was the plan, at least… there would be more time to try and escape, more time to breathe and live. And the mice would be in no doubt about whether they should be trying to escape. He just struggled to get past, the deep breathing he could hear, the flexing paw beneath. The huge cat he could barely see, who… he was probably about to help feed mice to. Still, being eaten, it sounded better than, the fate here. “Alright…” Gray seemed to be in motion. Newton was noticing now, a clunking sound, muffled and from behind the cat “I’m going to wander into the cage room… turn on the light. I want you to point out the plant quick as you can, alright? Mind if I ask you to tell the mice there a little of what you saw? It’ll probably help my uptake” “I guess” Newton slumped. He felt, so tired, and defeated. Lesser of two evils… he wanted to see this as saving mice, rather than casting them to a different fate. But that was, tricky. The bounce and sway of being in a cat’s grasp was becoming all too familiar for Newton’s taste, and he was struggling to stomach the situation. This, Gray was gentle in his hold, but at some point the thumb slid down onto his legs. Newton didn’t test the strength there but, the symbol was enough. He was going nowhere. A door creaked ahead, and the scents of his kind came to him again along with a hum of rising voices. Quite suddenly light was everywhere and Newton could see, the four long, wide cages filled with naïve mice. His stomach twisted… eyes searching one he had adjusted to the new light. There was no point lying to the cat here. His roaming eyes found the, rounded mouse. “Well?” Gray pressed him “There…” Newton gestured to the upper cage on their right “The fat one?” Gray smirked above, and Newton nodded meekly. In the new light, Newton could see more of the feline. Most of the fur was covered by a dark cloak, but the fur seemed fluffy, especially around the collar, and a soft grey that reminded Newton starkly of the cityscape. Gray’s other paw moved quickly fishing a key from his pocket, lifting it to the latch, nudging the door aside, clawed hand striking like a snake. Phil barely managed a squeak before he disappeared in the cat’s fist, head poking free, wriggling against a thumb pushed firmly over his face. “Alright…” Gray seemed to relax his stance, paw drawing out, latch nudged back into place. Those bright eyes flicked down to Newton “which cage was yours?” Newton took his memory back, glancing around. The mice were, waking fast now… pressing closer to the bars to watch the events. The fear was palpable… how could it not be. Phil was clear to see, tail lashing from one side of the fist, as muffled, whimpering protests emitted from the pad his snout was buried in “The opposite side, bottom shelf” Gray’s paw moved, so quickly Newton felt his tail reflexively wrap to the wrist as he was thrust before the cage in question “alright mice… I want you all to pay attention. Your lives depend on it” Gray spoke bluntly above “now… you mice, recognise this one?” he asked of the cage “I want you to shout it if you do, let everyone hear you” Newton found himself staring into the cage, a few, uncertain mice shifting, before calling out to the affirmative. Gray’s ears twitched. “So, you all understand” he rose Newton again into plain view of all “this mouse isn’t one I brought, he’s from your stock… today, he found his way into the surgery room” he shot Newton a pointed look “want to let them know what you saw?” He had no wish to relive that. Newton pawed to his whiskers, glancing left and right. Eyes on him… he had to tell them. His voice halted, and hesitated, but he relayed what he had seen, the caring manner, and the savage end. Images of the unfortunate mouse flickering in his mind. There was a discontented hum of noise around him. “He tells the truth” Gray noted “the kitties here, they’re a special sort of crazy. How do you cure a poor little mouse of trauma?” he clacked his teeth together “they’ll take you home sure, to bury you. In their minds, it’s the only way. Can’t have you sharing your stories about how horrible a time you had here. So much kinder to just put you out of your misery rather than live with it and spread it” he rolled his eyes “Now… I’m not going to force any of you to come along, you can stay here and embrace their particular brand of kindness if you like… and you will, tomorrow. Moment they realise they’ve been hit, they’ll want to clear you all out to make room for new, naïve mice… maybe one of you would get to live, if you become their new plant… speaking of which” His paw largely uncurled, showing off Phil to the cages “now, I’m sure most of you know this mouse… Let me guess… he’s been here longer than any of you can remember, for some reason they’re taking a long time to find enough mice who want to go where he does to make it worth it, but he’ll not say exactly where that is, and he’ll eagerly reassure you of everything the cats here promise…” he glanced around the cages “I want you mice to look left, look right, and nod if this matches your experience. Every cage, every mouse. Heck they’ll choose which cage to put you in based on where he’s doing his work” Gray’s paw rose, the objections of Phil, which still inaudible rising an octave, the flailing increasing as Gray unceremoniously parted his jaws. Above, Newton saw Phil disappear, the underjaw of the cat sag, before the teeth clicked, head bobbed, and a simple swallow banished Phil down, barely a ripple in the grey furred neck. Gray sighed “now… I’m not like these cats” he noted, licking along his chops “I don’t think eating you little squeakers is fundamentally unethical. You come with me, no promises you won’t end up right under fur like this one” his now empty paw patted to his slim middle “But the short version is I don’t have much reason to eat you. I’m an honest cat, sort of” Gray smiled slightly above “so… choice is yours” his shoulder rolled, and Newton finally realised what the noise had been, the cat sliding a backpack off one shoulder He crouched low, opening it with one paw as he set it on the ground. His paw felt in and drew out, a cage, a small one. It took Newton a moment to realise, it was his. Gray slid him through an opening he barely fit in, into a cage where he had to hunch, pushing the latch shut with a click. Newton was lowered to the floor, as Gray pulled a larger cage from his back with both paws, lifting it higher as he felt at the latch of the cages above “now, the accommodation is cramped as hell, but, it’s temporary. So, if you want to take your chances with me and leave, hop in, quickly. Pack in like squeaking sardines” above he chuckled, Newton could, just about make out mice moving to transfer, from one cage to another “Ironically, taking their cages would count as theft, taking you, not so much. There we go…” From below, Newton watched Gray continuing his collecting. Filling one cage, lowering it, packed with mice into his bag, before continuing with two more cages, stacking them carefully in his pack. The zip rolled shut, on a hundred or more murmuring voices. The bag was gingerly lifted, as Gray slid it back on slowly. The feline paused, glancing into a cage above, his paw feeling in through the opened door. Frantic squeaks echoed, before he drew his paw back, putting it to his muzzle, a flailing set of legs and tail visible before he slurped them in, and swallowed with no more ceremony than he gave Phil. “Right… and don’t think I forgot about you” Gray crouched low, paw easing under Newton’s cage, lifting it high, to the hip, then to his side “your ride will be a little bumpier” Newton could only, get a last look up at the cat before a pouch of fabric slid up the sides of his cage, the paw remaining cupped around his confines in the cat’s pocket. Distantly he heard more, distressed sounds, felt his confines bounce, rock as Gray moved, in jerking motions. He wasn’t sure how long that went on before he felt and heard the feline begin to walk, a sway to the gait as Gray left the room Now what, Newton considered to himself, curling up in the cage, not having much option in truth. For better or worse, he was away from, those cats. Into the grip of one he didn’t trust much more.

Was he changing? Newton had plenty of time to mull such, hesitant questions while riding in a cage in the pocket of the thief who had effectively saved him. Well, ‘saved’ was a description Newton was still chewing over. It all depended on what the cloaked cat, Gray had in mind for him. Him and all the other mice he had stolen away from the Freedom from Felines Foundation. But as it had for the last… however long Newton had been enduring the timeless ride, his mind circled back to the original question. He was on a slippery slope down, he could feel it. He had been so confident. Newton sighed, curled into a ball, not exactly by choice but it fit his mood. How long had he gone without being caught? He remembered, was it only a week or so ago? Back then, the cautious confidence of an experienced mouse. Determined not to underestimate the dangers, but yet, quietly certain he had the skills to overcome them. Right now, he just couldn’t feel even a spark of that. Was it over, Newton wondered to himself? Had something inside him broken, would he never be able to dodge cats, outmanoeuvre threats, live as a wanderer, a survivor again? Well, if this cat ate him before daybreak, he’d not need to worry about that. It was a dark, sardonic thought, and yet, Newton hesitated to laugh over it. Something in that idea ran a little too, true. The ride was long, but too active for Newton to sleep, even worn out as he felt. Aches were blooming across his body from the impact of being slammed to a shelf under a tiger’s paw. He just wanted to sleep, have a fresh mind to approach his problems. He felt Gray walk for some time, then a prolonged stillness, but for the jostle of the cat’s hips. Soon after, Newton concluded he was in a vehicle. There was a deep vibration, a thrumming that rattled through his bones. Muted voices, from somewhere far away. After which Gray had resumed walking. All of it left Newton with one realisation. He had no idea where he was now. The village, and the cats that controlled it were far away now. He doubted he could find them again even if he wanted to. Gray came to a sudden halt, and from the opposite side of the cat’s hip Newton faintly made out the click of metal on metal. Soon after the dull clunk of a lock. He braced himself as Gray started moving again. The ride was coming to an end. Prepared or not, he flinched when a paw came into the pocket with him. The savage edges of claws hooking the bars before his face before the limb drew free, pulling Newton into a dimly lit room. In motion, Newton couldn’t perceive much of the place till the paw lowered and set his cage onto, a table far as he could see. Adjusting to the light he took a look around. It was a simple room, he supposed. The walls a plain creamy colour. He was on a small square of flat wood suspended level with the armrest of a leather chair. It faced a wide screen propped against the far wall on a blocky cabinet. The cat, Gray, was walking to the far end of the room though, towards a spread of cages placed neatly on a strange table that took up the entire corner and then spread down the walls. There was another screen there. Newton recognised that one as a computer, he’d seen enough of them. The cages set in stacks of three on either side of it. Far as he could tell, they were empty. But judging from how Gray was setting his backpack down, not for long. “Alright little mousies” Gray chimed out as he hefted the first of the tightly packed cages from his bag, bringing it high and pushing it to the open door of one of the, larger cage structures “out, quickly. No point staying in these cages, much more room in the new one” Far as it was, Newton could still see the small bodies crossing the threshold between the cages. Gray repeated the process with the remaining cages he had taken before swaying towards Newton. He found himself meeting eyes with the cat… his turn then? Gray snatched up his cage, but also, lifted another. So focussed on the cat himself, Newton hadn’t noticed Gray still had one of the, transport cages in his paw. His claws deftly sprung the latch on Newton’s cage, bringing it to the entry to the new one “you too” It wasn’t a hard choice. Newton wiggled himself into the wider cage, just glad for the legroom. The entry was clicked shut, and Gray placed it clumsily down back on the table, turning to wander away again. Why was he still in a cage on his own? Newton worried over the implications. Singled out… that was never good. Was he going to be the first victim of this, Gray… dismally, it made sense… if the damned cat wanted to plunder his new stock, he already had one mouse on its own. The cat hadn’t gone far, but turned around soon, a squat cylinder in his paw. A pop and hiss echoed from the metallic object, before Gray brought it to his lips, a wet swallow in the silence of the room. Surely like him, Newton noted, the other mice were watching their new owner as Gray dropped the can from his lips, let out a low sigh, which transitioned into a long rattling belch. His free paw moving to slide to his stomach. The cat stepped close enough to place the cylinder, taller than Newton, down beside his solitary cage. The cat’s paws moving to his flowing garment, till the cloak fell away. It was the best look Newton had gotten at the cat yet. Gray was unassuming to look at, apart from the immense size. Sleek, graceful as cats tended to be. Cityscape grey fur, fluffy, particularly around his collar. The feline let himself fall back, thumping heavily into the chair beside Newton’s perch, reaching towards the cage, only to instead grasp his drink and bring it to his lips again. From his vantage Newton got an unwelcomely good few of Grey’s neck and throat, the pulses under the fur as the cat sent waves of liquid down to the cauldron of his stomach. Where, at least two mice were being stewed down. Probably long since dead by now. All in all, Newton wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Phil, in particular. If that mouse had known, what the cats had been doing in that awful place… well, in that case he felt the fate was well earnt… but he couldn’t exactly ask now. He knew all too well, a cat’s stomach was not a forgiving place. He’d had the misfortune of seeing what it left behind of mice he’d known. Or at least, he had to assume. Nothing was recognisable after that. That same cauldron, he expected to be his own fate, he noted as he stared at the cat. Why was he here? He wondered again.. still in a cage on his own, right beside Gray. Far as he could tell from the room, this had to be where the cat gravitated to… it was a meaningful spot, so why? He supposed, he was close enough to ask. “Why am I not with the others?” Newton called up, noting the cat’s ear twitch, Gray shooting him a sideways look, lowering his can from his muzzle, licking the dark liquid from his lips “Well… while I like to think you little mice are better off with me than back there, in the whole, confusion and fear of the moment, some over there might not agree… and might take out such feelings on a mouse they feel is particularly responsible for their choice” Newton frowned to himself. It was to protect him? He remembered the moment, before. Gray had lifted his cages to the mice at the foundation, his ultimatum, stay or leave with him. Newton didn’t doubt Gray’s claim, not for a moment. “If they had stayed they’d be dead come morning” Newton muttered “Not really” Gray chipped in, bringing Newton to alert, looking to the cat for answers Gray yawned, petting along his stomach, a softer belch escaping past his fangs “Yeah, they would have been, but I ate them” he shot Newton a sly look “only time I really gorge on you little things. Strangest feeling. So many at once. You’re such lithe critters, it’s surprising how many a cat can fit. I’ve seen professional eaters really pack mice down…” “How many did you…?” Newton mumbled, eyes flicking down the settled cat… that was why he was nursing his stomach so… “All of them” Gray gave him a look “and my thanks for convincing so many to avoid that fate” he paused to yawn, arching his back “I wasn’t about to leave any of them behind” So, the only survivors were himself and those in the other cages, Newton considered. But, the cat would have fattened himself with mouse whether Newton had helped or not… “Why…?” Newton asked searchingly “Shame to let them go to waste” Gray chuckled to himself “but more to the point, no witnesses, little mouse. I’d have a hard time sneaking into their facilities if I left mice. Sure, they’d be dead come morning, but… some in that place have a few brain cells to rub together. Enough to ask the mice who came for them. So… they tell them it was a cat with grey fur, who opened the cages with a key… that’s going to hurt me” Newton shivered some. It, wasn’t his fault, he reminded himself. But he couldn’t get the image from his mind. This cat’s stomach stretched taught around a graveyard of, how many mice he wondered. At least it was probably quick for them. “Anyway, I’m a little tired for chatting” Gray mused, downing the last of his can in a long toss of his head, setting the empty container down beside Newton’s cage, shooting him a smirk “you rest up too.. I’ve high hopes for you…” The cat bounced himself up from his chair, pausing to roll his paw to his stomach again with a muted groan, the sound fading into a slight chuckle. Gray took a swaying step away from Newton, tail swishing, brushing to the cage as the feline stepped around the chair to a door in one wall, disappearing through it into a dark room. The door clicked shut, and Newton found himself alone again. Or at least he felt alone. The room was only lit by moonlight, but he could make out the mesh of the distant cages and the shifting of shapes within. If he was honest with himself he didn’t feel all that responsible for whatever fates they found. He was more worried about himself and how he was to get away from this Gray cat. Had he not talked, it seemed they’d be swelling the caustic sack of their… rescuer’s… belly, assuming his words had even mattered to them. Still, he mused, if he could find a way out, he would like to help them. He only hoped they felt the same. Sleep came easier than expected, or rather, he became suddenly aware he was waking up. The room was brighter, sunlight pouring through a distant window. Even from here he could see the lock keeping it shut. A rattle drew his attention. It was from one of the distant cages. A stack of mice were fighting the latch closing them in. Newton watched, passively in his sleepy state. He wished them luck, but doubted their success. He knew these sort of locks. No key, the only thing one needed to push the door open was enough strength and leverage. Without something long enough to push the catch on the outside, it would be practically impossible for mice to escape that way. He preferred locks, locks could be picked. Sometimes the simple solutions worked best. A quick examination told him his cage was the same brand. He surveyed the table around him… if he only had something long, stiff enough to pry it under the catch. Maybe his full weight jumped on it could, just maybe open the door. But, the table was clear, except for the unhelpful tall can emblazoned with some bright word that meant nothing to him. A thump caught his attention, his ears perking at the sound. Heavy paws. His eyes flicked instantly to the door Gray had gone through. He heard nothing, cats could move so quietly sometimes. The door swung ajar, and the cat strode into view, arms high, arching, pink maw showing in his grey face, flashing fangs as he yawned. But that wasn’t what caught Newton’s eye. What caught his eye was also pink, but lower, probing from the fluff of the cat’s hips. If he needed any further evidence Gray was a male… it was there throbbing with the cat’s heartbeat. Gray stepped closer to his cage, as Newton struggled to tug his eyes away from the glaring presentation. “See something you like?” Newton’s eyes flicked up, to meet the amber eyes of the cat, gleaming with mischievous glee, mirrored by the sly smirk “Little mouse want to play?” “Never” Newton grunted “Poor word choice” Gray purred, a paw lowering, patting the top of Newton’s cage. Already he was tensing, waiting… for the lock to click, for the cat to force the issue but, Gray turned, the sight taken from Newton’s gaze. He heard the cat yawn again, as Gray swayed to the other side of the room “how about you little mice, huh?” his voice crooned “any takers?” The feline crouched before the distant cages, clawed paw rolling to the bars “no unwilling mice need apply… being sincere here. Any mice tempted, huh? Any of you really want to ride the kitty? Promise it won’t end badly for you, unless you volunteer and don’t show enough willing…” he left the threat hanging casually “But if you want to know what a cat like me feels like… come on, there’s always one… who wants to help kitty put his morning wood to good use…” After a moment, Gray’s paw slid to one of the cage doors, a purr stirring from the cat “and we have a winner…” the paw slipped in, a ball of greyish brown fur being pulled free, before the door was shut again. The mouse raised high for Gray to observe “a male, huh…? I’m not picky, so long as you’re sure…” The cat chuckled a moment later, paw brushing down himself, before he turned. Newton could only stare at the, mouse clung to the sagging rod of feline want “you just hang on… get acquainted” Gray yawned again, a sway back towards his door. Briefly his eyes turned around the room “I’ll feed you little guys when I’m done…” and with that, the cat stepped beyond the door again, and it shut with a thump. “So that’s how it is” Newton pawed along his whiskers, as he mulled over the interaction. The cat only wanted them for his enjoyment… but had asked. He doubted he’d be asking nicely once he ran out of willing playthings. The room was far too quiet for Newton to ignore the sounds from the next room. After a bit he could hear the panting, the soft squeak of springs. All of it halting quite, suddenly. He could guess why, and grimaced to himself as he imagined the fate of that mouse. It wasn’t long after that Gray stepped from his room again, alone, the prong disappeared back beneath fur. The cat hummed to himself as he stepped to a side table, stacked with those, cans, grasped one, pressed to it with the same pop and hiss, before stepping to Newton again, past him, flopping into his chair as he drew a long swig from his drink. “How was breakfast” Newton folded his arms. He watched an ear perk, the cat glancing his way with a raised brow, before smiling “oh… you mean the little mouse? I didn’t eat him, he’s got his own personal cage in my room” “The fleshy sort that digests the occupant” Newton quipped “not very trusting are you?” Gray’s tone held more amusement than anything “trust me mousy, that one, is far too valuable to eat” Gray drew a long sip of his drink “I can charge a good price for that little cocktease. Mice who ride you eagerly aren’t so common, male ones, even more so. There might not be too many gay cats out there yearning for a little bedroom pet, but, when supply is low, there’s always a profit” Gray explained with a smug grin “I’m going to take, very good care of that little mouse… and hey, he’ll probably have a better life than most of you squeakers. Funny how life works out, isn’t it? But, you tell me, think he’d do well if I put him back into the main cage?” Newton folded his arms “No…” he conceded. The cat ventured nothing more, content seemingly to finish his drink. “What do you plan to do with us?” Newton asked of the seated cat “Sell you, obviously” Gray swirled his can, looking to Newton for a long moment, before smirking “so you see, I really have no reason to eat or harm my merchandise, do I?” That… Newton considered the implications for a long moment “to other cats… what for?” “Whatever they want, none of my business” Gray shrugged “You ate the other mice… the ones yesterday, you expect me to believe you’re going to hand us out…? You’re a thief” Gray smirked, and laughed shortly, thumping his can down to the table beside Newton’s cage “well, you’re right, I am a thief” his smirk twisted some, as he leaned in closer to Newton’s cage “but, well… the laws have a few little… grey areas, shall we say, when it comes to you little things. Breeding you is illegal, releasing you anywhere near civilisation is illegal. Raiding your wild nests is illegal, with a few… exploitable caveats. Technically you’re not property, so I can’t steal you. They’ve got me on breaking and entering, max. And selling you… well, like I say, that one is a grey area… Officially what we’re supposed to do with a chatty mouse we catch is dispose of it, or there’s a line you can call to have some agency come and take you off our paws. Selling you isn’t one of those, but… it’s not specifically illegal” He sipped his drink again, before peering into the can, and placing it down by the one from the day before “so… you’ve got nothing on me, basically… still” he tapped a claw to the cage “you… you I like, mousy. You’re spunky. You’re not begging, you’re threatening. I like that” Newton felt his blood chill as that grinning muzzle drew in closer “I can get a good price for you… but maybe I’d rather keep you. See, I don’t eat many mice, don’t play with you that much either. But I have one weakness… I like the slow, delicious process of getting a bold little mouse like you broken. You’re a lot like me, you know… a survivor, where society wants you dead or gone. I respect that” he licked his lips for a moment “but it also makes you trigger every deep, instinctive predatory urge in my blood… nothing personal” Newton shuddered, but Gray backed off, and eased from his chair, wandering to a different door from the room, pausing to look back “hope you little mice like cereal” he called to the room before disappearing into the room beyond. The cat returned with food, placing a dish in each of the cages, though Newton got the sort he’d seen cats use for dipping sauces. It brought, unpleasant memories, but the crunchy flakes inside were familiar. He’d dug his way into boxes of this stuff before. Only briefly did he hesitate before eating ravenously. He trusted Gray didn’t have any reason to poison them. On the other side of the room, Gray had settled himself before his computer, and one by one he had the mice in the larger cages line up. He held a device before them, bringing their image onto his screen, an image Newton could see stayed put even after he took the device back. There was a merry energy to the cat’s swishing tail as he did, whatever he was doing. Should he be relieved or concerned, Newton pondered. That Gray hadn’t done the same to him. Being sold, seemed degrading, but when he imagined a cat who would buy a mouse, surely it was a cat who couldn’t catch them on their own, right? He liked his chances better with a cat like that, than this Gray. “It’s a good day” Gray chimed out quite suddenly, wheeling his chair back from his screen, head drifting close to one of his cages, roaming his eyes along the contents “already got ten of you little squeakers committed, very nice” He bounced up from the wheeled seat, humming contentedly to himself as he crouched down, opening the cabinets the cages set on. From his vantage, Newton could see it only contained more cages. Empty though, it seemed. After feeling along several Gray picked one, lifting it high and setting it atop the filled cages, though remaining crouched, looking along his collection of mice. “Alrighty, if there are any mice keen to get to know some lovely ladies, now’s the time to raise your paw. Not going to lie, pretty decent prospects of getting through your purchase in one piece if you feel confident…” his eyes surveyed his cages again “I need nine of you, bucks only. I’ll just start picking myself if I don’t have enough volunteers. They didn’t specify who they wanted” he smirked slightly “well… actually, they did pick one, for number ten” his eyes strayed to one cage in particular, paw prying the latch, and darting in. A brief chorus of panicked squeaks came to Newton’s ears, before Gray’s paw returned with a mouse in his grip. Quickly the mouse was deposited in the smaller cage while Gray leaned in closer “being brutally honest… you’re going to have to do a really, really good job to get through tonight, methinks… anyway” Gray surveyed the cages again, and his paws started to dip into different ones, gathering out mice a little more gently. Newton assumed these were mice who were choosing to take their chances. Would he, given the chance, Newton wondered. No… He shuddered. He felt he had a good idea what those mice were in for… “Ow… shit” Gray’s paw retracted from a cage quickly, thumb into his mouth. Just faintly, Newton could see a small shape bouncing off of Gray’s squatted leg, landing to the floor and bolting in his direction. Or rather, the direction of the heavy leather chair beside the table his cage rested on. His eyes flicked back to Gray, the cat wasn’t giving chase. Rather, his paws were moving to the cages, latching each firmly in turn before he stood, a burst of a sigh escaping him. Newton couldn’t see the other mouse anymore, they’d gotten to cover he assumed. His focus was on the cat. This moment was, important to him. He’d get to see how Gray dealt with escapes. In some ways he was surprised. The cat didn’t approach the chair, but rather padded past it, to the room he’d gone into, to sleep, reaching in past the doorway, dragging out… Newton faintly recognised the machine. It was the loud, air sucking machines cats used for cleaning. “Right” Gray grunted, crouching by the chair, feeding the pole of his contraption under it. There was, a screeching whine of air as the machine took in a long breath, Gray’s paw moving it slowly, and steadily. The whining flow halted, a dull note interrupting it, a thump of silence in the stream followed by a gasping sound as the machine dragged in air again. It returned to slumber with a wheeze, Gray pulling the rod from beneath the chair, paw deftly turning at the nozzle. A dazed mouse fell free when the components came apart, right into Gray’s paw, which clenched tightly. The cat rose, stepping around his heavy chair, flopping into it, off paw reaching down, sliding a drawer open, drawing out a long, thin piece of metal. It was strange to Newton’s eye… it wasn’t a knife but, it looked a lot like one. Muffled whimpers came to him from the caught mouse, as Gray adjusted his grip, a feline claw pressing to the mouse’s muzzle, till it hooked the jaw, pulling the maw open. Quickly, Gray slid his metal tool into the mouse’s mouth till one side poked out from the left, Gray’s paw supporting the handle on the right. Though the mouse tried to shake his head, a thumb pushed on his ears, a finger up under the jaw, closing the mouse’s mouth tight. “In some ways, you’re lucky” Gray spoke, loud enough, Newton imagined the other mice could hear “I had my vacuum modified… otherwise you’d have been sucked right down into the mechanisms. Could have been messy…” There was a care, and a force in Gray’s paws as Newton saw his paw tug on his tool till the end almost pulled itself past the mouse’s cheek, then he pushed it back. A low, muffled scraping sound barely audible over a squealing whimper. “Keep your tongue clear” Grey instructed, paw moving again, then again. The mouse kicked and thrashed, but his head was held too tightly to move it. The eyes wide yet narrowed, a strained, muffled sound that, was maybe supposed to be a scream. Gray’s paw, sealing the mouse’s jaws shut kept the cries at bay, that scraping sound only got, louder as Gray slid it a bit faster, back and forth, ignoring the mouse’s objections. Finally, Gray slid the tool through the mouth entirely, dragging it out of the mouse, setting it down on the table as he stood and advanced back to the cages. Newton spared it a glance. The nasty looking thing was layered with rough grooves, stained red, and white. “Let me make one thing, very clear, ok, mousies” Gray spoke as he crouched by the cages again, prying one open, and pushing the mouse in paw, inside “I don’t want to hurt you, or damage you. It suits me that you be in good health. Want to escape from my customers? Sure, go ahead. Means they might buy a replacement” He tapped his claws along the bars “but, while I’ve got a pretty thick skin, if you do annoy me, you’re just mice… I can get more. That one there? He’s an example. I’m not selling him to the lovely ladies tonight. See, mice who might bite my customers, that’s a problem for the wrong client. Now he gets to wait here till one of my less picky regulars wants a mouse. And guess what. They’re regulars, because they need a lot of, replacements, get me? Next mouse who bites me though? I’m biting back… and trust me, that is, not a better fate” The cat looked to the smaller cage again “right, two more…” his paws slid to the openings of his cages again “let me tell, you little squeakers about one of my intermittent regulars. Now, I don’t ask what they want mice for, none of my business, but I keep my ears open, and sometimes they get chatty. This cat is a real, eccentric one” he muttered as he drew a new mouse out from one cage, into the smaller one “books his work holidays in two week pairs every time, has this whole, detox thing. BS in my opinion but, who am I to judge” he fixed down the latches again, eying along the watching mice “he always orders the same thing. Thirteen mice, not picky. Bucks, does, troublemakers or sweeties. And you get a whole, long week where he’s fasting, sealed off from his tech, and every one of his new mice will become, very, familiar with his every inch… and then, he eats you” Gray smirked some “one every two hours, stays up a full twenty four. But it’s not random… see, he gets to know his new mice over the week… he eats his favourite first… then the next, then the next, you get it… but if you mice know your math, you know that means… number thirteen isn’t accounted for. Well… he takes a long lie while those twelve mice work their way through his cleaned out system… he puts number thirteen in a jar… then he puts the other twelve mice in the jar… seals it tight, waxes the lid closed, puts it on a shelf. Like I say, weird cat” Gray stood himself, paws scooping up the smaller cage, turning from the rest “I get to pick his thirteen little mice… keep that in mind” Newton watched the cat pass him by, as he wandered for the door out, bringing the smaller cage to his smirking face “hope you little squeakers are feeling energetic… you’re in for one wild bachelorette party…”

Newton the Merchandise Boredom wasn’t a new blight for Newton. Even dire as his situation was, sitting in a cage, alone, with nothing to do. He could only fret for so long before he got bored of that too, too weary of worrying to bother. Rather, he tried to keep his mind occupied with escape. He wished he could talk with the mice, in their cages on the far side of the room. What plans were they concocting, if any? Would freeing him be part of their plan? More and more he was understanding why Gray had him in this cage on his own. While he still believed this didn’t seem worse than where they had been before, it wasn’t a good place. He could be an outlet for frustration if reachable. Those mice carried away… were being taken to a party. He envied them. It sounded awful, true… what little he understood of the term, bachelorette gave him the impression it would be as bad as being in the cougar’s paws again, yet, cats got careless, even drunk when they partied. Sounded as good an opportunity to escape as any. What would his fate be? Would it be better to just wait, see where this Gray cat sold him and try to escape from that? Or… try to escape now. The, attention he’d earnt from their current owner was disconcerting. Maybe Gray didn’t plan to sell him at all. The door to the room caught his focus, he heard keys tinkle. Sure enough, the very cat eased back through the door a moment later. The mice he’d taken weren’t with him. There was a jovial sway in the cat’s step, a hum in his throat as he thumped his immense self into the long room. He strode past Newton without a word, towards the other mice, and sat before the screen, that lit up before his paws. What else could Newton do, he watched. Watched the cat peer into the cages with a disturbingly amused smile. It made Newton’s stomach turn. Gray seemed so, happy to look at those mice… he knew how, not mutual it was. The cat continued to hum as he worked on the device, pausing to look along the cages. His paw would dip in, mice would flee, but his paw would chase one, seemingly targeted, pulling the rodent free. His paw would descend, under the tables, pull an individual cage and put the mouse inside, resting that cage atop the other, then the process repeated. Newton had little experience with feline technology.. but he gathered, somehow, these mice had been selected, to a sealed fate, whatever it might be. “Ok…” Gray spoke to the air, pushing back from the screen, as it darkened again “three sales, five auctions… good day” he chuckled to his imprisoned mice, before feeling his claws along the cage bars “alright… but now the new arrivals flurry is past… got some choices for you little guys” his claw tapped at the bars “see the markings on the floor? I’m going out again, when I come back I want you all sitting in one. The colour means, what sort of… customer you’d rather be sold to, alrighty? Now, I don’t care what you do once you’re out of my paws, within reason. You think you can charm a cat into keeping you, be my guest, think you can escape, hey, hope we meet again” his muzzle curled in a smirk “Can’t promise, I’ll be able to sell you any certain way, but… I’ll take a note of your preferences, for when I know what a customer wants, and they don’t pick a specific mouse. Or when I’m taking a pawful of you to… certain places to sell. Anyway… red if for, hungry customers, blue for frisky customers, green for those probably looking for a pet, yellow is no preference” he straightened himself “anyway… I’m after five of you to come out with me tonight, going to a nice bar up the road. Expect drunk cats wanting snacks… any takers? I’ll pick at random otherwise. Likely fates include drowning in alcohol, drowning in alcohol and stomach acid, and being dropped to your death. But hey, drunk paws are clumsy paws” Newton watched from afar… he couldn’t tell if any mice took the cat up on his, offer. But soon enough Gray was pulling out a long, thin, small cage, and plucked mice for it. From what Newton could see, he doubted there’d be any room for the mice to move around. The cage was slipped into the cat’s cloaking coat, before Gray made for his door without another word, leaving the mice alone again. Once more, Newton was alone with his thoughts, the immense feline filling them mostly. He hadn’t met a cat like this Gray before. The feline confused him. The tone was almost playful and friendly, and the intentions behind it cold and unfeeling. He’d fled cats who didn’t care for his life, but yet, their hunt was emotional for them, their investment clear… they were hungry, or… worse. If they spoke to a mouse they caught, really they were speaking to themselves. Not seeking dialogue. Gray almost spoke to the mice like he cared for their thoughts. And yet was taking them to their short, brutal deaths. Newton was, very suddenly reminded of the cats he’d been stolen from… they were the same, if for different reasons and motivations. And Gray had a key to their cages. How long had it been… Newton had half fallen asleep, or more, his mind had drifted into emptiness out of lack of stimulation and found no reason to reawaken till the cat returned. Gray stepped in the door, pulling the cage from his pocket; it had only three mice in it now. The garment was strewn onto the back of his chair as he made his way to the cages, depositing the mice he had, presumably, failed to sell. There was a return to silence as Gray looked along the cages, seeming to type into his computer, before turning it off again. “Ok…” the cat sighed, leaning back on the flexible chair that was positioned before the machine, turning his focus on the caged mice once more “Looking for a volunteer… a nice eager mouse with, stamina… and, you’re going to need to be keen…” his muzzle leaned in closer to the cages “if you stop… like as not, I’ll just eat you… and fetch another mouse. Hate to waste you little squeakers but… should help motivate those who will disappoint me to, stay back” There was a pause, before his paw delved into a cage, drawing a mouse out in his fist. The grey cat rising, arching his back and padding for the softer chair beside Newton’s cage, his free paw grabbing another of the, short metal cylinders he drank from, popping it open with a click and hiss. Newton could only watch as Gray flopped down into his chair, swigging from his drink before placing it down. The wall of them blocking some of Newton’s view. But not enough to avoid knowing what the, chosen mouse was going to do. He saw the paw release the small figure against the cat’s hips. “You’ve got a pretty good idea what I want, right?” Gray chuckled wearily “do a good job, you get to go to the other room. Pleasing a male kitty at your size? That’s a talent… prove you’re a talented mouse, I’ll sell you to a nice owner, take good care of you. Would be a waste, to eat you then. Understand?” Newton could see the mouse, a doe, nodding, see her crouching, rubbing to something he, couldn’t see past the thigh. Not that he wanted to. Noise blared as Gray reached for a long black device on the side table, the far screen coming to life. The image flicked a few times, before, far as Newton could tell, turning to one of the, televised plays the cats were fond of. He’d seen some mice who could perform, or act. Larger colonies, one or two he’d seen full if small productions. But such talents were a luxury few mice could nurture. And any mouse could become catfood. As such, the concept of, watching these things was alien to him. It brought only bitterness that, cats had the time. From what he could make out, there was a lion in a dark suit, covering most of his fur, and a smaller, female cheetah, largely exposing her patterned fur, but for a starkly white coat… what they were doing was unknown to him. His attention, was torn. In the corner of his eye, he was starting to see Gray’s, loins rising into view, embraced by the unfortunate doe. The screen was a pleasant distraction, noise and movement he could focus on to alleviate the boredom… but he saw mice, he couldn’t tell if they were like him or, more feral, being eaten. It was casual, just part of the life of the characters on the screen… but it was there. He had little interest in watching those cats… slightly less interest in watching the cat beside him… he could hear Gray panting. Newton just let his mind zone out, staring at the screen to avoid looking at Gray and his play… it went on a long while. The show ended, a new one rose. After that one, the feed changed, he noted Gray picking up a new device… a strange bent shape to it, and the screen became of the unreal… cats which, didn’t quite look like real cats, bangs and movement, timed to clicks from the device in the cat’s paws. The noise went silent, very suddenly, the action on the screen going still and static. But Gray was panting harder now. The device in his paws placed down, paw instead going down. In the corner of his view, Newton saw that paw cup the doe closer to the, fully displayed prong. The cat’s other paw fumbled by his cage, knocking the empty cylinders off with a high pitched clatter. His fingers seemingly found what he wanted, pristine white cloth in a blue box, which came free with a tug. It was pressed atop the prong like a cloaking garment in time for the cat to yowl, and shiver, paws both sliding up to support the fabric. After a moment, one paw scooped down, plucking up the mouse before the cat stood, and moved off. Distantly Newton heard doors open and close, water run, soon enough the cat was back, alone, and the screen began to move again. Newton found himself zoning out again, watching the motion on the screen, but inside he felt nauseous… there was a scent in the air, and a knowledge of what was going on beside him. Something he wanted nothing to do with. The cat eventually left again, the screen going dark, then the room. Quickly Newton missed the sound and motion of the screen as boredom set in once more. A new thought dwelled in his mind, one that, frightened him. That mouse… wouldn’t have been bored… the one Gray played with. The image of… rubbing that thing horrified him still, but… in his mind he realised… part of him would rather be doing that, doing anything, that sitting here, hour after hour with nothing to do. The fear of that mild realisation made him tremble. How long, would it take? How long would he have to sit here before he’d willingly go to the cat, just for something to do? It was an idea he hadn’t confronted before… the draining, wearing oppression of sheer boredom. Was that Gray’s plan? Though fitful, Newton found himself drifting into true sleep… not that he was especially aware of it. It was more of less the same as he had been. Newton stirred when the cat came into the room… but didn’t rouse himself from his spot. Through sleepy eyes he watched the cat approach the distant cages… and make much the same offer as the previous morning, disappearing with a mouse to play with. Newton wondered, if this new mouse would do well or be breakfast… but found he didn’t care enough to dwell on it. He could hope for them all he liked but, he’d rather just not think about it. By the time Gray returned, Newton had found the flimsy motivation to sit up, watching the feline grasp one of his drink cylinders and flop contentedly in his chair, sipping his beverage. For a long moment Newton stared at the cat… didn’t seem the cat intended to interact with him… or do anything in the moment. “Is your name really Gray?” Newton asked aloud, earning a perked ear from the cat, who glanced his way with a smirk “Why do you ask?” “Just wondering if your parents were that unimaginative” Newton quipped. The boredom was leaving him in a bitter mood. The cat snickered, flashing his teeth towards Newton “really, a mouse is lecturing me on naming schemes? I’ve heard what some of you mice call each other” he swigged his drink again “as to my name… who can say. My customers know me as Gray, the grey. If someone’s asking for the grey cat, does it matter if it’s Gray or grey?” Newton shrugged “fine, be cryptic… does it matter? You’re just going to sell me to some hungry cat. What good would knowing your actual name do me” “Doesn’t hurt to be careful in my line of work” Gray noted, eyes focussed on Newton now “You were one of those… cats you took us from, weren’t you” Newton probed, noting the cat, did react, a slight twitch of the whiskers “you have one of their keys, and the way you treat us” Gray swirled the can in his paw “oh, you’ve got me wrong, mousy. I’ve never been part of their little crisis cult, not really. They’re a naïve bunch, in case you hadn’t noticed. So pretentious and stuck up their asses. Real paranoid too, see the real world as monsters which they can, save mice from. Like to forget that if we didn’t like eating you, chances are someone would have put together a plan to hunt down you thinking mice long ago” he shot Newton a sly look “but you know… funny thing about the paranoid… they’re also the most stupidly trusting people, if they think you’re one of them. And they don’t ask many questions about information, too likely to run into something contradicting their world view. So… if you can get hired into their ranks, pass their, entrance exam, suddenly you’re under their radar” “So that’s why you have a key?” Newton muttered “Pretty much” Gray downed the last of his drink “See, I’m what you’d call a con” he chuckled “so basically I’m just a… self-taught actor. And I’m not that mouse hungry. They put a mouse right up to your face and watch your reaction… if you start showing… predatory tendencies, they won’t hire you. Otherwise, they let you right in. I did some work for them, immediately got copies of all their keys. Found some reasons to move around till I’d visited a few of their facilities… learnt their ways, then I quit. Course, I can’t just, go in whenever I like, they’re not that stupid. You… little mouse, I have to thank for my last haul” “Me?” Newton folded his arms “that… talk you mean?” “Nah, that was just helpful” Gray smirked his way “see… I was casing the university site for… reasons. And wouldn’t you know it, this new tiger they’ve had for a little bit, came out so… twitchy, why I’d say she looked distraught” He paused, to stand, reaching round to fumble a new can from the distant table, flopping back down, popping it, and sipping again “Why… poor girl in a state like that, I’d believe she could forget to lock a door, wouldn’t you? Considering where I found you, I think I’ve got you to thank for that” Newton pawed to his jawline… so that was it. He’d unknowingly invited this cat in… for better or worse “and now all the mice so desperate to escape being toyed with by cats, they’d turn to this group… get to be sold as cat toys” “Isn’t life tragic” Gray shrugged as he downed the can quickly this time “better or worse than having your neck snapped? By their logic, at least you die feeling you’re about to be free… as good as you’re going to get. Or do you disagree?” Newton scowled “why though… why do you cats, do this… why can’t we just be left alone? They’re willing to pay… for the opportunity to torment a mouse? You’re not so different from me, just, bigger” “Sparrowhawk isn’t so different from a sparrow, just bigger” Gray shrugged, offering Newton a sly smile “hold on a minute… not that you’re going anywhere. I got something to show you, old family heirloom” The cat rolled forward, bouncing off his seat, adjusting with a swish of his tail, before stepping around the chair, into the other room. Despite himself, Newton felt a flicker of curiosity. Heirlooms had been rare and precious things in his life, he wasn’t sure if the same quite applied to cats. They didn’t have their entire settlements abandoned in urgency. Soon enough the cat returned after a series of, thumping and rattling noises from the room beyond. Padding back with a sizable, wide box in his paws. Sitting himself in his chair again, Gray propped one edge of the box on the table, letting him tilt it to face Newton. The box gleamed slightly with varnish, the pattern of the wood used to make it on display, dark, oak maybe. Newton’s eyes followed the cat’s paw to a string on the surface facing him, which when pulled drew off what Newton realised was a lid. Inside, was not quite what Newton expected. It wasn’t that there was something, in the box, but rather, the box itself was strange. Within, affixed to the inner surfaces were, alcoves, hiding places perhaps. It reminded Newton strikingly of some of the, pet cages he had seen on his travels. They tended to be filled with similar hiding places, though, the ones in the box were heavier and affixed firmly in place. One look told him those, dark nooks weren’t good cover. The entries were wider than a cat’s wrist. “This is an old, antique mousebox” Gray purred, head poking over the top edge to peer at Newton “Never bother with them myself but, there’s been incarnations of these things for over a thousand years, there’s modern ones out there, but they’re a dying fad these days” “Dare I ask…” Newton muttered. Nothing called a mousebox could be good. “what you do, is you put a little mouse inside… and chase it with your paws or muzzle to your heart’s content” Gray smirked slightly “over a thousand years, we’ve had these, let that sink in, mousy. Ever since a long, long time ago a group of stuck up lions banded together their prides and formed the first society, by enslaving any cat smaller than them, kitties have had such a hard time scratching those… itches” he explained “We’re solitary, predatory carnivores by nature, always on the prowl, always hunting, no choice. Even all this time later it’s hardwired into our brains. Ignore those instincts, and your body punishes you, with misery and sadness and agitation, trying to give you a nudge to follow the guidance that worked for your ancestors. So… as society grew, they invented, the mousebox. Isn’t it a nice, contained, quick and efficient way to scratch that hunting itch? Actual hunting could take ages, and travel, and you were busy. But pop a fresh mouse in your mouse box… and chase it, for the rest of its life” Newton grimaced, eyes following the paths in the, mostly open box… how many mice then, had known those walls as their, tomb “That’s horrible” “For the mouse” Gray shrugged “besides, the mouse is already caught, it’s failed to get away already… and you know we play with our food. And besides…” Gray trailed off “there’s only been thinking mice for, how long? A lot of people, think these things are the reason you even exist to hate them” Gray stroked a finger down the edge of the box “this box is simple, some got more complicated… more challenge for the cat, more satisfaction when you catch the mouse. Eventually society got big enough people were breeding, and selling mice to use for mouseboxes or… to scratch the itches another way. The mice they bred got craftier… higher quality prey. And one day without anyone noticing, reports were appearing of wild mice, who could comprehend language… almost like a few of their mice got, too smart. Funnily enough the breeding priorities changed after that.” Could that be, true? Newton considered. His kind didn’t exactly have a clear history of much… “Hard to say… could be a mix of things” Gray shrugged “and, the mousebox has fallen by the wayside. Videogames are pretty great for that, urge to chase” Gray slid the lid on the box again, grinning as his muzzle came in closer “but still… cats just need that… warm, scurrying body on their tongue sometimes, to push back and swallow down, just to take the edge off. Do you understand now, mousy? For as long as we’ve had society, mice, of one sort or another, have been the answer to the plague of instinct. That isn’t likely to change. As long as it remains true, I stay in business… and as long as it is true, you have a warm, dark belly to look forward to, sooner or later…” Gray stood again, carrying the box away, leaving Newton to paw along his whiskers. He found it hard to argue with Gray’s logic, but it opened such a hopeless rift in his view. What reason would cats have to deny themselves something so ingrained. What would, ever overcome that much history… He tried to steel himself, as he pawed firmly down on his whiskers. Life was hard, nothing had changed… there was still the hope of there being a nice place to live, somewhere. Much as he hated to admit it to himself, the village under the roleplaying cats, the mice there were, happy. Better treated than this anyway… even the fanatical mice under that panther had seemed to have a decent life, most of the time. There had to be, pockets, safe places for mice to be… Time trickled past, Gray seemingly putting Newton easily from his mind. After looking at his computer again, Gray looked out more mice, into individual cages, before gathering all those, selected mice and leaving with them. Presumably, if Newton understood the cat’s process, off to be given to, cats who had picked them. Newton wished them well but didn’t hold much hope. In time, Gray came back, swaying through the door, and into the room. Alone. Upbeat humming escaping the cat as he made his way across the room. From his vantage Newton could see the cat removing, things from his coat, empty cages for one, and, what he knew to be currency amid felines. A low, miserable sigh escaped him. He didn’t expect a cat to see his life as worth more than, well, much of anything. Most cats he’d met would eat him but yet, that relationship he hadn’t felt this dismal about. They ate him because they wanted to, he, didn’t want to be caught. This… it felt so degrading. Some little part of him at least hoped he was valuable. Gray seemed to think so. Without much else to do, he watched the cat as he moved back to the cages on the far side of the room, running claws along the bars, clicking his tongue, before starting to fetch mice out into a larger cage, like the ones he’d used to bring them here, Newton noted idly. That cage, once Gray seemed satisfied with it, was placed aside, his eyes roaming over his collected mice again “now then… who to pick…” Gray crouched lower by the cages, seeming to search for something, before smiling “you there… greyish doe, yeah… you” he felt into the cage, seeming to retrieve the mouse in question, turning them in his paws, before placing them in a cage of their own, and moving to his computer “mmm, sorry mousy but a good customer wants a new mouse and you’re his type” Gray explained to the air, not sparing the newly condemned mouse a look as he typed loudly on his keys, the clack of claws on hard plastic “and… yep, not booked yet… just get that off the page…” he spared a single glance back “fair warning, chances of getting away from him, pretty low, but you’ll probably have a couple days. Who knows, maybe you’ll charm him” there was a hollowness to the suggestion. Newton found himself scowling. Gray didn’t care… why would he care The cat closed his screen again, before lifting the cages, big and small, and moving them closer to the door out, past Newton’s cage. Mostly on bored reflex Newton spared the cages a sideways look, but his eyes hesitated. His kind were a mixed breed really, there was, normally not much effort to keep distinct breeds, it only led to trouble, was the adage. But he knew he was seen as a wood mouse, he’d been called it enough. The mice in the big cage were all wood mice too. It couldn’t be coincidence, most of the city mice were greyer tones. His head snapped around to the squeak of springs as Gray settled in the chair beside his cage. Newton finding himself suddenly, eye to eye with the towering feline. The eyes remaining locked on him, even as Gray brought a fresh can of whatever his drink was, to his lips and swigged on it. “Why all the wood mice?” Newton hazarded “Noticed that, did you” Gray’s smile twitched upwards just a little “they’re getting sold in the morning, I’m done for today. Just enough time to, enjoy a mouse, play some games” he settled the can, the cat’s face was, focussed. More than the normal, easy, smirking look he got from the cat “want to be my little mouse tonight, hmm?” Newton grit his teeth “You’re not getting me to stroke that… thing” Gray’s smirk returned slightly “it’s called a penis, and you have one too, right? What’s the harm, all in good fun? Little paws feel delightful… and all the nicer when I know the mouse doing it, was so, adamant not to… before agreeing. It comes with perks, you know” “You have nothing I want” Newton folded his arms. He knew it wasn’t entirely true… but nothing he wanted more than his fragile dignity “Unless the reward is being let go, I’m not even considering it” “Is that so?” Gray sipped on his drink again, eyes remaining on Newton. The intensity, was making him jittery… something was very wrong, but he hadn’t figure it out yet. The cat stood, slowly and Newton found himself, staring at the bright pink shaft poking from the grey fur. Long, tapered, the brighter hint of the spines. He’d heard the trait was faded in the two legged cats… not completely it would seem. There was a scent to the air that drove Newton to cover his nose with his paws. Claws hooked to his cage, as Gray grasped it from the table, lifting the mouse back up to eye height. There was a more, predatory intensity in the look from the feline than Newton had seen yet. “You know… fun as you are, I’m thinking I’ll sell you tomorrow” Gray spoke slowly, turning the cage, slightly in his paws “maybe with the other wood mice. See, an occasional customer of mine messaged me a few days ago, with a rather tempting offer. A sudden craving for wood mouse in particular it would seem, but hey, I might keep my ears open… but I don’t ask questions. Still, he’s offering almost twice my normal rate, for any wood mice I catch in the next couple weeks” Newton grimaced… so that was why all those mice were in the cage. Still Gray’s eyes were locked on him, the cat wasn’t grinning like he had been before, a neutral expression as he talked. “Now I’m not a dumb cat. Customer who rarely buys mice suddenly wants every woodmouse I find, just because. I get to thinking, they’re casting a net looking for some mouse in particular, maybe one who got away from them, maybe one who’s especially crafty. Maybe one who escaped near the university” Newton felt a chill run his blood, tension flickering through his body, his eyes locking with Gray’s The cat leaned in closer, hot breath brushing through Newton’s fur “you pissed off any lions lately, mouse?” No… it couldn’t be. Newton shuddered through his body, he felt his heart spike in panic. Billy… it had to be Billy… What would that cat do if he got his hands on…? His eyes widened… no, he could see it, Gray’s eyes relaxed, a dark smirk curled along the cat’s lips. He knew… the damn cat knew. “Well… it’s just a theory” Gray practically cooed the words “but you know, I’m not big on coincidences. But I have a feeling he’s looking for one mouse in particular… and I might just have found it. And if I have… oh, I imagine I could milk even more money out of him if I let him see that mouse and tell him its already bought… What do you think, mousy? Think he’d recognise the mouse he’s looking for if he saw it?” There was a long silence. Newton could feel his breath dragging past his teeth, his body wouldn’t calm down much as he tried to keep his composure… and that damnable cat was watching him, watching him and grinning. “Well, like I said… it’s only a guess, but all the same I think I’ll take you along tomorrow when I deliver the other mice. I’m really keen to get you to agree to play but… for the right price, I’d put aside that quest” Newton pawed along his jaw, biting firmly into his finger as he tried to clear his mind with the ache of pain “and… if I do what you want?” “Oh?” The cat’s ears perked in an infuriating pretence of surprise “Well, like I said, mice who agree to handle me, they get perks… it’s a lot of work pleasuring a cat at your size. It’s only fair I let them have a long lie in. Sadly, I’m meeting the lion in the morning so I couldn’t take you without waking you. That wouldn’t be fair” “Damn you…” Newton practically hissed past his fingers. If the cat heard him, it didn’t disturb the satisfied look of victory on Gray’s muzzle. “I’ll do it…” Newton brought the words up, they felt like bile in his mouth “you’ll do what?” Gray pressed “Just… just… damn you” Newton shouted out at Gray, the cat unphased, waiting “I’ll… play, with you” Newton grimaced, pleading silently that was enough. Gray didn’t press him to describe further “Well alright then” the cat purred “for you, I think we’ll take the fun somewhere more private…” Newton nodded silently. He was beaten, that small mercy was, something. The world spun around him as Gray turned, and swayed for the door he’d taken other mice through, leading as Newton had expected, to the cat’s bedroom. There was a wide bed, a table beside it with a lamp. Big, sliding doors on the far side. Neater then Newton had expected. A table by the end of the bed had other mice in it, only a few. Newton guessed, those who had come before. Gray’s paw lowered down to the bedding, bringing Newton down onto the fabric. The shadow of the feline passed overhead, Newton given a view of the cat’s tail and rear, before they descended, making him bounce an inch in the air to flail, suddenly surrounded by walls of hip and legs, landing down before, the settled loins of the cat. The eagerly throbbing shaft was as large as Newton was, maybe larger, the mouse pushing such comparison from his mind before he thought about it too much. Running backwards and leaping off the bed, did cross his mind, but against Gray he didn’t much like his chances. Above on either side rose the thighs, above that the towering cliffs of the cat’s body. Sharp eyes peering down expectantly. A paw crept over the settled leg, long fingers hooking beneath the shaft, adjusting it, aiming the weapon in Newton’s direction. “You look like an energetic mouse to me” Gray crooned “I’m sure you’ll manage” It was a struggle. Newton stared at the pulsing, living rod of, slightly slimy meat, trying to push from his mind what it was, what, touching it meant. There were only three options, he reminded himself. Try and run… at this range Gray could probably just snatch him up, assuming the mouse even had escape routes. He could refuse, but that would get him taken, surely to Billy… who else could it be, he couldn’t think of a way Gray would know about any of that. Or, he just had to… swallow his pride, and do it… Slowly he forced himself closer. Heat radiated off the pink rod, tight with blood. A fourth option did flicker in Newton’s mind. He could bite the cat. But that assumed he wanted to put any of that in his mouth… and that he was prepared for whatever fate Gray would put upon a mouse that, attacked him there. He drew a ragged breath and stepped closer again, paws reaching up, pressing to the solid flesh. It didn’t feel, bad under the paws. A little, too hot for comfort, and slick. He turned his head, lest he look directly at what he was doing, and, brushed his paws down the thick shaft. A faint purr echoed above. “Now… nice as that is, you’re going to need to try harder… bear in mind… the longer it takes… the longer you’re there” Newton drew in a slow breath… it was true, much as he hated it. The scent of cat was too strong in the air. He pushed harder, feeling the shaft, flex just slightly away from him under his pressure, and, circled his paws… the response was a bit, more. “Wrap your arms” Gray murred “nice and tight… and rock, up, and down… don’t be shy of the spines… feels, really good when you’re against those” A grimace deepened on Newton’s features, but he complied… reluctantly pressing himself to the column, closing his eyes, wrapping his arms as best he could. The world, moved suddenly, the cat flopping back, till Newton found his floundering paws settled amid fur… the shaft upright before him. He bent his legs, grasped tightly, and slid himself up, then back down, listening to the demeaning, contented purrs from the strewn cat. How he hated this… to give Gray the satisfaction… but, he imagined the satisfied look on that lion’s face, imagined the savage claws closing in on him… this was better, he repeated the thought to himself, louder and louder as he started to bounce himself faster, even when his muscles ached… he just, wanted this done. His thoughts, he pushed away, pressed up to the throbbing, living flesh. He could feel the excitement in the shaft, feel the heartbeat rising. It was, almost easier, when he thought of the shaft as a separate entity. Gray’s scent clung in his mouth as he panted for air, rising and falling, feeling those, spines poking into his arms and fur, enduring as the cat’s panting got, deeper. Teeth clenched against the urge to just stop, till he felt something change. The shaft was very still for a moment, then lurched, twitched. Pressed so close he could, hear the shifting of fluids. His eyes opened, and he let go, staggering back fast as he could, seeing the suddenly, spasm up the tower, before a jet fired high, and slime dribbled down. A grey paw sweeping in, bringing cloth to halt the flow. Newton, suddenly felt very dizzy, backing up on his rear till he felt a thigh to his back, eyes mindlessly watching the motions of Gray cleaning himself. He barely noticed, when the cat’s other paw descended, and fingers pinched around his middle “I did, what you said” Newton mumbled, looking round, to the focussed eyes of the cat “That you did” Gray purred “not the best, not the worst… glad it was, you” “I hate you…” the words slid off Newton’s tongue. There was no energy to them, if he had energy, he might have stopped them. Gray only chuckled “Fortunately, a mouse’s hate rarely leaves the stomach they curl up in” Gray eased from his bed, carrying Newton down near the foot of it. The mouse, aware of a new cage being brought up around him. Dropped in, he noted it seemed… nicer than his last, for a cage. There was a small cushion in one corner. “You… said” Newton panted the words “mm, hmm” Gray agreed above “oh don’t fret… the lion isn’t getting you” Gray chuckled “I have a much better buyer lined up for you… but you’ll meet them tomorrow” the cat pressed the cage door down with a click, turning too sway off “sleep well, little mouse” Torn feelings washed through Newton… he was being sold tomorrow… not to Billy but… who? The cat was already gone, by the time he put his wits together. He stank… he knew it. Newton’s paws moved to his whiskers, halting when he, realised he didn’t want to touch his face… instead, he crawled his way to the cushion, and settled his back on it, staring to the ceiling. Left to himself and his own thoughts, to try and decide if the cat had tricked him or not…

 "That's right folks! If it's toony, you'll find it here at Toonee Treets!" the announcer says just before adding "There's a new location near you" almost sounding like the announcer in the commercial was talking directly to Axton. Axton was a small boy around 10 years old when he was watching the commercial. He had a lot of depression. Why? You try living in a tiny place where everyone seems to hate you and each other. That was Axton's life. His parents, brother, and sister all seemed to hate each other. Everyone blamed him for anything horrible that happened even when he wasn't even around when the things actually happened. His parents always argued with each other and yelled at each other while his siblings kept torturing and "pranking" each other (at least they called it "pranking" even though all they did was harm to either each other or the things/people around them... kinda like in the many "prank" MyTube videos they always watched when they got bored). Anyway... Axton was about 10 years old and at about 5 feet in height and (at the current moment) he was wearing a fully white t-shirt and navy blue shorts... and his favorite fingerless black gloves with an upside-down cross on the backs of each glove. He loved the gloves so much he wore them almost all the time (that's right... 24/7). And his hair was blood-red in color. He dyed his hair a few years ago and kept it the same color ever since. As he watched the commercial, he noticed 2 of the newer TOONEE TREETS locations were not too far away... 1 was within 30 minutes walking distance and 1 was only about 35 minutes away if he rode his bike. As he watched, he quickly pulled out his phone and took a picture of the TV screen where the locations were shown. As soon as he took the picture, he felt... happy. "How do I get there without my stupid family knowing?" he thought to himself just before hearing a window smash in the next room "Especially while my stupid brother and sister are both fighting again" He always knew when they were fighting. As soon as anything got broken or anyone got hurt, that was a major signal that they were fighting again. He quickly went to his bedroom door and cracked open the door just an inch to peak out. As soon as he saw no one was in the hall, he quickly grabbed his jacket and ran to the front door. He then quickly ran towards the back yard and hopped onto his bike and rode along the back alley way towards the main street. Once he got there, he took 1 turn and rode away thinking to himself "I just HAVE to find these shops. If they are ANYTHING like they said in the commercial, then they MUST have something interesting... and hopefully something that would get me out of this s**thole of a life." ***(TOONEE TREETS - 10:30)*** "Cyril? Are you sure the advertisements actually worked? We haven't had a customer all evening. And we've only had maybe 3 this morning" Kyra asks as she was just sitting behind the counter with her arms laying crossed on the counter and her head on her crossed arms. Cyril just nods before responding with "Yes Kyra. I promise someone will... Oh! There's someone coming right now" she states as she points out the window where a boy on a bicycle was just across the street just waiting for the light to change so he could cross the street. Kyra looks out the window to where Cyril was pointing and Kyra just rolled her eyes "Pfft. He's probably just another rando." "Another what?" "Rando. It's what the gamers of this world call random people. In this case, I just called that boy a random customer... or 'Rando' for short" Kyra clarifies. Cyril ponders for a moment then nods slowly "Ahhh. I see... How do you know so much about gaming anyways? I thought you were behind the counter all day." Kyra shows a faint grin and a wink "Trust me... you'd be surprised what kinds of things I can learn from interacting with the toons from the gaming world... toons like Rayman, the blue hedgehog named Sonic, the orange two-tailed fox named Tails, those weird yellow, green, purple, and red clothed brothers that I think are brothers..." "They are NOT brothers. Well... not exactly. 2 of them are brothers. The other two... hmm... not sure actually. Maybe they could tell us. But for now..." Cyril stops herself just as the door opens and the boy walks in. Axton (the same boy the 2 girls saw a moment ago) walks in and looks around. Then stops once he spots the 2 girls. He pauses for a moment feeling like they were both awkwardly staring directly at him. Then he breaks the silence by saying "Umm... H-h-hello?" Cyril giggles a bit before smiling and says to Axton "Hello there sir. I'm Cyril. And the grump behind the counter..." "HEY!" Kyra interrupts quickly "I am NOT a grump. I'm just... bored right now." Cyril shrugs before resuming "...that is Kyra. Welcome to our shop. Let us know if you need anything." then she looks towards Kyra as she whispers to Axton "Don't mind her. She tends to get a bit moody around this time of day." Axton nods slightly "Umm... th-thanks mi-miss Cyril." he says clearly not used to all of this sudden cheerfullness, excitement, and playful vibes he was getting from these girls "I'm... I'm... Axton." After interoducing himself, Axton heads further into the store towards the aisles as Cyril heads over to Kyra and the girls start talking 1-on-1. ***(CHOICE TIME)*** What do YOU (the reader) want to happen next? A) Axton grabs something that turns HIM into a toon B) Axton grabs something that turns HIS FAMILY into toons (including himself) C) Axton grabs something that turns HIS FAMILY into toons (not including himself) D) Axton asks the girls for something that hasn't been mentioned in past stories E) Axton asks the girls for something that has always been mentioned in a past story F) The girls close the store early and visit Axton and his family during the night

 *** After talking a bit amongst each other, Kyra notices Axton seemed to have a bit of a depressing look on his face. She then talks some more with Cyril but more quietly this time as to not have their possible customer over-hear them. After talking a bit longer, Cyril finally turns to see Axton on the other side of the store and then turns back to Kyra and nods. Kyra then walks out from behind the counter and approaches the boy slowly as to not spook him. "Sir? Are you alright?" Kyra asks "You look a bit... down in the dumps" Axton shrugs and just mumbles "Meh. I guess." Kyra gently places a hand over his shoulder and says "You know... if there's anything wrong, you can tell us. Maybe we can even help with whatever it is." "I doubt you could help me. Or my family..." Kyra stops in her track (so to speak) not expecting those words 'Family issues huh? Oh wow! Umm... What should I say? Hmm... I wonder...' she thinks to herself before finally saying again "Are you sure about that? I bet we can help quite a lot... maybe even make your life much MUCH cheerful... maybe even more toonirific." Having his mind elsewhere, he hadn't noticed when she hinted with the last part of her words. So all he says in return is "Well..." then finally nods and asks to go somewhere more private. He wasn't wanting any other visitors to overhear him. She nods then waves for Cyril to join them as she leads Axton to a back room. ***ROUGHLY AN HOUR LATER*** After explaining how his family treats him and each other as well as themselves, and explaining how he had issues of his own that his family never seemed to care about, Kyra and Cyril look at each other for a brief moment, both with depressing looks on their faces. Just then, there was a CRASH sound from the main store area. Cyril volunteered to go check what that was hoping it was just a customer being clumsy. After a few more minutes of being alone... just Axton and Kyra... Kyra finally has an idea and says "I GOT IT! How would you like us to pay a little visit? Maybe a little surprise visit? Maybe a life-changing visit?" Axton looks at her confused "Huh? How could a simple visit be THAT good?" "Trust me... we have our ways." Axton pauses to think for a moment before shrugging and saying "Well... I guess it wouldn't hurt..." still sounding a bit confused about all of this. Axton grabs a blank sheet of paper and a pen and was about to write down his address but Kyra stops him saying "No need. We'll find you. All you have to do is be near a TV or some artwork. I promise we'll be there." Axton looks at Kyra confused even more than before but then shrugs "Umm... Alright..." He was going to question how they would have known til he heard Cyril calling Kyra from the main store area. Kyra lets out a sigh and guides him out of the back room and she locks the door to the back room before coming back to the main store area to find Cyril was standing behind the counter with 2 people arguing right in front of the counter. They looked like they could have attacked each other any moment. And just as Kyra was about to get in between them to stop them, Axton runs to the door and shoves the door open before booting it out of the store nearly in tears. As Kyra tries to break up the arguement, Cyril looks out the window at the boy running off and thinks to herself 'Huh... I wonder...' before turning back to the couple who have finally stopped arguing and seemed to be just glaring at Kyra. "WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? MIND YOUR OWN FUCKING BUSINESS BITCH!" says the male. "DON'T CALL HER A BITCH, ASSHOLE! AT LEAST SHE HAS GUTS TO BE MORE OF A MAN... UNLIKE YOU, FUCKER!" the female yells back at him. Cyril takes a super deep breath and screams "BOTH OF YOU! SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY! OTHERWISE WE'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU OURSELVES!" The 2 of them stopped to look at the woman who just screamed at them so loudly the windows and everything solid within the store literally looked like they were wobbling and quaking and rippling like rubber but with a hint of liquid added. After she yelled at them, they just seemed to laugh at her... "Yeah right! What is a bitch like you gonna do? Get me arrested?" the male mocked. "Well... it's not like you haven't been before. But still... it's not like she'd even have the muscle to pin either of us down long enough for them to even get here." the female said. "You know what? I have a feeling we'll be seeing you both tonight. THEN you'll get what's coming to ya!" Cyril said back in an almost threatening tone. The 2 of them just kept laughing and mocking as they exited the store nearly tripping over their own feet in the process a few times. "PHEW! Finally they're gone!" Kyra exclaimed. "Yeah. No kidding!" Cyril agreed. Then Cyril looked back to Kyra finally "So... what all were you 2 talking about back there?" "Well..." Kyra started saying "...let's just say we may have to visit someone tonight... and Toon World may soon be getting a few new members as well." "Oh? That should be interesting..." ***LATER THAT NIGHT AT AXTON'S HOME*** Axton and his siblings were all getting to bed when they heard their parents downstairs arguing again. Axton's room was entirely a light blue with just a computer setup in 1 corner and a TV just across the room from his bed... just at the right angle for him to see the screen. There were also various posters of toons he loved most and a few he secretly loved but always acted like he hated... "Card Captors", "Space Jam", "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" and its alternative "Sabrina: The Animated Series", "Aaaah! Real Monsters", "Dragon Tales", "Magic School Bus", "Digimon Frontiers", and a few others. (Before anyone starts to comment about this, yes I know the first one is an anime. But in this case, the term "toons" is being used as a more generalized term for all various types of toons... anime, typical cartoons, chalk art, comic books/strips, digital, claymation, etc) When he finally got to sleep, he accidentally left the TV on and turned to a blank screen. He had just finished watching a movie right as he passed out. During the night, his parents finally quit arguing and went to bed as well. By around midnight, the entire house was dead quiet... at least for now... Suddenly while everyone in the house was asleep, Axton's TV screen and computer screen both lit up. The computer screen took a few seconds to appear as if it were fully on due to not being used for a while. And on the TV screen there was a girl who looked a LOT like Kyra staring out of the screen. When the computer screen was fully lit, a similar image appeared there... only it looked more like Cyril. Kyra's image seemed to look towards the computer and the Cyril's image seemed to look towards the TV screen. It almost looked like the 2 images were looking at each other. Kyra's image seemed to mouth the words 'Ready?' Cyril's image seemed to mouth back 'Ready whenever you are' Then Kyra seemed to place her hands onto the screen and push. As she pushed, the screen looked like it was rippling as if it were made of water as her 2D-looking image slowly pushed out and slowly became 3D and more realistic. First came her hands, then her arms, then her head. Next the TV seemed to stretch as her shoulders came out through the screen next, then her breasts. When her breasts popped out of the screen, they seemed to bounce and wobble as if they were made of jelly. Next came her torso and lower back and her ass. When her ass squeezed through, her cheeks seemed to wobble and quake as if they were made of even more jelly. She grabbed onto the outside of the TV and pushed forcing the rest of her to simply slide out onto the floor which was matted with those mats that simply go together like puzzle pieces. Thankfully those mats prevented her from making too much noise. When she was finally out of the TV, she looked over to see the computer screen was pushed outwards as if made of pure rubber. She got to her feet and went over to the computer and reached inwards while Cyril was pushing outwards at the same time. Finally the 2 pairs of hands met and Kyra pulled as forcefully as she could. The force of the 2 of them made it much easier for Cyril to come out through the computer's screen. Only, unlike Kyra's entrance, Cyril was roughly 3 feet off the ground. So when she fully exited the computer's screen, she fell to the floor making a bit of noise in the process... enough to make Axton stir a bit in his sleep. The 2 of them paused for a moment as Axton stirred in his sleep and finally slowly opened his eyes to see the 2 girls from the store were now in his room... only 5 to 10 feet away from his bed. That was enough for him to jolt up and open his eyes wide in shock. "Wh-what the... What are you... How did you?" Axton was trying very hard to come up with the right thing to ask but his mind was still asleep. "Shhh... We wouldn't want to wake up your family" Kyra said as quietly as she could. "I told you we'd help you out. Did I not?" He nodded and rubbed at his eyes due to a mixture of the sleep in his eyes and the fact that 2 girls he JUST met at a random store were now in his room suddenly. He then pinched himself and gasped when he did trying not to scream since his family was no doubt still asleep. 'So this ISN'T a dream after all...' he thought to himself. ***END OF PART 2*** ***DECISION TIME*** WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HAPPEN IN PART 3? A: Axton has sex with the girls and gets toonified in the process B: the girls have sex with the family (starting with the parents) and the family gets toonified in the process C: the girls have sex with the family (starting with the baby) and the family gets toonified in the process D: the girls have sex with the family (starting with the other siblings) and the family gets toonified in the process E: the girls set up a bunch of pranks that eventually toonify each of the family members F: Axton gets toonified and gets pulled into Toon World on his own G: Axton gets toonified then the family gets toonified next before they all get pulled into Toon World H: Axton's ENTIRE home gets toonified (family, house, items within the house, etc)

I couldn’t help myself. She was tossing and turning and my body demanded to be filled I…I used her. She’s safe in my womb but I don’t know what I would do if she woke up right now. She feels so good, stretching me out and her slight squirming is soooo good. What time is it? Only 11:30! What should I do? She feels so good but if I let her out and she wakes during it, her panic thrashing would tear me apart. “Just rest, she’s no longer having a nightmare. You’ll figure it out in the morning. Just wake up before her.” My subconscious states. Yeah, that sounds good. She’s so warm too, just rest. Morning me can figure it out. I set my alarm for an hour earlier, and pulled our blanket over me and my person sized belly. She’s so warm. I wake up to a muffled alarm beeping. But as I open my eyes, I see nothing. Everything is black and wet; I hear thumping around me. Where the hell am I? “Claire?” I ask, scared of where I might be and where my girlfriend is. “Five more minutes honey.” I hear her voice boom around me. “Where are you? It's dark, wet, and tight everywhere. Where the hell am I?” I ask. I’m starting to panic now. I can hear her, loudly and everywhere. Is…is that breathing. What the hell is this place? “I’m in bed, and I said five more minutes and I'll let you out.” She…she put me in here. Even though it’s tight as hell I start struggling against these stretchy and slimy walls. “Claire, I don’t know where the hell you put me, but let me out right the fuck now!” Ow ow ow. I rip the blanket off and look at my thrashing gut. “Elizabeth please stop, you’re hurting me.” I say as I rub my aching belly. “How am I hurting you? Where am I? And why did you put me here?” She says from within me. Oh god I have to tell her, but how. Oh god is there any way to tell her without her panicking. “Start talking dammit, I want out.” She demands. “You’re. You’re inside me.” “I’m WHAT!” “Please don’t panic, you're safe where you are.” I beg. “How the hell am I inside you?” “I’m stretchy.” I answer, not really knowing how I can do this either. “Where am I?” “I already said you’re in me.” “I know but where am I inside you?” “Ummmm uh how do I put this?” “Claire where did you stick me?” “My vagina.” “Your where?” “My vagina” “You used me as a dildo?” “NO, I just. You were having a nightmare and I wanted to feel full so I pulled you inside me.” A moment of silence hangs through the air before Elizabeth speaks. “So, you wanted to ‘hold me’ and feel filled?” “Yeah, but I mostly just wanted to hold you. To comfort you.” Elizabeth stutters for a moment, before finding her words. “I remember having a nightmare, the details are muddy, but it just stopped. Then I felt like I was warm and being hugged by, I don't know the details are foggy.” Nothing said afterwards for a few minutes as Claire rubs her belly. Trying to comfort Elizabeth. “Ok, it’s going to take a bit but I can start letting you out.” “No.” “I thought you wanted out?” “I did but it’s, I don’t know but I want to stay for a bit.” “Ok, but I'm hungry. Want anything in particular?” “Pancakes.” “You’re just a grown child, aren’t you?” Claire says smiling. Glad her lover is quickly accepting this part of her. Laughter is heard from within Claire as she heaves her belly off the bed and to the kitchen. Her gut may be heavy, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

200 Vignettes **********************########################## Deserted Island - Day 200 Dear Diary, It is day 200 of my unfortunate stay here on the island. While the natural bounty of this tiny island has been surprisingly plentiful, lush with fruits, nuts, and small game, the solitude is unnerving when compared to our chaotic connected lives when surrounded by civilization. Although solitude might not be completely accurate. Apparently that hunky crewman I was riding just before that damnable cruise ship sank fed me a bold faced lie about being on the newly introduced male birth control. As evidenced by this enormous belly I now sport. Based on its size, I can only surmise I must be carrying twins. Bastard. I have no idea whether anyone else survived the sinking of the ‘Lady Belly’, but if they did, they certainly didn’t wash up here. This island is small, and I have walked across every inch of it over the course of my stay here. I have managed to, through extensive trial and error, erect a dwelling for myself that keeps out the wind and rain, but also keeps cool in the midday heat. Thank goodness my father taught me as well as my brothers all his survival skills. I may have bemoaned the lessons and camping trips at the time, and vowed to never put myself in a situation where their use would be necessary, but thank goodness he taught us anyways. Besides, no matter if these tykes in my burgeoning belly were intentional or not, they deserve a chance and I need to eat in order to give them that. The fruit on this island is quite scrumptious, and the bunny population numerous, I believe due to the absence of any predatory species. Although after 200 days of virtually nothing but rabbit and fruit, they have mostly lost their appeal beyond basic sustenance. What I wouldn’t give for just a smidge of salt or pepper … Given I was not expecting to be marooned, let alone while my belly swelled with an unintended pregnancy, I think myself and the unborn little ones have done well all things considered. I seem to be healthy, if their kicks are to believed they seem to be doing fine ensconced within my belly, and other than the solitude it is a demanding, but fulfilling existence. And my tan is fabulous if nothing else, my skin has attained this absolutely amazing shade of natural bronze. Not to mention, despite my passengers, I am in the best shape of my life, covered in lean muscle, with more energy than I can ever remember having. Nevertheless, I continue to keep a fire burning at all hours with the wettest wood I can find to create dark smoke in the hopes that at some point a ship will spy my signal. Speaking of which … oh my god, is that a ship?! Holy shit it is! I can see it and I just heard its whistle! Quick, my unborn lovelies! Up with our bulk and to the beach! … **********************########################## Cake for 200 … or maybe just 1 … Kate thought she smelled something delicious as she walked down the stairs. And boy, was she right! There, in the center of the kitchen table, sat a large flat cake absolutely covered in frosting. It just sat there, a white frosted delight, perfectly layered, absolutely beautiful … Kate quickly looked all around furtively, before taking a guilty swipe of frosting and raising the dollop to her lips, smacking her lips at the heady taste of high quality frosting. She nearly moaned in delight as the frosting coated her tongue. Quite entranced now, Kate let out a half-hearted call to her roommate. “Suzan … Suzan, do you mind if I sample this cake?” Hearing no response to her query, Kate grins and descends upon the cake, plopping down in the chair and pulling the cake forward before digging in with her bare hands. … “Hey, Kate, you up yet?” Suzan calls as she comes in the front door, her arms full of groceries. “uhhh” Kate groans, head flat on the kitchen table, the nearly nonexistent remains of the cake in front of her. “Kate?” Suzan queries, concerned, setting her groceries down and heading into the kitchen. “Oh no! Please tell me you didn’t eat the whole cake! Tell me you didn’t!” Suzan bemoans as she observes the devastation on the kitchen table, while Kate is capable of little more than raising herself to sitting and letting out a moan again as she rests her hands on her distended stomach. “I don’t feel so good” Kate moans. “Even for having eaten an entire cake … though it was delicious” she grins weakly. “I should think not” Suzan grouses. “That cake was meant to feed 200 women at the conception conference downtown. I put enough fertility herbs and magic powder in there to make sure each and everyone of them got with at least one child, maybe more. I have no idea what’s it’s going to do to a single host absorbing what was meant for 200.” Kate blinks blearily, before her eyes snap open as Suzan’s words finally register. “Are you saying I’m going to be pregnant with 200 babies?!” She screeches, standing and placing her hands on her already distended stomach from eating an entire cake. “At least 200. Maybe more” Suzan confirms with a sage nod of her head. “Two hundred ...” Kate murmurs, before her eyes roll back in her head and she collapses in a heap on the tiled floor of the kitchen. “It’s going to be a long nine months ...” Suzan mutters as she puts a pillow beneath her roommates head and goes to call her mentor. She has a feeling she’s going to need all the help she can get in the months to come ... **********************########################## Rank 200 “Rank 200!?” Sally screeched! “How is that even possible?! This was only the regionals! There shouldn’t have been anyone even close to my skills until I got to nationals! No way are there 199 people better than me in this podunk middle of nowhere!” “Oh, that” Abigail explained, walking up and looking with contempt at the red-faced ex-cheerleader fuming at the results. “We all had a special massive training camp for the sole purpose of surpassing you and humiliating you. Oh, you should have seen it … massive orgy unbirths that just got bigger the more we practiced. By the time regionals rolled around ... well, as you can see from the results, we had almost 200 people capable of unbirthing more than your record 20.” “Wh .. wh … bu … but how?!” Sally spluttered. “Oh, you were a real bitch, even across state lines, while you were cheerleading. You made a lot of enemies, and when everybody heard you were so confidant in your ability to blow the regional unbirthing competition out of the water … well, the outpouring of volunteers was frankly staggering. Women who had never unbirthed before in their life became our best students, and we had more volunteers to climb into their wombs than we knew what to do with. Best training camp we’ve held in years!” Abigail gloated. “I’ll … I’ll appeal the results!” Sally declared. “On what grounds?” Abigail scoffed. “Nothing illegal took place, no cheats were employed. Besides, if you took a second to look at the top of the list, Rank 1 blew your paltry 20 unbirthies out of the water. She managed 50 before she called it quits.” “That’s … that’s not possible ...” Sally whispered. “Oh, but it is” Abigail grinned, leaning down and putting her face close to Sally’s. “Face it Sally, cheerleading is over, and your new career as a champion unbirther is done before it ever got started. These women aren’t just going to disappear. They’re going to keep practicing, and next year they’ll beat you even worse than before. And there is nothing you can do about it ...” Sally just stood there red-faced, furious beyond words before storming off, Abigail’s mocking laughter echoing behind her. “Now, where was I going? Oh, right. Orgy inside Rank 1 ...” Abigail grinned, setting off for another memorable evening, a skip in her step, and her mind full of delightfully dirty thoughts ...

My name is Amanda. I’m a 25 year old Caucasian woman with shoulder length straight brown hair, and blue eyes. I have a moderately sexy body (or so I’m told), and have had a handful of boyfriends. None of them lasted very long, mainly because our likes just didn’t mesh like they should have. It had been some time since my last boyfriend when this whole story took place, and I’ll never have a reason to get one ever again. Why is that? He was my doctor. Rourke was his name. He seemed to have incredible knowledge about almost anything, but then again if you’re gonna be an important person like a doctor, you have to know things. He had short dark brown and blue eyes that looked very lively and not to mention quite lovely. He smiled in the most sincerest of ways and made you feel great when he did. And he was incredibly skilled with his hands, no matter what he was doing. He was always fiddling with this or that, flipping it around in and between his hands, and he never dropped anything. His hands were as deftly skilled with his equipment as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters was with a basketball. Heck, he even whistled a lot, which always reminded me of that tune they played when the Globetrotters were on. I’d been going to see him every month or so for a check up and all that, but it was more just to see him than anything. He was cute, smart, funny… oh, he was everything I wanted… but then again, so were all of my other boyfriends… and they all failed to keep me interested. They were all into sports and junk like that. Other than the fact that everyone knows who the Globetrotters are, it was my second boyfriend who really watched any of it. Our relationship ended because I said it was all bullshit and kicked him out of the house when he said he’d rather be watching a game than being with me. I cried after that… he was so nice… Anyway, it was a regular sunny spring day in April when I went to see the good doctor. Not a cloud in sight, and it was just warm enough to avoid wearing a jacket. I put on a cute little turtle neck and some faded jeans, put my shoes on and walked over to the doctor’s office. Luckily, it wasn’t too far from my place. It was like any other doctor’s office. A bit drab, somewhat dreary, and filled with people who looked more like matching décor for the room than actual people. All of them bored out of their skulls and not a smile to speak of. It would have depressed me also, had I not come here in such a great mood and had so much to look forward to. I took a seat between a mother with a 5 year old child who both looked equally grumpy, and a 50 year old half bald man with a visible crick in his back. His cane was wood and curved at the top. I looked at him, and he almost snarled at me. I continued to smile and looked the other way. The kid with the mother stuck his tongue out at me and the mom just stared, probably wondering how I could be so happy. Luckily for me, the receptionist person (her name was Cathy. I knew her well from my many visits) called my name for me to see Dr. Rourke. I went up to the counter, conducted a bit of small talk, and then went off to Dr. Rourke’s room. It, like the rest of the building, was just like any other doctor’s office. Boring light blue faded paint on the walls, white speckled flooring, a counter with a lot of doctor things and pamphlets, and a bed thing with a sheet on it that appeared to either be made of crappy tracing paper, or horrible toilet paper. There was a scale to my left, and a chair to my right. A door was beside the chair, and the door bore an “inspirational” poster that really wasn’t all that inspiring. I took a seat in the chair and waited to be seen. Dr. Rourke soon walked in wearing the usual smock. It was white and hung down to half way past his knees. He left it undone, as usual, and wore black pants and a white button shirt beneath it. He also, like many doctors, wore glasses. His were metallic blue rimmed and the lenses were framed by a rounded rectangular shape. They may have been bifocals, but I couldn’t tell. He carried a clipboard and smiled when he saw me. “Hello, miss Amanda. Feeling well I hope?” This was his usual greeting. “Very well, now that you’re here.” This was my usual response. He then answered that with a smile and a bit of a soft laugh. “Good to hear. So, the usual?” He took the pen from the clipboard and held it, ready to write something. “As always.” He smirked and wrote something down. “Then we’ll get right on that.” He clicked his pen and walked into the other room, the one the postered door led to. When he opened the door, I caught a glimpse inside. I saw what I figured was a bit odd for a doctor to have in a doctor’s office: a group of small, plushie raccoons were sitting on a table against the wall in the room. They were quite cute, and though it struck me as strange, I couldn’t help but think awww, aren’t they cute. It occurred to me that this was indeed a step in the right direction for him being boyfriend material. I personally loved animals, and was repulsed by anyone who found any sort of pleasure in hurting them. I’m not a vegetarian, though; I just won’t kill or hurt an animal. And if I see it dead before it looks like food, then I won’t eat it. But if it just looks like a steak, or a burger, or a pork chop, or whatever, then I’ll eat it. I know it’s weird, but that’s just how I am. Dr. Rourke returned from the room, but before he could close the door I asked him about the plushies. “Oh those?” He asked, “They’re mine. I used to keep them at home, but I thought of bringing some to work with me to keep me company. I find it relaxes me when they’re around. Odd, I know, but hey; I’m an odd person.” He winked at me and then went over to the scale. “I like them. They’re really cute.” He glanced back at me, but it was nothing more than a basic look. I followed him to the scale, grinning to myself internally. I like odd people. I myself am an “odd people”, so this was yet another good step forward. The rest of the check up went fairly normally, except near the end. I had taken a seat on the bed with the toilet paper sheet on it and Dr. Rourke had gotten a call. “Sorry, I’ve been expecting an important call for some time, and I fear that’s it. I have to take this.” He went back into the other room before leaning his head back in to the one I was in. “Feel free to lay down if you feel a bit tired or anything. This might end up taking a while.” He then smiled reassuringly, and went on with his business. I sat there waiting for a few minutes, looking around, reading a pamphlet or two, and wondering about what his personal life was like. After about ten minutes, I did indeed begin to feel a bit sleepy. I turned and lay down on my back with my hands behind my head, looking at the smooth white ceiling. And then, completely beyond my control, I fell into a deep, deep sleep… I woke up an unknown amount of time later, still lying down, but in a completely different location. I was laying on a very hard surface and was apparently tied down by my waist, hands and feet. But for some reason, this didn’t bother me. In fact, I felt quite calm. Something in the back of my head was screaming at me to do something; that something just wasn’t right… but I didn’t care. I was too comfortable to move. I even kept my eyes shut, mainly because I didn’t really care what the stuff around me looked like. “Oh good, you’re awake!” It was a familiar voice, but it seemed to have an edge to it. I couldn’t quite place the voice, but again, I didn’t care. “I’m really sorry I had to sedate you and all… you’d never have come with me if I told you why I wanted you to. No one ever does… mainly because they wouldn’t like it. But I’ve been watching you… paying attention to you… and I decided that it was you who’d be the perfect one.” I heard someone walking around quickly, fiddling with this and that, doing something here and there. I heard some very odd swishing noises too, but again, I didn’t really care. “The raccoons were a test. I knew you’d react positively to them, but it took me a bit off guard when it happened. Sometimes you get so used to being wrong that being right becomes quite a shock. Luckily, I’m good at covering up my emotions when I need to…” I heard him walk over to me and then stop. “You can open your eyes now, if you want to.” I decided hey, why not? Not gonna hurt me any. When I did open them, that little bit in the back of my head started screaming and going generally nuts… but again, I didn’t care. It looked like Frankenstein’s lair, but from the perspective of the table his monster was on. High stone walls, random machinery with electrical wiring and various things sticking out of them everywhere. Switches here, bottles there, beakers and vials of random bubbling, smoking stuff could be found on almost any surface. And every once in a while, I caught a glimpse of the man who was in here with me… I recognized the smock… I knew it from somewhere… but there was something very wrong with him. Then suddenly, he popped up in front of my face. My rational mind exploded with fear, but I stayed calm, because… well, I didn’t care. He was covered in fur. Grey and black medium length fur. His ears were high on his head and pointed. His mouth stretched forward and his nose looked all wrong. His eyes were a big and electrifyingly blue. His metallic blue, rounded rectangular glasses sat upon this long mouth/nose… a muzzle, I guess you could call it. He was grinning, revealing teeth that made a softly jagged pattern along the rims of his mouth, but didn’t look threatening, even to my now ballistic rational mind. In fact, his face was quite… calming… I liked it… his face was… … attractive. My rational mind began to calm down, realizing this fact, and it settled down to a more even pace. In fact, I felt almost normal. The not caring started to slip away a bit, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was in control again, and my rational mind was ready for it. I noticed the pattern on the man’s face. His fur was mostly grey, accept around the eyes, where it was black. He leaned back, still smiling as I followed him with my eyes. It wasn’t just his head that was covered in fur either, it was his whole visible body! His hands had fur, his legs had fur, and he even had a black ringed grey tail sticking out of his smock thing! My GOD he was cute!!! “Doctor?” The thought struck me, and I said it with all the clarity I now had. He bowed and greeted himself. “One and the same. Yes, I am Dr. Rourke. Again, I’m incredibly sorry that I had to put you under to get you here, but you have to understand why I did it.” He began untying me. I thought about it and yeah, it did make sense. If he’d told me he was going to be taking me to a dungeon looking place and was in fact a human raccoon thing, then I would have laughed in his face. This brought up a question. I sat up and asked it. “But… you’re human… how’d this all happen? The whole… raccoon thing?” He took a breath and explained. “As you know, I’m a doctor. But I’m a very accomplished one. I know things about the human body that NO ONE does. Things like… how it can change from one thing to another with the right chemical catalysts. I’ve developed this idea to great lengths and as you can see, it has been quite successful. There is a reason for this, and that is that I would never test anything on another human being unless I knew for a fact that it wouldn’t end up killing them. So I experiment on myself… and this of course forces me to make double sure that I work out all the possibilities and make sure that no mistakes are present before continuing. What you see before you is my first and greatest success. I am now able to transform from being human to being a human/animal hybrid-“ “-a furry!” I said. He stopped dead in his sentence, first looking shocked, and then looking incredibly happy. “Yes! Yes my dear, a FURRY!!! How did you know the word? How do you know of this?” He came quite close to me, to the point where his nose almost touched mine. “The internet… I’m always on there… I was searching one day when I came across some pictures and, well… I found out that I really… liked them.” He looked me dead in the eyes for a good five seconds, and then took me in a wonderful embrace, kissing me long and passionately. It felt so weird… his muzzle made puckering his lips feel a lot different than one would expect, and it added so much to the experience. I was living out a fantasy I’d never thought possible… and just realized just how much I in fact “liked” it. He pulled back, but kept a hold of my shoulders, looking me straight in the eye. “My god I love you.” It came out of his mouth with such force and meaning that it almost blew me off the table. He smiled at me and then went back to telling me about things, and I just sat there, dumbfounded… “As I was saying: yes, I can now go from being a furry to being a human and back again completely at will. The formula did more than expected, and I no longer need to use it. It’s now just a natural thing. Completely painless and everything. Just a 2 minute transformation and bam! Human! Bam! Furry! Bam! Human again! It’s that easy! “But it’s my next project that will be my greatest invention. The ability to transform was a discovery, since it had always been there. I just needed to find the catalyst… but this… THIS is an invention! A monument to my mastery of the human mind!” He was swinging his arms around with every word and the energy he was emitting with every sentence was almost tangible. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have called him a mad scientist. But I knew what he was: a mad doctor. I of course mean that in the nicest of ways. I got up and started following him as he walked around doing things here and there. He seemed to be leading me on a subconscious tour of his lab. I paid great attention to his words and his actions as he continued to build up to the climax of his speech. “This machine of mine will give anyone who uses it the utmost joy of being able to do literally whatever they want…” he stopped in front of a large blocky looking thing with a brown canvas tarp over it. He turned around and out a hand up to emphasize his words. “When a writer writes a story, or an artist paints a picture, or a musician writes a song, he taps into a part of his imagination that no other person has access to: the part that allows him to CREATE and SHAPE his vision! He can take an idea and apply it to his specific medium and all but bring that idea to LIFE! And then he can share it with the world! Allowing everyone else to marvel at his ability to shape and create things. But what about those who can’t? What about those who have great imaginations, but lack the skill to write, paint, compose, or whatever? What about them??? Should they be left out? Should they not be allowed to shape and create their own ideas? I say YES! YES they SHOULD! And I have invented an invention that will allow them to do not only that, but MORE! FAR more! Even more then the ones can shape and create! They too will be able to use my invention of course, but they have less to gain than the others do. You see, where a writer’s medium is words on paper, or a painter’s is colours on canvas, or a composers is sounds from instruments; but this device… this magnificent machine will be able to do the as of yet unthinkable. It will turn reality itself into a medium for shaping and creating ideas!” He paused a while to let it sink in… “Just think… you get an idea for an awesome story, or movie or something. You turn on the machine and just start picturing it, and then… it happens. Your ideas just come to life before your eyes! You want a bird to appear? It appears! You want it to be pink? It’s pink! You want it to have 4 wings, 3 legs, 2 heads and a prehensile tail! It does! It’s that simple! Or at least… it should be…” He sort of slumped down a bit and looked at the thing. “I still have yet to test it… it’s in its final stages, though, so it should work. And as far as I know, which is pretty far, it shouldn’t be able to kill anything. I was going to test it out myself as usual, but then I met you. I talked to you, spoke with you, learned what you were like. It didn’t take much to figure out that you’d absolutely LOVE this thing, as most people would…” He was right. And he knew exactly why, now. If that thing could do what I wanted it to do, then it was a device sent from heaven! I was exactly the type he’d described: very imaginative, but with no skill to use that imagination. I looked up at the canvassed behemoth of a machine and just stared at it. “You want to see it, then?” he asked. “Of course!” He nodded and pulled the canvas. The thing was just like any other machine in the room: big and square. But the biggest thing about this one was the fact that there was very little on it. Just an on/off switch and a panel that appeared to open. That was it. “it’s… it’s, uh…” I couldn’t think of a word that didn’t express great disappointment in some way or another. “It’s a bit minimalist, yes, but it’s a very simple interface.” He flipped the switch into on position, and it made a noise like a boiler starting up. The panel opened and revealed an odd looking bike helmet with an antenna on it. Dr. Rourke stood there staring at it with great pride, as if this little helmet was all he was meant to accomplish in life. He then gave me a quick glance that said “go ahead, try it on!” I picked the helmet up and placed it on my head. I did up the straps so it fit snuggly, then looked at the doctor for further instructions. After a while I asked “What do I do know?” “Here, uh…” he thought a second before holding out his hand, palm up. “Just picture something appearing in my hand… anything, it doesn’t matter.” I looked at his hand and thought for a while… then I got an idea. Suddenly there appeared on his hand the oddest of birds. It was about the size of a blue jay, and was shaped like one, too. Except it was green. And had two heads. And three legs. And four wings. And a long tail that was wrapped around Dr. Rourke’s wrist. He beamed happily as he saw his earlier example spring to life in front of his own eyes. One of its heads was twitching a bit as the other picked at something under one of its top wings. It switched between its feet a few times before letting go of the doctor’s wrist with its tail and flying off somewhere. I was incredibly awed by the strange sight, and frankly couldn’t believe what I’d seen. I looked around for the bird and saw it hopping around on the table I’d been strapped to. I looked back at Dr. Rourke and almost had the same look he did. “it’s fun, isn’t it? Now, try something else… something bigger.” I thought for a second and then looked down at myself. I smiled and started thinking about some interesting thoughts. I abruptly felt myself change, sprouting fur everywhere, a tail, a muzzle and a pair of ears, all almost exactly like Dr. Rourke’s. He grinned widely and then blushed, seeing a female version of himself. The appearance soon faded as I started thinking of other forms to take. Next was a white rabbit girl, a red cat girl, then a blue fox girl, and finally a skunk girl. I made sure I had no smell. Dr. Rourke was nearly floored by my appearance, as was I when I looked down at myself. Soft black and white fur covered my body, and it felt incredible. It felt like cat or rabbit fur, since those were the only two animals that I could remember what it felt like to pet. I smiled as I rubbed my arms. “Oh god I love this…” I said. “Would you like to be able to do what I can do? I doubt that machine can sustain anything when it isn’t on, and you might want to experience this again later.” I looked at him questioningly at first, but then with great excitement. “Really??? You mean it??? You’d do that for me???” I was practically bouncing. “Of course I would. I already said I love you, do you need any more proof than me letting you become what you’ve probably always wanted?” I giggled happily and then returned his earlier embrace with my own. I let go soon enough and removed the helmet, confirming Dr. Rourke’s guess that the images would go away when the machine shut down. I then skipped on over to the table and sat there until the doctor brought over a small vial of something blue. “Here. Just drink this, and you’ll feel the change in no time.” I took the vial of stuff, drained it, corked it, and gave it back. And within 15 seconds, I could already feel myself begin to morph into the skunk form. My tailbone stretched out, taking the skin with it and growing more and more outwards until it had curved up and into the shape of a tail. My ears crawled up my head and shaped themselves appropriately, making them stick out of my hair cutely. My nose and upper lip fused together and began pushing forward, pulling my face into a muzzle. Then the fur, the wonderful black and white fur began to sprout everywhere, covering every inch of my body. Once everything was finished, I lay down, feeling my ears and tail. “This is awesome… I never want to be human again.” I stated whole heartedly. “Alas, my love, we can not stay in these forms above ground. We may only be furries when we are alone. The world is not yet ready for us.” I considered this and agreed. The last thing I wanted to do was cause a commotion. “So…” I sat up and looked at Dr. Rourke. I then got a bit of an idea, but I decided to ask him first. “Well… since you’ve got that machine for reality bending over there… why don’t we, you know…” I looked at him in a seductive way, “… play with it?” He lighted up for a second, and then got a sly look. “Oh you evil temptress…” he winked at me, “I’d love to.” It didn’t take long for us to get out of our clothes. I was nude before he was, though he was wearing less. I quickly popped the helmet on and got an idea. The helmet wasn’t very sexy. So I used the machine itself to temporarily turn it into a small blue amulet. “Clever idea.” The doctor said as he came in for a hug and a kiss. “Thanks.” I returned them and then looked at the doctor. I was trying to think of things to do to him, but I just couldn’t think of any. “Having troubles getting ideas?” He asked. “Yeah, a bit… I just can’t think of anything that hasn’t already happened…” “I understand. You’ve just had a lot happen to you that you weren’t ready for. You brain needs a bit of a rest in the thinking department. Here, why don’t you give me the amulet, and I’ll do all the work, okay?” He grinned rather knowingly. “Okay… but no hurting.” I said, giving it to him. “I’d never dream of it.” He said. He looked at me and thought for a while. “Okay, I’ve got an idea. But it might be a bit weird.” I smirked. “You know, considering what’s already happened today, I think I’m ready for ‘weird’.” He nodded and just said “true.” Then he cracked his knuckles and looked at me. “If you want me to stop whatever it is I’m doing, just say so, okay?” “Alrighty.” He walked up to me slowly with his hands in front of him. He was soon close enough to touch my chest, just bellow my breasts. This surprised me as I figure those were what he was going for. But instead he placed a single finger bellow each of them and then started to move them in circles. I started laughing, mainly because it looked hilarious, but also because I was just a bit ticklish there. Then suddenly it stopped tickling. I felt two tiny nubs pop out where he was feeling me, and it suddenly started feeling really good. I moaned a bit as he started pulling the nubs, causing them to stretch out, pulling my skin with them. But they didn’t stop. He kept pulling, and my skin kept going. In fact, it was growing. When stopped, I saw that he’d made me grow an extra set of boobs. I giggled as I felt them, rubbing my new nipples and cupping the breast. “Wow… they feel so real…” “They are real. As long as the machine’s on, anyway.” I grinned a bit as I continued playing with my new additions. Dr. Rourke was quick to give my other assets some attention, as he began feeling my other breasts. We were both enjoying it greatly, to the point where I soon found myself on the ground in front of the doctor and he was kneeling above me, caressing my boobs, one by one. He was visibly aroused and fully erect, his pink member poking up a good seven inches. As he played with me, he looked down and then up at my face. “Okay, I just got this great idea. I’ve always wanted to do a roleplay where, uh… are you familiar with vore?” I nodded vigorously and smiled. “I’ve always wanted to know what that was like, on both ends.” “Then I have an absolutely wicked idea.” I found myself sitting in a school classroom, wearing the amulet for some reason. I was dressed up in what appeared to be a school uniform consisting of a blue blazer, white shirt, black dress, knee high socks, and cute little shoes. I was still a skunk girl, and each of my classmates also appeared to be furries. We also appeared to be doing some kind of school work. I looked down in time to get the strangest feeling in my gut. I didn’t know what it was, but my body did. It was telling me I needed someone in me. Not something, someone. I put up a hand and asked the teacher if I could go to the bathroom. She said it was okay, and I found myself walking quickly down the halls towards where I apparently figured a bathroom was. It was while I was walking that I noticed I wasn’t wearing any panties. It felt weird and sexy at the same time, knowing that if my skirt went up people could see my girly bits. This got me even more excited and I started jogging toward where I was headed. It wasn’t long before I saw the unisex bathroom at the end of the hall and saw someone walk into it. I didn’t see all of them, but I did see their black ringed grey tail… Dr. Rourke, perhaps? I slowed down a bit getting an idea. I wanted that person inside of me. Completely inside of me. And I wasn’t wearing any underwear. So I knew exactly what I’d do. I got to the door and opened it quietly. I stepped into the bathroom, seeing three stalls in the far corner. I could also see that someone was in one of them. I walked over to it and flung the door open in time for him to flush the toilet and turn around to see me. I pushed him back on the toilet seat, getting a quick look at his face (it was indeed the good doctor) as I stood my feet on either side of the surprisingly wide toilet seat and towered above him. His head was covered by my skirt, so I couldn’t see him. But I knew where he was. As he instinctively looked up at me, his nose brushed my sex, and I took this opportunity to lower myself down onto his face, engulfing most of it. He started struggling a bit, but all that did was work his head into me even further. I slowly lowered myself further, feeling my top breasts (I had just noticed I’d kept the extras) and rubbing the now hard nipples through my uniform. I slid down further as the guy tried holding on to something and pulling himself out. All this did was make his head pump in and out of me like a large dick. I hissed at feeling at stopped my advances on him as he continued pumping into me, whether on purpose or by accident. I soon climaxed, racking my body to the point that I lost my footing and fell straight down, completely engulfing his upper half in my sex. I landed both feet on the ground and gasped at the feeling, looking down at my now engorged gut. I caressed it lovingly as my vagina began sucking the guy up into me. He wiggled his legs around uselessly as my crotch slurped him up further and further until only his shoed feet stuck out of me. I sat down on the toilet and lifted my skirt, peering over my huge belly and four tits to get a good look at them, dangling from my netherlips. I then put my hand on them, got a firm grip and pushed them up into myself, climaxing as I did. My juices flowed freely over my hand and onto the floor, creating a sticky mess there. I brought my hand to my nose and sniffed at it, enjoying my scent. I then licked it clean and my view went black… I was once again lying beneath Dr. Rourke on the floor and he had the amulet, but my stomach felt sticky. I touched it and found that he’d apparently came on my stomach. “Did you enjoy that little episode?” He asked. “I… I did… was it real?” I asked, bringing some of the sticky goo to my face. “As real as the cum on your fingers. I apologize for that, by the way… I couldn’t help myself…” I looked at him with my best bedroom eyes and licked my fingers clean. “Don’t worry,” I said, “It’s okay with me.” He blushed a bit and coughed. “Okay, uh… so, you wanted to try that too, did you?” “Indeed. But since you got to crawl up inside my cunny, I want to do the same to you.” He seemed a bit confused. “So you want me to grow a vagina so I can unbirth you?” I thought about this for a second, but then shook my head. “No, no, no. I want you to swallow me…” I pointed to his erect and dripping penis, “with that.” He looked down and then back up to me. He grinned a great big grin that said he was more than happy to ablige. “I’d love to. And I’ve got just the idea for doing it…” I woke up in bed next to a sleeping Dr. Rourke. He looked so peaceful there, lying nude. The blankets at the foot of the bed, it having been too warm to use them. I myself was wearing a see through pink nighty that looked very nice over my four breasts. I sat up as it hit me that this was another thing that Dr. Rourke was doing with the amulet. I looked around and saw it on the nightstand beside him. I then looked down his body and saw that he had quite the erection. In fact, it was huge. Double his previous size! I bent over to get a good look at it, and noticed that it was drooling a bit, causing a small puddle to form on the bed sheet bellow it. I poked at that too, producing a long line of cum as I pulled my finger to my nose. As I’d now done twice, I sniffed it and licked it. It tasted good. Then I got the most absurd idea. I went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed three things: a package of wieners, a jar of pickles, and package of carrots. I then took them all back up to the bedroom and saw that the good doctor had rolled over on his back and his member was pointing straight at his face. I smirked and got on the bed. I placed the three things down beside him and straddled his knees, looking up at his cock. I then tore open the thing of carrots and took one out. I grabbed hold of his stiffy and pointed the tip at myself. I took the tip of the carrot and placed it inside the tip of his penis, then pushed it forward. I was quite surprised to see ho easily the hole stretch to fot the intrusion, and found myself getting wet because of it. I gave a good push and forced it in completely, finding that the good doctor’s cock seemed to be swallowing it on its own. I blinked a bit before grabbing another carrot and repeating it. Soon all the carrots were gone and I grabbed the hotdog wieners. I ripped the pack open and took one of them, doing as I did with the carrot. Dr. Rourke’s slit was covered in pre-cum by now from all the attention, so it slid in all too easily. So I took a couple of wieners and inserted them both at the same time. They too went in with ease. I kept upping the number of ‘dogs until there was nothing left and found that none of them really had an resistence. So, I took the jar of pickles and looked at it. I thought for a bit and just decided to go with the whole thing. I squeezed the doctor’s penis near the top, and the slit opened up a bit. How I knew that would happen I have no idea. I then took the jar and put part of the lid against the open slit and began working it in. Again, it slid in surprisingly well. The slit stretched wide around it, and the cock was quite distended because of it. I looked up to see Dr. Rourke still snoozing away like nothing was happening. I pushed the pickle jar again, expecting it to slide further, but it didn’t. Aha! Finally a challenge! I started pushing against it really good, bouncing up and down with each push. Soon I had both hands on the jar and was giving it all I had. Suddenly, the jar seemed to give way and it slid all the way in and more! In fact, I was now inside Dr. Rourke’s penis up to my wrists! It looked quite odd with that much stuff in side it. Everything else had gone up to his stomach snd had caused it to bulge a bit, but my hands were no where near there. I moved a few fingers and noticed that I could see their shape through his cock. Still a bit frightened at what I was doing, I couldn’t help but find myself really being turned on by this. I tried pulling out again, but I was stuck. Then the cock started actually sucking me in! I mean literally! It wasn’t even ten seconds until I found myself in halfway up to my shoulders! It was at this point that I noticed how far into the cock’s hole I could see. The fact that it was so wide open was really getting me hot, and I decided aw hell… just go for it! So instead of trying to pull out, I pushed forward and found my journey much easier this way. As my face passed the slit, I gave it a few licks which caused the good doctor’s body to shiver a bit. I grinned as I plunged my head forward into the gaping hole and found myself unable to push forward anymore. I was in quite an awkward position, pretty much leaning on my elbows and propping myself up with my knees. But that didn’t seem to matter, because the cock I was partially inside of was once again beginning its sucking. It gave a great heave and pulled in my first set of breasts. This felt incredibly good and nearly brought me to climax. Luckily it didn’t wait too much longer to suck me in further, swallowing my other set of breasts and racking my body with a huge orgasm. This caused me to slip further, and I now in up to my waist. I could just imagine what Dr. Rourke looked like from outside. Hugely distended cock with half a skunk girl sticking out of it, and a humungous belly to match. Another heaving suction motion and I was in up to my knees. I found myself in yet another awkward position and started moving around to find a better one. This apparently felt really good because I could here the doctor moaning loudly just before cumming hard around my kneecaps, somehow forcing the rest of my legs inside of himself. Again I imagined what it looked like, picturing my legs being consumed by his cock in much the way spaghetti gets slurped. This thought alone was enough to get me off once again, and my view went black as the orgasm hit… Again I found myself on the floor beneath Dr. Rourke, this time I saw that his cock was shrinking a bit, but was quite wide and gaping. I grinned up at him as he yawned, rivaling his minimizing member, having just woke up apparently. He then looked down at me grinning, and I stared up at him in wonder. “That was awesome…” we both said it in unison, having loved it equally, though he had apparently slept through it. “Could you really feel all that?” I asked. “Oh indeed I could. I was only in a fake sleep. It looked and sounded like the real thing, but I was completely conscious for the whole thing.” I considered it and guessed that made sense. “So you wanna go for another round?” I asked. “No, I’d rather not… I think we’ve had enough for today.” He seemed a bit tired indeed, but I’d though it was from the cock vore bit. I considered it, though, and found that I too was quite tired. “More tomorrow then?” I queried. “You can bet on it.” And he lay down a top, embracing me in the most wonderful kiss I’d ever experienced, including the ones from earlier… Long story short (or at least, the boring bits omitted) I married him. Now I mrs. Amanda Rourke. I prefer to just be called Ms. Rourke though, mainly because it sounds better. And we’ve rented out the dream machine, as we call it, to many happy couples so that they might enjoy it themselves. It’s become quite a success for us and I have not once regretted getting a check up that day. We live a very happy life, and have been known to rent the Dream machine to each other for various pruposes every once in a while. Interested giving it a run yourself? Then just gives us a ring. You know how to contact us; we’re in the monthly nudy mags, page 42. See you ‘round!

Let it be known that there exists many dimensions besides the ones we reside in. They are parallel universes in which things are quite different than within our own. Some are strange, some are wonderful, and some are quite frightening. Others still are far more… interesting than others. This one has no name, but it has been known to have quite an impact on the others around it. It holds only a room and its occupants who occupy themselves with nothing but hours, days, and even months of television. But for them, it’s quite a different experience. You see, they control what it is they see on their TV. Whatever shows up, they can manipulate in ANY way they see fit. Reality for them is merely a toy to be played with, and the people within it are simply the pawns in their twisted game. The room is big, but has not a single light. The floor is simple concrete, and the couch is green and only looks slightly used. The only other object in the room is the gigantic TV that looks like something Dr. Frankenstein might watch his shows on. Tesla coils and antennae sticking out of everywhere, random electrical currents jumping from here to there, and all of it making it look both dangerous and very important. The light it gives of illuminates only the couch and its occupant, nothing more. He sits, watching the television with immense boredom, waiting for the other “person” to arrive. He is large, muscular, and covered in pink fur. He appears to be a cross between a body builder and a fluffy pink rabbit, but there’s many more indescribable elements to him. He wears no clothing, as he sees no need for it. In fact, he often scoffs at those he sees wearing them, though they never have them for very long. He sits, leaning on the left arm of the couch, nearly half asleep with the image on the TV reflected in his glazed eyes. “So, what’s on tonight?” A voice from the shadows asks. “Nothing, really.” The large bunny thing replies. “I’m just watching Earth in Dimension 71 until Dimension 57’s Venus wakes up and gets on with its annual 24 hour war.” “How long until then?” “Nearly 8 hours. They just went to sleep after making preparations at the likewise annual Eve of War event. They speculate that a whole million might die this time.” The owner of the voice in the shadows steps forward, revealing herself to be both female, and of the same species as the other being. The difference is that she is slender and purple, while he is buff and pink. Her arms are crossed in front of her chest and she taps her finger on her fore arm. “Few planets have developed a more entertaining way to deal with over population than the Venus of Dimension 57. Should definitely be worth the wait. What’s happening on this Earth right now?” “Pretty much nothing. I’ve been waiting for you to get in here so we can have a bit of fun with it.” “You’re so nice. I do love you so much brother, waiting for me so we can share the good times.” She sighs loudly before hopping onto the other side of the couch and staring at the TV. It shows four 20 year old women in a house. It’s apparently night time and the four of them are just sitting down in a living room with some drinks and food. “So, what are they doing?” “Again, nothing really. The only reason I’m watching this is because they started talking about sex and stuff. Apparently, they’re all college students in a sorority house and they’re living there together. They talk every night about things, and since they’ve been there for half the year, they’ve more or less run out of wholesome topics to converse about. The blonde one’s been with 5 different significant others, two of them at the same time, while the red head’s only had two boyfriends, both early in high school. The brown haired one’s a virgin of dating, but not of promiscuous sex which she enjoyed much of in her teen years. The black haired one’s been with one guy for all of about… 3 years, I think she said.” “Indeed. And their current sex lives?” “Surprisingly sparse for college girls. None of them really seems to have any interest in it at all.” The purple rabbit begins to think deeply for a few seconds before responding to the last bit of info. “Well then, how about we spice things up a bit more? Give them something to be interested in about sex and its wonderful little nuances and such. And for our sake, let’s toss logic and sense out the window.” A grin worthy of Wile E. Coyote graces the face of the purple rabbit as the pink one lets this idea sink in. “Little or no sense or logic? I do believe I like where you’re going with this. So, get rid of all of both, or just enough to give it a bit of structure?” “You’ve got to keep SOME in there, my friend. Even chaos needs some structure to be entertaining.” “True as always, true as always. So, I wonder, what shall we have them do?” Again, the purple bunny is lost in thought before she blinks back with an idea of great inspiration. “We’ll let chance decide for us!” The pink rabbit’s face lights up with delight at the suggestion. “Oh sister, I do like your way of thinking! So, what will we use first?” “We’ll get to that. First, we need to set the stage. Maestro, I believe this is your specialty.” “Thank you, sister.” The pink rabbit stands and flicks into existence a conductor’s baton. He grabs it and flicks it around a bit before tapping it on a stand that has just appeared before him. He then raises his hands as if to start an orchestra, and the show begins… ~ The girls were all sitting in their favourite chairs that night, talking about the only thing they hadn’t talked about: sex. They’d all revealed that they’d had sex at least once with someone, but never found themselves very fond of it. Belle, the blonde, had had a good number of boyfriends, but none of them satisfied her. As such, she dumped them and has since given up on sex. Rebecca, the red head, had had a pair of boyfriends, only one of which was any good at sex, but she didn’t care about that. This is probably why they dumped her. Brandy, the brunette, was a sex fiend at one point in her life but got very bored with it after a while. She’d never had anything more than a one night stand, so had no idea what dating was like. She’d merely had to ask “wanna have sex?” And it went from there. They were all quite pretty, so that wasn’t much of a problem for any of them. Samantha, the black haired one, was the only one still in a relationship and it was surprisingly her first. She was apparently very happy with her man. They’d had sex on many occasions, but it wasn’t as important to them as it would be to others. Even though none of them were known for the love of intercourse, they found themselves urging to talk about it that night. They’d enjoyed the conversation and were having a great time. That was when Brandy had a wild idea. “Hey girls, I just got a crazy idea: why don’t we all get naked?” “What do you mean?” Samantha asked. “Like, take off our clothes?” “Yeah.” “Right now?” Belle seemed both surprised and hopeful for some reason. “Sure, why not?” “But we have studies to do…” Rebecca was very conscious of school and such things. “Oh who cares? Studying never did us any good before.” Brandy replied. “And besides, we’ve been doing great this year, we deserve to celebrate.” Belle was already getting undressed. “You know what? You’re right! We DO deserve it!” And before you knew it, they were all nude. They were all of perfect proportions, not too big here, and not too small there. While some assets were bigger or smaller depending on who you were looking at, they were all equally sexy. They modeled for each other before sitting in a small circle on the floor. Sure the hardwood was a bit cold, but they got over that quickly. “So, now that we’re as bare as Mother Hubbard’s cupboards, what’re we gonna do?” Rebecca queried. “Good question…” Brandy was thinking hard about this. “If anyone gets any ideas, just speak up.” And then they were all off, thinking away at what they could do while nude. ~ The pink bunny turns and bows as the purple one claps. He thanks her and takes a seat beside her on the couch. “So there we are; the stage is set for a good long night of impossibly blissful ‘sexploration’. Any ideas?” “Hmmm… I do have one, but I’m not quite sure how to go about it… I’m thinking of having it all work like some kind of a game… a board game, sort of. Or a truth or dare thing. Or hell, it could just happen randomly, it’s not like they’d know the difference now anyway.” “What’s your idea?” “Well, each of us gets a pair of ladies to play with. You’d control whatever happens to two of them, and I’d have the same privilege for the others. And if we couldn’t think of anything, we’d just let chance decide, as I’d suggested before.” “Once again, I love how you think. Okay, uh… who do you want?” The purple rabbit thing looks up at the TV and at each of the nude girls. She then points at each one respectively and nods. “I’ll take the blonde and the brunette. You can have the black and red haired ones.” “Okay, fair enough. So, who goes first?” “I’ll flip a coin.” A coin appears in her hand and she tosses it, calling tails. Heads comes up and she gives a bit of a huff. “Oh, you can go first, sister. It’s okay, really.” “I can?” “By all means, go ahead. This’ll give me time to think, and you can spin a wheel or something.” “Thank you brother. You’re always so self sacrificing.” She stands up and walks over to the shadows and pulls out a large vertical wheel with random colours on it. At the top a small pointer points down to signify the selected section. She grabs a couple of the pegs on the wheel and pulls it down, setting off the clicking and spinning of the wheel. After a short wait, it lands on a blue section on which the words “Grab Bag” appear. “Good spin! I always love this.” The purple bunny claps and hops to signify her agreement. “Oh the fun of a good grab bag! Structured chaos at its finest. 5 items chosen at random for the players to do what they want with. Should definitely make this drab happening much more interesting to watch.” “Oh indeed, sister, indeed!” She hops back on the couch just in time to see the effects get under way. ~ Belle was thinking to herself when she felt her middle starting to bloat a bit. She burped reflexively, drawing attention to herself by accident. “Excuse me.” She said. “Getting a little gassy are we Belle?” Brandy was smirking at the comment with her hands on her hips. “Well yes, I believe so, but I can’t understand why. My stomach just suddenly started feeling bloated, and then I burped.” “Well no wonder!” Rebecca exclaimed, pointing. “Look at you!” Belle looked down and saw that she had acquired a nice little belly. And it was now that she noticed how it felt. “Wow… it feels so smooth and warm… it feels good…” Belle put her hands on it and started to rub it a bit, mmmming at the feeling. “You guys have to feel this, it feels great.” Brandy was the first to touch it, and found that she could feel it growing. “Wow that is so neat!” She exclaimed. Rebecca was circling Belle’s bellybutton with her finger when it popped from inny to outy. She giggled in response and poked it happily. “It sounds like something is moving around in there, Belle.” Samantha had pressed her ear against it and was listening to the sloshing sounds of the growing stomach which was now well passed regular pregnancy. “Woah, guys; could you back off a bit, I’ve gotta move.” Belle was finding herself in an increasingly uncomfortable position as her belly grew bigger. It was in fact sitting right on top of her, so she was definitely under a bit of weight. She soon found, oddly enough, that turning over and staying on all fours with her backside to the girls was the most comfortable position she could be in. This gave the other three a great view of her honey hole which was yawning a bit for whatever reason. With every breath Belle took, it opened and closed a bit, showing some pink every now and then. Brandy couldn’t seem to help herself. Something was telling her to touch it. Touch Belle’s pussy Brandy, it said. And as belle’s swelling settled down, that’s exactly what brandy found herself doing. She reached forward and lightly stroked the sides of Belle’s folds with her fingers, making Belle inhale a bit at the feeling. She oohed some before turning her head to look at Brandy. “I hate to be a bother, but that feels absolutely wonderful! Do you think you could, you know… reach inside, maybe?” “You want me to stick my hand in your crotch?” Brandy asked. “Yeah, sure, do that. I bet that’d feel awesome!” Belle wiggled a bit and her belly followed suit, making an audible sloshing noise. “Man, I wonder what’s in there?” Samantha asked aloud. “I intend to find out.” Brandy said, positioning herself better to get in there. She raised her hand to the opening and pressed her fingers into it. They entered easily and her hand followed suit. Belle moaned and simply asked for more, which Brandy gave. She was soon in up to her elbow, rooting around inside. “Hunch… it’s really wet in here Belle. You’ve got quite a juice maker here.” She laughed a bit, as did the others. As her fingers felt around, something brushed her hand. Se grabbed for it and got something hard. She pulled it out and found herself holding a strange object. “What the hell is this thing?” She asked. It was a small blue cylinder, one inch in diameter, and 8 in length. Though it felt hard and smooth, she found that the ends of it would droop if held certain ways. She put it on the floor and plunged her hand forth again. This time she pulled out an aerosol can of WD-40, which really didn’t make any sense. She and the other two had a nice laugh at that. Shortly afterwards, for a third time her hand was swimming around, searching for something. But this time, the something grabbed her. “Oh crap, something’s got me!” Brandy was pulling on it and shaking her arm around in an attempt to get it out, but the thing had a good hold on her. Belle was loving the attention she was getting and was vocalizing it well. “Oh god! Deeper! Deeper! Wiggle more or something! My GOD that feels great!!!” “Just a second dear, I’m trying to wrestle with whatever it is I’ve found.” She gave a good yank and found it returned on her, two fold. When she realized she was slowly being pulled deeper into her friend’s opening, she looked to the others for a bit of help. “Hey Rebecca, Sam! Could you give me a hand? Mine’s kinda busy.” One of her arms was indeed buried in her companion’s cunny, and the other was trying to help with the pulling, so she definitely needed a hand with it. The other two girls gladly grabbed her and started pulling, quickly gaining headway on the creature clutching Brandy. Within a few seconds, Brandy’s hand was outside Belle, along with a good bit of a long, suction cup covered burgundy and purple tentacle that was wrapped good around her wrist. “Holy shit, there’s a squid in your snatch!” Samantha exclaimed. “And it feels absolutely WONDERFUL!!!” Belle was pretty well humping the thing as the girls did what they could to pull it out. It wasn’t long before the end of the tentacle could be seen, signified by the large bulge it was attached to. Belle was now doing a good deal of pulling as well, but that was mainly out of sexual urgency than her trying to help the others. She could feel every tiny detail in the octopus’ skin as it went through her, and its other tentacles were going absolutely crazy inside of her. She knew that the further it came out, the better it was going to feel, and she intended to remove the whole thing. She also knew that those tentacles she felt wiggling around were attached to something, and it was big. And it was slipping out of her ever widening cunny. With a wet plop, the wiggling, wriggling thing fell to the floor and Belle came all over it. She fell forward and found herself resting on her now slightly smaller stomach. The octopus was pretty well just sitting there moving its arms around. Well, all except the one with the death grip on Brandy’s wrist. “Wow… that thing looks awesome!” Rebecca was poking it with a big grin on her face. “You might think so, but it’s not attached to you.” Brandy was trying to pry its tentacle off of her, but it wasn’t doing much. Suddenly she felt something brush her own crotch. It felt slimy and wiggly, and it had a purpose. Within seconds the octopus had let go of Brandy’s arm and had itself half buried in her pussy, pumping itself in and out, hoping to further lubricate its entry. Brandy, who was utterly shocked at first, was now doing pretty well what Belle had been doing. She was grinding down on that thing with great enthusiasm, and her hands were on it, pushing it further in in hopes that it would make her blow like Belle did. Soon enough she found herself quite pleased as she climaxed, leaving a nice little puddle on the floor. The welcome intruder had left a good bulge in her midsection, mind you it was nothing compared to Belle’s current state. After a bit of a breather, Brandy got back into position and dove her arm into Belle’s vagina, receiving no resistance what so ever. Belle perked up a bit and got up on her elbows. “Let’s hope you find another one of those things in there, eh Brandy?” Samantha asked hopefully. “Hey, if I can get the sucker out of me later, I’ll let you have mine.” Samantha grinned and bounced a bit at the thought. After a little more rummaging around, Brandy pulled out what looked like a pair of dildos that had somehow been intertwined with each other, and a free subscription to a version of AOL that wasn’t even out yet. She opened the packaging and found a small shiny ball that looked like a cross between a large ball bearing and a wicked marble. “I highly doubt this thing’ll work in my computer.” She tossed it over her shoulder and picked up the blue cylinder thing and the double dildo. “I wonder what these things do…” Brandy was turning them over and looking at the other girls. Belle was back to her regular size, having dumped her cargo, and the other two were as regular as ever. She wondered quietly to herself who it was that would find out what they did, if anything. ~ “A pussy dwelling octopus? Ha! I couldn’t have planned it better myself!” “And those other two things are definitely going to be fun for someone.” “But who… that’s always the question isn’t it?” “Not always, but I definitely get your point.” “Well, the brunette’s already got the crotch buddy, and the blonde was the grab bag, so why not give your girls the toys?” “Well, I appreciate the gesture, but I had something else in mind.” “Then you can have two turns. I need time to think anyway, and I feel I should do something nice for you.” “Thank you very much sister, I’ll use my turns wisely then.” He turns to look at the TV and sees his girls taking hold of their respective playthings. ~ Samantha quickly took the entwined pleasure devices, and Rebecca grabbed the blue thing. She looked at it quizzically, wondering how exactly it would work. She turned it around, looked at it and blinked. She thought she could smell something, so she put it up to her face. It smelled oddly of blueberries, and the smell got stronger the further along she sniffed it. When she got the end of it, she gave a great whiff and found it attached to her nose. “Woah, what the hell just happened?” Rebecca had let go of the thing and it hung from her face, now beginning to curl up a bit every now and then. The end on Rebecca’s nose started to blend in with her skin and mold around her nose, completely blocking her air there. “Okay, this is not looking good.” She said in the nasally tone of someone with a stuffed nose. As the thing began to lose its blue hue and gain a warmer tone of skin, it also started to get longer and more triangular. The end of it soon opened up into two holes that made it look quite strange. “Wow.” Brandy exclaimed. “I think it’s… I think it’s a trunk, Rebecca.” She was right. The thing had turned into a two and a half foot long skin coloured elephant’s trunk, and it was hanging off of Rebecca’s face. “Can you do anything with it? Like, move it and stuff?” Belle was sort of poking at it, since Rebecca was busy staring at it. She tried to move it and found that she did in fact have excellent control over its movements. She could move it left and right, up and down, curl it up, and even grab things with it. She also found that she could breathe wonderfully through it and tried smelling a bunch of things. As she did that, Samantha was looking from her double dildo thing to Rebecca’s new appendage. She then took the object and pressed its base against her own nose, hoping for a similar effect. After a bit of giggling from the others, she soon found that that wouldn’t do anything. “Just stuff it in your hole.” Brandy said, pointing. She suddenly gave a small shiver; that octopus was apparently enjoying itself. “Yeah, I figured that’s how it’d work. I was just thinking, you know…” She blushed thinking how silly she looked with it in front of her face. “Oh, never mind.” She spread her legs and then her lower lips and inserted the thing, finding that it slid in quite easily, considering its girth. “Oh wow that feels neat. You’ve gotta-WOAHmigod ohmigod ohmigod!!!” The thing in her crotch had suddenly whirred to life and started twirling around inside of her, making it feel like someone had shoved an incredibly wonderful electric mixer in her crotch and turned it on. She figured that this would be the literal definition of screwing, considering how it felt. Suddenly it wasn’t just the inside of her vagina that was feeling it, but her whole waist area was buzzing with the spinning feeling. “Holy shit cakes! Your crotch is spinning!!!” Belle was pointing at Samantha’s pussy and when she looked down Samantha saw that her hole was indeed spinning like some twisted sexual blender. It was the strangest thing she’d ever seen! Her southern entrance was twirling around with no ill effects what so ever. It felt a bit numb, but that was just because of all the vibrating. No pain, no skin tearing, just a lot of spinning. And then there was this feeling that Samantha could only describe as “splitting the atom” as the revolving orifice pulled itself apart and doubled, becoming a pair of pussies sitting happily between a pair of legs. Samantha came doubly and found herself breathing heavily. “Holy… fucking … crap… That was… heavenly…” she fell over backwards and just stared at the ceiling. “Hey, the funny vibrator thingy is in both your holes now!” Brandy exclaimed. The double dildo had in fact split and become two regular ones. Brandy grabbed hold of both of them and removed them from Samantha’s crotches, getting a nice reaction from her. “Oh wow… that’s hot.” Rebecca said, staring at her friend’s now doubled pleasure place. Her trunk had been sniffing around, but now that she’d found a distraction from smells, it found itself hovering ever closer to her own vagina. She couldn’t help the urge she felt and slid that trunk a good foot into her honey hole and gasped loudly. “Oh my GOD this thing’s good in here!” She was speaking again in a nasally tone, and with good reason. Her nose was occupied, twisting itself left and right, wiggling around and pumping in and out of her. She was getting quite wet from it all and Samantha was beginning to take notice. Her eyes were glued to Rebecca’s nasal invasion of her own crotch, and Samantha was getting very excited by it. Bother of her hands found their way to a cunny and started fingering them lovingly. She would rub her own clits every so often, keeping them hardened and happy. They were both moaning, almost in unison, pumping in and out of themselves to their own rhythms before they both came and spilled all over the floor, Samantha’s puddle being a bit bigger than Rebecca’s. Rebecca slid her trunk out of herself and sneezed, sending more cum to the hardwood. It had apparently gotten lodged in her nostrils and needed to get out for her to breath. She stuck the end of her trunk in her mouth to clean it off as Samantha did the same with her hands. “Mmmm… never tried that before… tastes pretty good.” Samantha said. “Indeed, quite good.” Rebecca slid her trunk out of her mouth and looked at it. “I love this thing.” “And I love my things.” Samantha agreed, staring at her mounds. “This is turning out to be quite a night.” Brandy said, and the others nodded happily. ~ “Dear GOD, brother! Those things were quite the items!” The purple bunny stares almost in awe at what she has just seen. “Yes, the Splitter from Dimension 39 and the BluTube of Dimension 342 are very useful for spicing up one’s sexual experiences. I dare say they’re some of my favourites.” “Other than us, of course.” “Indeed sister, indeed. We’re quite good at what we do.” “Agreed. Speaking of which, what were you planning on doing?” “Ah yes, my planned idea. Well, I was going to have the red head eat the black haired one. Or at least hold her inside of her until she decides to let her out.” “Oh, a little vore, hmmm? Well then, which hole have you chosen?” “I have decided to leave it up to chance. I’m going to roll a die, and depending on the roll, she’ll use the designated orifice for consuming her friend.” A die appears in his hand and he starts rattling it while the purple bunny asks a question. “What’s the system? What does each number represent?” “A one is mouth, two is nose since she has the trunk now, three is either breast, four is the belly button, five is her vagina, and six is her ass.” “What? No ear? Where’s your sense of adventure?” “That would have been my next choice, but I ran out of sides. Sorry sis.” He rolls the die and gets a six. The purple bunny raises an eyebrow at the roll and smirks. “Hunh, anal vore. Haven’t seen that in a while.” “Indeed we haven’t. Should be quite a show.” “I agree, but how are you going to get her to go through with it?” “Simple. With six little words:” ~ “Put your foot in my ass.” Rebecca had gotten on all fours and had pointed her rear at Samantha and was asking for quite the favour. “What?” Samantha asked. “Put your foot in my ass.” She repeated. “Oh. That’s what I thought you said.” Samantha shrugged. “Okay.” She turned toward her friend’s backside and lifted her foot up to the offered orifice and poked at it. Rebecca giggled a bit at the sensation and Samantha shared the giggle as it felt a bit odd for her as well. Samantha pushed forward after the giggle fit and found that her foot popped in almost immediately. “Jeez, you’re loose back here.” She commented. “You do anything we should know about?” “Hey, Belle was loose enough to swallow over half your friggin’ arm without you asking questions! Why do you gotta bug me just because your foot slips in?” “Just buggin’, that’s all.” Samantha rolled her eyes and pushed forward a bit more and was soon in up to her knee. “Hey, I wonder how far I could get in there…” She lifted her other foot and slid that in beside her leg and was knee deep in Rebecca’s ass before she knew it. Rebecca was enjoying this quite a bit. Being stretched as she was was a big turn on for her, and her nose was once again playing around her happy place. She was grunting a bit and moaning with the movements Samantha made. It wasn’t long before Samantha was responsible for the largely over pregnant belly of Rebecca, having just slipped her hips past Rebecca’s sphincter. She was now in a rather awkward position. See, she was holding herself up by her arms, and since her back had to be arched for her elbows to touch the floor, it was getting a bit stiff. “Hey Belle, do you mind holding me up? This position really sucks for this.” “Sure.” Belle got up and put her hands under Samantha’s armpits to lift her up. This movement caused Samantha to lose her entire midsection to Rebecca’s ass. Rebecca herself had lost most of her trunk to her other hole and was thus quite occupied. Brandy, having little else to do, poked her belly to see what the octopus would do. She moaned as it wiggled around frantically to try and get away from the poke, which just made Brandy poke it even more. So while the other girls were doing their thing, Brandy was playing with her own passenger. With some help from Belle, Samantha had managed to get all of her body into Rebecca except her head which made for a very surreal image. Rebecca’s gut was hanging almost to the floor with her trunk under it, reaching around to pleasure herself, and right above her pussy was Samantha’s head protruding from her ass. “Wow… you know, I bet this looks absolutely hilarious.” Samantha said. “Yeah, it does look really weird. Not something I’m likely to ever see again.” Belle said, nodding in agreement. Brandy was cuming for a second time from her playing with the octopus inside her. Rebecca nearly shrieked as she came hard, sucking Samantha’s head inside and making her belly thump on the floor. She let herself fall on her side so she wouldn’t have to hold herself up and let everyone get a look at her gargantuan gut. Every so often Samantha pressed her hand against the walls of Rebecca’s stomach and a handprint appeared there. This would cause her to moan and move a bit before going back to just laying there. “You know, it’s surprisingly comfortable in here.” Samantha’s voice was muffled, but still clear enough to hear. “I can only imagine how it feels for the both of you.” Belle said, holding her own stomach and remembering how it felt to be that big. Brandy had since stopped playing with her “friend” and was now back in reality. “So, when do you plan on letting her out, Rebecca?” She asked. “Well… I… I don’t… know… soon… maybe…” She was panting a bit at the sensations she was receiving from her guest and with good reason. She now held a full grown woman inside of her, and was being massage gently from the inside. Few people can understand just how good that really feels. “Hey, who knows; she could feel just as good coming out as she did going in!” Belle suggested. Rebecca nearly sat bolt upright at this thought and looked at her. “You think it might?” She asked. “Because that’d friggin’ rule!” And so, with help from Belle and Brandy, Samantha was on her way out of her “skin cell”. ~ “Well there you go. A great show as promised.” “Never doubted you for a second, brother. But I have to wonder… what are we going to do now? I figure we should pretty much finish it off before we get too attached to them.” “Too true, sister, too true. Did you have anything in mind? It is your turn anyway.” “Alright, fine. I’ve got an idea to top the whole thing off and finish it with a bang. We’re going to have each of them transform into something completely different, and then perform with their new found talents.” “You know, I don’t think you’ve mentioned one thing yet I have absolutely fallen in love with. But how shall we decide what they’ll become and such things?” “Easy. We go to the survey board.” The room suddenly lights up to reveal a large stage with a big yellow back and the words “Family Feud” on a few walls. Way up on the back wall is a board with six sections for answers to come up on. For anyone who’s seen Family Feud, you know the set. Out of no where, one of the hosts for Family Feud pops up with a card in his hand and a microphone in the other. “Alright ladies and gentlemen, you know how the game works. We survey one hundred of a certain group of people and tally up the answers they give us. We then take the most popular answers and see if our contestants can guess what they are. Everyone understand?” The bunnies nod their heads. “Okay, we went out and surveyed one hundred sooth sayers and fortune tellers about this upcoming change of pace those four girls will be experiencing, and they all gave cryptic answers in the form of sayings that people generally use. Yes, the answers are concerning those four girls, the changes they’ll be going through, and they come in the form of everyday sayings people might use. We’ll go to you first. And what’s your name miss?” “Lust. I’m from right here in this room, and I’d like to say hi to my parents, though as far as I know, I’ve been around since creation and don’t have any. Hello not-real parents!” The bunny we now know as Lust waves at what would normally be a camera as the host smirks a bit. “So, you heard the whole deal, right? Sooth sayers, cryptic messages. Can you give us an answer?” “Uh… ummm… “you look good enough to eat”!” “Okay, your answer is “you look good enough to eat.” And you do my dear, but that’s beside the point. Alright, “you look good enough to eat”; Survey SAYS:” An answer thing flips up and reveals a correct answer. A clapping sound is heard from the shadows, apparently coming from a false audience. The host congratulates her and moves on to the pink bunny. “And you big guy, what’s your name?” “I’m Libido and I’m the brother of Lust. I too am from right here in this room, and I’m hoping I win some big money!” “Right well, you’ve gotta play the game, just like your sister here. What’s your answer?” “Oh, uh… oh, oh! “The more the merrier”! “The more the merrier”!” “Alrighty, “the more the merrier”; Survey SAYS:” Another thing flips to reveal another correct answer. “And we are officially on a roll. Now, if you can get one more right, you’ll win and we’ll reveal the other three to you as a bonus. Call it a gift from us to you. Now little lady, what’s your guess?” “Hmmm… so hard to think of… idea, idea, idea… uh, oh! “Best of both worlds”!” “Good one. So, “best of both worlds”; Survey SAYS:” A big red X in a similarly coloured box appears to denote a wrong answer. “Oh, too bad. I really thought that one would have been an answer, I really did. It’s down to you, Libido. What is your answer?” “Oh god… pressure here, pressure… uh… oh jeez… “see you later, alligator”?” “Okay, okay, not bad, not bad. Let’s see if it’s up there. “See you later, alligator”; Survey SAYS:” With a resounding “DING!” the answer flips up and lights start blinking all over the place. Lust and Libido start hopping around yelling and screaming as the host calls for the other answers to be revealed. They are “she’ll grow on you”, “pull yourself together”, and “milk it for what it’s worth”. “Some very interesting answers and some great results for our contestants. We’ll be right back to see how things go, but first, a message from another dimension.” ~ The girls were just discussing their night of fun (Samantha was out of Rebecca and everyone was back in the circle), when suddenly, Brandy’s arm fell off. No marks, no blood, no nothing. It just sort of detached itself and landed on the floor. Hell if you hadn’t seen it on her a second ago, you’d swear it wasn’t even there, since there was skin covering it up as if it had indeed never been there in the first place. “Wow that’s weird. My arm just fell off!” Brandy even found that she could still move the thing without it being a part of her. She picked it up and put it back into place without much difficulty. “Hey, do you think you can do that with more of your body?” Belle suggested. “Hmmm… maybe.” Brandy gave a yank at her foot and it came off cleanly. She repeated this with a breast, her head, and her waist, all of which came apart without hesitation. She even put everything back wrong and it all seemed to fit perfectly. “Alright girl, pull yourself together and let’s get on with this crazy night.” As she did, Belle, Rebecca, and Samantha all started their own changing. As they all reacted with pleasant surprise, they found themselves gaining some rather odd attributes. Samantha was growing short white fur with black splotches everywhere, along with a tail and funny looking muzzle. Rebecca’s trunk was shrinking as her mouth was stretching out and her body was being covered in a great number of scales. She was even growing a big thick tail to go with the whole look. Belle was the strangest of all, finding small roots sprouting from her feet and a flower growing from her bellybutton. Her hair was even turning into big yellow leaves and her skin was turning a hard green. When Rebecca and Belle were finished turning into an alligator girl and a strange plant girl respectively, Samantha was sprouting feet out of her butt cheeks. The feet grew legs which quickly grew to the floor, and then a whole second body began to develop after them. Soon she looked like a centaur, but with a human lower body coming out of her waist. She was effectively a humantaur, but since she was a good bit of cow, she was technically a cow taur. But once again, she was not finished. A second pair of nipples appeared bellow her normal breasts and grew into a second pair, though slightly smaller. Also, a second pair of arms grew beneath her originals. And finally, an udder popped up between her hind legs. “Wow… just… wow… this is really getting strange.” She said. “But incredibly hot. You guys are so sexy!” Brandy said, her eyes almost literally falling out of her head. Rebecca’s stomach growled as she looked at brandy. “And you look good enough to eat.” “Woah, see you later, alligator! You ain’t getting a piece of me!” “Guys, what’s up with me? Am I some kind of weird plant or what?” Belle was looking at herself and was noticing a few little growths here and there. A few twigs were branching off of her shoulders and other bits of her body, her feet had actually become roots (though she could move them quite easily), and her bellybutton was now sporting a beautiful blue and purple flower that was very eye catching on her green body. “I don’t know, but I say we celebrate these new changes.” Samantha said, looking to see where her cunnies went. Turned out one of them had went to her back end with her butt hole and tail while the other staid up front. “I think I’ve got an idea.” ~ “An idea you say?” “Indeed.” “Well, out with it brother!” “I say we make them have a big sexual free for all, doing things left right and center where applicable. We have them entertain us with that until our other show comes on. Sound good?” “Very VERY good. Let’s do so. So, anything’s game?” “Sure, but if the red head can only eat one person. It wouldn’t be fair if she ate anyone else.” “Good point. Alright, are you ready?” ~ “Yeah, we’re ready.” Samantha responded. “Then let the games begin!” And they were off, pleasuring each other in such fanciful ways. Immediately Belle discovered that her fingers were indeed tentacle like vines that could grow almost endlessly, and she put those to work on herself and Samantha. She also found that rubbing the flower in her bellybutton felt much like masturbating did. She enjoyed this muchly as she played with Samantha’s front and back vaginas. Samantha was in turn sucking on one of Belle’s nipples and found that she secreted a most wonderful sap from there. Her hands were touching every little twig and off shoot they could find in hopes that it would excite Belle in some manner. They did, but not in the same manner as the flower in her stomach did. Brandy had succumbed to the idea of being eaten and was indeed feeding various appendages into Rebecca’s mouth, ass, pussy, and even her ears. She had to pull some parts in half to fill so many holes, but Rebecca was quite pleased with it all. The octopus inside Brandy had then sensed that it was time for some fun and stuck all of its tentacles out of her cunny and was wiggling them around fro something to pleasure. It soon found Rebecca’s opening as Brandy’s fore arm had just disappeared into it and it needed filling. Rebecca was already in absolute bliss from the stretching of her holes, so this intrusion blew her straight over the edge, oddly enough causing all the limbs to pop out of their holes and land around the room. The pussy dwelling octopus even popped out of her (its body still inside Brandy’s crotch, which was now only attached to her waist which had been separated from the rest of her body. The octopus stood on its eight legs and crawled around, feeling for something. It soon found Samantha’s hind leg and climbed its way up it and inserted its legs into the honey hole it found there. Speaking of honey holes, Belle had gotten on top of Samantha’s back end and was effectively riding her like a horse while her feet wrapped around Samantha’s udder and pumped the milk out of it. Her tentacled fingers were intruding every orifice on Samantha’s front section from nipples to bellybutton to front cunny. In return, Samantha was fingering her friend’s flower and her now literal honey hole, causing them to both drip honey flavoured sap all over the place. Things went on like this all night long, and when the sun rose, they found themselves generally mostly normal. The octopus was back inside Brandy who wasn’t quite together, Belle was back to being human, though she still sported the little flower on her stomach., Samantha was likewise human again, mind you she still had that double crotch going on, and Rebecca found herself a woman again, but with a surprisingly ravenous appetite. “Oh” “My” “Friggin’” “God” they said each word in turn before finishing with a collective. “What a NIGHT!” ~ “So, that’s it. Show’s over for the night. Dimension 57’s Venus should be waking up right about now.” “Ah. Well it was fun while it lasted.” “Yeah… you know, they still have those attributes. They’re like werewolves now, but much more interesting.” “How do you figure?” “Well, if they weren’t were things, they’d have lost all the stuff they’d gained. They’d be back to being human again and probably would have forgotten the whole thing. They’re obviously not human anymore, though they do still look it, and they can still remember the night. I’d definitely say they can still do what they did.” “Hmmm… and now they’ve retained a few of their new attributes… wait… they still have to go to school and stuff, don’t they?” Libido’s face lights up in delight as he realizes what this would mean. “So, they have to try and live normal lives like that? Wow… I wonder what that would be like…” “Well, I say we take out the VCR and tape the whole 24 hour war thing. I want to see how these girls make out, don’t you?” “Oh indeed, indeed. I’ve completely lost interest in that war. Let’s just watch them.” “And we’ll just let them do all the work. Okay?” “Okay. I’ll get the popcorn.” ~ See? Much more interesting, wouldn’t you say? And There are others like it. Mind you, they don’t like sex as much as these two do. There’s War and Destruction, Bravery and Courage, Fear and Loathing, and a host of other strange entities who see our world as nothing more than a ball of modeling clay to be played with. Who knows, you might even be the target of their next TV program. You could end up like those girls there. The question is, is that a good thing or a bad thing? … good thing… definitely a good thing.

(Anal stuffing, Anal Vore, masturbation, F/M) Basic info Name: Angel Age: 25 Species: Skunk Profession: Aromatherapist Clothing: None Unique Abilities: Scent changes depending on mood. Good mood equals good scent, bad mood equals bad scent. Role Played For Subject: Proctologist Record of Events (given by subject) I had gone to the "Proc Doc" that day, as usual... he had actually called to make sure I was going to be there on time. Sure I thought it was wierd, but then again, Doc Rourke wasn't exactly normal. He was REALLY nice, and a little creepy at times... had that uncanny ability to say that most awkward things at the most awkward times. But like I said, real nice guy. Anyhow, I was laying there on the table thing, Dr. Rourke doing his thing back there. Everyonce in a while I'd tickle his ear with my tail just to keep myself from getting bored and filling the air with a stale scent that just happened to accompany said feeling. he, of course, laghed it off and swatted at my tail, followed by a joking fonger wave that said "Now now, it's not nice to disturb the nice doctor while he's working". After what felt like an hour, Dr. Rourke gave me a polite pat on the ass to tell me he's done, so I got up off the table and he gave me the usual talk. Though, his use of the phrase "I hope to be seeing you soon" was a little odd, but whatever... I walked home, feeling pretty good about myself, mainly because I enjoyed the flowery scent it created. I got home right on time to watch some good TV, get myself a meal, and possibly get some gaming in on Benny's new Xbox 360... Who's Benny? Ron was my boyfriend. A nice white husky, tall, blue eyed... a little odd perhaps, but a real great guy. And yeah, great in the sack. Man we had some fun together... "Honey, I'm home!" I declared upon entering the house. "Thought I smelled something!" Benny popped out from behind the kitchen counter holding a couple of plates of spaghetti and some garlic bread for him. Garlic gives me gas, and that don't smell good no matter WHAT mood I'm in... I laughed at him sarcastically and hopped over the back of the couch, landing in a laying position as Benny put my plate in front of me and started popping down his meat balls. He was watching some cartoon thing... he's addicted to shows like Looney Toons and stuff... he got a real kick out of Wile E. Coyote and his crazy shenanigans... I stabbed a meat ball with my fork and popped it in my mouth and gave it a good chew before swallowing... and nearly choking half to death! I coughed and spluttered as the masticated meat got stuck somewhere in my wind pipe, and Benny was good and quick with the good ol' Heimlich, or Himleich, or whatever it's called... anyhow, I coughed up the meatball. "Man... that was odd..." I said, staring at the meaty goo. "No kidding... chew it next time." I looked from Benny to the meat balls on my plate and back again before deciding to try it again. I stabbed another meatball and tried again. And guess what? Another spluttering cough and a hack!!! I couldn't stop choking on these things!!! Benny dislodged it again and gave me a good look in the face. "Are you SURE you're okay, Angel?" He asked. "I... I... I don't... know..." I was rubbing my neck and my eyes were watering... it really seemed like I was going to choke forever on these things and was going to either die choking, or starve... what the hell could I do? I was starting to get worried, and it wasn't hard to tell. The atmosphere in the room got really nervous, the smell being rather odd, like something you'd want to be a bit cautious approaching... I was really getting hungry too... my stomach rumbled and I wimpered a bit, knowing what would happen if I tried anything again... "You know," Benny said, "If the food won't go down that way... there's only one other way to go..." Hey, I said he was odd, didn't I? "... what?" "Look, if you ca't swallow right, the only way to get the food to your stomach is, well... through the poop shoot..." I gave him an odd look... "Hey, it worked on South Park..." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. Great, I thought, of all the shows to get an idea from, he has to get it from the worst, most vulgar show on- -wait... he could be right! What if I CAN'T eat normally? What else could I do? What choice do I have? Would that even work??? I was soon to find out... I figured I had nothing to lose, so I shrugged and told Benny he was right... It couldn't hurt to try, right? I flipped around and knelt on the couch, elbows holding up my front, while Benny took a seat at my backside and picked himself up a meatball... unchewed, of course. He turned to me I heard him give a little sound of aproval, having always enjoy that particular side of me. He gently grabbed a hold of my left cheek and moved it a bit and gave a "ooh," sound... "What?" I asked... "You're back door's open..." He said, not entirely joking, "... and it half looks like it's... breathing? No, that can't be right... it doesn't smell normal, I'll tell you that much..." Even with my mood scents, that particular area never really had a pretty smell, as you could have guessed. "What's it like, then?" I asked him. "... It smells like you stuck a Tic-Tac up your ass..." We both giggled a bit at that and he looked down at the meat ball in his hand. I looked back and saw him shrug and place the meat ball to my hole. It literally fell in. And woah... what an odd sensation! I gasped at it and felt my muscles start working at it. I was both confused and slightly aroused at this, causing a smell that you knew smelled like something but you couldn't place it if you tried - but either way made you a bit horny - spread through the room. After a bit, I could actually feel the thing enter my colon and start its travel, a lot like swallowing... ... how odd... "It's gone," I said, "You can go ahead and give me another..." Benny did as suggested and grabbed another meatball. He popped it in my butt like the last one, and again it felt the same. Once the meat balls were gone, Benny picked up a fork and started rolling up some of the spaghetti. he got a good bit of it wrapped around the fork and I gave him the go ahead. He did his best to slide 'er in gently, but I was apparently really loose back there. The whole thing of spaghetti went in with a shlop kind a sound, and I reacted by clenching down. benny gasped and gave a good yank on the fork, but that thing wasn't going anywhere. He tugged again, and again, even told me to let go of it, but I didn't want to... it felt so great being in there... He gave a final tug and got it out and gave me a weird look... "I don't remember you EVER having an ass THAT tight..." "Been a while since you tried that door, hunh?" I was right. It had been a year ago. That was when Benny figured out that onions and garlic don't go well with my system. He smelled REAL funny for a few hours afterward, then swiftly swore off the "dirt road". He was down to the last fork full. He swirled it around and got as much of it as he could before turning to face my hungry hole, and shoved it in there a bit too hard. His entire hand slid in with the rest of the fork, and the fact that his and was bigger than anything I'd had as of yet,surprised and delighted me, while getting me REAL horny. Having to eat thorugh my ass, I found, was extremely sexy. He gave a yank, but I wouldn't give. I couldn't. I just wasn't able to spread myself any further without help, and I was enjoying it far to much anyway. Then my muscles started to kick in. Benny's arm was slowly being pulled into the depths of my voracious anus, and, surprisingly enough, didn't seem too mad at it... "Well, uh... this is... pretty sexy, actually..." he said. It was probably my smell. I would have answered, but this felt too great. In my state of mind, I was trying to think of how I could get him in there quicker. I didn't give a damn what, or who, he was. All that mattered was he was going in my belly. I clenched my muscles in an odd way that I didn't know I could, and Benny was in up to his elbow. I heard an oddly rythmical "smck, smck, smck" sound and took a quick glance back... to see benny pawing off to all this! I smiled a bit and started giving my boob a good fondle while I too indulged my crotch. Another good clench and Benny was in upto his shoulder, and beating his meat like it owed him money. I too was furiously fingering my "fun parts" and was moaning delightedly. He splooged, and I came, both at once and the contractions that shook me yanked real good on ol' back door Benny. Last I heard from him was "He-" and he was in past his nipples. And BOY, does it feel GOOD having something that big jammed in your ass!!! I nearly screamed with joy, the room filled the heady vapours of sexual arousal only a skunk could muster up... and poor Benny, over come by horniness was still jerking it, though his ability was a bit hindered since only his lower arm was outside me. I too was still going at it... having to reach around my now wide stomach so I could continue rubbing it, inserting multiple fingers into it and the like. Man this was awesome!!! Another orgasm had Benny in up to his waist, and boy what a great place to be! Due to his position, his member popped right into my cunning crevice, and we were off! He was doing what he could to piston in and out of me, though it was a bit difficult in this position, but I was getting some good practice with these butt muscles of mine. I had figured out how to force things in and out of my hole, and I was rapidly alternating between both, meaning I was sliding him in and out of both of my secret spots, his body in my ass, his shaft in my cunt. Not long after, we both came a thrid time, and Benny did a great impression of spaghetti being slurped, and he was pulled all the way in, feet and all. I flipped over and sat down, legs wide and I just sat there... breathing and staring at my huge stomach... Benny was in there... and I was soooooooooooooo full... I felt so absolutely satisfied at that moment... my crotch soaked in my own love juice, and my ass full of spaghetti, meatballs, and boyfriend... wow... what a night... I should, I thought, go to... to see Dr. Rourke... yeah... but first... I need some sleep...

Welcome to the home of the Fetish Friends! 5 furry females, each with their own little “quirk”! Whether you like vore, inflation, goo-girls, messy stuff, ovulation, food stuffing or pregnancy, etc. there’s something here for everyone! Have fun, and enjoy! (WARNING: best read and pictured as sort of an episode of a cartoon… like, Animaniacs or SpongeBob, but much more mature… well, adult-oriented anyway…) 'Twas a morning like any other morning, except for one thing... Little Nessy rose before Big Nessy did, if you get my drift... and that can only mean one thing... Okay, this calls for a little bit of background: see, the Fetish Friends are all female... well, mostly... so, this means they must all succumb to "that time of the month". But for them it's much more... pleasent than it is for human females... they don't get all fussy and all that other crap that makes us guys head for the hills and barricade our windows... no, they get very, VERY horny... and it's pretty much unstoppable for up to 24 hours, depending on the amount of stimulation in that time period... then they sleep it off for the other 4 days... like tiny mating seasons and hibernations all slapped into one. Very fun for them, and depending on whose day it is, fun for everyone else! (Another thing is that for these 5 inparticular, they get some extra abilities in this period... it's different for each, and I may have to do a story for each to get them all down... and figure out what they are...) Today it was Vanessa's "day". Now, for Vanessa this means that shi becomes not only exceptionally horny, but imcredibly hungry... though, for the benefit of those helping hir out in this respect, hir digestive system is shut down... but all of hir many entrances are now wonderfully receptive... like having little clits everywhere! And to boot, hir dick gets that extra boost to keep it up all day... it's got a lot of work to do... Vanessa saw hir hardened hard on, and felt the horrendous hunger and trumpetted loudly to call the others to hir aid. They came quickly, knowing why they had been called. *** The first one to get to work was Gilda. Since she just so happens to be made of goo, and can stretch great lengths, she could work many openings in quick succession. She went for the cunny first, slipping her slick body between Vanessa's folds quickly and squirming her way up into Nessy's uterus where she inflated like a balloon via a small tube of herself she kept outside of Vanessa's body. She repeatedly inflated and deflated, stretching Vanessa's stomach again and again and again, trying to bring hir to hir first orgasm. This came soon, but Gilda didn't stop just yet. She had a long way to go before Vanessa would be satisfied, and didn't want to waste all of her ideas right off the bat... so, ontot the next girl! **** Now, one might expect Malina to go in the back door and start playing around there, but she knew better than to put her likes above others in their times of need. What she did instead was head for the breasts... the left one to be exact. She herself had rather sensitive nipples and knew how good it felt having something come out of them, so she figured Nessy'd love have something go IN them. Luckily for Malinda, Vanessa's nipples were a little distended already from the extreme horniness of their owner. She used a bit of her own milk (creativity works) as some lubricant for the finger and slowly worked it into Nessy's nipple. She wiggled it around inside a bit, giggling at the moans Vanessa emitted when shi was being played with. Linny then started pumping the finger back and forth, in and out, squishing the boob it was penetrating rapidly, eliciting even more moans from little miss center of attention. Then, purely by accident, Malinda gave a good shove and slipped, putting all of her weight on her arm... thus forcing it into Nessy's nipple right up to the elbow!!! Gilda was almost launched from Vanessa's womb by the force of hir orgasm, and her trumpet was loud and proud. Malinda smiled wide and giggle as she took a good look at her friend's other nipple. She had to improvise, having no other hand to use for milking, so she reached around her ample udder and dug her hand into her own snatch, quickly bringing herself to orgasm and blasting the floor below her (and her hand) with her love juice. Now thickly covered with the gooey stuff, she sat upon Vanessa's large belly and balled her free hand into a fist. She jammed it down on (and into) Vanessa's other nipple, burrying IT up to the elbow as well!!! *** This time, Gilda WAS fired out of Nessy's womb, and made an interesting splatter against the wall. She easily shook it off and went back to her friend, this time crawling in a random hole and squirming on through and out another... simple, yet extremely effective... ** Now, Inara is known for her quietness, but she just loves doing things for her friends... especially at these times. She was standing against the wall, but not just watching her friends go at it... she was thinking up brilliant ideas for an awesome finale... but what could she do? She had been given a nugget of inspiration by Gilda's inflating of the womb idea, but needed to think of something else... and then it hit her... but she was going to need help... "Prema!" she said, "Do you think you could help me? I've got an awesome idea to get her off repeatedly! And possibly calm her down before noon!" "You sure?" was the response, "it's gonna take a lot to finish this off that fast... what you got in mind?" The information was relayed, and though Premala was a bit skeptical at first, she though it over and found that it could probably do what it was supposed to... but Inara needed one more helper... the one using Vanessa as a jungle gym, so to speak... Ina walked over to vanessa's body and quietly waited for the green goo girl to zoom by. When she did, Inara stuck her hand in front of the blob and directed her view upwards. Gilda looked a bit confused at first, but once she was told what was going to go down, she made a grin and got to work. *** First, she needed to use a bit of herself to lubricate an orifice. She went to Nessy's belly button, placed a glob of arm on it, and had it work it open. Then she went over to where she had hit the wall earlier, and morphed her body into a large dildo with legs. She bent over, and waited... ** Inara knew exactly how she was going to do this. She was going to use her special ability to get Vanessa absolutely huge. She crawled on top of her friend, and positioned her lower half above Vanessa's belly button. The opening widened below her through the force of the goo Gilda left behind. Ina lowered herself into it and proceeded to lay down inside of Vanessa's stomach until she was in up to her neck. Speaking of Nessy, shi had came at least twice again because of Malinda, who had moved forward a bit to allow Inara to get into the belly of the "beast", and a few more times by having hir belly button played with... shi loves the feeling... Anywho, the green stuff lubricating the opening started vibrating a bit now, furthering the enjoyment felt by Nessy. So far, Inara's part was more or less finished... wel, her unaided part, anyway... ***** Premala pulled a stool up beside Vanessa and stood beside as she leaned over to kiss the head of the mouse protruding from Nessy's now slightly distended stomach. But it was not just a simple kiss... no, it was one of those long, special kisses that Inara loves so much... Prema was breathing through her nose, quickly transfering the air in her lungs through her lips and into the waiting mouth and stomach of Inara. It wasn't long before Inara began to inflate within Vanessa's ample gut and strated stretching it exeptionally. Soon she was big enough that Premala needed to get on the stool to keep the lip lock properly locked, but she manged it and just kept blowing. ** The sensations on Imala's end of this were absolutely beautiful! That ring of goo and flesh vibrating around her neck, the feeling of not only be inflated, but also greatly stretching someone else from the inside, and of course the rush of air between here lips supplied by her friend and almost completely continuous... she, almost as much as Vanessa, was encompassed in bliss... and her full size of nearly 10 feet tall and around was coming in quick, and Premala new it. So she broke the kiss and winked to Inara before giving the thumbs up to Gilda. *** Gilda the Goo-Girl was standing at the reading, shaped like a huge dildo with legs and aimed directly for the quivering elephant cunny. It had been gushing fluids almost non-stop since Vanessa's middle had been filled with so much Inara that it may have burst if not for the extra strong skin and such that this ultra-heat shi was in was giving hir. So, it was nicely slicked with hir own honey. Thus, Gilda didn't need to use too much of herself as lubrication and was therefore quite a large dildo. Premala gave the signal, and Gilda nodded in acknowledgement. She then prepared and ran straight forward, head down, and slammed head on (apply directly to the forhead!) into Nessy's cunt, stretching it inwards greatly. This awesome smash also smacked Inara right in the side (completely planned, by the way) causing her to lose control and blast her entire stomach full of airupwards, shirnking her and Vanessa quickly. Inara herself came from the sensation of the reversed rushing of air, but to Vanessa who had just been penetrated in a wonderfully violent manner, AND did the deflation, it was all to much... * Almost like a fire hose, Vanessa's cunt exploded with girl juice, once again launching Gilda away with the force, but this time almost literally taking out a wall in the process. The orgasm (or orgasms, by the look of it... yay for multiples!) was evidentally incredibly strong. And with one final blasting trumpet, Vanessa went straight to sleep... you can probably see why shi'd sleep for so long... In fact, it was almost a day longer than normal that shi'd slept, mainly because of that massive burst of orgasmic ecstacy at the end of hir episode. One might have thought shi'd forgotten the whole thing due to an overload of the senses, but shi did in fact wake up and mention "having the most wonderful dream last night... you were there... and you were there... and YOU were there..." *sigh* Gotta love 'er...

I Hate my Sister Tonight is date night. Not for me, of course. Our parents decided to spend the night on the town for their anniversary, and warned us that they wouldn't be home until very late. I say "us", as this was directed at me, as well as my older sister Jenna, whom I was now stuck alone with. Jenna and I have an... unusual relationship. If you saw us without knowing us, you would never guess we were siblings. While I'm skinny and stand at just under 5ft, Jenna towers over me at more than 6ft tall, and has quite large... assets. It all started when I was still a pretty young kid, but that's a story for another day. The short version is that she discovered I was just the right size to help her have a good time. As time went on, she got more and more comfortable calling on me this way, regardless of how I felt about it. I suppose I could have tried harder to get her to stop, told our parents or something. I don't know why I never did. Maybe it was easier to just deal with it than make an issue, or maybe some part of me enjoyed it and just didn't want to admit it. And that leads us back to tonight, stuck in my house with Jenna, and I have a pretty good idea of what she has planned. I hear a knock on my bedroom door, and look up from my computer to see her enter my room. All she's wearing is her boy shorts and her "Sugoi Denkai" t-shirt. She has long since stopped being at all shy about her intentions. "Why even bother knocking if you don't wait for me to answer?" I ask, turning back to the screen. She shrugs at me, "Force of habit? Who cares, what's got your panties in a twist?" I sigh. "Well, our parents just left for their date, and you're in my room wearing that. Do you really need to ask?" She gives me a big innocent smile. "What? I'm just dressed comfortably to spend a nice cozy evening hanging out with my little bro." As she says this, she comes up behind me and rests her tits on my head. "Who are you fooling?" I groan at her. "And get those off of me, they're fucking heavy." "Fine." She pouts, stepping away from me to sit on my bed. "Come on, I'm bored and horny. You're not doing anything important anyway." I start to protest, but she is right about that. She had interrupted me grinding the same dungeon in FF14 I'd been running all day, and I was still no closer to getting that damn weapon than when I'd started. I was more than a little frustrated, and needed a break anyway. "Alright, fine damnit. Just try and be quick for once, alright?" I said relenting, and almost immediately regretting my spinelessness. The instant I said this, Jenna unceremoniously grabbed my arm, pulled me onto the bed next to her, sat her huge ass on my face, and began grinding my nose into her asshole through her shorts. "Oh, thank you bro! I really needed this. Being stuck at home so much lately has me feeling really pent up." she said gleefully, already starting to dampen the cloth pressed against my mouth. I attempted to say something snide in response, but anything that came out was completely muffled under the two giant globes of fat being pressed into my face. This went on for another few minutes, until Jenna had thoroughly sopped through her underwear and covered my face in her musky fluids. "Alright, that's enough foreplay." she said, lifting herself from my face. I gasp for air, having gotten precious little of it the last few moments, and knowing I was about to have even less on offer. Jenna slid her soiled shorts onto the floor, and tossed her t-shirt along with it, leaving herself standing in front of me completely naked. If she wasn't my sister, this would have been a pretty pleasing sight. Jenna was the definition of THICC, having huge tits and a giant ass, as well as some very wide thighs and a bit of a belly. "Sit up." she ordered. At this point, she was done being coy and teasing me, she wanted to get to business. I did as she asked, sitting on my knees on the bed. "Seriously, don't take as long as l--" I started to say as she positioned herself over me, but was cut off as my head was plunged into her crotch. Standing over me with her ass towards me, she held me by the back of my head and began forcing my face into her pussy as she grinded on me. Being so much larger than me, it didn't take too much effort before my head slipped entirely between her folds. Sitting on my shoulders, Jenna began pumping up and down my neck, using my head as her dildo. Inside her, I couldn't see anything. My head was being squeezed from all sides by slick, slightly sticky walls of flesh. I could hear the squelching noises she made as she fucked my head harder and harder, as well as her increasingly loud moans. As she got closer to climax, the taste and smell of her fluids became all the harder to ignore, and more and more of her fluid surrounded my head and forced it's way into my mouth and nose. I have no idea how she didn't suffocate me doing this, but after having had this happen enough times I stopped questioning it. Finally, after what felt like hours, but was actually just 10 minutes or so, Jenna let out a final, very loud moan, as she came. The walls of her pussy squeezed down on me, and she pressed her thighs together around my shoulders, and finally my head slipped out of her trembling crotch. I see her laying on her hands and knees in front of me, her ass stil facing me. Her pussy was twitching and dripping with juices, as was my head and shoulders. "Well, I'm glad that's done." I say, starting to turn away from her, when she grabs my head again. "Nuh uh uh. I'm not done with you yet." Before I can offer any protest, she presses my nose into her asshole again. With my face firmly pressed into her ass, she stood up in front of me, and then began to sit down on top of me. Her pucker slowly opened up around my nose, and continued to slide over my still heavily lubricated face. I tried to push her away, but with her weight on top of me there was little I could do. With a loud POP my head slipped fully inside her colon, leaving her once again sitting on my shoulders, only this time with my head up her other hole. However, she was not done yet, and I knew where this was going. Unlike her vagina, which couldn't comfortably fit much more than my head, Jenna had a sizeable belly, and with my small stature, she wanted me much deeper. Using her thighs to squeeze my shoulders together, she managed to slowly slide them into her asshole as well, pinning my arms to my side. This went on for several minutes, with loud panting and squeaks throughout, as even with the lube provided by her pussy, it still was a rather difficult task for her to fit my entire body through her asshole. However, slowly but surely, the pucker descended down my torso, over my crotch, down my legs, until Jenna was sitting on the bed, with my feet just barely poking out beneath her. My form was barely visible, squirming in her intestines, with only small movements visible through the layer of fat. Finally content, Jenna stood up from the bed, pushed on my feet until they too were swallowed by her ass. Her famous "disappearing act" was complete, and with that she made for her room. "Phew, that was fantastic bro. Thanks again so much." I attempted to respond "Go fuck yourself, just let me out of here already. I told you to make it quick!", but I knew that from Jenna perspective she would only hear the slightest bit of muffled speech coming from below her, and even if she could hear what I was saying she probably didn't care. She was lost euphoria, exhausted from her pleasure. Too tired to bother showering off, she simply retrieved a clean t-shirt and pair of underwear. As she slid her panties on, she let the waistband snap, as if she were sealing me inside with them. She then flopped onto her bed, and her breathing began to even out. I started to struggle against her. "Hey, let me out of here. Don't leave me in here overnight again!" Feeling my squirming, she responded "Sorry bro, having you in there just feels so good, and I'm too tired to squeeze you back out right now. Have a good night, I'll see you in the morning." Then, rubbing her belly contentedly, she fell asleep, leaving me squeezed in her intestines until she could be bothered to release me. "Sigh. I knew this is how tonight was going to end."

I Hate My Sister: The Se-Prequel After my first experience being used as Jenna’s toy, she showed no hesitation in taking full advantage of the situation. It was only two days after I’d experienced how deep she could stuff me up her crapper, and I’d only just managed to finally scrub away the smell. I’d gone to bed unusually early, still needing to catch up on my rest after spending an entire night squeezed in her guts. I’d started to doze off, when I heard my door open. I feel something push on my bed as I slowly open my bleary eyes, but I snap fully awake when I see the cause of the sound. Jenna has let herself into my room, and is currently sitting next to me on the bed, completely naked. I spent a moment staring at her, as I had not yet gotten used to seeing my sister’s increasingly large boobs without a shirt. Evidently, she had given up any sense of modesty around me now that I’d had a tour of her insides. Enjoying the attention, she squished her boobs together, teasing me as her ever-present smirk got even wider. “Perfect, you’re awake, I need your help.” she said, ignoring the fact that she’d just woken me up. I look more closely at her face, and realize she looks the same as a few days ago, when I thought she was sick. Her face is red with a deep blush and small beads of sweat forming, and her breathing is a little ragged. I’m pretty sure I can guess why she’s here in one try. “I was in my room doing….stuff…. and I started thinking about the other night.” Later in life, I would wonder why she even bothered to censor herself talking about masturbating, considering she had no problem having me help her do it. “It felt amazing when you got pulled into my butt, I never had any idea that I could do something like that. So that got me thinking about all the possibilities.” She looked at me with a hungry look in her eyes, and I knew that I probably wouldn’t like any of the ‘possibilities’ she had in mind. Unable to hold herself back any longer, she pulls my blanket off of me, and swings one of her legs over me. Straddling my face, I am momentarily given an up close view of my sister’s horny ass once again. Her pussy is already dripping wet, causing little splatters to fall onto my face. The moment is short lived, as she sits down on me, hard. She begins grinding my face into her loins, as she explains “I have lots of ideas for fun things we can do together, but I thought I’d start by seeing how good this felt.” As she says this, her pussy slowly accepts more and more of my head as she forcibly squishes me into it, until with a wet SCHLUP, my head slips entirely inside her soaking folds. “Oooooh… fuck yeah…” She says in a slow, drawn out voice, drooling very slightly. “I figured if I could fit you in my ass and it felt that good, I just had to see how it felt to have you in my cunt.” She bounces up and down on my neck a few times before laying back, my body sticking out beneath hers like some sort of humanoid millipede, with both of us on our backs. On the inside, the experience was thankfully less disgusting than being in her ass, if only just. The smell is much more tolerable, a mixture of sweaty and syrupy; a little bit salty, sweet, and sour all at once. The taste was the same, but overwhelmingly more potent. It might have been a slightly easier fit than being in her ass, but the walls of her pussy squeezed and clenched around me far harder. Over the constant squelching sound from her sliding up and down my head, I could hear her heartbeat, her labored breathing, and the occasional squeak or quiet moan slipping out. She was trying her best to keep quiet, as loud sex noises coming from my bedroom would have certainly drawn our parents attention. “Oh man, I wonder how deep I can fit you this time. Ready to go spelunking in your sweet sister’s coochie?” She says as she hooks her feet under my arms to pull me in. As my shoulders slide inside, she bites her lip to stop from squealing with ecstasy. With the hard part over and a good grip on my upper body, she was free to enjoy herself and let her pussy do the rest of the work. Rubbing her clit with one hand, and teasing her nipple with the other, Jenna was in heaven. Inside her pussy wasn’t the hell that her shitpipe was, but it was no walk in the park either. Her pussy rhythmically clenched and released, sucking my deeper into the musky depths. I could feel her traveling down my chest, her thighs intermittently pressing together into me to aid my descent. Compared to the sweltering heat inside her, my feet felt like they were inside a freezer, and for a moment my exhausted mind almost couldn’t tell which direction I wanted to go anymore. Reaching my waist, Jenna’s hips swallowed mine easily, leaving only my legs outside her desperately horny snatch. Panting, she looked down to check on her progress. She couldn’t see my legs over her overfilled, squirming belly, which she rubbed lovingly. “You know, lots of guys my age would probably be so jealous of you right now. They’d kill to get action like this. Maybe when you’re older you’ll learn to enjoy playing with me.” She says, grinning, as I squirm a bit harder in a futile attempt at protest. In the days since I’d seen the inside of her butt, I did some research on sex (looked at porn) to try to understand, and I didn’t think she was right. Years later, I know I was correct, though she was half right: I did eventually get pretty used to it. “I don’t think I can contain myself much longer, and I want to contain you much longer, so how about we take this party somewhere a bit more comfortable?” She pretends to ask me, as she stands up with the bed, my legs hanging out behind her like a set of tails. She opens my bedroom door a crack, checking that our parents aren’t around, before quickly running next door to her own room, hoping she wouldn’t leave a trail of drips on her way. Closing the door, she presses the lock in with a click, ensuring that her fun wouldn’t be interrupted. Safely in her room, she no longer had to worry about making noise, as she could care less if our parents knew she was fucking herself. Our parents used to be hippies, and let us do basically whatever we wanted, within reason. If their teenage daughter wanted to experiment with touching herself, or smoking some weed, better that she does it safely under their roof than looking for it elsewhere. Jenna walks over to her bed, and props my legs against it. She begins bouncing on my legs like a dildo, moaning happily and descending a little further with each bounce, until she’s sitting on her bed. My feet were still sticking out beneath her, but I was otherwise completely concealed within my sister’s greedy snatch. Laying back into her bed, she reaches down to start playing with herself, when her eye’s light up with inspiration. With a lusty grin, she instead begins tickling my feet, knowing that I’m extremely ticklish. I redouble my efforts squirming, trying desperately to escape the hand mercilessly tickling me, which was exactly what she had wanted. The feeling of me wriggling, trapped between her legs, was far better than anything she’d ever been able to do herself. I was practically drowning inside her, femcum filling nearly all of the space inside her that was not being occupied by me. She was getting close to finishing, evident by the increasing pace of her clenches that were nearly crushing me. Finally, with a loud, relieved moan and the strongest clench yet, Jenna reached climax, sucking my feet inside as the ocean of fluid I was soaking in flooded out of her. Her bed now soaked, Jenna didn’t seem to even notice. She just lays in the wet sheets, undisturbed, as I was completely sealed inside her temporarily satisfied snatch. I start poking at the walls with my finger, trying to prod her to hurry up and let me out. “Zzzzzzz…..” I could hear all around me: Jenna had immediately fallen asleep after cumming, and had begun snoring lightly. She grinned happily in her sleep, a line of drool running down her cheek. Frustrated, I think “Seriously, again?!”, knowing that I would be once again spending the night locked within my sisters squishy, dank nethers.

It’s rather early on an average Sunday, and you’re laying in bed with your girlfriend Ashley, snuggled next to her with your head resting on her chest, one of her arms wrapped around you as she holds the controller for the xbox. She is currently enjoying a match of Halo as she often does, and you are enjoying watching her and cheering her on. Wearing a guardians of the galaxy t-shirt, boy shorts, and sporting brightly dyed hair that tends to change every few months, at the moment being a bright blue with pink highlights, your love is very much a gamer girl in the best way. For the most part she is pretty chill, but when it comes to Halo, she can sometimes get a bit competitive. You cheer for her when she gets a good kill, and gasp as she squeezes you tight in reflexive frustration when she dies, just enjoying spending time together. This goes on for a good while, your arm falling asleep beneath you from laying that way for so long, but you ignore it because you’re enjoying cuddling and don’t want to disturb her. Eventually, your attention is drawn away from the game as you hear a low, deep rumble from somewhere beneath where you rest your head. You look up to see Ash’s face blushing lightly, though her focus is still on the screen. “Hehe, you getting hungry baby?” you ask with a chuckle, leaning up slightly to gently kiss her chin. She nods in response, but it’s nearing the end of a close round and her eyes are glued to the screen, and you are locked firmly in place. A few moments later the round ends, and she lets out a sigh as she relaxes, unfortunately having lost due to teammate going AFK. “Aww, sorry baby, you played really well~ Anyway, so you want me to make something for lunch hun? I have stuff to make some sandwiches, should be pretty quick and tasty.” you suggest, gently trying to pull away as you see the end of match screen. However, she retightens her grip on you, pulling you firmly against her as she starts another round. “Nuh uh, I just started an XP boost not that long ago. Still got 45 minutes left on it, and you’re not leaving me alone~” she says definitively, her possessiveness earning a blush from you. Just as you settle back against her to resume watching her play, you hear another, louder growl from her obviously hungry stomach. You decide it would be fun to tease her, and begin to rub over her belly, gently attempting to distract her from her match. “Mmmm… you sure you can wait that long dear? Sounds like we should just turn the game off and go make food together if you don’t want to let go of me~” you ask, feeling her belly rumble needily beneath your hand. She lets out a soft moan and tightens her grip on you in response, but otherwise she ignores you, her eyes remaining glued to the screen. You wiggle somewhat uncomfortably next to her for the rest of the match, until finally she returns her attention to you. “Mmmmm…. N-naughty boy trying to mess with me in the middle of a round. Hmmm… I have an idea; you get to have a timeout in my stomach as punishment~ That way you can’t keep messing with me, and I’ll be nice and full while I finish the boost.” Ashley says with a lewd smirk, lifting her shirt and patting her belly as she stares at you. You blush deeply as you look between her gut and her smug expression, shifting awkwardly on the bed next to her. “Uhm… b-baby… I’m not food, I can just go make us something while you play if you’re that hungry.” you respond, obviously reluctant to be shoved down into a hungry stomach, as much as the idea might turn you on. “Nuh, you’re getting punished for teasing me while I was in a game. Besides, I don’t want you to go anyway. Be good, and maybe we can have some fun after I let you out~” Ash says lustfully, her arms wrapping around you possessively. It was increasingly clear she had no intention of letting you out of this. “Mmmm… come on dear, if you’re going to eat me, you could at least tease me a bit more first~” you say, watching her lick her lips and making a mental note to try to keep your head away from those lips you’ve kissed so many times. Ash smirks again, before forcefully pulling you close and kissing you deeply. “I’m going to shove you down on the bed and hump your head like you’re my pillow, and after I cum all over your face, if I think you’ve earned it, I’ll fuck your brains out~” she says in a low whisper in your ear, making your heart skip a beat. “Hehe, that’s a good boy. Now, strip for me, I want to taste you, and you won’t need your clothes later anyway~” she adds, biting her lip and pulling at your shirt. You quickly do as she asks, eagerly getting naked for your hungry girlfriend, perhaps not giving this as much thought as you should with how horny her teasing has made you. You’re soon sitting in front of her, freed from your clothing and blushing deeply, awkwardly covering yourself. The truth of the matter was that you were just as turned on by the thought that she was about to swallow you whole as you were for what she’d promised afterwards. For all that you took off, Ashley only removes her shirt, leaving her shorts and bra on. “I don’t want you to stretch my shirt, but you’ll have to wait until later to see anymore~ Now let’s hurry up, you’re wasting my boost every second you’re not stewing in my gut.” she says teasingly, though you could swear you saw her drooling slightly from the corner of her mouth. It is quite clear that Ash is just as excited as you were, though not for the same reason. “A-alright dear… anything for you~” you say, leaning in close and gently kissing her on the lips. “I love you so m- mmmph!” you start to say as you pull away from the kiss, but you’re interrupted as she suddenly opens her mouth wide and brings it down over your head, not letting you get away again. “Mmmmmmm~” she moans in satisfaction, licking over your entire head excitedly, immediately drenching you in her drool. The inside of Ash’s mouth smelled very faintly fruity from the sparkling waters she liked to drink, though you likely wouldn’t even be able to notice as your face is assaulted by her salivating tongue. As she thoroughly tastes you, her hands rub over your body, squeezing your ass and holding you firmly in place, not letting her delicious boyfriend get away. All you can do is helplessly squirm and moan into her tongue, after all, you had agreed to this... Eventually your lover has satisfied herself for the moment, and you feel as your head is pushed deeper into her maw, before suddenly being squeezed down the tight, slick tube of her throat. Gulp~ Your head makes an obvious bulge traveling down her neck as your shoulders are pulled in after you. Your journey into your girlfriend’s digestive tract has just begun, and you were already starting to have second thoughts. It is far tighter than you had imagined, your body being squeezed firmly from every direction as more and more of you is drawn into her mouth and down her throat. The sound of her stomach growling is far louder than when you were outside, the increasingly loud noise sounding more akin to a terrifying beast than your loving girlfriend. Worse, you can now smell the acrid odor of stomach acid below you, which is getting more intense with every swallow she takes. Frustratingly, by this point your arms are pinned to your sides, and it was clear that any amount of squirming wouldn’t help. Slowly and steadily, your torso slips between Ashley’s hungry lips, across her tongue which continues happily licking over you, and down into the sweltering heat of her insides. The sound of her heartbeat and breathing helped you to try to stay calm, but it was becoming increasingly obvious to you that you had somehow agreed to be her meal, even if she was supposed to spit you back up in a little while. “Mmm… mmmmmph…” you moan, though the crushingly tight walls of her esophagus muffle you too much to make anything approaching intelligible speech. Ulp… gulp…. Ulp…. “Mmmmmm….. sho damn good~” Ash moans through her mouthful. Soon enough, your head presses through the tight entrance to her stomach and pokes inside, which loudly churns and gurgles as it waits eagerly for its large meal. Despite the space being slightly more open than her throat, that doesn’t really help as you attempt to get your bearings. As your body is pushed down into the tight, squeezing sack of muscle, you find that the space is pitch black, smells far worse than you had feared, is filled with hot, tingling fluid, and is still incredibly, uncomfortably cramped. Grrrrrrrrrrgggggllllll……..grrrrrooooooooannnnnnnn………grrrrrrr……. By this point, you’re inside up to your hips, Ash taking only a brief moment to teasingly lick over your crotch before tilting her back and gulping more of you down. As she slurps your legs down like long noodles, helplessly kicking at the air as you are devoured, her belly bulges outwards to contain you. Your squirming form is faintly visible beneath her stretched skin, but you’re so compressed within her normally small belly that you can’t do much more than wiggle in place. With a few more swallows, your toes disappear between her lips, closing her mouth around your feet and giving them a few licks before tilting her head back and taking one last gulp. “Mmmmmm…. ulp~ Fuck…. Babe, you tasted delicious. Ten out of ten, would absolutely eat again~” she giggles, slapping her filled belly before reaching for her controller. “Alright babe, about half an hour left, so get comfy~” she says, resting her controller on top of you as she queues up for another round. “Mmmmmmph!” comes your muffled response, earning you a loving pat. “Mmmm… that’s a good boy~” Unbeknownst to your girlfriend, you are having a much worse time than either of you had imagined. You can barely move or breathe, and it is as much as you can manage just to keep your head above the rising tide of digestive juices you are soaking in. Her stomach kneads against you from every direction, offering you no escape from her hungry insides which don’t see you as anything more than an unusually large piece of meat. Your skin is already tingling all over, making it very painfully clear; you were going to be churned into Ashley’s shit if you didn’t get out soon. “Ash? Ashley, let me out please! Your stomach is way too active, I can’t last half an hour in here! I love you, but I don’t want to be fat on your ass!” you moan in protest, but in between being muffled beneath a layer of fat and muscle, and the loud churning that surrounds you, anything you say would be unintelligible to your satisfied lover. That is, if she could even hear you in the first place. With her focus back on the game, all your squirming and shouting doesn’t even register for her, her stomach reflexively crushing down around you if you manage to wiggle around a little too much, subconsciously wanting to quell the annoying distraction coming from her belly. One such squeeze pushes up some of the precious little remaining air you had left in her stomach, causing her to let out a large belch. She smacks her lips happily as she tastes you on her burp, but fails to notice how concerning it was that her belch tasted like you in the first place, or the small, soggy tuft of your hair that was launched out of her mouth along with the gas. “Mmmmmmm~” she moans happily, thoroughly enjoying herself as she enjoys her Sunday playing her game with a stomach full of tasty food. Unfortunately, you were that tasty food, and you couldn’t do a damn thing about it at this point. As you stew away in her insides, slowly getting softer and weaker as the churning acids melt your flesh away from your bones, you think about how you shouldn’t have teased her in the first place. This was supposed to be a punishment, but you thought your timeout would have just been for a half hour in her stomach, not forever jiggling on her butt. Over the deafening roar of her gurgling stomach, you can faintly hear her clicking buttons on the controller that rests just on top of you, as well as the occasional sound effect from the game. You can also feel Ash tense up around you when she would get into a firefight, her excited victorious squeals and frustrated grunts of defeat coming from all around you. The pressure of her controller resting on top of her gut applies a gentle pressure, helping to slowly squeeze you down, your melted form beginning to slowly filter down into her intestines below. Finally, at long last, a half hour has passed. By now, Ashley’s belly has shrunk noticeably, the faint outlines of your body having melted away, the bulge you make now much more rounded. At least, this would have been noticeable if your girlfriend wasn’t quite so addicted to her game. As she finishes the round and sees that the timer has finished, without giving it a thought she immediately mashes the button to start a new XP boost. A few moments after she does this, she grunts and slaps her forehead in frustration. “Hey baby, I kinda accidentally started another boost… so I’m extending your punishment by an hour~” she giggles, not seeming to really mind. You attempt to squirm in protest, but by now you’re too weak to do much more than gently rub against the walls of her stomach. This apparently feels quite good for her, as she lets out a pleased moan. “Mmmm… that’s a good boy~” she says, misinterpreting your movements as giving your approval. With that, her attention returns to her game, almost immediately forgetting about her poor boyfriend turned food. As you hear her return to the game, you know that any chance you had of getting out the way you’d come was lost. If she spit you out right now, you would certainly need to go to the hospital, but you think it’s possible you could have survived. However, you didn’t think you’d last another 10 minutes, let alone an hour. However, unfortunately for you, you would be proven wrong. You remain conscious for the next hour as you digest away, though your perception of time becomes hazy as your existence becomes a boiling hot, churning, soupy mess. You soon become too weak to do anything at all, only barely managing to hold on as you’re reduced to a slurry of meat and bone. Any pain you had felt from the stinging acids has long since ceased as your nerves melted away, leaving you feeling almost comfortable as you gently slosh around within her stomach. The crushing walls feel more like a gentle hug as your body softens and stops resisting. By the time your girlfriend finishes her second boost, her gurgling belly has shrunk considerably, what had started as a large squirming bulge was now a thick, squishy layer of pudge and shit, the sludge you'd melted down into rapidly being pumped deeper into her. You feel as the last of you is squeezed down out of her stomach and into the much tighter space of her intestines, the extra pressure finally crushing you down for good. Your last thought before everything goes dark is hoping that your girlfriend at least appreciates you, if not as her loving boyfriend, than at least as her lunch. Ashley sets her controller down, feeling very good about herself. She absolutely crushed almost every match she’d been in today, despite having to carry some truly awful players. Plus, she’d managed to finish leveling up the current event and unlocked a cool helmet. “All in all, a pretty good day~” she thinks to herself, sitting up and stretching her arms over her head. Suddenly, she lets out another large belch, getting what would be her last taste of you and licking her lips. Bwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrp! “Mmmmmmmmmm~” Sadly, without you being around to struggle or complain, your habitually forgetful lover has completely spaced out, not remembering that she had been supposed to spit you out well over an hour ago. She absentmindedly rubs over her now much more pudgy belly, climbing out of bed and heading to the kitchen, thinking maybe she’d make herself a sandwich for dinner. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Disposal Warning ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Much later in the evening, hours after you had willingly let Ashley eat you for what was supposed to be a cute and sexy punishment for teasing her, and all that you once were is now so much shit sliding through your girlfriend’s intestines. She had quite enjoyed her sandwich, wondering to herself faintly where you had gone. If she’d take a moment to give iit any real thought, she likely would remember, but she is easily distracted, and is more interested at the moment in a funny youtube video she’s watching than wondering where you had disappeared to. She does begin to feel a bit lonely after dinner, but without you around to cuddle, she simply goes to her room to let off some steam humping her pillow. Eventually, she falls asleep alone, not realizing that you had been with her the entire time. It’s early the next morning, and Ash is awoken by a familiar pressure in her backside, a small fart slipping out from between her perky cheeks, the putrid smell being a result of what taking a trip through her insides had done to your body. She lets out a sigh as she looks around, pouting as she doesn’t see you around. Still sleepy, she slowly climbs out of bed to head to the bathroom, before slipping her shorts and panties off and plopping herself down on the toilet. As she gets to work on shitting out her former boyfriend, she pulls her phone out from her shorts and begins texting you. “Baby… it’s not cool to just disappear on me without saying anything… where are youuuuuu…” she whines, grunting softly as she pushes out a particularly difficult turd. Beneath her, her asshole was stretching to squeeze out the foul muck that had once been her darling, forming a thick brown coil. Flecks of white can be seen throughout the turds, your lover’s weak stomach having not managed to fully digest all your bones. However, what was giving her trouble was squeezing out the half-digested remains of your skull. She lets out a loud sigh of relief as it finally drops into the bowl below her, before being quickly buried in yet more shit. While some of you had added a layer of pudge to her belly, as well as helping to add to her boobs and butt, most of your body was of no use to her, and had to be shat out the same as anything else she would eat. Finally, after about 15 minutes of pushing, grunting, and the occasional relieved sigh, the last of you is pushed out of her ass, and she reaches beneath her to wipe. You had gone in as the person your girlfriend loved deeply, and after experiencing her as deeply as anyone could, you had been churned down into nothing but a small, cute girl’s pile of shit. Not realizing that there was any significance to the moment, Ash flushes the toilet without a second thought, not even looking down at the contents, rubbing over her belly in satisfaction. “Mmmmm… I ate really well yesterday… strange that I can’t remember what I had… eh, I probably just got stoned and loaded up on pringles or something~” she giggles, pulling her clothes back on and heading back to her room. “Oh well, it doesn’t really matter. I guess I’ll go play a bit while I wait for baby to respond… hmmm… I feel like I’m forgetting about something…” she says to herself, booting up the xbox and grabbing her controller. She quickly shrugs off the thought, figuring that whatever it was, if it was important she’d remember eventually.

Kira’s on the Hunt: The two succubi walked into the party some classical music playing softly as idle chatter is around them, people unaware that two sharks have appeared in their little part of the ocean that is city life. Kira plays with a tiny bit of her long silver hair, her eyes going over the crowd to see what Melody brought her to… And she’s not disappointed. The shorter of the two, Melody has her hands on her ample hips as she walks in with a proud smile, having found out about this event through a couple that ​was​ supposed to be here but met an unfortunate ending around a week ago at her tail. Flirting with the bouncer also helped in getting in, and the look on his face when he saw her toss his number in the trash also made it kinda funny. “So, what’s your plan for this hmm?” Kira asks her partner in crime, her lover, and her rival. “Have fun, what else? It’s not every day we get to have dinner and a show you know.” Melody says chuckling as she licks her lips. “Though, I must admit… I outdid myself, there’s quite the selection here huh?” A soft chuckle escapes from Kira’s lips. “Well, it’s certainly a bit more high class than our normal meals. Lets hope you don’t become more of a spoiled girl… After all, they say you are what you eat.” Kira says gently elbowing the shorter succubus, who is quick to huff and cross her arms. “I am NOT spoiled, I just have good taste is all.” Melody says raising and waving a hand. “YOU are just easier to please, just have a plump girl to add to your collection and maybe plow and you’re content.” Kira lets out a laugh and shakes her head. “You didn’t complain when we ‘shared’ that one lady. I forget her name honestly, I think it’s ‘lefty and righty’?” The taller of the two succubi says gently poking at her ample breasts. Melody snorts and nods. “If it wasn’t before it is now. Honestly she looks better there if you ask me.” The two share a laugh before heading to the bar, ordering some drinks the two sit and take in the sights… Housewives, gold diggers, call girls… The type of women here aren’t very diverse but their looks are on par with their stature. Maybe they’ll taste a bit odd with whatever diet they force themselves to be on but it’ll be worth it once they are just fat on the two succubi’s tits and asses. “See anyone you like yet?” Kira asks curiously, sipping at a glass of water as Melody licks her lips and drinks a dry martini. A hum escapes Melody’s lips as she turns in her swivel chair. “... A few seem like they’d be fun to go after, if not mess with and save for later.” She admits, her legs swinging like a child anxious at the doctor’s. “Ooh? Maybe you’ll find someone to help fix that pear shape of your’s? It’s cute and all but I enjoy having something to squeeze you know.” Kira teases and pokes the shorter succubus’ B-cup breasts. “H-Hey! I’ll have you know that I’ve got plenty to squeeze! And it’s not like I’m lacking in appeal because of a smaller chest.” With an admittedly adorable pout Melody gives a threatless glare up at Kira. “Maybe down below yes, but some up top wouldn’t hurt no?” Seeing a chance to get a sadistic kick from her fellow succubus, Kira takes it and soaks up the huffy attitude of the more bratty predator. “Why you… I’m willing to bet by tonight I’ll have better curves than you!” Melody says standing up and putting a hand on her hip, the other holding her drink. A grin crosses Kira’s face. “Oh? And if I take that bet?” Melody returns the grin and leans forward. “Let's make it simple, winner gets to have the loser do one thing. Deal?” “Deal.” Kira says as she places her half full cup down, already set on winning this so she can rub it in her little rival’s face… And possibly her new perky breasts on top of the win. “Hehe, well I did get us in here so I clearly have the advantage… After all-” Melody says waving her hand and turning away from Kira. A roll of her eyes and a turn Kira changes her focus from her now boasting friend to the crowd, hungerly searching for what could get her the win. ‘To lithe. Not my type. Unhealthy.’ Kira thinks as she spots what looks like a trainer, a golden year lady and what looks like a chain smoker if the hole in her neck and smoke in her hand is anything to go by. Then her eyes finds her target. At a side entrance stands a woman, hourglass figure with plenty of sand to show time, her dress slipping a tiny bit and a flushed look shows that she may have had one to many drinks at this party. An easy target, and one that will fill her out quite a bit. Licking her lips and rising from her stool, Kira makes a B-line over to the woman leaving her competition behind to go for the gold medal. When close the woman gets handed some keys and given some directions… Clearly a bit too tipsy to head home so she has to stay the night. Or she would have to if she hadn’t been targeted by the succubus. Following her out after talking with the bouncer at the doorway, feeding them a lie about being her friend and making sure she’ll be getting to the room safely, she pursues the woman with a wicked smile on her face. Within a minute Kira finds the woman stumbling down a the hallway, hiccuping and chuckling all while trying to keep her balance… Seeing no reason to just wrap her tail around the woman’s head other than being a bit peckish, Kira decides to do what every parent tells their child not to do… And play with her food. “My my, hit the drinks a bit hard huh?” The succubus asks getting to the woman’s side. The lady jumps in surprise but then giggles and nods. “Y-Yeah, bachelorette party… I had to bail because the barkeep cut me off.” “Aaah, what a shame. Need a hand? Or maybe, a tongue?” Kira places both hands on either side of the drunk woman, who blinks in shock. “I-I don’t swing that way miss…” She starts to say as Kira leans close. “... Th-Though I will admit I’m rather curious, y-you won’t be rough will you?” A chuckle escape Kira’s lips and she nods. “Don’t worry, I promise I’ll be gentle… And that I will show you something that you never…. EVER thought possible. I promise that as well.” The succubus’ hand gently rubs the woman’s cheek and Kira gives her a playful wink before taking her hand and moving down a side hall. No cameras, no rooms, and from the sounds of the party no witness coming for a long LONG time. Kira gets the woman to put her hands on the wall, her own pressed against the back of them as she gently kisses her neck and gives her a taste test. The woman moans slightly a bit shocked by the rather forwardness of the woman behind her, but not unpleasantly so. Melody’s hips grind against the ample rear of the woman, her dress now getting scrunched up against the silver haired woman’s waist and revealing that she either lost or forgot to wear panties to this event in the first place. “Ooh, an adventurous type eh? Well that explains a lot.” Kira says as one of her hands now slides down and grips the soft and squishy rump of the drunk. “W-Well, come prepared as they say. In my purse I got a pack of condoms as well…” The tipsy lady admits with a blush and chuckle. “You must of forgot that at the party, but it’s not like you need them.” Kira says chuckling as she starts to kiss the woman’s back, sliding down to get to her plump rump and her moistening womanhood. ‘Nor will you ever need them after this.’ The succubus thinks to herself as her tail slowly starts to come out of her dress, drooling in anticipation at the prospect of being able to wrap around this meaty meal. The tender kisses now change to long licks, Kira’s tongue finding every sensitive part of the drunk and attacking it relentlessly to bring her closer and closer to the edge of orgasm. The light petting never being enough though, it just makes the woman squirm in the succubi’s grasp letting out quiet moans and shuddering on occasion from the pleasure slowly building up in her loins and traveling up her spine. Feeling her prey now dripping with pleasure, Kira moves her tongue into the woman’s pussy and slides it in. Wiggling, rolling, and thrusting in the woman lets out loud moans of pleasure as the succubus eats her out. Humming softly and causing vibrations to move through her tongue and her lips, Kira presses her mouth against the woman’s slit causing her to shout in shock as what feels like lightning shoots up her spine, making her mind go blank briefly. Kira’s tail slowly snakes upward, careful not to press against the woman’s back as it opens up, revealing the fleshy insides as a thick liquid drips onto the woman’s back. Feeling like she should at least see her demise coming, Kira doubles her efforts to make the woman throw her head back in wanton lust. The sound of the woman moaning almost echos in the hallway, her knees shake and then the moment comes… A feeling of pleasure like she never felt before overcomes her, she screams in orgasm and her gaze is now upwards to the sky… And is focused on the fleshy, wet, and hot maw of the succubi’s tail. Before she can even react to it, the tail falls down and locks itself on the woman’s head. She screams but it’s so muffled even Kira who’s now right beside her head can barely make it out. “Oooh, you taste wonderful… Maybe I should have drunk bitch more often.” Kira says now taking her succubus form and smiling wickedly. “Honestly, what did you think would happen hmm? I bet it never was this huh? Becoming nothing but food for a predator you never thought existed?” Despite her own voice being muffled, the woman hears Kira’s voice clearly. She struggles and tries to beg as she feels her arms being held against her side. “Stop struggling bitch, I’m not going to let you go! I’ve got a bet to win and you’re going to be the fat on my ass and tits that wins it!” Mortified, shocked and full of fear. These emotions are what runs through the woman’s head as Kira talks. She can not believe what she is hearing. She’s going to eat her. Digest her. KILL her. All for a bet. The woman screams once more and thrashes with all her strength but it’s no use. Kira’s grip is like iron and not even the woman’s strongest flails can loosen her grip. Slowly. That is the pace Kira’s tail moves down the woman’s body. Taking her time she tastes every bit of her as she rips her clothes off tossing them aside like a used candy wrapper. “You’re so cute thinking you can escape me. Almost as cute as you’ll be on my tits.” Kira whispers into the woman’s ear as she tightly squeezes the woman’s breasts. “These wonderful tits, this gorgeous ass… They’re going to be MINE and there’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll melt inside of me like all those before you. I’ll forget that you existed in a week when your all gone and your soul melted into mine.” Kira tells the woman. Hearing a whimper and a feeling her struggles weaken as despair sets in Kira chuckles darkly. “That’s right… Your existence is going to end as my food. And. I. Won’t. Even. Remember. You.” She takes times to put emphasis on each word as her tail now opens up and slides down quickly to the woman’s chest. An evil chuckle reverberates throughout Kira’s tail as it squelches and sucks on the curvaceous woman’s body and continues to pull her in… Soon just the woman’s legs are left outside and Kira continues to smile wickedly and chuckle. “Come now, where’s that fighting spirit? You’re not just going to die here, and you gave up? How pathetic. You might just not be worth it…” Saying that, Kira’s tail opens up so wide the woman can get fresh air and move freely. Shaking she starts to crouch to leave, getting her head past the drooling maw she sees Kira’s face… With the grin she as been wearing from the start of this. “Just kidding~” The succubus says in a cheerful tone as the mouth now drops and encompasses the woman fully. “I just wanted to see the look on your face when I sealed your fate for good.” A final scream. That’s all the woman can muster. One long, dragged out scream in hopes that someone would hear it and come save her. But no one did. Kira laughs as she watches the woman shaped lump travel up her tail, sucking her deeper and deeper towards her stomach, the drunk’s doom… And she enjoyed every single moment of it. Her hands now traveled down her front, teasing her own folds as she feels the woman start to get pushed into her stomach, a bulge forming that looked like an impression of a face. Kira couldn’t help but to moan in bliss. It’s not often she does this, but something about that look of hopelessness the woman gave before her tail fell and ensured her doom… It made something tick in the succubus’ body. She felt a rush she rarely felt before. She felt like she needed to get off. She felt compelled even. Her sadistic tendencies may have gotten the better of her this time around, but she didn’t care. This was fun, and this was no doubt further humiliating the woman inside of her. Now only whimpers and pleads are made by the doomed woman. She can’t fight anymore, the confines of the succubus’ stomach are to tight. She can only hope some mercy can be pried from this demon’s heart. But all Kira can hear is muffled noises. “Hooo-boy. That was a rush and a half…” Kira says still playing with herself. “Infact, I still need to blow off some steam… Maybe if you wiggle for me, help me get off I’ll let you out?” The succubi offers leaning back against the wall. A small bit of hope was sparked for just a moment, but the woman had learned already. Even in her drunken state, she knew it was a lie. So she stayed still just sobbing at what was happening to her. Even if the succubus was telling her the truth, what was going to stop her from just wrapping her tail around her again? What would the woman even do with this information? A tailed woman that loves to suck in and digest other women for pleasure, petty bets, and fun? No one would believe her. Hopelessness only settles in for the drunkard, she couldn’t even start to imagine what she’d do if she got out. If she can’t picture that, than what point is there even in escaping? After a long silence Kira let out a groan of annoyance, “Fine if you’re not going to be fun anymore than I’ll just wrap this up… I have a competition to win anyways…” Soon the space around the drunkard starts to convulse and squeeze her tightly. Kira closes her eyes and focuses on the absorption process. Her insides tighten and slowly work the woman into becoming part of the succubus with little effort, any last noises only being muffled by the walls of the drunk’s final resting place. Kira’s digestive tract gives the woman a massage, gently working her body into a soft gooey mush that is quickly absorbed into the succubi’s body. Each little bit slowly expands on Kira’s body, visibly increasing her bust size and stretching her clothes. For five minutes, this process goes on, her shirt starts to feel tight due to how much her bust is straining against it. Groping her now enhanced breasts, she starts to get a feel on how much was added. It feels as if she had gone up two cup sizes, which makes her top a little uncomfortable but not unmanageable. The shorts she wore out to blend in easier also feel tight, easily her ass has gone up just as much from her meal. With a chuckle, Kira slaps her own ass with one hand and gropes one of her soft and springy tits with the other. “Nice, lovely additions you’ve made to my body… Errr… Oh I never found out your name.” The bit of realization hits the succubus and she looks up at the ceiling in thought. “... Eh, not like I’d remember you past this anyways. No one remembers their food unless it was truly grand and you where like fast food for me with how boring you acted.” Knowing the soul of the woman was still around and could hear her, Kira took pleasure in further ridiculing the woman, partly as a form of revenge for not being fun and partly because she could and she enjoys it. “But damn, you really blue balled me here… I’m hot and ready and now I can’t fuck you… Hmph… Hindsight, I should of raped you while I had the chance…” Kira says biting her thumb trying to think of a good way to get this fire in her loins doused. Now with a flattened belly, bigger boobs and a sizeable ass, Kira sighs because she’s more than a little disappointed in how this ended for her. Blue balled and more than a tad let down with how her meal gave up before she could have fun. “Wish I found a more lively prey, one that fought back enough where I HAD to take her from behind... While this one does fill me out nicely I’m so… Unsatisfied…” Then, a bit of a startle and a small glimmer of hope for the sexually frustrated succubi. The sound of someone walking up the hall towards her. With a grin she rubs her groin, and slowly makes her way over to the corner… Hearing only one set she’s more than ready to pounce and take out her frustrations out on this poor soul. When the steps get close to the corner, Kira jumps and goes to wrestle the person to the ground, tail swinging and going to wrap around her next prey. “GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME BITCH!” A familiar voice bellows from under Kira. “Melody?” The girl says in surprise as she stops fighting for a brief moment to actually look at the girl she jumped on. Sure enough, it’s the shorter succubus now more filled out in the chest area for sure. “Kira? Geeze why don’t you look where you’re leaping next time huh?” The now rather peeved shortcubus says as she stops struggling knowing who’s on top of her. Kira chuckles weakly and nods. “Sorry about that, thought I was going to blow off some steam here but…” The succubus had sprouted a cock, and it was possitivly throbbing and ready to be rammed into someone, or have someone rammed into it… Could go either way with this girl. “Yeah no kidding, what you forgot to finish pounding her before adding her to here?” Melody asks poking the now even more springy breasts of the taller silver haired succubus. “No pounding this time… Maybe that’s why I’m so eager though.” With that, Kira stands up and pulls her rival with her. “I see you also got someone eh?” Melody smiles warmly and nods. “Yeah, this bitch that was about to get married apparently. I got a nice ring out of it too.” With a smile, the shorter succubus holds out her hand and shows a rather fancy ring with gold and silver intertwined. A soft chuckle escapes Kira’s lips. “I take it you’re going after her groom then hmm? Lucky man, not everyone gets to be with their lover forever.” “Until I work them off that is… It’d be a romance story, two star crossed lovers so close yet so far… One on my ass the other on my tits.” Melody says before laughing at her own joke. Kira just shakes her head and puts a hand on her rival’s shoulders. “Now then, shouldn’t we be going and seeing who won this? Maybe we can find someone to share if it ends up as a tie.” With a grin Melody nods and wraps an arm around Kira’s waist, “Sure. Making you even more blue balled sounds like a fun thing to do when I WIN.” Kira chuckles darkly. “Maybe I’ll ask for you to handle emptying me when I shove the fortunate lady down my cock…” That statement is more than enough to make Melody a bit nervous, a normal load from a succubus is big but one that’s been made with a person is filling to say the least. And who’d want to be a living eclare around another predator? That sounds more than a tad bit risky, even though Melody knows Kira wouldn’t… At least normally.

 Hollow Knight - Fueling the Flames  Grimm/Ghost, M/?, Oral Vore, Digestion  ---  Entering the odd circus tent once again, the Ghost gingerly paced down the hallway,  approaching a burly bug playing an accordion; Brumm, if they remembered correctly. They  walked up to him, Grimmchild still fluttering behind. They looked up, and Brumm met their  eyes, playing his according even as he talked.  “Speak to Master,” he grunted out between notes, “He’s waiting for you.” The Ghost gave a  small nod, and went down to the stage. Brumm kept on playing as they headed down to  the center of the tent, never taking his eyes off of them, only stopping once the stage’s  curtains dropped behind the Ghost.  They approached the darkened center, save for a spotlight on the other end, slowing down  as they approached it; it’d been some time since they “collected the flames” again, an odd  request made by an odder bug: Grimm. Piercing scarlet eyes on a towering, lithe figure. A  face so stoic that it could’ve been made of marble. Charm that oozed off of every word he  said. Whatever Grimm was, it made the Ghost feel apprehensive about dealing with him. A  small gust of hot wind blew across the stage. Ah, and speak of the devil.  A huge flash of flame interrupted whatever thoughts they would’ve had, and in its center  was the bug in question, facing away from the Ghost. He looked over his shoulder in an  almost dramatic fashion, speaking in a raspy, growling voice. “Greetings, my friend. You return once more. And the flames you’ve brought radiate such  warmth too!”  Grimm turned around and opened his cloak, revealing his thin body in its entirety. The  Ghost saw Grimmchild fly over them and into Grimm’s cloak, disappearing in a puff of red  smoke. They’d seen this happen once before, but it wasn’t any less unnerving, though at  least Grimmchild came back afterwards.  Grimm clutched his chest, seemingly in pain, but his relaxed expression and unnerving  smile said otherwise, “Ha… What heat they have. What strength they carry! The Ritual is  almost complete. The time has come.”  He snapped his fingers, and lights flashed all over the circus tent, revealing a packed  audience full of Troupe members. A drumroll came from both nowhere and everywhere,  and the audience shouted for Grimm as he bowed down to the Ghost. He offered his hand  to them, his eyes burning with something fierce, intent on whatever his purpose was. The  Ghost seized up in anticipation, and prepared for what could be the fight of their life.  “Come, my friend! Dance with me!”  ---  The Ghost, bruised and beaten from their “dance” with Grimm, fell face-first onto the floor  of the tent. Despite their best efforts, Grimm was too agile to beat for the unprepared  vessel. The Ghost made an effort to move, trying to find the strength to get up, but found nothing left in their body. They looked up and saw Grimm bowing to them once more,  spotlights surrounding them both.  “Ah, bravo, bravo!” Grimm clasped his hands together, approaching the nearly-faint  Ghost, “What a wonderful act. Masterful even. Listen to how the crowd adores you!” The  audience was exuberant, clapping and cheering the duo on, despite the many faceplants  the Ghost suffered in their “dance”.  “That was but an appetizer for you, my dear audience!” Grimm boasted, “The end act of  our show has yet to start!”  He picked the Ghost up to their feet, hardly a challenge for him considering they only  reached up to his hips. He let out a soft chuckle, seeing the Ghost stumble around. They  couldn’t focus on anything; their fight with Grimm knocked out the wind out of them, and  every part of their form hurt. They turned their head up to meet with Grimm’s smug,  smiling face, and tried to focus on what he was saying.  Grimm sighed, “My, my… Quite exhausting, our dance, but quite exhilarating for us both,  wasn’t it?” His eyes narrowed and took on a glint all too familiar to the Ghost. Despite  their head spinning, to them, it shared a look with the many animals within Hallownest:  feral, predatory, and hungry. Grimm’s teeth suddenly looked a lot sharper, and his grin  took on a sinister aura.  “What say we finish our show with a finale that everyone is sure to remember?” The Ghost  barely had any time to react when Grimm’s hand shot forward, grasping around their neck and raising them high above Grimm’s head. They tried to fight back, swinging their arms  wildly, stopping after only a few pathetic swings. The Ghost was left tired and at the mercy  of Grimm. They stopped thinking for just a moment, wanting to let their death pass by as  quickly as it could. They went limp, being resigned to their death at Grimm’s hands. His  laugh echoed in the Ghost’s head, and boomed throughout the entire tent.  Between the beating they took and the humiliation of losing in front of an audience, the  Ghost almost didn’t notice the crowd’s excited reaction, or that Grimm had brought them  closer to his face. The unexpected movement jolted the Ghost out of their trance, now  fully aware of their surroundings. The first thing they noticed was that Grimm’s other  hand was on their horn, effectively keeping their head in place. The other was that  Grimm’s mouth was wide open.  Rather than a swift, merciful end, Grimm had other, more personally enjoyable ways to  end his Ritual. He had brought out a bright red tongue, serpentine in shape but nearly as  long as his entire body. The tongue shot out in a flash, and whipped the Ghost’s own  “mouth”, slowing down as it impacted as to not destroy it too early.  Grimm gave a few exploratory licks, and his eyes went wide at the taste of the vessel’s  mask, letting out an involuntary moan. Deciding to leave his composure behind, he pulled  the Ghost in closer to let his tongue quickly reach all over the Ghost; their head, their  body, no inch was left unexplored. The Ghost was resisting as best as they could, trying to  avoid getting saliva in their eyes, trying to turn away as the snaking tongue flew all over  and constricted them. Grimm’s tongue was a flash of red as it ran across the Ghost’s body, “Mmm~… What a  divine flavor you have… Your blood, your soul, your fear…” His open grin grew wider as his  dance partner still kept struggling; he ​loved​ it when he had to work harder for his food to  accept their fates.  Grimm had always put on a show like this for his audience before, but he found himself  loving the taste of the poor vessel, and his own urges were being spurred on by the cheers  of the crowd. His heart was pounding much more than usual for this “performance” for  whatever reason. Maybe it was that Hallownest was a special kingdom to Grimm, or that  he had grown some feelings for the vessel he was consuming. Either way, he felt he had an  obligation to continue the Ritual; this was just a very, very enjoyable way to do so.  The Ghost, on the other hand, was panicking, trying and failing to think of any way to get  out of Grimm’s grip. Their slaps were too weak, their kicks were too wide, and their spells  were too draining to focus on. Every attempt to get out of his vice was met with a tighter  response on their neck before slightly letting up. When they didn’t do anything to get out,  Grimm pulled them in for a quick kiss before continuing his barrage of licks. The Ghost  could do nothing but wiggle, Grimm softly giggling as they did so..  After minutes of licking all over the Ghost, Grimm pulled them in a loving hug, and gave  one final, lingering kiss where the Ghost’s mouth would be. His smile dropped for a second  after the kiss, and sighed wistfully, staring into their eyes. “Ah… I must apologize, my friend. I am normally more reserved,” Grimm looked down at  the vessel, “but you are a dear guest of ours, and should be treated as such.”  The Ghost limply fell backwards, out of energy from everything that’s happened.  “After all, the Troupe has a well-deserved reputation of hospitality,” Grimm tightened his  grip, and smiled.  “Let me show you.”  Grimm loomed over the Ghost’s head as his jaw unhinged like a snake’s. The Ghost, though  too tired to do any real damage, shook their head to fend off the hungry predator to no  avail. Saliva drooled down from Grimm as his tongue snaked down to constrict the Ghost’s  head and pull them up. The Ghost’s head entered Grimm’s mouth without effort, even  with their horns in the way, their body not offering any sort of resistance at all. The inside  of Grimm’s mouth was a slightly luminous red, as if it were a furnace warming up for a  meal. Grimm’s moaning, not to mention the cheering of the crowd watching, was  resounding throughout the Ghost’s body. Agonizingly slow seconds passed as they were  pulled into Grimm’s greedy gullet, gulps and gulks being the only audible noises as they  slid deeper in.  As the last of the Ghost’s legs passed by Grimm’s teeth, he reared his head up to let them  fall down with the help of gravity. The formless bulge in his throat was only slightly smaller  than his head. He raised his arms as if he were waiting for approval from the audience; of  course, the audience responded with nothing but excitement. They started chanting for Grimm to swallow and swallow more of the Ghost. Grimm, being the crowd pleaser he is,  obliged in their demands, letting out a ​ggrrllp!​ that popped his ears and roused the crowd.  As the Ghost went in deeper, Grimm let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his jaws, finally  setting them back in place. The bulge traveled down, visible as it went across Grimm’s  chest and onto his midsection. It was almost comical seeing the bulge fall and bounce as it  finally hit the bottom. Grimm rubbed his enlarged gut, still almost entirely smooth except  for the faintest outline of the Ghost’s mask, near the top; it had only looked like he had  eaten a too-large meal fit for a gluttonous king.  Grimm snapped his fingers, and in a puff of smoke, a lounging chair had appeared behind  him. He let out an exaggerated yawn and stretched, laying down on his side, and all of the  spotlights turned off, except for the few now shining down on him.  “What a wonderful dance partner you were, my friend,” Grimm covered his mouth to hide  licking his lips, “and the Ritual is sure to last much longer thanks to you.”  He gave his stomach a soft pat, and it gave a long ​grrrmmblll​ as a response. He always loved  this part of the Ritual: how much his meals struggled for their lives, the way they were  reduced to nothing but liquid fuel as energy for him, how he always remembered each and  every one of their names. He wasn’t cruel, though. He could make his stomach warm their  bodies and numb their pain as they were being reduced to chyme if he wanted to. A  surprisingly pleasant experience, if their last words were to be believed. Of course, as pleasant as it was, they still perished in there. Instinct seemed to finally kick  in for the Ghost as they began to regain some energy sitting in the stomach acids. Kicks  and punches were visible on Grimm’s stomach as they fought back against the constricting  walls. Grimm chuckled, and traced each impact on him. Even though he couldn’t see it, he  could feel the once-solid form of the Ghost quickly turning liquid. Occasionally, the Ghost  would let out a stronger hit, making Grimm wince in pain. In retaliation for each one, he  pushed his hand onto his gut, right onto the Ghost, pushing them deeper into his stomach.  The crowd ooh’d and ahh’d at each display of dominance, cheering as the stomach let out a  deep ​gurrggllll ​every time. Grimm covered his mouth and let out a quiet burp as the crowd  cheered on to drown it out. He was still, after all, the Master of the Troupe. Manners  should be expected for a bug of his standing.  “Do not worry, my friend,” Grimm softly patted his stomach, “you have done your part in  our dance an- Hmm?”  He realized that the Ghost had stopped struggling; this wasn’t unusual after mere minutes  of being soaked in his digestive juices, but they usually died down slowly, not stop so  suddenly. He felt disappointed in his partner; everyone else he had eaten was so much  hardier in wanting to survive. The crowd expressed a similar feeling, awwing and booing at  the poor showmanship.  “A shame, little one,” he stood up and sighed, “We had a wonderful first act, but I suppose  not even the best can handle all they’re given.” Grimm was about to snap his fingers to conclude the show when he heard a muffled shriek  come from inside him. And then another. And then another. As each magical blast came  up, it slowly bloated his gut inch by inch with SOUL. Grimm felt no discomfort from the  magic, but his stomach let out an ominous ​grroooan​. His cheeks flushed as he realized how  much air was starting to fill him up, with an embarrassingly familiar pressure building up in  his chest.  “W-wait! Stop!” Grimm tried to hide his embarrassment, “What are you-”  Another muffled blast made him lurch forward. Another long ​grrrrrnnnlll​ came from deep  within, and the crowd began to stare in anticipation.  He was about to say something, but he suddenly let out a loud ​BWOUUURP​, and the  audience gasped in shock, awe, and horror.  He covered his mouth in embarrassment, “M-my audience, I must apologi​URP​, I-I’m  sor​BORRRP​,” “Please forg​HWOORP​,” “T-this isn​BUURP​,” Every time he tried to say  something, he was always interrupted by a loud burp or a gassy belch.  As Grimm slowly deflated his SOUL-filled midsection, he could feel his own stomach walls  tightening around the Ghost, and slowly, an idea came to Grimm as revenge for the ordeal  he was being forced to go through because of them. Grimm took in a deep breath, held it,  and waited for the right moment when-  BBBEWWWWWWWEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLCH! He heard a slight crunch and could feel his stomach starting to finally pump the chyme  throughout his intestines. He lulled his tongue out, sighing in immense satisfaction in how  he dealt with the Ghost. His gut was now only slightly larger than normal; if they somehow  survived the digestive acids, then they definitely didn’t survive the shrinking stomach. He  licked his lips and hummed, before realizing he was still in front of an audience.  He tried to think of something, anything to say. However, his embarrassment didn’t last  long. The crowd had erupted into applauds and cheers for Grimm, and chants for an  encore show. He smiled, and gave them a deep bow.  “Ah… hear how they cheer for you, my friend,” he gave his gut a small pat, receiving only a  small ​brrbll​ in response, “What a wonderful dance we had.”  “If the crowd wishes for an encore, then an encore they shall have!”  ---  The Ghost woke up with a jolt in the middle of Dirtmouth. They looked all over their body  for any signs of damage. Just another dream, it seemed like. Or rather, a nightmare.  Speaking of nightmares, Grimmchild was curled up right next to them on the bench,  quietly purring in their sleep. Elderbug was standing nearby, as always, keeping watch  over the town square.  “Oh, you’ve finally woken up. I was afraid of waking you when you seemed to be resting so  soundly,” Elderbug hummed, “despite the sinister carnival right next to us.” The Ghost shook their head to gain some composure, and jumped off the bench, slowly  walking up to the entrance of the tent, Grimmchild following suit. Though… they couldn’t  shake this feeling that there was something missing inside of them.  ---  Oddly enough, Brumm wasn’t there to greet the Ghost. Nor the two giant bugs outside,  now that they thought about it. Strange, but stranger things have happened in Hallownest.  They brushed it off, continuing down the entrance with Grimmchild.  They approached the darkened center of the circus tent, save for a sole spotlight at the  other end. It was... like they’d done this already, every step and every move they took.  Even after spending who knows how long in Hallownest, the one thing they could never  figure out was this feeling of deja vu being a premonition for finding a Shade where they  would be in these dreams they had. Yet there was none to be found anywhere here. What  if…  A huge flash of flame interrupted whatever thoughts they would’ve had, and in its center  was Grimm, except… this wasn’t Grimm. Grimm surely wasn’t this big. The Ghost certainly  didn’t remember Grimm having such massive thighs or looking this pudgy.  “Greetings, my friend. You return once more. And the flames you’ve brought radiate such  warmth too!”  Grimm turned around and opened his cloak, revealing his body in its entirety. Grimm  wasn’t this fat before, was he? He didn’t have hips as broad as that, nor thighs bigger than a Nailmaster’s nail. He certain didn’t have a massive gut hanging off of him. But this was  Grimm, no doubt about it, he was just… bigger. His cloak had stayed the same size, just  barely managing to conceal himself. And they could’ve sworn they saw something bulge  from within Grimm’s gut too. Grimmchild hesitated a bit, unsure of if they should fly into  their father’s cloak.  “Hmm? My child, is something the matt​OOOOUUURP!”  Grimm belched up several familiar masks and an accordian, licking his lips afterwards. He  kneaded his stomach with both of his hands, sloshing and churning with every swinging  motion.  “Mmm… I must thank you, my friend. Ever since our shared dream, I’ve been so hungry,”  Grimm wobbled forward on meaty legs, “And, well, my troupe would do anything for me.”  The Ghost was unsure on how to proceed. On one hand, Grimm was a truly powerful being  now, and if they fought together, it’d be a disaster for the Ghost. On the other hand… they  couldn’t stop staring at his gut, no matter how much their head told them to stop.  “Oh, and before I forget,” Grimm gave his stomach a hard slap and let out a powerful  BBEEELLLCH​, and out came a Shade looking dazed and confused. That solves the question  of where the Shade was, at least.  “Now then, my friend,” Grimm extended his hand out, “would you like to dance?”   

 Hollow Knight - Snack for the Road  Quirrel/Ghost, M/?, Oral Vore, Accidental Digestion, Unwilling-to-Willing Pred  --- Beastly howls and skittering faded as the Ghost ran towards the sound of flowing water,  the heavy air quickly filling with humidity and warmth. Their steps were staggered and  their breathing was slow. Deepnest was a treacherous place, and even the best of  explorers were shaken here. The Ghost slowed down as they reached their destination: a  large cavern filled with steam and water, one of the famed hot springs of Hallownest. They  looked at the center where the pool of water was, and saw Quirrel, one of the first and few  faces that the Ghost was excited to see.   Despite sitting down in the pool, he was still a fair bit taller than them. He looked no worse  for wear, leaning back in healing waters without a care, the perilous land only mere steps  outside of the cavern. His nail and mask were on a bench nearby, though he paid it no mind  as he noticed the Ghost. Quirrel gave them a friendly wave, and received one in response.  “Ah, hello there!” Quirrel gestured them closer, “Please, come in! The waters feel more  wonderful with a friend around!”  Needing no further encouragement, the Ghost dropped into the healing waters, almost  immediately regaining feeling in their body as the water surrounded them. Their body was  light enough that it let them float on the water like a piece of shellwood.  “Haha, are you exhausted?” Quirrel mused out loud, “I suppose anyone would be, after  coming this far into Deepnest.”  The Ghost basked in the hot spring, enjoying the warmth that they were normally not  allowed to have. They slowly paddled their way to Quirrel, and focused the peaceful  environment and the sound of his voice as their wounds regenerated.  Quirrel gestured all around him, “Quite the fearsome place, isn’t it? The beasts here are  much more ferocious than those above, and the tunnels are as if they’re trying to swallow  me whole.”   “It’s also very fascinating!” He sat upright, gesturing idly, “According to a few records I’ve  read from the capital, Deepnest was supposed to be host to a new stag station ​and ​a new  tram system that would’ve connected it to the capital! There was a lot of controversy  surrounding...”  The Ghost was only half-listening to the lecture; it wasn’t that he was boring, but rather  that they were more interested in Quirrel himself. Ever since they first met at the Temple  of the Black Egg, Quirrel’s always been there wherever the Ghost went: the depths in the  Fungal Wastes, the top of Crystal Peaks, the tower to the City of Tears… He’s been there  to talk to and guide them around Hallownest. They felt close to him, though they never  said a word, not that they could. Quirrel seemed to understand the Ghost, even when they  didn’t understand their own existence. They thought about Quirrel, admiring everything  about him: his intelligence, his kindness, his apparent strength, his warmth when they say  next to him at the bench-  The Ghost stopped their train of thought. They’ve never really explored ​why ​they liked  Quirrel, just that they simply did. They felt odd being next to him, but they really did love  his company. Their thoughts wandered around for only a bit, pondering what Quirrel  thought of them. They looked up, and saw that he was still going on.  “-and speaking of, weavers were said to have been able “weave” spells, perhaps not  dissimilar to the snail shamans. They’re so radically different in how they act, cast, and  focus, yet so alike in the same ways! Oh, how exciting it would’ve been to see those two in  their prime,” Quirrel gave a longing sigh, “but enough about that. How have your travels  been? Surely you’ve seen something exciting since we last met.”  He looked expectantly at the Ghost, waiting for an answer before realizing his mistake  and burst out laughing, “Haha! My apologies, I’ve forgotten that you’re the strong and  silent type.”  The Ghost turned their head away, feeling embarrassed that their thoughts were  immediately filled with his laughter. It was a pleasantly soft laugh, like one would expect  from someone reading a joke in a library. Luckily for them, Quirrel didn’t notice, too busy  laughing at his own mistake to see their flushed face.   “I must admit, it must be nice, being so silent,” he leaned back and sighed, “It does get tiring  wondering what to converse about with the very few bugs that aren’t mindless husks  down here.”  “With you though, you’ve no choice but to listen to where my thoughts wander!” He let  out a chuckle, “But yes, I’ve truly appreciated all of our time together, sitting in silence.”  The Ghost nodded, feeling their heart flutter at his words. They weren’t sure what else to  do, besides sitting there together with him. They wanted to do something, anything, to  repay him in kind, but their mind came up blank. Soon after, they accepted that there  might not be anything to repay him with, and felt disheartened but not discouraged; it  would only be a matter of time before they could find something.  Time slowly passed by as the both of them sat around the hot spring in silence, enjoying  each other’s company without saying anything. There were no husks to defeat, no  Hallownest to explore, no Dreamers to find, nothing to disrupt the peace and quiet of the  moment. Nothing could-  Quirrel’s stomach let out a quiet ​growl ​, snapping the Ghost out of their trance.  He grabbed at his midsection as a slight tinge of pain hit him, “Ah, apologies for that.  There’ve been very few chances for me to relax and eat something substantial,”  “Lucky for you that I’m not a beast of Deepnest,” he joking raised his arms up, “otherwise,  I would’ve devoured you whole already!”   He suddenly perked up, “Oh, that’s another thing! The village here had a tradition where  spiders actually offered themselves as ​food ​to superior hunters or potential mates! The  most offers, of course, went to the royal family of Deepnest: the queen and princess in  particular. According to some Hallownest cultural historians, this came to be from a  tradition based on or inherited from the beasts of-”  The Ghost let him lecture on and sank into the pool. They were thinking about too many  things at once: what they thought of Quirrel, what Quirrel thought of them, how he’d  react to their offer… or if he would even accept it. Their heart started to flutter again as  they kept repeating this one scenario in their head. They swam closer to Quirrel, too deep  in his lecture to notice the Ghost’s movement until they were right by him.  “-so while there isn’t any evidence of a central religion ​specifically, ​there does seem to be a  cultural reverence of an ancestral bug that- Hmm?”  The Ghost climbed into his lap and stared at him, getting a confused look in response,  “Erm, is something the matter? My friend, you’re, er, quite close to me…”  The Ghost smothered their face into his chest, clinging tightly to him. He gasped as the  cold body of the Ghost hit him, shivering at the temperature difference between them.  “Ah! Hah, you’re-,” Quirrel glanced down, “You’re quite affectionate! Well - ha! - alright  then!”  He put his arms around the Ghost, ignoring his body’s protests against the cold touch. He  patted the Ghost on the back of the head, smiling at how they seemed to enjoy it. They  rubbed their cheek against his body, and he involuntarily shivered at the gesture.  “I like you too, my friend,” he gave a small laugh, “though, most physical contact with a  friend start with handshakes rather than hugs!”   The Ghost idly nodded, focusing on the calmness of his heart, the rhythm of his lungs, the  soft rumbling of his starving stomach… A million thoughts ran through their head again,  and each one was about Quirrel. Finally though, the Ghost finally mustered up the courage  to move away from the hug and began to pull their mask apart.  Quirrel had no time to react as the Ghost’s mask made a sickening ​crack ​and split apart,  revealing a pitch-black copy of their body underneath. Even with the heat radiating from  the hot spring, Quirrel felt the temperature drop as the Shade flew out of its former body.  He tried to speak, act, or think, but nothing came to mind except for instinctive terror of  the thing floating above the pool.  He began to scramble out of the pool before he stopped himself, looking at the Shade with  more curiosity than fear. His instincts screamed to run or fight, but his need for answers  muted them. He sat at the edge of the pool, marveling at the Shade with caution.  Quirrel started to say something, but stopped, instead reaching out his hand to them.  Pieces of his broken memory came back to him; the Archives, the King’s plan, Monomon…  He even recalled seeing a glimpse of the King’s champion, one so similar to his friend.  Could it really be…?  He almost touched one of the tendrils floating below them before it suddenly whipped  and wrapped itself around his arm. He tried to jump back to get away, but more shot out  from under the Shade, all of them tying his limbs together. They let out a small chirp,  apparently entertained at the situation.  “Wait! Stop! What are you doing!?” Even though his bindings were sudden, they weren’t  uncomfortable, but still tight enough that he couldn’t move as well as he wanted.   Rather than answer Quirrel’s question, the Shade hovered down to him, and bumped their  forehead against his. He gave a confused “huh?” before the Shade unceremoniously  shoved their head into his mouth.   Their shape had transformed into a long, narrow tube of void, and Quirrel could do little as  the viscous body wormed its way down his throat, bulging it out in a way that made it  seem like he was chugging a massive amount of liquid.  An overwhelming sweet and metallic flavor took over his tongue, and he could feel every  movement the Shade took down his gullet. Each involuntary swallow was like he had  eaten too much, and could only keep swallowing or else he would choke. His chest felt like  it was about to burst at the sudden, freezing intrusion, but the feeling was quickly  replaced with an oddly warm sensation. When the Shade finally hit the bottom of his  stomach, Quirrel let out an involuntary moan, blushing at how he tingled at the unfamiliar  but wonderful feeling.  Quirrel’s body was already compliant in accepting the willing meal, despite his previous  protests. His jaw was relaxed to let in as much of the Shade in as possible, his throat  eagerly gulped them down, and his gut happily grumbled as it steadily filled up. Every  thought in his head was begging for more, but Quirrel still instinctively struggled against  the tendrils; he wanted to get away, but at the same time, he wanted to lose himself in the  oddly enjoyable experience. Tears welled up in his eyes as he choked on the sheer amount  of void in his mouth, unable to take a breather with the constant barrage on his gullet,  though his body didn’t mind, as long as more would fill him up.  The last of the Shade’s body finally disappeared into Quirrel as their tendrils unbinded his  limbs and followed suit with a ​sluurp​. He coughed and gasped for air, breathing deeply as  he tried to comprehend what just happened. He tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn’t  listen, leaving him stuck sitting down in the pool.   Quirrel’s enlarged gut had become more of a gelatinous orb than anything, swaying with  the slightest motion he made. If he had to guess, it was more than thrice its previous size.  The gurgling and grumbling it made seemed to overpower every other sound in the hot  spring, even his own thoughts. He delicately prodded at it with a few fingers, and managed  to sink nearly his entire hand in.  “Ha… wow, you’re really,” Quirrel winced as the Shade pushed at his stomach walls,  “enjoying yourself, my friend!”  He kneaded at his dough-like stomach, softly giggling to himself at how it wobbled, “I must  admit, that was - ha! - incredibly fun!” A giddy smile took over his face as he could feel the  Shade rubbing at his stomach walls, feeling like he ate the food of the gods.  Down in his gut, a vigorous push from the Shade caused Quirrel to quietly moan at how it  felt, while another caused him to feel some unpleasant pressure in his lower chest. He  almost dismissed it as getting used to the Shade being in there, but it climbed up with  every movement the Shade made. He sat upright, wondering what it was before he let out  a loud ​buuurp​ ​that echoed throughout the cavern.  He immediately covered his mouth in embarrassment, “A-ah… Excuse me, that was-” His  apology was interrupted by a ​gworrrgle ​from his stomach, followed by a ​hwoorp ​from his  mouth, “...erm, inappropriate of me.”  He sheepishly chuckled, feeling his cheeks burn at the humiliating moment, before sighing  in exhaustion. Now that the excitement of the new experience wore off, he realized just  how drained he felt, like he hadn’t slept in days. He climbed out of the pool with weak  arms, legs shaking but thankfully working.  Quirrel made his way towards the nearby bench, moving slowly as to avoid overexerting  himself. A ​buuorp ​escaped from him as he sat down on it, but he didn’t pay his manners  much mind. He felt as if he had spent countless hours running and eating at the same time,  and couldn’t manage another second of staying awake.  “Mmm… Good night… my friend…” Quirrel mumbled as he laid down, knocked out as soon  as his head hit the bench.  Snores were soon mixed in with the ambience of the hot spring, both drowning out the  gurgling that came from Quirrel’s gut. Even while unconscious, he could feel his stomach  move with the Shade in sync. Drool dripped from his mouth as he remembered the taste of  sweet void in his mouth, unable to get rid of the addictive flavor.   He was too deep in his slumber to realize that his occupant’s movements were slowing  down, or that his gut was steadily shrinking in size. Eventually, the thumping stopped as  the glorping gut grew louder, pumping the thick soup of chyme into his intestines to be  absorbed as nutrients and calories.   In his dream, Quirrel was sitting together with the Ghost again.  ---  Quirrel rose up from the bench in a groggy state. Everything was a blur and hard to grasp  for a moment. Even so, he could still vividly remember what happened, and a smile crept  across his face. He stretched and let out a ​yaaw-uurp​, idly rubbing his stomach. He heard it  growl and felt hunger; odd, considering that he had just eaten a very large meal. Looking  down at it to check on the Shade, all he saw was a notably shrunken paunch and his newly  enlarged thighs.   “Ah.” He awkwardly poked at his middle, “My friend? Are you still there?”   Getting only another ​bwwelch ​in response, Quirrel scratched the back of his head  nonchalantly, “I, er... suppose not. I at least hope that it was a wonderful experience for  you too, even if, uh… this,” he grabbed at some fat, “is now what you are. Still, quite an  impressive look for you, is it not?”  He pondered if he should’ve felt more regret for what he let happened, but a part of his  mind was glad that it did. It was a very intimate conclusion to one of the few, if  momentarily terrifying, moments between him and the Ghost, and the last thing Quirrel  wanted to do was be unappreciative of what they obviously wanted. Even better, they  would now be with him every wobbling step of his journey.  He picked up his belongings, and took a moment to observe at how his body had changed  from only a single meal: Quirrel’s arms had a slight flab to them, his once-bloated  abdomen swayed as he moved his body around, and his thighs grew massively to help  support hips that he swore would catch on doorways. Though he was certain he could  swing his nail with only a little more effort, he knew his agility had to have been affected.  An unfortunate consequence of such an intimate moment.   Quirrel sighed, annoyed at his newfound weight, “A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the  hips indeed…”  He was preparing to leave when he heard an oddly familiar ​pitter-patter ​of footsteps  approaching the hot spring. He looked at the entrance and, in spite of evidence to the  contrary, there stood the Ghost, looking flushed but no worse for wear. Quirrel could feel  his heart jump at the sight; all of his questions could wait until after this moment.   “Hello again, my friend!” He ran over to the Ghost and scooped them up into a tight hug.   Quirrel marveled over their body, eyes bright with wonder, “This is incredible! I’ve heard  of something like you before, but seeing it in person is-”  A growl from his stomach interrupted whatever he was about to say. He abashedly let out  a chuckle, “Ah ha… you would think that my hunger would be well-satisfied looking at me,  but it feels that it’s only intensified it. Now, we should be near the heart of Deepnest, and  thus the village. If we can find it then we-”  Even though he was still hugging them, Quirrel hadn’t noticed the Ghost’s captivated  expression as they heard his stomach growl again, or that they had subtly moved their  arms from his back to their horns.  “-of course, there are no records of stations reaching this far and- Huh? Wait, are you-”  CRACK 

 Hollow Knight - A Champion’s Meal Tiso/Ghost, M/?, Digestion, Weight Gain, Willing Pred,Willing Prey Tiso/Tamer, M/F, Digestion, Fatal, Reluctant Pred,Unwilling Prey --- The hectic sounds of combat - of metal clashing withmetal, of flesh being torn apart - echoed throughout the Warrior’s Pit. The dozens ofbugs down there waited for their chance at fame and glory, taking no notice or interestin the small and bloodied form of their champion passing by. The Ghost's walk was unevenand their breathing was heavy, but they still stood straight up with an air of victoryover them. They had proven themself in the arena once more, reapingtheir reward of rest and relaxation on the bench in the center of the Pit.Their time in the Colosseum of Fools had been nothing but fight after fight. More geo was alwaysneeded for their adventure into Hallownest: Selubra’s charms were too useful to passup, and Sly was practically committing highway robbery. Luckily, today’s crowdhad been more populated than usual, meaning more geo thrown down for them. They had beguncounting out how much they received when a familiar face walked up and sat nextto them. “A pitiful amount from such a large crowd today, palething,” Tiso leaned forward and took a deep breath. He wasn’t as damaged as the Ghost,but his hood and shield were covered with blood, either his own or someone else’s. Despitethe various wounds dotted around him, his leg bounced with anticipation and his smilewas beaming.The Ghost didn’t mind Tiso’s company. Travelers like him were always a welcome sight, even if he was too smug for his own good. He was eitherlucky or skilled to have survived this long, and if there was anything that Tiso had,it was skill. He always made sure everyone knew it. Tiso’s eyes scanned over the Ghost, “Perhaps if youdidn’t look so pathetic, they would think to bring more geo next time.” And there’s the insult. “I’m sure of it. It’s not enough to simply wield aweapon with ease, you have to be able to project strength as well,” he glanced at the nearbyFools, “Look at God Tamer! Unlike everyone else here, she dominates the arena whenevershe’s up.” Tiso sighed wistfully at the thought of her. The Ghost knew what he was talking about. They foughtGod Tamer in the arena only once, and all eyes were on her, even after her defeat.They weren’t sure if the audience’s cheers were for their own victory or for her stillstanding and defending her beast. Even as they walked past her down in the Pits, they couldn’thelp but stay out of her way. “You might be the current champion, but you don’tlook anything like one. You’re scrawny and short, unlike Tamer, who's got a muscular andtowering figure,” Tiso said with a smile, “Did you know that, even though she slouches, she’sstill as tall as I am standing straight?” The Ghost looked at Tiso in response to his advice.He looked perfectly average compared to most other bugs like him, besides his numerousscars. Seems like he hadn’t even takenhis own advice. They gestured all around him, unable to voice their dissatisfaction with his appearance. “What?” Tiso leaned back, “I can’t just radicallychange my form, it takes time to bulk up.” He scratched his chin, “Though, there are tales ofadventurers eating beasts to gain their power. Nothing but stories gone wild, I assume.” The Ghost stopped counting their geo, thought fora moment, and then poked Tiso on the back. An idea popped into their head, but they neededTiso to meet them somewhere. If some of their previous encounters were anything togo by, that would be easy enough. They pointed up towards the outside of the arena,and scooted closer to him, nuzzing his arm. “You can’t be serious,” Tiso said with a blush, “Thatwas just this morning and-” As if to entice him with their proposal, the bottomof the Ghost’s mask silently split open, revealing their pitch black mouth and four mandibles,already drooling Void over his thighs. “I- Oh gods, fine. I could stand to blow off somesteam, and that mouth of yours does wonders. Just let me relax for a minute.” His blushwas a bright red and he crossed his legs, hoping no one was looking at the two of them. The Ghost mended their mask back together and gatheredtheir belongings, heading to the back of the Colosseum. Few bugs knew of the routeto the old arena, and even fewer cared for it. A perfect spot for anyone wanting privacyor isolation. Before they left, theyfigured that they should at least attempt to explain themself, and took out a blank sheet of parchment and a quill. --- The back alley was silent as Tiso sat down next toa wall, looking at the crude drawing of the Ghost’s plan in his hands for the 3rd time, “Solet me get this straight. You’re going to break open your mask, which you can do.” They nodded. “And a… shadow thing will pop out, which is actuallyyou.” They jumped next to his side. “And you want me… to eat it, which I can do.” They patted his stomach. Tiso blinked and gave them an incredulous stare, “...Okay.”He had no idea how to respond to the Ghost’s excitement at this plan other thangoing along with it. “I suppose I am a bit hungry, but-” They quickly nodded and pulled at their mask, alreadycreating fractures down it. Tiso’s hesitant concerns were drowned out by the sounds ofcracking, and he lost his breath as both Void and SOUL filled the air around him. He frozein place as the Shade took form above him, able to only shiver in the cold air. Wordswere lost in his throat, but he regainedhis composure. After all, it was only the little pale thing he’d grown accustomed to, as terrifying as they were. “Wow, okay, gods that’s scary,” he nervously laughed,“I have no idea how this is going to work, so let’s just do it now, before I lose my nerve.”The Shade complied and moved closer to his face, already liquefying their form to helpTiso swallow. They cooed as he squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth, and put his mouthto theirs. A quick kiss turned into a long embrace, turned into an improvised meal as theShade’s head slowly disappeared into his maw. Conflicted feelings overwhelmed Tiso as the firstglob of Void hit his stomach. The fear of the Shade merged with the pleasure of feeling fullbecause of them. The tightness in his chest with each swallow intensified how hard his heartwas thumping. The instinct to stop was overpowered by the need to keep going. All ofit demanded his attention, pulling his mind in different directions. One thing was for sure,though: this was one of the most exciting moments of his life. Tiso grabbed the Shade’s viscous body like it wasfood, and greedily shoved them into his mouth, not caring if he couldn’t breathe. His loud,heavy gulps sent rippling bulges from his throat to his ever expanding gut. It slowly grew asVoid filled it up, and when it hit its limit, it grew even more. He didn’t care how full he felt,the hunger screamed at him to eat more of the cold, syrupy liquid until he was satisfied. The Shade was delighted how eager Tiso was at devouringthem. Most other bugs would be hesitant or unwilling to eat them, so they’d haveto shove themself down their throat.Being swallowed so ferociously like this was a pleasant surprise; they’d have to find a way to repay him for the good time. Tendrils formed fromthe Void within Tiso’s stomach, and steadily kneaded at the walls, eliciting a moan fromhis full mouth and a long groan from his overactive gut. Stomach acids poured over theShade’s loose body as they massaged him, already starting to melt them down to a thicksoup of empty calories and Void. Tiso slowed down his consumption as the excitementwore off, leaving a few tendrils still hanging out of his mouth. The realization of how tighthis gut was finally hit him, along with a pang of pain and a hiccup. He wondered if heshould savor the moment, then mentally shrugged and indignantly slurped up the lastremaining length of tendrils. Bassy groaning and bubbling erupted from his midsection,and even with him rubbing it and the Shade massaging the inside, it still felt like hewas going to explode. Despite that, he licked his fingers clean of what little Void remained andpatted his stomach in satisfaction. “Gods, what a rush this is,” Tiso said with a smileand a wince. The pain from stretching out his once-normal stomachhad subsided, but occasionally something poked at him from the inside. Once he startedfirmly kneading it, he found it to be sensitive to the touch, and every finger that pushedin deep made his knees shake. His gut was groaning and gurgling at a deafening volumein a desperate attempt to digest so much the foreign material. Everything; the pain, thepleasure, the sounds, left him drooling in a state of bliss.“I hope you did everything you wanted, squib, because I don’t think you’re coming out,” Tiso said absent-mindedly. He didn’t know what cameover him, but each word made him shiver with delight. He watched as his tiktik-sized belly slowly deflated,inch by inch. Thick chyme steadily pumped from his sloshing stomach to his intestines,absorbing and adding it to his thighs. He rubbed his hands over his gut, kneading and massagingand loving it all. His eyes wandered down to his thighs, and he noticed that ithad already grown to almost twice its size, from mere sticks to as wide as a nail. He movedone hand down his hips and found a similar situation; his mannish figure had become curvierand soft. If this was only after a few moments of absorbing the Shade’s form, what wouldthe end result look like? A slight pressure in his chest had also been buildingup that Tiso hadn’t noticed until now. He thumped it and tried to force it out, but nothingworked. He pushed down his still-shrinking stomach, but the pressure grew evenmore. The bubbling and groaning it made had turned deep; Tiso might’ve been worried indifferent circumstances, but it only sounded like music to his ears. He poked at his hanging potbelly, half-expecting aresponse, “If you’re still alive in there, give me a hand, will you? I can’t quite seem to bBBUUURP.” He lulled his tongue out and sighed, relieved at the pressure being released, beforeadding quick “thank you.” A yawn unexpectedly came soon after, and before Tisorealized it, he was falling asleep. The quieting groans of his stomach were an odd lullabyto listen to, but he found it soothing, rubbing it to calm it down. The intenseexperience combined with his bodyadjusting to everything had worn him out, and he soon felt his eyelids grow heavy. His last thoughts before being knocked out were of what hewould look like, and all of the attention he would get. --- Tiso slowly stood from his sleeping spot and stretched,almost losing his balance getting up. A yawn brought back memories of what happenedearlier, and he was anticipating the results. Though he didn’t have a mirror to fully appreciatehimself, he could tell he had grown much more bottom heavy at just a glance downward.Everything below his waist had grown larger, and his hands struggled to findthe end to its softness. His hips had become wide and curvy, giving him a figure that would’veturned anyone’s head. His ass had received the same treatment, and he gave it asmack, satisfied with how much it wobbled. He lovingly patted his belly and smiled, “This isn’twhat I meant by bhwuurp- bulking yourself up.” It grumbled in response, leaving himwondering why he was talking to himself. He wasn’t worried about the Ghost, they always cameback after being beaten in the Colosseum. Speaking of... Tiso stretched one last time before taking a few steps,gradually getting used to his new weight and center of balance. Each step he took madeall of his pudge shake, and his hands constantly wandered down to his rear. He still couldn’tbelieve what had happened or how quickly it went. In only a few hours, his athleticand masculine body turned curvy and, darehe say it, feminine. He wasn’t unhappy with it, though. He wondered if anyone else would appreciate it as much as he did. Well, only one way to find out, he thought, walkingback towards the Colosseum of Fools. He spared a thought for the Ghost, wondering if theyreally could come back, or if that was just a rumor. Then, his mind roamed over to God Tamer,and his heart paused for a second. Yes… yes, if I look like this now, maybe she’ll noticeme! --- Even though the atmosphere of the Warrior’s Pit wasthe same as always, Tiso help but notice that most of the Fools here had been unusuallyattentive of him. He’d been idling around the place, cleaning himself of stains, andworking up the courage to meet with God Tamer, before realizing a small crowd formed aroundhim. They were all gazing at his legs, waiting to see what his next move would be. He knewwhat they wanted. After all, the Colosseum was where carnal desires were allowed toroam freely, and since violence was the only one satisfied here… “Is something the matter?” He popped his wide hips,enjoying the attention everyone was giving him, “If you want to ogle me, do it up in thearena, because I’m not a free show.” A gruff voice from behind Tiso spoke up, “We haven’tseen such a delicious snack in a long while, is all.” He turned around and saw God Tamerleaning on a beam. For the first time since he met her, she wasn’t wearing her battle-scarredhelmet, revealing herequally-scarred but still-pretty face. Her left eye had a gnarled scar over it, keeping it shut. Her remaining eye had a steely gaze, and as he metit, he almost flinched. “Tamer, good to see you,” Tiso put his hands on hiships, “What brings you here to us humble fighters?” His heart skipped a beat as shegot up, the other Fools moving out of her way as she walked toward him. “It was hard to miss such a commotion, I had to comeand see what it was,” she was within arms-length of him, “I was worried a beast might havegotten loose in here.” Her stoic face scanned over him, spending considerable time on histhighs. “Oh? And here I thought you came by to see me.” Hecouldn’t show any weakness to someone like her, but it was getting harder to staycollected with her approaching. “Perhaps I did,” Tamer said close to his face, “Afterall, I’m curious as to how a thing like you could look like this… How about you show me your technique?”She grabbed Tiso by the waist, pulling him closer to her toothy smile. Tiso’s only response was to nod, ecstatic at his chanceto finally be with her. Tamer shot a look to the surrounding crowd, “Whatare you idiots looking at? Get lost.” Without any protest, they dispersed, giving room forthe two to move around. She guided him by the hips towards her chambers nearby, her handsroaming all over Tiso’s ass. He had to stop himself from moaning at the eager gesturemore than once. She opened the door, pushing Tiso inside by the lowerback. He heard the door close and lock turn behind him, leaving him alone with Tamer.He took a moment to look around herspacious room: various hunting trophies placed on the wall, furniture crafted out of shellwood, a surprisingly large bed for a single bug,and even a few paintings here and there. Tiso broke the silence first, “So,… what do you wantto do first?” He walked around the room, unsure of what to expect. “Are you serious?” Tamer hung her armor up on a stand,showing off her skin and the barest of modest clothing. She climbed onto her bedand gestured him closer, “Get over here, moron.” His embarrassment at his stupid question didn’t lastlong as he approached the bed, heart beating in his head. This was it! This was his chanceto be with God Tamer, to lay with her, to be by her side, to savor her supple body slidingdown his throat- Oh no. Before he could do anything, his body climbed ontothe bed with her, already on top. His stomach growled and he licked his lips, and he knewwhat would happen next. Oh gods no. In one swift motion, Tiso had grabbed Tamer and swallowedher head. A surprised yelp was the only noise she could make, her face alreadyin his throat. In one moment, Tamer’s torso had disappeared. In another, her legs. In thenext, she was no more, the only evidence she had ever existed being the strugglingbulges she made.Drool fell from Tiso’s face as he exited his ravenous haze, horrified by what he’d so easily done to someone he liked. He couldn’t look away orsleep it off: he was stuck on top of his person-sized gut, and it was struggling to digestsomething so big and active. Even worse, he could still hear Tamer’s voice under all of hisstomach’s groaning and grumbling, as muffled as it was. Quiet “oh gods I’m sorry” and “please stop moving”were dotted between Tiso’s moans of pain or occasional belches of Tamer’s rapidly dwindlingair supply. He grabbed at the bedsheets, gasping for air as she kicked and punchedand struggled against all of his internal organs. He looked down at bulges she made,and if he focused, he could trace her general form, seeing where she pushed out her handor where her head slammed into his walls. Tiso was loathe to admit it, but it was an incredibleexperience having a whole bug in him. The desperate struggling, the emotions he felt forher, how physically close they were… Before he knew it, he had begun bucking his hips backand forth, unsure what part of Tamer he was humping. Sloshing her around and drenchingher in digestive acids like this would’ve only hastened how fast she melted, but itdidn’t stop him. He panted and moaned and drooled at his conflicted feelings, wanting hisown pleasure but hating how he was doing it. It didn’t matter what either of them wanted now. Tiso’sbody claimed Tamer’s as its own, and neither could stop it. Her struggling slowed asmore of her body was melted into sludge. Her muffled shouts were drowned in a cacophonyof grumbling and groaning. Herthoughts were a jumble of disbelief and anger. One last kick was all she could muster before becoming exhausted, and even that only endedup causing Tiso to belch out the last of her air. Out of breath and out of energy, she closedher eyes and just let what happened happened. The stomach walls surrounding her were gettingcloser and the digestive acids were rising; the only thing she could do now was rest.In mere minutes, the champion of the Colosseum of Fools had been reduced from a legendarywarrior to nothing more than a thick soup of nutrients. Tiso let out a sigh of relief as the struggles stoppedand his stomach could finally relax a bit. The bulges that were once a person had disappeared,rounding out his stomach and giving it a smooth finish. The euphoria of such alarge meal was dulled by who he’d done it to, but it was still a wonderful feeling that he wouldn’tdare complain about. He was left alone with his thoughts, all circling back to GodTamer and what he would do now. After some time, he heard the door unlock and closebehind him, too tired to care about the compromising position he was in. Luckily for him,the Ghost stepped into view, cocking their head at what happened; of course they had thekey to the champion’s bedroom, but this was the first he’d actually seen them come in. “S-squib? Thank the gods you’re here,” Tiso was tootired to move any of his limbs, especially with the last of Tamer still being absorbed,“I need you to push me to my side, and- hey, what are you doing?”The Ghost moved right behind him, admiring his huge ass hanging in the air. Without a care, they shoved their face between his cheeks, lostin the softness of it all. Tiso’s protests were ignored as they playfully rubbed and smackedit, loving what a glutton he was. Tiso only sighed and grabbed a nearby pillow, pullingit closer and putting his head on it. This was going to be a long night.

 Hollow Knight - History Lesson Lemm/Quirrel, M/M, Digestion, Teasing, Weight Gain,Willing Pred, Willing Prey --- The torrent of rain hit Lemm as he stood in frontof the Hollow Knight’s statue once more. While his jacket provided ample protection from theceaseless rain of the capital city, his beard wasn’t so lucky in being covered. He’d beentranslating dozens of journals in the past few days; as enjoyable as figuring out what someone’slast thoughts were, it inevitably became dull. Something else usually occupied his mindin the meanwhile, but there were days that he needed to get out of his stuffy shop. The plaza nearby was a convenient place to go to think,and gazing at the foreboding statue there kept him active with questions. He lookeddown at the plaque at the fountain’s base, still legible even long abandonedby its creators: MEMORIAL TO THE HOLLOW KNIGHT In the Black Vault far above. Through its sacrifice Hallownest lasts eternal. The words repeated through his head. Who were they?What did they sacrifice? Why did nothing of them remain but this statue? It was momentslike these that he hated being a historian. Too many questions, too few answers.“Quite a sight, isn’t it?” A soft voice next to Lemm suddenly spoke. He nearly jumped out of his shell, shocked that anyone was still alive in the City of Tears, much less right next to him. Just his luck to move to an entirely dead cityand still manage to meet the only other living bug there. He looked over the stranger: tallerthan himself;reallywell-fed, judging by his hefty paunch; a unique nail he’s never seen before;and a hat of a vividly familiar design. He could’ve sworn he’d seen it somewhere before. “Hmph,” Lemm glared at the stranger, “It’s a wasteis what it is. A valued memorial to an important knight, honoring their sacrifice to a causeno one knows anything about. Why bother honoring them if you’re just going to erasetheir deeds?” The other bug nodded, looking up at the Hollow Knight,“Must be something particularly grim.” He scratched his chin, “But why enshrine sucha reminder? And, paradoxically, why erase any trace of it? Ah, I do so love mysterieslike these.” Lemm had hoped he would’ve left it - and him - at that, but the traveler extendedout his hand, “I’m Quirrel. I’ve a love for wandering and exploring places like here.” “...Relic Seeker Lemm. I… seek relics.” He gingerlygave it a single shake. Quirrel’s eyes lit up a bit at his title, “Relic Seeker?Would you be interested in looking over something for me? I’m not quite sure what it is, butyou seem to be knowledgeable of things.” Lemm sighed. This is precisely why he hated dealingwith people. Not even a minute after he introduced himself, and someone already wantedhim to appraise their junk. Theyalways had something interesting, always something historic. Still, Hallownest had no shortage of relics to look over; that little gremlinof an adventurer taught him that. “Alright, follow me. My home is close by,” Lemm said,already moving and not even bothering to see if Quirrel was following. A quiet“ah!” and a rush of movement confirmed it. Lemm led Quirrel to a nearby elevator, respondingto his idle chit-chat with grunts and hums. A short ride up, and they were in front of Lemm’sshop, door locked shut. He took down the sign saying where he would be and unlockedit, pushing it open for his guest. The doorbell rang, and several uniquely colored lumaflylanterns lit up the entryway, shining a soft pink light down on them. “Thank you,” Quirrel gave him a smile as he entered,“Not many bugs with proper manners these days!” Lemm huffed, already regretting letting someone sotalkative in, “Dry yourself off first.” He closed the door behind him and handed Quirrel a towelfrom nearby. He moved behind the counter, bringing up various tools and instrumentswhile his guest settled in. Quirrel wandered around the room, looking at the varioustrinkets on display: journals detailing their trek through Greenpath’s pilgrimage,medals honoring deeds of valor, and even an old-fashioned set of armor. Everything caughthis eye, and he wanted to ask questions about all of them. However, he settled ona painting hung near the entrance: a bug standing proudly, nail in hand and at their side.“May I ask about this?” Quirrel stepped closer to it, “The condition of it is incredible! Who is it depicting?” “That? Some old soldier or knight,” Lemm pointedat the painting, “Red armor indicates he was part of the Great Sentries, but the lack of aroyal crest tells me that he’s likely an important noble’s personal guard.” He put on a pairof soft-looking gloves as he talked, “Most had one or two standard sentries, but few hadenough pull with Lurien the Watcher to warrant such protection.” Quirrel noted the subtle retouching and stitchingof the painting, damage almost invisible, “It must be quite difficult to maintain anything inthe capital city, especially a silk canvas like this. May you show me how you do so in such perilousconditions?” “Maybe later,” Lemm said curtly, “For now, that somethingof yours is my only concern.” “Ah! My apologies,” Quirrel pulled out a round objectcovered in loose rags from his knapsack, “I have to admit, it’s not really mine.Do you know of that small adventurer who’s wandered all over Hallownest? They gave it tome in Deepnest after we- ah… met.” “Your friend, huh? Yes, I know them, they practicallysold me half of my collection,” Lemm picked the thing up and slowly uncovered it, “Theyalways manage to find the… damndest… things…” With the mysterious object fullyrevealed, his eyes widened in wonder, “This is an arcane egg! I’ve only seen thesein textbooks or as museum pieces!” He put away his tools and picked up a magnifying glass,observing its grooves and etchings.“Does that glimmer in your eye mean it’s good?” Quirrel spoke up, breaking Lemm out of his trance. “What? Oh, yes, absolutely, this is a rare artifact,made long before you or I or this kingdom existed,” he gently covered the arcane egg back up,“What do you want for it? I’ll pay anything!” “Anything?” Quirrel looked around the room, “Well...I'd very much love to spend a few hours of rest here, ask you about these relics atsome time.” “I-... Yes, I suppose that’d be fine,” Lemm movedto the back room, setting up his table to inspect the arcane egg, “If you need a blanket oranything else, ask whenever.” “Thank you, Lemm,” Quirrel yawned, laying behind thecounter, “I’ll just be here then. I hope you’re happy with that relic.” “What? Oh yes, of course,” Lemm said distractedly.Already, he was absorbed by the ancient relic; he could see the scrawlings of somelong-dead language beneath the first layer. This would be the highlight of his career ifhe could break into it. The night was young, and he had a fresh teapot at hand. For the first time in his life, Lemm was content meetingsomeone. --- Lemm had finally cornered Quirrel, drooling salivaand void all over the cowering bug. Chasing his meal around had built up an appetite, but therewas nowhere else to run. He lapped histongue over Quirrel’s face, savoring the intoxicating fear radiating from him. His impatient stomach roared in displeasure of being teased; Lemmwas more than happy to oblige its requests. He wasted no time in shoving his meal’s head intohis mouth, stupid hat and all, wanting to make that hefty body his own. A few quick swallows sentthe Quirrel-sized lump in his throat to his gut, already working on breaking down the bug as nothingmore than meat. The struggling in Lemm’s guts was relentless, but useless; it was almost likea massage at this point. What’s-his-name begged and pleaded with Lemm, voice muffled by thelayers of fat made by dozens of other bugs. This was always the most annoying part. All Lemm hadto do was press down his stomach once and- Lemm shot up from his bed in a cold sweat, feelinga deep pit in his stomach. He rushed to his sink, nearly retching all over it, and washedhis face. The dream wasn’t real, but he could remember everything he felt, and worse, he rememberedthat he liked it. Why would he like something so horrifically debauched? He threwwater in his face again, wanting to get rid of the conflicting emotions. After he calmed down somewhat, he looked around hisroom to at least have his mind occupied. He needed to think about something else,anything. He didn’t want to dwell on it. Especially not how he felt about- “Ah, good morning, Relic Seeker!” Quirrel popped infrom the doorway, Lemm’s teapot in hand, “Apologies for using your teapot without permission,but I wanted to make breakfast for you, as thanks. Please, come!” He moved back intothe shop, whistling a tune.Lemm nearly fell to the floor as the rush of feelings came back. He wanted to do or say something to him, but it would only be awkward. He sighed and wiped his face, going out to eat breakfast. The growling from his stomach wasbecoming unbearably loud. --- Lemm sat behind of his counter, tapping at the boiledaspid eggs in front of him with a fork. As much as he stared at them, he couldn’t find thewill to take a bite. His stomach wanted food, but not these normal, boring eggs. Despite hisbest efforts to avoid it, he found himself thinking about his dream, and the feelingsbegan to flare up again. He took a sip of his tea, immediately putting it down after he realizedhow similarly it smelled to Quirrel. He let himself stare at bug in question, who was acrossthe room looking at the various trinkets and relics on display. “I hope this is not too forward of a request, butI would like to offer my services to the shop,” Quirrel took a look around the place, “As excellentas you are at maintaining these relics, your organization skills and dust managementleave something to be desired. No no, this simply won’t do.” Lemm idly nodded, too busy trying not to think aboutQuirrel, or how he wanted to pounce on him and swallow him whole like a beast of Deepnest. “Wonderful! Please, don’t worry, Relic Seeker,” Quirrelwent to the back room, bringing out a broom and duster that Lemm forgot he owned,“I may not look it, but I was quite theassistant!” He took off his hat and immediately went to work on sweeping the floors and dusting the shelves. Normally, Lemm would be very upset at the thoughtof anyone ever touching his things, but something about the situation kept him from intervening.The way Quirrel’s wide hips swayed as he swept the floors. How his lovely bellysagged and peeked past his sides as he reached up towards the high shelves. His substantialthighs supporting his perfect rear as he went on all fours to sort the low ones. His stomachgrowled at the sight, and he could feel himself drooling at the piece of meat. He almoststood up before Quirrel turned to look at him. “Do you like them?” Quirrel was face down, grabbingsomething under a cabinet, “Quite delectable, aren’t they?” Lemm’s trance was cut off as quickly as it came, “What?Yes- no, it’s- What?” “Yes, wild aphid eggs tend to be very rich comparedto livestock ones,” Quirrel stretched out his back, raising his rear high up, “But I mustadmit, some meat sounds nice about now. Something fat and juicy, perhaps?” Lemm’s eyes went wide and his face burned, “I- uh,I- I-” Quirrel swung his hips left to right, “My goodness,Relic Seeker. Whatever is distracting you must be quite big on your mind.” The longest 5 seconds of Lemm’s life went by as hewilled himself to stay down in the chair. His knuckles turned pale as he gripped his stool witha vice-like grip, and he clenched histeeth to keep from panting and drooling. The seductive show was too much for him, and he couldn't look away from it, no matter how hard hetried. It was almost like... “How am I doing?” Quirrel laid on his side, “Is theprovocation riling you up?” Lemm took a second to process the question, then slowlynodded, wanting nothing more than to jump out of his seat and pounce on the freemeal. He still held onto what little of his senses he had left, though, not wanting to losehimself just yet. “Oh, don’t worry, I know what you dreamt of,” Quirrellaid on his back and spread his legs, “If I had known you to be so ferocious, I would’veasked you to eat me right under the fountain!” He rubbed his belly, smiling at how Lemmwatched it wobble, “That arcane egg of my friend really is quite special, isn’t it?” Lemm glanced at the relic in his back room, then backat Quirrel’s show. The object that he once coveted doesn’t have a place in his head anymore.He only wanted Quirrel. Nothing else mattered to him, not now and not ever. “Well?” Quirrel winked and patted the inside of histhigh, “If an invitation is required for you, Relic Seeker, then here it is.” Lemm nearly tripped getting off of his stool rushingover, already kneeling in front of him, “I- ah… I really want to… but…” His hand hovered overQuirrel’s chest, hesitant to even touch it.“Oh, come now,” Quirrel playfully pulled Lemm’s beard, “Are you really denying yourself such a delicious meal as I am? So, will you swallowme head-first? I even removed my hat for you!” “This is all so sudden,” Lemm stood up, shaking hishead, “I don’t know if I… if I’d even like it.” “So you say you wouldn't enjoy sending me to yourneedy stomach? Feeling me squirm as I accept my fate? Churning my body down into sludge?Adding me to your hip- mmph!” Lemm grabbed Quirrel’s head and shoved it into hismouth, bulging out his neck impossibly wide. The Relic Seeker couldn’t believeeasily he fit him, but he didn’t want to slow down at all. He slowly swallowed Quirrel, chokingand gasping with each gulp, unaccustomed to such a large meal. In fact, Quirrelhad been helping himself get swallowed, wiggling himself in to help the descent.Lemm lifted his head up and nearly fell over, yet he was still determined to have all of thelovely meal inside him. Once he reached Quirrel’s hips, though, he faced a problem he hadn’tconsidered: the hips were much wider than his own body. Lemm’s vision was almost entirelyobstructed, and as much as he loved the view, he’d run out of air eventually. A few futile swallows let the both of them know theywere stuck like this. “Ah, are they truly that big?” Quirrel huffed in embarrassment,“I really should not have met you so soon after I had just finished my own meal. Absolutelyruinous to one’s figure!”Lemm reassuringly patted Quirrel’s ass, then grabbed it with both hands. A sharp “eep!” was all he heard before he pulled the wonderful thing closer to him. Slowly but surely, it squeezed into his mouth, along with Quirrel’s thickthighs. Just the sight of those things were enough to reinvigorate his swallowing, and hequickly finished what he started. As the last bulge in his throat traveled to his stomach,Lemm was left kneeling on the floor with a bug-sized stomach, out of breath and sweatingfrom the ordeal. “Goodness, Relic Seeker,” Quirrel lamented as he pushedagainst the ever-tightening stomach walls, “You should have told me my waist wouldhave been a problem, I could have brought assistance.” Lemm groaned in pain, unable to respond except withbelches or moans. A few moments of dull pain passed in his stomach, before he foundthe strength to stand up again, albeit with shaky knees. He made his way behind the counter,unsure if he could make it back to his bed without collapsing. He supported himself onit, gingerly rubbing the outline of the bug inside him, “Quirrel? How is it in there?” “It’s tingly and warm,” Quirrel breathlessly said,“I’m not quite sure if it’s the digestive enzymes, the massaging walls, or my own addled mind,but it’s comfortable in here. It seems that I, ah… I’m falling asleep as well...” Deepgroans and grumbles followed soon after, along with a quickbwuurpfrom Lemm. He was about to ask if Quirrel was doing fine beforethe doorbell rang. Lemm immediately looked up and leaned forward, hiding his enormousgut under the counter. Of all the times that little annoying thing decides to show up…The Ghost stepped into Lemm’s shop without a care, giving him a high wave from across the room. They picked up a small stepladder and saunteredup to Lemm, standing on it so that they could look over the counter. Lemm subtlyand desperately covered his belly with a towel in the hopes that it'd at least muffle someof the noise coming from it. “Ah, it’s you! I suppose you’ve come here to sellrelics?” Lemm was desperately trying not to falter, “Rather a bad time, so come back-” A deafeninggroan from his stomach cut him off and he paused at the sound, “-come back later,I’m busy.” The Ghost paid no attention to his dismissal, insteadpointing at Quirrel’s hat left on the counter. They patted their hands down repeatedly,looking expectantly at Lemm for an answer. They stared him down as he slowly responded. “Your friend?” Lemm stifled a belch, “He wouldn’thappen to be tall, scholarly air about him, mmm… shapely legs?” He bit his lip as his gutclenched down on Quirrel, turning the once-solid bug inside down into a thick slurry ofmeat and acids. Another long groan down in his intestines meant he was already being processedand absorbed into fat, something Lemm was looking forward to fondling later tonight.Just the knowledge that he could reduce any bug he wanted to chub on his waistlinewas enough to make his knees weak. The Ghost nodded. “Nope, haven’t seen him around,” Lemm shrugged andaccidentally let out a loudhwuurp. He played it off as something he intended, but thebright red cheeks said otherwise.The Ghost cocked their head at his answer, then shrugged as well, pulling out a figurine of the Pale King from somewhere under their cloak. They handed it over to Lemm, who looked at it with a curious face. As he was examinedit, they pulled out a few other trinkets from under their cloak. “A King’s Idol? For another one of these, I’d openmy shop anytime,” Lemm scanned the relic, ignoring his better judgement, “Oh? This one’sinteresting. Its engravings are similar to another Idol I’ve found. That other one was a religiousscripture about the King, which is bold, considering he disliked organized religion.I’ll give you 950 geo for- ” The Ghost had moved to right beside Lemm, curiouslylooking at his bloated stomach. The Relic Seeker couldn’t do much besides trying to uselesslyhide it under a massively inadequate towel. He figeted around with his beardand scratched his neck as they stared him down. “W-what? This? It’s just a, ah...” He sunk his fingersinto his gut and failed to stifle another loudboourp, “Well… it’s, er… what’s left of Quirrel.”He lifted his belly up and dropped it, making it wobble like waves on a lake. The Ghost slowly walked up to Lemm, and gave his guta hug, forcing more air out of him in the form of a longbweellch. He wasn’t sure if itwas affection for Quirrel or for his stomach that they had, but he wasn’t one to question it.“You’re an odd one, aren’t you?” Lemm scratched his chin as he pondered his options, “Tell you what, you hand me all this stuff of yours forfree, and I’ll smother you under this," he lifted his belly with one hand and let it drop, "forten minutes. Deal?” The Ghost mindlessly nodded, already rubbing theirentire face onto Lemm’s gut. Gurgles and groans were all they could hear as Lemm pushedthem and his gut under the counter, leaving them pinned underneath the sloshing gut. Theypushed themselves into the gelatinous form, surrounded by wet squelches, bassygrumbling, and deep growling. As they were settling in to the smothering softness,Lemm let out aloud BWUUURPthat resonated throughout the shop, shaking them to theircore. Lemm had been hard at work on the King's Idol, transcribingit onto parchment as he examined it. It didn't take long for him to finish,though, almost word-for-word an exact copy of another Idol. He took a look at some of theother things the Ghost had brought over: two Journals, a Hallownest seal, and an oddlywell-preserved scroll. He also looked at some of the projects left unfinished that werein arm's reach. He sighed, and set his teapot next to him. It seems he'd have a long day of work ahead of him.

 Hollow Knight - Artistic Pursuit Sheo/Oro-Mato, M/MM, Sibling/Sibling, Digestion, UnwillingPrey, Weight Gain --- The trek to Sheo’s hut was tense and awkward, evenwith the beautiful scenery of Greenpath all around Oro and Mato. Every branch steppedon and every animal calling out only accentuated the silence between the two heavyweightNailmasters. Both were unsure what to say to one another, still bitter forreasons they’ve never forgotten. Mato pretended to look out into the distance, while Oropretended to adjust his cloak. The two never imagined meeting again so soon. “...Mato,” Oro broke the silence first. “Brother,” Mato curtly said. “Good to see you again.” “And you, brother.” With a nod and a smile, the two returned to silence.They both wanted to say something to each other, but silently and mutually agreed thatit was better to stay quiet. At least, that was what they intended for the first few minutes. “How have you been, brother?” Mato scratched the backof his neck awkwardly, “I really missed you, you know?”Oro nodded, “I’ve been well, and yes, I have to admit that it’s enjoyable seeing you again after so long.” The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, catchingup on lost time between them. They talked about their lives away from home, discussedtheir training of their shared pupil, and mentioned how they both got their invitation to Sheo’shome from them. Like so long ago, Oro laughed at his younger brother’s jokes, and Matowas amazed with his older brother’s witty poetry. For a time, it had felt like they hadnever left each other. --- The Nailmasters finally came to the end of the path,and with that, at Sheo’s hut. Thorny vines covered its roof, but it was far from feelingdangerous; rich-looking curtains were hung all around its sides; sketches of Sheo and theNailsmith were even near the entrance. There was also an imprint of their pupil’s head fromwhen, both brothers guessed, they poured paint on themself and slammed face first intothe wall. Mato announced their arrival with a knock, “Hello?Brother? It’s us!” “Ah, Mato, Oro!” Sheo said as he opened the door,paint still wet on his apron and arms, “How wonderful of you to finally visit my home!” Hegestured them in with a paintbrush, nearly flicking paint onto Mato. The two younger brothers stepped inside, in awe ofhow homely it looked on the inside, especially compared to their own huts. Mato’s homewas lined with trophies of various beasts he’d hunted over the years, but nothing ofhim or his brothers. Oro’s looked like arented home in the City of Tears, complete with dust over all of the furniture. Sheo’s? It was messy and lively. Things were left strewn about,and furniture was left disheveled, like he and his love were too busy loving each other toclean up. Sheo led his brothers to his studio near the back,where an incomprehensible half-finished portrait and a full-body mirror was waiting. “I havemissed you two, truly. Please, sit and we can catch up with each other!” All three of them sat at a table, saying their hellosand describing everything that’s happened to them over the years. Mato boasted aboutthe largest beast he’s hunted alone, Oro described his meditation down in the snowy wasteland,and Sheo mentioned branching out to new creative pursuits. The conversationmoved from one topic to another, eventually landing on Sheo’s life. “You were always the best of us, Sheo,” Oro smiledat his older brother, “All of us have led isolated lives, and yet you’re the only one who sharesa bed, and with a, ah... 'fellow artist,' no less.” Mato elbowed Oro on the arm and whispered, “Fatherdefinitely knew when Sheo said he wanted to paint Hegemol naked.” Sheo laughed and sighed, “I won’t lie, brothers, that’swhy I invited you here. I have need of inspiration, and I thought that you two would be ableto help me out.” “Really? You think of us as inspiring?” Mato beamedat his brother’s words.Sheo returned the smile, “Of course I do, brother.” He stood up and gestured for Mato to follow, “Would you please follow me to the kitchen? I need help with dinner, and I remember how much you loved cooking.” “You do? I thought you would’ve forgotten after allthis time!” Mato stepped behind Sheo, eager to finally make a wonderful meal for his brothers,“Don’t worry, Oro, I know what you like!” The pair passed through the curtains dividing thekitchen (really more of a campfire surrounded by scavenged pots and pans) from the restof the hut; Mato noticed the lack of ingredients set up for dinner, but he didn’t questionit. He wandered around, deep in thought of what to cook, “Do you know what you wishfor? If I knew, I could properly set up the cooking pot and- Sheo?” He turned and saw hisbrother was mere inches next to him. “Oh, please don’t worry, dinner is already here.” Sheo grabbed Mato’s head and shoved it into his mouth,muting his would-be screams. As much as he wanted to savor the taste of his own brother,he had to act fast. He pushed Mato in deeper, admiring how much his throat bulgedout, but kept at it. Mato hadn’t put up much of a struggle, only kicking his legs oncehis head reached Sheo’s stomach, and even then, it only took another push and a gulp tosend the huge Nailmaster down. A shame it was over so fast, but there was another opportunityoutside. “Mato? Sheo? Are you two alright?” Oro yelled out,worry in his voice.“Mmm… Of course we’re fine,” Sheo licked his fingers clean, “Oh, and brother Oro, please wait outside for some sparring while Mato finishesup in here.” Sheo moved his apron out of the way, admiring theview his brother made. His midsection had jutted out with how big Mato was, and he couldeven see faint outlines of his brother’s form. An imprint of a hand pushing out of his stomachmade Sheo grunt in pleasure, patting the outline of Mato’s head in appreciation. “Brother!? What are you doing!?” Mato said, voicebarely audible under layers of muscle and fat. His kicks and pushes were responded to withgurgles from the stomach walls and more pats from Sheo, “It’s warm and it's dark andit tingles in here!” Sheo readjusted his apron to hide most of his baremidsection, and to give him the barest sense of decency. He stretched out his back, shiveringat how tight and full his stomach felt. Mato’s struggling was a pleasant sensation,but unfortunately, he had other plans. He went out of the kitchen and back out to the yard,watching Oro punch and swing at the air. “So, what’s your weapon nowadays?” Oro pretended touppercut someone, “I guess it must be that paintbrush of yours, right?” He turnedto smile at Sheo, but his face fell as his eyes went to the poorly-hidden gut his brother had. “Not quite,” Sheo said, approaching him, “Now, I mustwarn you, I will not hold back. This is our first spar in some time, after all.” Oro’s eyes darted from the stomach, to Sheo, to thehut, then back to the stomach. He pointed at it, unable to vocalize any other thoughts,“That’s- that’s… Mato?”“Ah, I forget how sharp you are. Do not worry,” Sheo cracked his knuckles, “As long as you win our fight, he will be completely fine. If not,then...” He ominously glared at Oro and licked his lips. Mato yelled out from deep inside Sheo, “Brothers,this isn’t funny anymore! Come on, let me out!” Oro felt his legs lock up once he realized the consequenceof losing. He took on a fighting stance, unable to stop his hands from shaking andstaring at the subtly struggling in the gut. Strategies and maneuvers in his head were interruptedby thoughts of Mato melting in there, and soon enough, that was all he could thinkof. He dropped his guard, still staring at Sheo as he loomed right above him. Sheo’s stomach eclipsed Oro’s entire body, “BrotherOro, are you going to take this seriously or not?” The nod was hardly visible underhis still-squirming gut, but a few faint impacts quickly followed the gesture. “Ow! Stop!” Mato yelped, still heavily muffled, “That’sme you're hitting!” Sheo exaggerated his yawn, “I thought you were goingto try to fight back. If that’s all you’re doing, then-” He thrust his entire body into Oro, knocking him down.Oro quickly got back up and tried to tackle him, but only managed towrap his arms aroundthe stomach Mato was in, o squeezing out abhwruuhpfrom Sheo.“Goodness, excuse me,” Sheo covered his mouth, “I apologize for my manners. It truly has been a long time since someone visited.” He jumped forward and bodyslammed on top of Oro, earning him anotherhrwuurrpand a sharp kickfrom Mato. “This… sucks…!” Mato yelled out one last time as thestomach walls clenched all around him. The once-lumpy belly loudly sloshed with liquidchyme as Sheo rolled off Oro, who was knocked out and left breathless. Sheo loosened his apron and moved it out of the way,rubbing all over and admiring how smooth and round it was. He glanced at Oro and smirkedwhen he noticed how flushed and woozy he looked. A long groaning from his sphericalabdomen made him let out a soft burp, and he thumped his chest to relieve the increasingpressure. “Please wait a moment, brother Oro,” Sheo pushed inon his bloated gut, “I have to make some room for-BWUUOORP-” His stomach seemed to deflateby several inches as his belch roared out of the hut. A sigh of relief followedsoon after, and he set his eyes on Oro, licking his lips in anticipation. Sheo picked up both of Oro’s legs and placed themin his mouth. He gulped down his feet and ankles, pulling the rest of his brother up asthey went down. Now that Sheo had free time, he took a moment to savor his brother’s legs,leaving him eager for more of the taste. Another strong swallow put Sheo face-to-face withhis brother’s padded rear. He gave it a playful slap before swallowing that down too, nowonly caring about filling himself up again. He took his time gulping down the rest of Oro’sbody, focusing on every bulge hemade, on how wobbly his body would become, at everything happening to him. One last slurp sent the last triplet down to the Mato-filledstomach. “I’m afraid you won’t last long in there,” Sheo stretchedout his arms, “Both our fight and digesting brother Mato have made my stomach quiteexcited, not to mention your lack of energy to resist.” A pushing probe on his midsectionand a casual belch confirmed that Oro was turning less solid already. Sheo breathed in the fresh air and regained his bearings,standing up once he felt confident enough that he wouldn’t fall from his newcenter of weight. His hands wandered all over his own body, noticing how soft he was alreadybecoming. The muscles in his arm and thighs were slowly being covered with a layerof fat as nutrient soup was being absorbed, and there would only be more when Oro wasfinished being churned down. “Goodness, brothers, Father would be disappointedin all of us,” Sheo sighed in annoyance, “You two for being beaten so easily, and me for gainingso much idle weight.” Sheo stretched one more time before heading back intohis hut, and straight towards the studio. He grabbed his paintbrush and easel, alreadyfocused on imagining his new painting’s composition. He had always wanted to doa portrait of himself, and with the new body his brothers would provide, it’d surely be agrand masterpiece. Or, it would be if Sheo hadn’t started painted on such a small canvas. Helet out an annoyed groan and grabbed a bigger sheet, idly grumbling to himself as his stomachlet out another long groan. ---The Nailsmith opened the door to Sheo’s hut, careful not to drop the sacks of freshly caught fish and foraged greens in both of his hands,“Sheo, I’m back! How was your brothers’ visit to our home?” Sheo was in front of his canvas, but he didn’t hearanything, too deep in focus on painting himself. Though the Nailsmith could only see the backof his cloak, Sheo’s reflection showed off his new body, and a true-to-life depictionof an orb was already on his new self-portrait. He had already been heavy before, butnow, he looked like one of the Wyrms of legend, if only by how heavy he was. Fat overflowedfrom his ill-sized cloak, and underneath the too-small apron was his massive, softbelly, and his Great Nail-sized thighs. Any movement, no matter how minor, made hislower half wobble as if made of water. Sheo’s rear had been the most obviously affected,spreading out his cloak and preventing any decency from covering his backside;if the Nailsmith had been one for exaggeration, he would’ve described it as being bigas he was. “Goodness me, Sheo,” the Nailsmith put the sacks downon the table, “Your brothers have done quite a number on your body.” He gave Sheo ahug from behind and felt up his new, pudgy belly, “It’s the perfect look for you, though.” “Ah, love, you’re here!” Sheo smiled and held hishand, “Yes, I wasn’t expecting to gain this much weight. I can only guess they were slacking offin their training more than I thought.” “You’re still missing one thing, though,” The Nailsmithgrabbed some white paint and a brush, and kneeled in front of Sheo. He removed hisapron and gave his jiggling belly a longkiss, before painting a big, crude skull and crossbones on one side of it. He gave it a soft smack, making it and his thighs hypnotically shake. “Hmm! Rather macabre, is it not?” Sheo admired hislover’s handiwork in the mirror, “It’s such a shame you weren’t here when I swallowed bothof my brothers, I think you would have loved watching it.” The Nailsmith nodded and shoved his face back intoSheo’s belly, listening closely to all of the groaning, gurgling, churning, and bubbling itmade. He wistfully sighed as he wrapped his arms around it, wanting nothing more than to stayunder it all day. A moment passed before he perked his head up in inspiration. “Actually, we have a mirror here,” The Nailmastersaid, embarrassed of his thoughts, “You can… ah… show me how you swallow someone right now.”He sat right next to Sheo, patting the inside of his own thigh. Sheo smiled, and grabbed a bigger canvas to starta new self-portrait.

 Hollow Knight - Starting the Collection The Collector, ?/Multiple, Mass Vore, Limited HammerspaceBelly, Unwilling Prey, Digestion, Weight Gain --- Silence dominated the Pale King’s workshop as he satbehind his desk in thought. While he viewed his Kingsmould creations as the perfect honorguard, they lacked a certain quality, yet he wasn’t quite sure what. Creativity? Thought?Freedom? It was something that gave bugs the ability to act and protect one another, evenwithout orders to do so. Perhaps… love. Yes, that was it. His new creation needed love.He grabbed a sample of Void and poured it into his Void mould, along with a few dropsof concoctions from previous experiments with emotions. Dozens of different vialsof Void had already been transformed into his personal guards, but this onewould be different. The Pale King was statuesque, calculating his nextmoves as the mould tightened its clamps. All it needed was a simple understanding ofemotions; enough that it would understand why it would act in such ways. However,doubt scratched the back of his mind. Too many experiments with Void tended to end verypoorly whenever emotions of any kind were involved. Too unpredictable to prepare beforehand,and too messy to learn from after. No matter. Answers can always be foundlater on. A loud hiss screamed out of the mould as its clampsloosened, and he knew it was time. It split into two and released the Void creature outinto the workshop. It onto its knees,guarding its body and shielding its eyes from the dim light of the workshop. The Pale King carefully examined its features for any possible mistakesbefore he continued. It was typical of other Kingsmould: entirely pitch black,four arms, and no shell to protect its slim body. What made this one so special were its expressive,questioning eyes. It was almost disconcerting how emotional it was, even if he expectedsuch a state. It was still no matter to worry about… hopefully. The Pale King moved to his desk, and began writingon parchment, talking aloud as he did so, “First creation of the new Kingsmould has concluded,so named the Collector for its intended purpose.” He examined the Void being as itshakily stood up, continuing once he was satisfied, “Recent encounters have made me realizea lack of rapid rescue services within Hallownest, hence the need to create a newsubdivision of the Kingsmould, who can ‘collect’ those who have lost their way. An emptycreation can react to danger, but one with emotion will truly protect my citizens.” The Pale King stood over again the Collector, recordin hand as he thought of his next move, “Excellent. Collector, you are to… “find andcollect,” is it...?” He tapped the parchment with his quill in thought, “Love and protect...?Yes, that's it. Now, we must fit you in armor so as to-” He turned to grab measuring tape from nearby, beforehe heard the scuttling of running away and the door slamming open. He sighed and turnedback, confirming that the newly born creation of Void was no longer there. Rays ofearly morning light entered theworkshop, and way off in the distance was the Collector, already gone from view as it turned a corner. “Well,” the Pale King thought out loud, “damn.” --- The Collector scuttled on all sixes as it ran aroundthe halls of the White Palace. It had its orders, but no idea of what it meant. Love? Protection?It grabbed its head, trying to gather its bearings in an unfamiliar land. Its breaths wereshallow and quick, and nothing made sense. It heard something around the corner, and reflexivelycrawled up the walls and into a dark spot on the ceiling. A retainer wielding a broom like a Nail slowly shuffledinto view, “Who’s there? I have a weapon!” He was trembling, glancing back to wherehe came from, “Actually, stay away! I'm calling the guards!” The Collector’s eyes went wide looking at somethingso weak and powerless. Suddenly, everything clicked as a deep instinct was unlockedinside of it. This thing, this innocent bug wandering around alone. He needed protecting. He neededto be safe. He needed love. It couldn’t help but giggle as the words repeated inits head. It crawled down the walls, laughs echoing throughout the surroundings. The servant froze in place once he realized he wasn’talone. He wanted to shout out, to scream for help, but couldn’t find the courage tosay anything, even as the Collector landed right behind him and hovered all 4 of its arms above.It gently squeezed his limbs andgingerly caressed his head; despite the delicate touch, he shivered like he was being frozen alive. The Collector could protect something so lonely, buthow? It tapped its fingers on the retainer’s arms, quietly giggling in thought. It neededsomething to contain this thing, something empty and safe, something that it couldtake everywhere along with it. An idea formed in its head, and it looked at the poor thingin glee. Its laughs grew demented, and an equally dementedmouth took shape on its normally featureless face. Strands of black saliva drippeddown from sharp teeth onto the retainer’s head, lifted and easily enveloped in the monstrousmaw. Even as he was getting swallowed alive, the bug was too paralyzed with fear to move,and too afraid to realize what was happening. The Collector gently shoved the rest ofhis body inside, still laughing with its mouth occupied as it did so. The retainer’s torso disappeared down the Collector’sgullet without a word or a struggle. Its black, winding tongue wrapped around both of hislegs, and pulled him in with glee. A round bulge began to form in its throat, slowly goingdown as the Collector continued to swallow him down for safekeeping. However, as thebulge moved down its chest and hit its midsection, it smoothly went away, leaving its slimform as perfect as it was before. The last length of the retainer’s legs were swallowed,and with it, the last moment he existed; not an inch of the slim stomach had ever been disturbed. The Collector’s mouth merged together, returning itto its smooth, perfectly featureless state. It inspected its midsection, cocking its headas it rubbed and patted all over, trying tofind out where the bug went. Laughter filled the hall again as it quickly realized its purpose. Of course, it all made sense. Safekeeping a bug asit did and still retaining the same form. Why else would it be given such abilities? It couldprotect so many more like this. More voices came from beyond the hall it was in, and itslaugh grew stronger as it stalked the halls to find the source. --- The Collector became shaky and breathless as it finishedrescuing the sixth bug it had found wandering by themselves. At first, it was enthusiasticknowing that it could help out so many, but now, it was starting to feel the heavyweight of carrying them around. This one had also finally made his gut distend, if by onlyan inch or two. It caught its breath, leaning on a wall before it heard noises coming fromnearby nearby, and it once again crawled onto the tall ceiling. “Sir, please listen, there is back something here!”A meek voice loudly whispered nearby, “The staff are afraid to work, because so many ofthem have disappeared earlier this morning!” “And I’m sure that they’ve just run off when theywere supposed to be working,” an authoritarian voice sighed next to it. A Great Sentry at least a head taller and much moremuscular than the Collector, and a nervous-looking retainer who barely reached his chest,wandered into view from theCollector’s hiding spot; the guard was very obviously annoyed, and the servant cowered behind him. The huge Sentry waited for his fearfulcompanion to unlock a door, then quickly inspected inside and left, doing the sameto another room, and then another. The Collector slowly and quietly stalked above them,following their every move with barely-contained glee. It crawled right above theretainer lagging behind the Sentry, and split its mouth open again. It brought out its alreadydrooling tongue over its newest loves, and when the moment was right… The Sentry slammed the last door in the hallway closed,“By the King, it’s not enough that I get assigned to a birthday party, but now my dutiesare to find bugs slacking off!” He turned to the retainer, but realized no one was nextto him, groaning in exasperation, “First he says he’s terrified of something here, and thenhe wanders off.” Now that he was by himself, the Sentry couldn’t helpbut internally agree at how something felt off here. The normally placid atmosphereof the White Palace’s halls had been disturbed, like a smooth surface being chipped.Years of experience had honed his nerves to a fine edge, and right now, they all screamedat him to look up. He brought his Nail to arm, aimed it up high, and froze at the sightof what was there. There on the ceiling were the retainer’s kicking legs,the rest of him already inside the mouth of the Collector. Its tongue wrapped aroundhis legs to stop their movement, and it quickly slurped up the remaining length of bug. Ina single, effortless gulp, the Sentry was left alone with the creature on the ceiling, withits laughter filling the thoughts in his head.“I-I… B-By authority of the King of Hallownest, I command…” The Great Sentry stuttered over his words, “I command you to- I…” He fumbledbackwards and dropped his Nail by his side, trying to crawl away from the thing. More gleeful laughter erupted from the Collector asits tongue drooped out of its mouth, extending towards the bulky guard’s leg like a snake.He tried to kick it away, but it deftly wrapped itself around his leg, and he found himselfbeing effortlessly dragged up to the ceiling leg first, even with how heavy he weighed. As easily as the Collector ate the much smaller servant,it just as easily swallowed the guard’s legs. The paralyzed bug did nothing as bothof its legs were clamped down by its throat, incessant laughter overpowering his weak whimpers.In a moment, both of his legs were in its chest, and still he did nothing. The Collector’stongue bound the guard’s arms to his body, and pulled him deeper in with barely a fight.Tar-like drool occasionally fell to the floor as his wide shoulders followed his strong legsto the depths of the Collector, and with a final swallow, sent his head down as well. A second of silence passed as the Collector droppedto the ground with a soft thud. A small potbelly hung from its midsection, and it rubbedit with love and protectiveness; a sign that its abilities had limits, but it remainedundeterred with its mission. With a deep, satisfied breath, it continued to follow the hecticsounds it had been looking for. After some time and another lost servant protected, it reacheda grand doorway, and behind it, the sounds of revelry and joy. It took a peek behindthe doors, and saw dozens of bugswandering a ballroom, decorative banners hanging around in the air, and rich-looking foods lining the wall. It particularly paid attention towards a Vessel wearinga pale white, silken cloak emblazoned with the King’s Brand on its back. Thoughthey were slightly shorter than most other bugs there, they carried themself talland proper, giving them an air of royalty. The Collector felt a vague sense of kinship towardsthem; would they need to be protected as well? It needed to know, but first, therewere other, weaker bugs to protect. --- “How goes the celebratory event of your birth, mychild?” The Pale King opened the doors to the ballroom with a small but genuine smile, “Iapologize for being late, there were some difficulties in my work, but I made time to see youand by the gods, what happened here!?” Broken plates and glasses littered the entire floorof the ballroom, half-finished foods covered tables that weren’t broken or knocked over,and the deafening sound of gurgling and groaning filled the air. The Pale King lookedaround the room, trying to figure out what happened before he spotted the Collector in the centerof all this, straddling someone’s chest and sporting a new, massive belly wider thanit was tall. Images of what happened flashed through the Pale King’shead as his magical sight kicked in. Tongues flying out of dark corners and draggingsomeone back into them. Bugs carried in arms and shoved down a mouth without a thought.A view dominated by the Collector'srounded belly and toothy smile. He shook his head to focus in the present, moved in front of the Collector, and saw his Pure Vessel pushingup on the belly currently on its chest. The Collector had a content look on its face as twoof its arms rubbed and patted its bloated gut while the other two shoved the Pure Vessel’sface into it. Its laughter was quiet and slow, occasionally being interrupted bya belch or a hiccup, and the bubbling from under it grew in intensity as time passed. He couldn’t believe it; in the span of less than aday of being created, this thing had run away from him, eaten half of his staff, and disrupteda party he was hosting! One dedicated to his child, no less! “This is a disaster,” The Pale King said to himselfand rubbed his temples, “My queen will kill me when she finds out this happened.” He walkedto the Collector’s side, and touched its stomach, “Okay, this situation is salvageableif I can get all of them out before they’re-” The Collector suddenly grabbed the Pale King's headand shoved him into its gut, letting out abrwuoorpas his face hit it. Its massive midsectionsteadily transformed from rounded and smooth to flabby and soft before the Pale King’seyes, spilling out and engulfing the Pure Vessel even more in its expansive chubbiness.Everything about the Collector grew as dozens of its “protected” inhabitants were near-instantlychurned down by its infinite stomach. Its hips widened to the size of several bugsside-by-side, and its thighs grew to an absurd width to help even them out, not to mentionthe truly massive posterior that was currently crushing the Vessel under them. Its armsweren’t spared either, as fat grew and turned them from thin sticks to thick branches. Theonce-slim creature had turned wide,soft, and heavy, not even caring that it had melted and absorbed all of the bugs it was supposed to protect, lulling its tongue out withouta care. The Pale King could only choke on his words as hesaw this happen in the span of only a few seconds. The Collector let go of him, and gavehim a side-eye and fondled its love handles, as if it were taunting or inviting him. Hedidn’t need foresight to know what would happen if he attempted to rescue his child alone,but if he could just get help, maybe both of them would make it out. “My Vessel,” the Pale King yelled and pointed at theexit, “I’ll go search for guards to assist us with this problem, okay!? Just… stay under thereand don’t get eaten!” The Pure Vessel gave a weak thumbs-up from the stomachit was under as the Pale King ran off from the ballroom. Even though they didn’tneed to breathe, they felt like they were being suffocated under all of that weight. Theytried pushing up to give themself some space, but with that much fat on them, it waslike pushing against a solid wall. Blorps and gurgles from deep inside the gut were the onlythings they could hear, as well as the occasional pleased laughter from somewhere high abovetheir head. The Collector drooped its head and yawned, burnt outafter a long day of protecting as many bugs as it had. It slowly pushed in its stomachand rubbed all around its new body, content with its successful first day. It laid downon top of the Pure Vessel and closed its eyes, snoring as it used its arms as a pillow. Dreamsof storing bugs of safekeeping went through its head, and it smiled at the thought ofdoing this all over again the next day.If this was its purpose, then it was glad to realize it.

 Bug Fables - Beating the Competition Kabbu/Mothiva-Zasp, M/Multiple, Accidental Vore, Digestion,Weight Gain, Unwilling Pred, Unwilling Prey, Multiple Prey, OffscreenVore --- Team Snakemouth stood in the hidden sanctuary behindthe Golden Settlement, all hesitant to make a move. They were side-by-side, eachone looking at the other to see who would go first. It didn’t take long before Kabbu tookthe first step towards the elevator leading to the top, uttering a silent prayer to whoeverwould listen. His teammates followed close to his back, sharing the others’ nervousness. Vi involuntarily shivered and whispered, “I feel weird,guys.” She clutched her Beemerang like a plush toy. “We do, too,” Leif scanned the area around them. “Theair itself feels weird.” Kabbu looked at the statue of Venus behind the elevator.“This is sacred ground not in name only. There are forces greater than us at playhere,” he said, keeping watch for danger. Despite the seemingly basic look of the area, thebase of the hill was well-cared for. The path was free of leaves and pebbles, and the shrineunder the statue was kept clean. Written prayers to Venus were left in baskets andsacks, patiently waiting to be delivered to her sanctuary up top.“It seems Acolyte Aria is dutiful in attending to this place,” Kabbu thought out loud, “She must be truly devoted to Venus.” “Wow, even the water here is clean.” Vi dipped herhand into the moat surrounding the elevator. “She needs to get out more,” she jokinglysaid. Leif looked to the top of the hills, face as stillas ever, “...Hm. The artifact is definitely up there. We can feel it.” As the three readied the lift, a cute voice yelledout from behind them, “Ohohoho~! What a charming little group you are!” The trio turned around and saw a moth approachingthem, and someone else slowly shambling from way behind her. Leif and Vi shareda dubious look with each other, while Kabbu decided to see what the new group joining themwas up to. “Greetings, we- is that Mothiva?” Kabbu’s thoughtswent blank as he got a closer look at the famous star approaching him. Even far away, he was mesmerized by her stunning beauty,but now, he could see the new addition to her body. She had the same slim figurehe saw previously, but she was sporting a hefty-looking midsection, easily bigger than hisown body. His face felt white-hot when he saw it bounce up and down without a care, and thefeeling only intensified when he caught himself staring at it. When she stopped infront of them, it took all of his willpower to look elsewhere.“Such hard workers! I’m so glad you did all of that work for me!” She struck a cutesy pose that accentuated her curves, even with the gravidbelly in her way. Leif leaned close to Vi and whispered, “...Uh, who’sthat?” “It’s Mothiva, the famous Bugarian idol! She sangat the festival!” Vi excitedly whispered back, “But is she pregnant? She wasn’t pregnant before.” Leif nodded, then looked back at her, noticing Zaspslowly approaching them with a belly of his own. The bloated midsection was much smallerthan Mothiva’s, but it was still a sizable width compared to other bugs, and there wasa barely defined figure pushing on its surface. In more contrast to her cheery and cute demeanor,his face had a pale color to it, and he looked like he was about to vomit. He tookhis place by his teammate, leaning forward and breathing heavily all the while. “Looks like Mothiva has a stalker,” Leif said, “Anda fat one at that.” Zasp looked at him with irritation, “I’m not-bwurfp, eugh- not a stalker.” “Oh, so you admit you’re fat,” Leif responded withhis usual deadpan tone. Zasp opened his mouth to protest the insult, butonly pained moaning came out, “Mothiva, I’m not feeling so well.” He clutched his abdomenand covered his mouth to stifle another strained burp.“Suck it up, Zasp!” Mothiva roughly smacked him on the stomach, causing him to nearly retch, “One stupid weirdo mantis and you’ve got indigestion!I ate that ant and ladybug couple, or whatever they were, and they’re alreadysoft!” “You’ve… you’ve consumed other living bugs!?” Kabbu’svoice was filled with outrage, “You vile fiends! We’ll put an end to your schemes!” Mothiva let out a haughty laugh, “It’s a bug-eat-bugworld out there. I’m just more literal about it.” “Oh yeah? Eat this instead!” Vi threw her Beemerangat the unprepared moth and hit her stomach. The impact was absorbed by the massive gut,and the weapon fell to the floor with athunk. Mothiva snickered at the pathetic attackbefore an uncouthbwreelrch escaped from her mouth. She shot a glare that piercedright through the bee, face bright red. “You little brat! I’m going to enjoy swallowing youand your friends!” She charged right at Vi, already salivating at the thought. Kabbu stood in Mothiva’s path, and nearly got knockeddown by her hunger-and-rage-fueled tackle. She was much strongerthan he had first thought, but it was still no match for his own honed strength. Hehugged her close to his body face-to-face, trying to avoid being hit by her wildflailing. Vi, seeing a safe opportunity, grabbed her Beemerang and flew over to Leif’s side.Both of them wanted to help out, but ran the risk of hitting their teammate.“Enough! Desist and we will not have to harm you!” Kabbu yelled out in desperation, “I will not hesitate to use force if I have to!” “I! Will! Be! Number! ONE!” Mothiva grew increasinglyunhinged in Kabbu’s arms. Her stomach was in a similarly wild state, gurgling andgroaning loudly with every action she made. Zasp turned his attention toward Kabbu with a fierceprotectiveness in his eyes. Whatever pain he had seemed to disappear as he shakily stoodup and ran to save his teammate. He was nearly on top of Kabbu before a sharp ‘ping!,’followed by an icicle, came from the ground. The wasp tripped right into the two, and knockedall of them to the ground. “Sorry, Kabbu, we didn’t mean for that to happen,”Leif apologized, “Do you need help?” Kabbu couldn’t respond, however, due to Mothiva’shead being in his mouth. His arms flew around in mindless panic. It wasn’t so much that therewas someone inside his mouth, but that he found the taste of her fur to be incredible.Vanilla, cinnamon, honey… Every time his tongue hit Mothiva, his thoughts became muddy,and he ended up reflexively gulping more of her down: he was so hungry, and she was sodelicious… Mothiva screamed in Kabbu’s throat, “How dare youeat me!? Do you know who I am!? I’m going to-” Her yells became less and less audible as she quicklyslid down Kabbu’s throat, still indignantly kicking her legs in the air. Even withher liquid bug-filled belly being wider than she was, he slurped it down just as easily as therest of her. His own stomach had started tofill with digestive juices, ready to turn the convenient meal into nutrient soup. Gurgles and grumbles echoed in the air, bubbling andbrrbblingfilled his stomach; Kabbu didn’t want to do anything else but sit and let it happen. “Should we... do something?” Vi looked at the normallywell-mannered Kabbu with concern. “Not really, we think he’s handling this pretty well,”Leif sat down on the ground, “Besides, we want to see what happens next.” Zasp groggily got up and supported himself, “I- huh…Mothi-ugh!” Vi’s Beemerang conked him on the head, sending him back down as it madeits way back to her. By now, over half of Mothiva had disappeared intoKabbu, and through no fault of his own. His eyes were glazed over, lost in the taste of Mothiva’ssupple legs and how flavorful they were. Slow, deliberate gulps made him savor everyinch and every moment, even if he was acting on autopilot. A quick slurp of Mothiva’s tenderfeet sealed her fate as her body finally landed at the bottom of his stomach. Kabbulet out a contenthhwrruubp, satisfied with his meal. At least, for a second. Kabbu snapped back to normal, and looked down at hissquirming belly with alarm, “Oh goodness, no! Oh no oh no no no no! What have I done!?” Vi could only say a dumbfounded “wow” while Leif gaveKabbu a thumbs up.“T-team! Please, help me get her out!” Kabbu stood up, agonizing over every pleasurable movement Mothiva made. He put his hand over his mouthto stop moaning, belching, or a combination of the two. “Don’t worry, Mothiva!” Zasp shouted, “I’m comingto save you!” All three teammates had already forgotten about theother half of Team Mothiva and his own still-digesting meal. An intimidatingly deep churningcame from deep within him, followed by a weak kick from whoever was still inside.In the span of a second, he made his way right into Kabbu’s face. However, instead of anotherfight, Zasp opted to shove his head and arms down Kabbu’s throat, apparently in someill-conceived rescue plan. Kabbu was knocked down yet again, flailing his arms as Zaspmade his way down to his stomach. “Is he serious?” Leif asked for Kabbu, who was busychoking on the sudden intrusion. With Zasp, there was no taste to savor nor textureto admire; just another meal to be had. Even so, there were still some notable, if quick,moments with him: his slender limbs made him go down easily, and those rapid wings of his massagedKabbu’s insides whenever they fluttered. He felt a tinge of regret with whoeverhis live meal was, but Zasp gave him no choice but to swallow the both of them. In only fewgulps, the lovestruck wasp was reunited with his teammate, announced with a veryaudible “Zasp, you idiot!” Vi and Leif finally approached Kabbu, both still inawe of what happened. The beetle looked fit to burst with his two supersized mealsstill struggling in there. Despite the best of Kabbu’s past workouts, his midsection had beenturned from big yet fit, to irreparable huge; stretch marks were visible all along it, andhe winced in pain if he shifted his weightaround too much. The sheer size of it eclipsed almost eclipsed his own height, only saved by the fact that it weighed so much that it sagged.Sweat covered his blushing face as he tried to catch his breath from the experience. Imprintsof someone’s hand occasionally appeared on his stomach, but went away as quicklyas it appeared. “How are you feeling, Kabbu?” Vi asked, tone unusuallysoft, “Are you, uh… good?” Kabbu responded with abwhhuuurpand a tired look,“I would like these two out of me so we can properly apprehend them, please.” “Well, nothing we can do about that right now,” Leifscratched his chin, “Are you fit to stand? We still might need to venture deeper in.” Kabbu nodded, but it was a struggle to get up, evenwith the help of his two teammates. Eventually, though, they managed to get him up, thoughnot without pained groans or a breather. They pulled the lever, finally heading upto the top of the hills after the odd encounter. --- As the three nearly reached the entrance to Venus’slair, the ground shook, blowing leaves across their path. A flower sprouted from the groundin front of them, blooming out its beautifully pink petals out, then grew to the sizeof a fully-grown bug in mere seconds. A mouth formed from its bud and faced them, teeth baredin a crude smile. “Well. well, I haven’t had visitors in quite sometime!” The flower laughed with unprecedented glee, “The seven of you have made quitea splash down there!”“Team, watch out!” Kabbu threw his arms across his teammates’ chests. “It can talk!” Vi prepared to chuck her weapon atit. Leif looked at the other two, then back at the flower,“It can’t count, though.” The talking plant opened its mouth to say something,but paused midthought, “Wait, there’s only three of you right here?” “Well, we had more, but our friend here ate them,”Leif spanked Kabbu’s behind, causing the beetle to let out a yelp, “If you can sense them,that means you can still help them, right?” “Seriously? He ate them? You bugs are huge perverts,you know that?” The flower sighed in annoyance and disappeared into the ground. Vi snickered, “Good job, Leif. Guess we’re not gettingthat Artifact the nice way now.” “Leif, that was not the smartest thing to admit, butit's no matter,” Kabbu’s face was bright red, “We still have a mission to complete, and- hey!” Leif ignored the two and gave Kabbu’s stomach a hugfrom behind. He gave it a tight squeeze, not caring about the occupants inside orwhat would happen to them. He let out a dreamy sigh, and lifted up the belly before lettingit fall back down. “It’s not like she wouldn’t have figured it out, consideringshe seemed to sense all of us,” Leif shrugged and patted Kabbu’s stomach, “We thoughtit would be best to be honest before that happened.”“It will be fine as long as we can save Mothiva and Zasp before, er...” Kabbu coughed as his stomach let out a growl, “Those offerings we receivedduring the festival certainly must be used to lead the way. Please, let's hurry, I wouldreally prefer not being so heavy.” The other two nodded in unison, and they all set offexploring the enchanted Golden Hill. The wild beasts here had no chance, even before Kabbuhad bulked up. Bites and tackles merely bounced off of his fat-reinforced body, andeven flytraps had trouble dealing with him, nearly breaking their jaws off trying to bitedown on such a heavy bug. His new mass had also done wonders to his already-impressive strength.Tackles were especially devastating for anything unfortunate to be in hispath, and he found a new use for that bulky belly of his. Eventually though, the trio finallymanaged to find the way to the garden of Venus, unlocking the gates and prepared themselvesto meet the goddess. --- “You have come a long way, adventurers!” A toweringflower in the middle of the beautiful garden spoke, throwing its arms out in a dramaticmanner. The statues depicting the goddess had little idea of her true beauty, only ashadow of a comprehension of what she would look like. “I am Venus, goddess of harvests,and- wow, dude, you are incredibly thick!” Of the three members of Team Snakemouth, Kabbu wasthe only one paralyzed. “I- hahahah! Oh my god!” Venus couldn’t suppress herlaughter at the sight of him, “You’re a guy!? I’ve seen queens with smaller asses than you!”Kabbu couldn’t believe it. He was mortified. A divine being of unfathomable power was in front of him, and she was laughing at his ass. Heglanced down towards them, and only realized now how truly huge they were. The weightof all those bugs he accidentally digested went entirely to his lower half. Even withoutlooking at one, he could tell that his hips would’ve spilled over the edge of beds, if notoutright break them. This was not how he expected his first meeting a higher being wouldgo. “Sorry, but you do have a pretty big butt,” Vi sheepishlysaid to him. Leif nodded in agreement and gave it a spank to accentuatehow big it really was. Kabbu meekly whispered, “I… am sorry for the lossof the bugs blessed by your presence, Venus, and I promise that-” “It’s fine, seriously.” Venus wiped away the tearsstreaming down her face, “I was gonna do this whole fight thing, but honestly, I don’t careanymore. Just take the Artifact.” A flytrap grew in front of Kabbu and opened its mouth, revealinga stone tablet, etched with glowing, unintelligible letters on its surface. Kabbu took the Artifact, amazed at her generosity,“I… Thank you, Venus, I have no words for this kind gesture.” “Yeah, just don’t eat other bugs anymore, or whatever,”Venus said as she waved the three off. --Team Snakemouth had made it back to the Golden Settlement’s inn, finally managing to find rest from the day’s events. Kabbu sat on thebed, noting how it sagged from his weight and hoped it would last through the night. He grabbedhis stomach and felt regret at what happened to the two bugs he ate. “Team, I apologize for what happened to Mothiva andZasp, and I swear that it won’t happen to you or anyone else,” Kabbu said to his teammates,“All my weight will slow us down later on the line, so I’ll try my best to workthat off too.” Vi stopped counting the berries they found and lookedup, “Oh no, it’s totally fine, I like how you look. And, I, uh… wouldn’t mind seeing ithappen again.” Kabbu perked up at the compliment. “Truly? I’ve wantedto admit it’s difficult keeping fit when you two eat like it’s your last meals.” “We appreciate your new size, too. For example,” Leifkneeled next to Kabbu and put his cheek on one of his thighs, “Want to sleep on thiswith us now, Vi?” She shrugged and joined him on the other, “Yeah, sure,why not?” Kabbu tried to gently push his fawning teammates off,but relented and let them stay. He patted them on the back, causing them to quickly fallasleep on the best pillow they’ve slept on yet. A moment later, and he felt the fatiguehit him as well. He laid down on the bed, and let his mind wander away, paying no attentionto the creaking of the bed.

 Ultrakill - Student Body Resident V1 Mirage/V2 Alt, F/F, Willing Prey, Digestion, WeightGain, Clothes Ripping --- Orange, sleepy sunlight hit the small town as anotheruneventful day went by. Busy markets went quiet, empty parks around town lit uptheir streetlamps, and bustling districts mellowed to a serene noise. The place wasas peaceful as it had ever been. And it was boring. Normally, Mirage would be out having fun with a friendor two, but they were busy with dull things like life and all that. Now, she had nothingto do but wander around town and see if there was anything fun. So far, the answerwas a resounding “no.” At least the walled alleys of the residential district gave her a nicebit of privacy as she walked her usual route home. She hadn’t even gotten any dinner yet; it’dbe pretty lame to eat out alone, but her place was close by. Mirage kicked an empty soda can across the street,silent cheering as she imagined it hitting a goal. Easily the best highlight of her day.Of course, when the other highlight includes the inauguration of the new school councilpresident, What’s-Her-Face, it wasn’t hard to top. Ugh, and these stupid uniforms. Whatyear was it, 18-whatever? Who even makes students wear a skirt? She was glad they atleast stopped making her button up her blazer after the 7th time around.Mirage reared her foot back for another kick before she saw someone in front of her. It was another student, and not just any other student - the transfer student! What was her name… Louie? Layla? Something like that. From theway she kept looking around the place, she was lost. Mirage walked to the clueless transferstudent and whistled to grab her attention. She gave a hum of curiosity and turnedto her. Now that Mirage had a better picture of her, barring her red chassis or the nice,well-kept school uniform, she and her would’ve looked like twins. Freaky. “Oh! Hello there!” The transfer student gave an overtlyformal bow, “You’re another student at the school, right? I’m Luna.” “Mirage,” she responded and stood a little bit taller,“the ~prettiest girl in town~.” Luna sheepishly scratched her arm at the uncalled-forself-compliment. “I’m sorry to ask, but do you know where this address is? I’ve been wanderingaround town for a while, but I got turned around somewhere,” she asked and handedher a slip of paper. “You must be lucky as hell to get here after gettinglost,” Mirage shrugged, “This place isn’t too far away from where I’m headed.” Luna clapped her hands in joy, “Wow! Please, may Ifollow you? You only have to point out the way when you leave.” “Sure, whatever,” Mirage shrugged and waved for Lunato follow. The crimson robot quietly fist-pumped the air, andwent to Mirage’s side. The two robots walked the streets for a few minutes, making the turnsthat lead them deeper into theresidential district. By now, night had started to creep over, turning the sky a deep, dark blue. Streetlamps had begun turning on, and a coolbreeze had funneled between the walls of the streets. The pair hadn’t exchanged any wordssince they had begun walking; Luna fidgeted with her hands, finding the silence immenselyawkward. Luckily for her, Mirage took the initiative and spokefirst, “So, what’s a cute thing like you wandering by yourself near nighttime?” “I was heading over to a friend’s,” Luna responded,“Studying for tests and stuff like that.” Mirage curiously hummed, “I hope your friend doesn’tgive shit directions if they see you next time.” “Yeah, I- wait, ‘if’?” “Well, yeah,” Mirage turned and faced her, “I’m gettingpretty hungry, it’s late, no one’s around to see us…” She loomed over Luna, pushing herback against the wall. “O-oh, gosh. P-please, don’t eat me, Miss Mirage.I- uh… I don’t think I would add much to your… figure…” Luna seemed to shrink under her. Mirage cocked her head in surprise, “Well, cuteandsmart! Sounds like you know what’s going to happen next, hm?” Luna quietly whispered, “Y-you eat, um… c-cute, smartrobots like me… and, uh… churn them up into slag…?”Mirage nodded, and traced her soon-to-be meal’s arm, “It’s a crime no one’s eaten you yet. Not just because you’re so delicious-looking, but because they’re denying you the sweet release of merciful nonexistence. You’re lucky, you know that? It’s not enough thatwe as living beings have limited amount of time until the heat death of the universe, butthere are people out there who choose to destroy lives, fuel by nothing but spite, desire,or even something as banal as hunger. How cruel must a higher power be to grant us both intelligenceand free will, and let us go on when there is objective evil committed by so manyof us every day? What kind of god allows his own creation to destroy one another? Idare not even say that there is no god - the mere thought that all actions we take are, ultimately,random electrical impulses driven by needs and stimuli paralyze me. But you, you’re one of the few who get to experiencetotal oblivion, blissfully ignorant of what lies at the end of the world. Whether you werea good person or not is irrelevant now. All that matters is what one person - me - doesto you. It doesn’t look like it, but I might be more terrified than you think. The feelingof having total control over a person is indescribable - what you could do to them, what fateyou subject them to, the balance of life and death between your fingers. And it’s notrandom chaos either; the act of one person consuming the other satisfies them both, likesome sort of macabre symbiosis. Even today, the line between predator and prey hasblurred; only those who choose their fate, and those who have their fate chosen for them.Even something as intense and pleasurable as digesting another being whole is only temporary. The nutrients, the calories, the pure numbers that someone adds to them; it’s all indistinguishable from contemporary food. It’snot just degrading, being turned into food; it’s utter destruction, plain and simple. There’sno more ‘you’, no more life to be had, just what we, as people, can only assume is darknesswhen the process of digestion is done. I can’t claim to know what happens to someonewhen they get churned down; even if I ate one thousand people, I would get no responsefrom them. They’re all gone forever, and-” “Seriously? Getting me hot and worked up, and you’regoing on fucking nihilistic tangents!?” Luna firmly grabbed Mirage’s arms, “Eatme already, goddamn it!” “Oh, right, sorry.” Mirage gently pushed Luna’s headinto her own face, grabbing her by the waist to keep her still. This was the worst part ofbeing a V1 model; her eye was the same thing as her mouth. She could never see what she waseating, so she always missed out on the best views, like a pair of struggling legs orsomeone’s cute panties. Ah, but it was worth it to feel so bloated and heavy. Knowing studentsaround the school stared at her, wondering who she ate, thinking they might be next,avoiding looking her in the eye because they don’t want to be her next meal… Miragedidn’t enjoy a whole lot nowadays, but that was one of the few things she always lookedforward to. After all, she had the title of ~prettiest girl in town~ to keep up. Metallic gulps echoed in Luna’s head as her body waslifted up into Mirage’s face. Her thin, svelte frame made it much easier for her to wiggleand worm her way inside the tightthroat, barely containing the sheer glee in her squeaking. The blue robot reached around and firmly grabbed at the perky behind Luna had, elicitinga surprised ‘yeek!” from her, as Mirage pulled the rest of her up. Strong, experiencedswallows sent her head halfway to its final destination, and soon enough, Mirage broughther head back to let gravity help with the rest. One slick gulp later, and Luna’s head enteredthe tight, synthetic stomach, already warmed up and ready for its next meal. Her head forcedthe stomach walls further apart to make way for the rest of her body. Her modest chestsoon followed, and soon after, her shapely thighs, making her curl up in a loose ballposition. The last of Luna’s feet disappeared down Mirage’sthroat, and with that, her eye turned back on and she could finally see again. She lookeddown at her rounded muffin top and let out a satisfied huff, impressed with her shirt’s resilience.She pulled it up to relieve some of the strain both her waistline and her shirt were having,probably breaking a few public indecency laws as she did so, but at least it wouldhopefully last until she arrived back home. Too many shirts had decided to pop a buttonor tear at the seams after a meal, but thankfully, this wasn’t one of them. “Jeez, I’ve got to get a new throat or something,”Mirage spoke to herself, “Tight’s fun, but not when you’re swallowing heels. Who wears heelsto school?” Mentally taking a note of that, she pulled out herphone and took a high-angle selfie with it, though it was more focused on her own belly thananything else. She returned to her usual walk back home, already getting an influx oflikes and comments on her new photo.There were questions of who the lucky gal was or if she was still hungry, requests for more pictures… Ah, the perks of being the prettiest girlin town. --- Mirage groggily woke up from her food-induced comaon her couch. Some long-forgotten TV program was on, barely registering to her as shesat up and tried to reorient herself. She stretched out her limbs, already feeling the newheft she got earlier on them. Thankfully for her clothes, she lived alone, so shedidn’t need any sense of modesty here; Mirage learned early on that meals like Luna oftenhad disastrous results whenever she had clothes on. Speaking of clothes… she looked down and noticed thather breasts had gotten a nice upgrade from her previous meal; they were easily EE-cupsnow, with a nice, weighty sway to them whenever she twisted her torso. And her couch…The poor thing’s had to endure being sat on after Mirage found a meal for so longthat an imprint of her massive ass has actually started to set in. If anything, this wasthe real victim of her outings. Mirage stood up and moved to her bedroom to get readyfor class, picking up Luna’s and her own discarded clothing, and throwing them in alaundry basket in the corner. She opened her closet for some fresh clothes, only nowrealizing that she hadn’t done her laundry this week. Her biggest clothes were stillin the laundry basket, so the only ones left were normal-sized. Shit. Mentally gritting herteeth, Mirage grabbed one set; she’d worry about buttoning them up later. She put on herundergarments and uniform, realizing the consequences her new size would causenow.While everything fit her just fine, her shirt was still unbuttoned, and her stockings threatened to cut her legs off. With a deep breath,she powered through the pain, at least wanting to attempt to look as modest as possible.She sucked as much of her gut as possible, slowly and deliberately buttoning each onewith careful precision. Finally though, only one was left: the one that would fully coverher chest. She had to try. She sucked in her gut one more time, and pulled the two halves ofthe shirt together, just barely unable to fit the button through. “Fffffucking… come on!” One last straining push and….!Pop!“Oh, son of abitch!” A button from her shirt flew off to the other sideof the room. The rest of her clothes followed suit as she accidentally let go of her breath.All of her shirt’s buttons came undone, the back of her blazer ripped in half, andher stockings were torn apart. The only pieces of clothing spared were her skirt, which barelycovered her thighs, and her panties, which were practically lost between her ass cheeksanyways. Threads of fabric were strewn under Mirage, and she sighed in defeat. Shepulled out her phone and jumped on the bed, not even bothering to take off her ruinedclothes. “Fucking… whatever, guess I’m not going to school.”She dialed a number, and rubbed her stomach in anticipation and hunger, “Hi, yes, I’dlike to order two large pizzas and two large sodas… Delivery, please. Yes, cash on delivery. Oh,and send someone cute.”

 Pokemon - Beach Body Ready Greninja, Mass Vore, Digestion, Fast Digestion, WeightGain, Unwilling Prey, Multiple Prey, Greninja Pred --- The crashing of the waves, the glittering horizonof the water, the warmth of the sun above… Alola was a beautiful region to be in. Greninjapreferred the more mild climate of Kalos, but he couldn’t deny the beauty of the deep,dark blue ocean in front of him. He sat down on the soft sand and crossed his legs, tonguestill wrapped around his neck. At least, peace and quiet. He took a deep breath, and silencedevery thought- “Whoa, Greninja! A beach!” His Trainer ran past andjumped right into the water. Of course. The Trainer splashed around in the water, trying (andfailing) to dive down with his snorkel. Greninja gave him a quick look to make sure he wasn’tdrowning, and went back to his meditation. It’s been years since they had pickedone another - he as a young boy and him as a little Froakie - yet he still hadn’t found hisbehavior any less tiring. His Trainer was always too active, too energetic, too… outgoing. Still,he was his Trainer, and they both loved each other unconditionally. no matter what.Even if Greninja wanted some alone time now and then.Thankfully, though, the Trainer swam back to shore after a few minutes of swimming wildly. “Ah heck, I forgot my pokedex back at the hotel! What if I see a new pokemon!? Stay here, Greninja!” He ran off to the hotel in the fardistance as Greninja gave him a slight nod. Finally, a moment to relax again. He closed theireyes. Deep breath in. And breathe out. In... And out. Another wave crashed right in frontof Greninja; the water was cool and clear, as perfect as you could want the ocean to be.For the first time in months, his mind was fully collected, no distractions or thoughts passingthrough. It was perfect. Breathe in. And- A loud honking noise nearby shocked Greninja out ofhis trance. He opened his eyes and saw a jeep driving down the beach, with half a dozenpeople riding haphazardly on it. All of them looked exactly like the kind of people you’dfind at a frat party; young men and women in their undergarments, drunk, high, or a combinationof the two. He closed his eyes again, and attempted in vain to regain a fractionof the peace he had earlier. One of the men climbed onto the hood and held a coolerabove his head, “LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!” Everyone else cheered and immediatelyjumped out to sit down on the beach or run into the water. Some of them even pulledout their pokeballs and let out their companions. There was an Aggron, and a… Charizard?Neither of them can even go near the water! Greninja thought for a moment, looking back at thehotel then at group nearby. There was no way they’d be gone by the time his Trainer cameback, and he wasn’t about to go backand spend the rest of his time back at the hotel. It’s been too long since he had gone for a swim in such a beautiful location. “Hey, wait, aren’t there Tentaculates or Sharpedosor whatever?” One of the girls in the group yelled to her boyfriend in the water. He yelled back, “Whatever, babe! I’ve got my pokemon!”He waved to the Charizard wandering around the beach with the Aggron, both ofwhom were looking at the water with apprehension. Well, he’s definitely not the smart one of the group.Still, that gave Greninja an idea… He stepped into the water, taking a moment to appreciatethe beautiful quality of it before continuing. Thankfully, none of the partygoers ortheir pokemon had taken notice of his presence since they arrived, so he easily disappearedbeyond the shore. He dove deep into the ocean, and immediately swam towards the uninvitedpartygoers. Nothing was going to stop him from achieving inner peace. They soon reached a pair of swimmers far off fromthe main group, and observed what they were doing for a moment far under them. Apparently,they were seeing who could swim as far as possible. Besides being recklesslyfar from help, neither swimmer had thought to bring a pokemon in case a wild pokemonattacked them. Really, it was natural selection at this point. Well, it would’ve been naturalselection if Greninja wasn’t there to satisfy its own needs. One swimmer was far behind the other, and Greninjastealthily followed him, heart pounding with anticipation. They unfurled their tonguefrom their neck, waiting for theperfect opportunity to strike. Once he stopped to catch his breath, they shot out their tongue at him, deftly wrapped it around his leg, andquickly pulled him down without a sound. They unhinged their jaw, taking in over halfof his entire body in one gulp. Whether it was from the shock of being eaten alive, or thesudden lack of air in his lungs, the swimmer didn’t fight back as another quick pull ofthe tongue sent the rest of him down. The tight, stretchy gut of the athletic pokemon madeevery useless struggle visible, and it had no effect on his perfect swimming form either,as he made his way to the next one. Like the other partygoer, he hid right under his nextvictim, waiting for the best moment to swallow her whole. “Ha! Eat it!” The swimmer finally stopped and turnedaround, “I’m the best water-type trainer and-” Her celebration was cut off early asshe was dragged down to the same fate as her friend, unable to even struggle as two loudgulps quickly sealed her fate. Greninja sighed in contentment as he floated underthe water, kneading his own stomach. Already, the two squirming, vaguely-humanoid bulgeson its thin body had begun to round out, turning smooth and less solid. In only a fewmoments, their movement stopped entirely, prompting Greninja to press deeply ontohis bloated belly. There was nothing left of the two swimmers, besides an overfed gut full ofmush and chyme and two sets of swimsuits that were belched out with a bubblybwuuaarrp. It’d take hours of working out to get rid of his sizable potbelly, but there weretwo less annoyances in the world. Still six more to get rid of, though.Once again, Greninja stealthily made his way to the rest of the group, though its hydrodynamic form was no longer in the best of shape. With two swimming around the shore, and the other two and their pokemon on thebeach, it would’ve been impossible to eat all of them quietly. If he couldn’t do it quietly,he’d do the next best thing: do it loud. He dove as deep as possible, and adjusted himselfright under one of them. Then, as fast as he could, he rushed upward toward his target and openedhis mouth. With as much grace as a feeding Wailord, he flew out of the water withan unsuspecting meal already stuck in his stomach, and fell down with a massive splash.His stunt had the intended effect, as the other swimmer began to panic and swam back to shore,with the other two rushing in to help them. The Aggron and Charizard, of course, hesitatedto step onto the water. All according to plan. As the three met up on the shore, Greninja floatedback up to the surface and shot out his tongue, wrapping it around one of their legs and draggingit back to him. Both of the other members immediately began to pull the unlucky oneback, slowly being dragged in with her. It was almost too easy. He stopped dragging forjust a moment, waited for the other two to tighten their grips, and pulled all three backinto the ocean with enough force to make them fly. The unlucky one being dragged flewright into his waiting gullet and was eagerly slurped down without a thought, while thelast two landed somewhere nearby. Panic finally set in for everyone; the last trainerswere disoriented, while their pokemon finally snapped out of their hesitance. The Aggronroared in defiance and ran into the water, while the Charizard flew up into the air towardsthem. The Aggron’s steps wereclumsy and uneven under the ever-shifting ocean sands, made even worse that it would often sink too far into it to make it in time. TheCharizard circled around the beach, searching for its trainer. Of course, the two stoodno chance against a water-type in its element. Even with the massive amount of trainer soup inflatinghis stomach, Greninja was still a much better swimmer than the walking ton of steelor the flying lizard. He dived down again and quickly located one wildly kicking his legsin panic. It took no effort to grab him and pull him under, gulped down as easily as the restof his friends. And just as his friends quickly melted down into chyme, so did he. By now, the Charizard had located the final trainer,and begun to divebomb in an attempt to pull her out of the water and fly away. Unfortunatelyfor it, Greninja had gotten to her first, and in one swift motion, burst out of the waterwith her in his mouth, swallowed her in one gulp, and opened his mouth to eat the Charizardmid-flight. It tried to stop its descent, but it was past the point of no return. Itsfast speed combined with Greninja’s high jump made it fly straight into his overactivebelly, and straight into the slurry of trainer mush. Its size advantage did little to help,as Greninja had already swallowed past its wide hips and reached its tail before he had evenstarted to fall. Luckily (or unluckily), Greninja managed to swallow its fiery tailtip beforehe splashed down, leaving it trapped but alive in the churning stomach. It was, of course,an empty gesture, as it had already felt itself being churned and melted down by the immenselystretchy organ.The Aggron was the only one left now; no trainer to direct it, no other pokemon to rely on. It was stuck in the middle of the ocean shore with a voracious, ever-hungry Greninja that could be anywhere around it. It couldn’t keep goingforward or else it would drown, and it couldn’t get back to shore in time before Greninjacaught up. It couldn’t win, and it knew it. It desperately looked around for any sign of him,whipping its head towards any sound it heard. Agonizingly slow seconds passed as its heartraced with a fear it hadn’t known, before Greninja finally jumped out of the water andright onto Aggron’s head. The horns did little to dissuade him, as he enveloped the headaround his gullet. Gravity did the rest of the work for him, simply letting himself fall downonto the rest of the Aggron under the water. One swallow of its feet later, and the lastdistraction was gone. Greninja floated back up onto the surface of the water,finally done with his task of cleaning up the beach. No more annoying partygoersto yell at each other, no loud swimmers to disrupt the peaceful horizon. It was finallyquiet. Or at least, as quiet as it could be with a massive,rounded stomach pumping dozens of gallons of melted trainers into his intestines that’llbe turned into fat later on. The two pokemon though… Greninja knew the Aggron would tobe hard to break down, but the Charizard was surprisingly resilient as well. He couldfeel them shifting around, desperately trying to break free of the fleshy prisonthey were trapped in. They’d be churned down eventually, but it’d take much longerthan he expected, leaving him on the water until then.If he had gone onto the sand in his current condition, calling him a beached Snorlax would’ve been accurate. His stomach was easily as wide as he was tall, and twice the height he was, not to mention the difficulty he’dhave moving around such a heavy gut. Floating on the water was the only way he could stillmaintain some semblance of mobility; at least he swallowed enough air in hisstomach to keep him afloat. Speaking of air, an unpleasant pressure in Greninja’schest had finally started to build up, and he dived a short distance down. He began to aggressivelyknead and push on his stomach, agitating the nutrient mush to free any airbubbles stuck within. Once he was satisfied with the pressure, he thumped on his chestand let out a thunderous BUUWRRUUUP, sending massive bubbles up. He still feltimmense pressure on his stomach, and sent more thumps onto his chest. Eachhit sent up aHWUUOORRPor a BHWUUARP, and like earlier, sent similarly sized bubbles.Steadily, the belches lowered in size and volume, and the same happened to his overstretchedabdomen, each one deflating it by a few precious inches. One last quietuurplater, and Greninja was finally satisfied with the size of his gut. What was oncea humongous, round stomach filled with a mix of air, water, digestive juices, and chyme wasnow only slightly taller than he was, but just still as wide as before. He floated back up to the surface and laid on topof his stomach as if it were a makeshift flotation device. He put his hand on his chin andhis elbow on his gut, annoyed at how the two pokemon in there were still unmelted; if he lookedclosely enough, he could just make out Charizard’s wings. ...Or maybe it was Aggron’sleg? He couldn’t tell, and honestly, it was all probably the same thing at that point.A familiar voice yelled out on the beach, “Greninja! Hi there!” Oh, perfect timing. His Trainer had finally come back in his amateur divingsuit, pokedex and snorkel in hand. He immediately ran into the water to join up withGreninja, who was still floating with blissful listlessness. Thankfully, most of his heavygut was underwater; if Greninja was careful enough, he could avoid a lot of questionshe couldn’t be bothered to answer. The Trainer doggy-paddled next to him, “It’s so goodto see you up and about! I thought you’d be sitting under a tree or something. Usually,I’d have to drag you out to be with me!” Greninja shrugged, trying to keep up his cool composureas his gut kept working away on the two slowly liquefying pokemon. He wrapped histongue back around his neck to hide his growing smile of feeling his intestines workingovertime on the massive influx of nutrients. “By the way, do you know who parked that car on thebeach?" The trainer turned to point out the abandoned camp with a disapproving look. "I’dlike to give them some mean words! They even left behind their clothes!” Greninja shook his head 'no', and subtly burped upanother swimming bra, discarding it behind him. Ading!from the Trainer’s pokedex made him bringit up with glee. He scratched his head as he read the new entries. “Hmm, weird, my Pokedexsays it’s scanning an Aggron and a Charizard nearby, but I don’t see any. Guess it’sbusted.” He shrugged, and swam back to the shore, eagerly eyeing up one of the plastic sandcastlebuckets he had brought.Greninja kept an eye on his Trainer as his gut slowly pumped down thick soup into his intestines, already feeling the consequences of hisimpromptu feast on his lower half: Both of his asscheeks had already grown to a ridiculoussize; his hand was having trouble trying to reach any solid muscle under all of the fat. Hisalready-large, muscular thighs had turned wobbly and thicker than a Snorlax’s own waistline.His hips had widened to help support his new figure, but it looked like he could’vegiven a Pokemon daycare center a new dedicated breeding program. He took a look underwater at how far along his gutswere processing the guts, and saw that the chyme was nowhere near finished being pumpeddeeper in him. He let out an annoyed huff, unable to do anything but float andstare at his Trainer. Even when the group had been turned into fat, they’restill annoying to deal with.

 OC (Smoge16) - Mari & The Wicked Witch of the Waist Mari/OC, Stuffing, Mass Vore, Unwilling Prey, Asleep Pred, Pred-to-Prey, Digestion, Graphic Digestion (Bone Breaking), Weight Gain --- Drown the skies, hide the sun, bring about a storm. Show the road to my home to keep my cauldron warm. --- Heavy rainfall crashed onto and around the gnarled tree Mari was taking cover under. The deer girl lived in forests just like this one all the time, but this part of the forest was… different, somehow. The trees, rather than a lively brown and green, were all scarred, gray, and ugly, like the life was sucked right out of them. Thunder crashed down fairly close to Mari, causing her to jump out of her cover and right into the rain. She shivered under the unrelenting torrent, and thought it best to keep moving forward, lest she get hit by lightning. The muddy dirt road and the dead trees were the least of her concerns, though. Even if she managed to make it out of the torrent, she would still be looking for a meal to fill her up. She grabbed at her stomach as she remembered her last meal: a cart full of goodies an entire day ago, but to Mari’s ravenous appetite, it might as well have been months. So far, the forest had nothing to eat - at least, nothing edible. No berries, no fruits, not even atraveller who crossed her path! All there was to eat were tiny bugs and dead leaves! Why’d she come to this stupid place, anyways!? She sat down on a root in defeat, and slumped her face down into her hands. “Oh my, what’s a girl like you doing out here all alone?” A soft voice above Mari’s head asked. She looked up and saw a plump, motherly naga looking at her, holding an umbrella above the both of them. Her yellow-scaled, snake-like face was obvious with signs of aging, yet it had a lively and vivacious look, further emphasized by the hearts that patterned what was visible of her back half. The black, flowing clothes she wore looked like they had been ripped apart and sewn back together dozens of times, but despite that, they looked comfier than the finest of silks. The snake woman pulled out a large loaf of bread out of her picnic basket and gave it to Mari, who ate the whole thing in two bites. “Thmphk ymoph,” Mari spit out a bit of bread as she spoke. After she swallowed her food, she tried to say something else, but a loudgnngrgblllinterrupted her thought process. She grabbed at her middle and pouted, looking at her savior with her green, large eyes. The naga shook her head, “Are you hungry? In my forest? Tsk tsk, that just will not do. Please, follow me!” Mari happily obliged, wagging her tiny, fluffy tail with a bounce in her step behind the naga’s slithering. Around her, the stormclouds seemed to calm just a little as they made their way through the forest. “It may not look like it, but these woods are actually quite hospitable. Its bad reputation only came from hapless travellers disappearing from the path - the local town says there’s a witch who steals them away. Awitch! Ha!Those tourists were looking for a good time off the beaten path and got lost, if you ask me!” Mari nodded before she reached into the picnic basket and ate another loaf of bread whole. “Wrmow, mreat.” “Oh, listen to me prattle on! I haven’t even introduced myself!” The matronly snake smiled, “My name is Ebris, I’ve been living in these woods for all my life.” “Mmmri,” The deer girl tried to speak with the mouthful of ham she also took out before swallowing it, “I’m Mari!” “It is so good to meet you, Mari,” Ebris said, “And look, the skies are already clearing.” She gave her a bright smile, showcasing her pointy fangs and sharp teeth, “I can tell we’re going to get along just fine.” --- The pair made their way, making idle talk with each other until they reached a small clearing by a river. In the center of it was a stone cottage with a fire already lit inside. The dull green grass and moss of its lawn it was heavily contrasted by the nice blue of the river right on its edge and the gray trees surrounding the home. As the sun set, the gray clouds turned into a starry sky and a full moon, illuminating their way to the front door. Luckily, they made it just under the porch’s awning just as the soft sprinkle of rain turned into another downpour.Ebris pulled out a ring with dozens of keys on it and inserted a rusty one into the door, “It may seem small, but I assure you, it’s much bigger on the inside.” She pushed in the door, revealing a homely, well-loved cottage that had almost everything in one room. A massive bed was off in one corner, its center sunken in from years of being slept on by something heavy. An impressive kitchen was in the other, with beautiful rock tabletops and a hand-carved wooden dining set. The rest of the home was dedicated to a living room, complete with bookcases that lined a wall, an excessive number of soft-looking couches, and a roaring fireplace right next to the kitchen. The only thing that divided the rooms up was the central pillar, used as both support for the ceiling and as a beautiful aesthetic piece. Ebris slithered inside and gently ushered Mari to the dining table, pulling out one of its chairs for her. The warmth of the fireplace next to it was a welcome respite to the both of them, especially to Mari, who was still stopping wet. The faun wasn’t used to such terrible weather, and quietly sneezed, sending flecks of water all over the place. Not wanting her beloved guest to be uncomfortable, the serpentine matron slithered over to a pile of various clothes in a hidden corner, picking up a thick blanket to wrap over her. Mari shivered as she was patted down by Ebris, but stopped as the fireplace’s heat seeped through to her body. “Ah, that’s right, you must be starving!” Ebris went over to her fridge and opened it up, bending over and playfully shaking her womanly hips as she rummaged through it..The deer girl could only sit and drool as an entire feast was pulled out onto the table, ready to be eaten. Mashed potatoes, slabs of ham, whole turkeys, wheels of cheeses, soft loaves of bread, layer cakes, fruit pies: there was practically an endless selection of food. The massive iron pot suspended over the fire seemed to fill up on its own, full of a thick, creamy broth that had root vegetables and cubes of meat floating around that gave it an aroma that made her drool. Once the entire table was overrun with food, Ebris took her place next to Mari, towering over her by “standing” more on her tail. The deer girl was already tiny compared to her when she was moving around normally, but now, she was miniscule under Ebris’s gravid bust. “Goodness me, I must insist you stay here for the night,” Ebris bent down and cooed, “There’s no way I’d leave a stranger out in this rain, especially someone so…pretty and young.” She pinched Mari’s cheek to emphasize herconcern, then scooped a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Then another. And then another. Ebris’s grin was wide and toothy as she shoved food down Mari’s throat, “Oh, you must be absolutely famished.” Mari wanted to say something, but a constant stream of food in her mouth stopped her from speaking. Swallow after swallow, her mouth was never a second without something in it, but she didn’t protest. In fact, she was having the best time since she came here. Her poor tummy was finally being sated after hours of nothing inside of it, and with how delicious it all was, she found no reason to think of stopping. The turkey was seasoned to perfection, and juicier than any kind of meat she had ever had before. The game stew wassteaming hot, yet it only added to the experience of such a flavorful dish. Even the grilled vegetables were fresh and perfect in every way Mari could think of with each one served for her. She wanted everything, and everything she did get. More of the table became visible as the piles of food gradually went into Mari’s stomach. Groans and gurgles overpowered the crackling of the fire, earning a gasp of glee from the naga. Occasionally, she would stop feeding her guest to give her a breather, kneading, pushing, and rubbing her soft tummy to see if she could make more room inside. Of course, Ebris wouldn’t have cared if there was no space - her guests would be pampered with the best care possible, even if she had to force it down their throat. As the last slice of perfectly made steak was finished off by Mari, the naga admired how easily she took it all. The faun’s belly had grown large enough to push out the heavy wooden table a few inches from its original position, even as its edges became absorbed by her soft fat. Ebris pressed her head at the top, listening closely as Mari’s stomach churned and crushed the food inside of it, working hard to turn it all into fat. “There we go,” Ebris wiped away the crumbs under Mari’s chin with a napkin, “Isn’t that better?” She gathered up all of the empty bowls and plates to the sink, leaving the entire table clear. Mari nodded and patted her groaning belly, “Gosh, that was really good, lady. Can I have more? I’m still kinda hungry!” Ebris’s head shot up at the suggestion, though she quickly became excited, “Goodness, I apologize for having so little food for you to eat. I’ve had so many guests here lately that Ihaven’t had the chance to restock.” Ebris picked up a cloak from her coat rack and moved to her door, “Please, make yourself at home while I go into town to get more supplies.” The soft slam of the door closing, along with several clicks of its locks, had meant Ebris had left Mari alone in her home. Which also meant Mari had full reign over what she could do around here. Finding the strength to stand up with her new weight, the first thing she did, of course, was raid the fridge - to her dismay, it really was empty! Absolutely nothing left, not even a crumb, except for a few glass bottles full of milk. Well… her poor throat was parched from all that food, anyways… She grabbed one of them and opened its lid, sniffing it in case it was spoiled. Luckily, it wasn’t; it actually smelled fresher than any kind of normal milk she’s had! What was supposed to be a quick sip to taste it had quickly turned into a chugging session as Mari gulped down each and every bottle’s content in a few seconds, scattering the empty bottles across the fridge. Milk dribbled down her chin and onto her now-sloshing midsection, then onto the floor as a small, white puddle. She licked her lips to make sure none of it went to waste, then left to continue her search for more food. Unfortunately, Mari would have to wait for Ebris to return to eat more food. The kitchen cupboards had nothing inside, the shelves around the cottage weren’t hiding food, and the secret basement trapdoor only had a giant, glowing circle that smelled like sulfur and ruined her appetite. She groaned in annoyance and waddled over to a nearby couch, designed for someone much wider and heavier than her. Without a groan or a bend, she sunk into the soft, pillowy cushions and leaned back, listening to her belly grumble as itbroke down its food. She leaned back and relaxed, letting both her stress and meals all melt away. Out of curiosity, she began to scan across the room, noticing just how many pictures of Ebris there were all over the place. A few photos looked like they were taken with those old-timey cameras, and the clothes she wore in them looked equally as old. Most strikingly, though, was how much younger and especially thinner she looked, compared to now. There was also a thick, leather book under the coffee table in front of Mari that caught her attention; figuring she had nothing else to do but snoop, she picked it up and brought it to her face. The tome felt exceedingly old, but it showed no signs of wear, at least not to Mari’s untrained eye. She flipped it open, and saw pages full of indecipherable letters and illustrations, all of it in some weird, flowy ink. Almost none of it made sense to her, but as she skipped through its pages, she had begun to see a pattern: a monstrous, black-scaled serpent would occasionally be drawn between the pages with ritual circles or illustrations of spells, usually shown eating young women whole in very vivid detail. One crude drawing even had it battle an angel, only to have a halo come flying out of its mouth. “Wow,” Mari thought out loud, “I wanna eat an angel too.” She closed the book and put it back in its place, speculating about what heavenly servants taste like. Probably cotton candy. “I wonder who that weird snake is, though. I wanna meet ‘em!” ---“THE WITCH IS HERE!” Cries of panic rang across the town square as fairgoers ran away from the chaotic environment. What was supposed to be the annual Fall Festival - jubilant, carefree fun celebrating the turning of seasons - had turned into what could only be described as a free buffet for the massive, serpentine monster that raged through the plaza. Its black scales slithered over stalls of foods and games as it picked up anyone it could get its hands on, throwing them into its mouth to fuel its frenzied feast. An endless amount of shapes of what were once people travelled down its long body, bulging out the morbid skull patterns that ran down to its tail, and they only continued to distort from their original shape as the monster moved throughout the town. It threw itself through building windows, only to come back out mere seconds later with a plentiful bounty of both food in a sack it carried and people in its voracious mouth, endlessly repeating its raids until it seemed satisfied by some arbitrary number of places it entered. Just as sudden as it came into town, it left, slithering through a magical sigil it scrawled onto the ground. However, the damage was already done. Glass and debris were left all over the streets of the once-lively town, yet it was the least of their worries. Dozens of people had gone missing from its ramage, and no one could tell if they had been taken or if they were still hiding. Entire food supplies had been taken by the Witch, leaving the town with little to eat until they restocked - when news of a monster hits the outside world, no one would want to do business with any of the stores there anymore.The townsfolk did not wonder if they could stop the Witch next time - they only wondered if they could hide before it found them. --- Ebris crawled out of the ground portal and into her backyard, glad to be back home after all that hard work. It was really nothing personal against the townsfolk, they were just unlucky enough to have built their homes right next to her’s. She waved her hands in a swift gesture, melting away the black on her scales back into her lovely dress again. The skulls that were once there shifted back into cute hearts, though the bulges going down her body were impossible to hide. Most of them by now had stopped struggling, either out of air or out of energy, yet they remained solid. Either way, their bulges wouldn’t last long, especially if she could just find that digestion potion she put somewhere around the place. Composing herself, she grabbed her keyring and unlocked her door, entering her home with a warm glow. Inside, she saw a now-fat Mari napping on the couch, her twice-sized chest rising and collapsing as she snored in her sleep. Her hips and thighs had overflowed off of the edge, most affected by the calorie-packed feast she had, not even mentioning how her belly had grown out as wide as she was tall. Quickly throwing the sack of raided food into her kitchen, she slithered over Mari to watch her sleep. As adorable as Ebris found the sight, she had a spell to complete. Though… maybe it could wait until morning. It wasn’t like Mari could walk anywhere now. She grabbed a blanket from her bed, and gently tossed it over the faun, watching as she let out a cute little yawn.The sight was enough to make Ebris quietly ‘aww!’ in adoration. Ah, if only she could keep her sacrifices around forever- “SOMEONE, HELP US!” One of Ebris’s tail bulges suddenly screamed out, “IT BURNS!” Immediately, Ebris planted a hand on where she thought it came from and pushed down, satisfied with the quiet‘crrnch’it made. Mari stirred awake and rubbed her eyes, “Nngh…? Ebris…? Who’s that?” “Shh, it’s okay, go back to sleep,” Ebris caressed Mari’s head, “It’s just the storm. It’ll pass soon.” The deer nodded and closed her eyes again, pulling the blanket up to fully cover her. As Mari’s snores started up again, Ebris gave her remaining meals a death glare. It’s one thing to somehow stay conscious when they should have been digested long ago, but waking her guests up for such a selfish request? That just will not do. With the silence of a stalking predator, she slithered over to the central pillar and coiled her lengthy body around it. Her half-melted prey started to stir as they felt their bodies unwillingly conform to the pillar. More and more of Ebris’s serpentine body coiled around the pillar, careful not to do so too tightly. Once she was satisfied with how many she had curled up with her, she patted the face bulge of someone right under her. “Don’t worry, dears,” Ebris gave them a warm smile, “This will only last a moment~.” With a powerful clench, the stomach muscles across her entire body clenched down onto the unfortunate meals. Immediately, Ebris heard she had the results she wanted as a symphony of pops, snaps, crunches, and cracks rang through the cottage. True to herword, they only lasted a moment before succumbing to her brutal squeezes. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her nails dug into the pillar, unable to stop herself from crushing her meals even more. She thrashed her body into the pillar and clenched her gut whenever she could, lost in the bliss of literally breaking her meals down. Srlrshsll! Glllrrp! Crrck! Every sound sent shivers up Ebris’s coiled-up spine, and her shaky breath could only gasp at the feeling. Oh, it was such an incomparable feeling! She leaned forward to catch herself on the pillar, needing to catch her breath after that. The moment she relaxed, though, she felt a flood of crushed bones and meat flow down her body, and this time, she couldn’t hold herself up after all that. She unravelled herself from the pillar and splayed out wherever she could, mindlessly taking it all in. “Nghn…?” Mari stirred in her sleep again. Ebris sighed and laid her head down, “Shh, Mari, it’s just a dream…” “Mmgnh…” Mari sniffed the air in her sleep, “Food…” “...What?” Ebris lifted herself up to see what Mari was talking about, and saw the faun open her mouth over her blunt snake tail. Apparently, the naga had accidentally hit Mari in the face with it, prompting the sleeping girl to react by thinking it was food. She plopped her mouth down like she was eating a popsicle, drooling all over it in her sleep. As cute as Ebris found it, it was stillhertail getting drooled on.“Ah, don’t worry, we’ll get you all nice and full tomorr- hmm?” Ebris tried to pull her tail out of Mari’s maw, but couldn’t. She tried to slither over to the couch, but with how she wrapped herself around the pillar, Ebris had little slack to move with. “Mari, dear, you’re eating me-!” Even in her dreams, Mari’s only thoughts were about food. She had been thinking of the ripest fruits or the best meat - or even the delicious pasta she was currently having. The spaghetti in her dreams were huge, thick strands that couldn’t even be contained on the enormous plate they were on. She didn’t even have to imagine how full she would feel after eating all of it; it would happen, one way or another. She cartoonishly licked her lips in anticipation and began to slurp up the single, ridiculously large noodle, sauce or meat be damned. Back in the real world, Ebris clawed at the floor, trying and failing to stop her consumption. “Mari, please!” She yelled out, “Spit me back out this instant, young lady!” The slack of her being coiled around the pillar began to decrease as more of her body was sucked into Mari’s stomach. Unfortunately for Ebris, her cries hadn’t reached through to Mari. The sleepeating deer girl was swallowing the massive tail with surprising ease, with her loudgllrks!only making it all the more obvious to Ebris that she wasn’t listening. To make matters worse, her body was out of energy to resist from that earlier experience, and every time she moved, she felt some piece of bone jab her in her intestines, causing her to gasp in pleasure and losefocus. Still, she had to do something - and fast, as she felt her coiled body begin to unroll from the pillar as Mari kept eating her. “Hff-!Bent body, frozen blood - Our souls bondedas one - Your heart is now mine - Thr-guh!” Ebris’s possession incantation was interrupted as her torso was forcefully pulled into the pillar. She dug her claws into it, desperately trying not to get swallowed anymore than she already was. “Mmm…” Mari’s stomach started to grow taller than couch she was sleeping on. It steadily rose inch by inch as she gulped down more of the spaghetti wrapped around the fork, her gut happily grumbling as it worked on digesting its new meal. Luckily for Mari, this spaghetti was more flavorful than any normal kind of pasta she’s eaten before, with an earthly, herbal tone that wasn’t present in most foods. Oddly enough, it was also… talking? It wasn’t really understood by Mari, but as far as she cared, it was asking her to keep eating it so she’ll be happy and full and fat. After an agonizing amount of time being forced to spin around the pillar, Ebris was finally unravelled from her last saving grace, but she still desperately clung onto it, hoping Mari would finally wake up before then. Without any strength left, though, she almost immediately lost her grip and slid right on top of where the rest of her body was digesting away. “F-fuck!” The matronly snake finally lost her composure, “You fat bitch! I’m going to rip out your throat and eat your beating heart!” Her gaze was hateful and burned right through Mari’s soul, “Do you hear me!? You’re dead, whore! DEAD!”As usual, the faun was too busy slurping down her “spaghetti” to pay any attention to what it was saying. Especially distracting to her, though, were the two massive meatballs that came along with the noodle. Each one was easily bigger than her own head, but they were in no way capable of slowing her eating down, especially not with how tasty they looked. She grabbed the both of them with her hands and squeezed them into her mouth, unable to resist their juiciness any longer. The way they floated along with the strand of spaghetti would have left her confused if she wasn’t so focused on the bold, odd-yet-satisfying milky flavor they had. “Fuck, wait! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!” Ebris cried and gasped in panic as her neck reached Mari’s lips, “Please! I’ll make as much food as you want, just don’t-!” Her last words were unheard as her face disappeared into Mari’s throat, joining the rest of her body in the faun’s merciless tummy. The writhing she made bulged it out, but that was the only thing Ebris could do, unable to move properly with how tight it was inside, and unable to speak with digestive juices flooding what little space she had. Mari politely tapped her lips with a cloth napkin and let out a quieturp, patting her belly in satisfaction. What a delicious meal that spaghetti was! --- Sun shined through the windows of the cottage as birds chirped a lovely tune outside. The blue sky, once lost to the forest, was now here to show what a beautiful day it was. Mari sat up from the couch she slept on and stretched out her body, letting out a yawn that devolved into a lengthy belch. Her entire body had outgrown the heavy duty cushions ofthe couch, overflowing off of its side and even off of its back cushion. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to recall what happened yesterday: she ate a lot of food, she slept after that, she met… who was it, again? “Oh! Ebris!” Mari looked around the house to see if her host was anywhere to be found. With a quick glance, she noted that the motherly snake was nowhere to be found, but there were a lot of claw marks around the place, and at the end of it was the couch Mari was sleeping on, and Ebris’s tattered black dress, soaked in some kind of fluid. Odd. Shrugging it off, Mari jumped off of the couch and moved to the kitchen, noticing the smell of food emanating from there. She rummaged through a sack left in front of the fridge, amazed at how much food was inside of it! Though… weirdly, she wasn’t hungry. Even weirder, she still felt full from last night’s meal. Usually, eating something like the entirety of the sack’s contents in the morning wouldn’t be a second thought to her, but Mari couldn’t bring herself to even think about eating when her stomach felt so tight and bloated. Rather than question it, Mari rummaged through the sack and picked up a carton of orange juice she found inside of it. Opening the door to let sunshine in and herself out, she drunk straight out of it, feeling the delicious liquid hit the back of her throat as she left the cottage to go back to her travels. She wondered if the next town she’d come across would have spaghetti for her.

 Hollow Knight - Dan’s Three-Course Meal Dan/Mantis Lords, Digestion, Multiple Prey, Willing Prey, Unsure Prey, Weight Gain, Reformation, Belly Humping --- A soft thud marked the end of Dan’s descent down to the bottom of the Mantis Village. Dangerous, sharp spikes lined its walls, but equally as dangerous were the various members of the tribe that surrounded him. However, they didn’t attack the small vessel - at least, not immediately. They watched as he sauntered up to their Lords with earned confidence in his steps and purpose on his stance. He had defeated many of them to get here, leaving them knocked out without any serious harm. It took a skilled warrior to kill a Mantis. It took an excellent one to keep them alive. “Mantis Lords,” the vessel’s echoey voice shocked the Mantis Lords, “My name is Dan, and I’ve come to challenge you for your respect!” The sisters sat still, yet he could hear them speak amongst themselves. “This one of its kind speaks.” “A worthy opponent, perhaps?” “None have challenged us in quite some time.” “It demands respect from us.” Their chatter continued for a short time, until the eldest in the center stood up and spoke, “Foe, understand that we will not cease our assault until either you or we are defeated.” “I do, and I have no intention on losing,” Dan boasted. He ruffled the yellow scruff around his neck, and was ready to strike.As if responding to his words, a massive cage fell to the ground and surrounded the Mantis Lords and Dan within, and trapdoors opened around the edge to reveal a pit of spikes. Then, with a blur, one of the Mantis Lords jumped from their throne, right in front of him. Her lance flew at his throat with lethal intent, but he deflected it with a swing from his own nail, an impressive feat considering how short he was. Dan dashed under her legs and slashed at her back, careful to use the blunt of his nail so as not to do serious damage. “Hmph!” The eldest scoffed at the attack, and jumped onto the cage, readying her lance for another swing. Dan had expected something like that, and send a blast of fiery SOUL at her, blasting the Mantis Lord and sending her down. Luckily, she had enough experience fighting in here that she stopped her descent by thrusting her lance into the floor, stopping her from hitting the spike pit. Deciding she’s had enough for now, the eldest Mantis Lord leaped back into her throne to tend to her wounds. Dan’s fight, however, was far from over. The vessel barely dodged a lance thrown at him from one of the two sisters that jumped in soon after. The two triplets worked in sync to make sure their attacks had few opportunity to be dodged, slashing high and low, left and right, up and down. Despite Dan’s best efforts to dash away or parry them, it was impossible to avoid that many attacks, and eventually, his shell started to break apart. “You should have heeded our warning, traveller,” one sister said with a lance aimed at his throat. “We will give you an honorable death,” the other said, preparing to leap at him. Both were poised to strike at Dan as he stood between them.Rather than letting them gut him like a fish, he waited until they were close enough to him. Then, as they were flying above him, he welled up an ear-piercing scream, and let it out with the power of his own SOUL. The two flew back from the force, but managed to redirect their trajectory back to their own thrones. All three stood up, and bowed down to Dan, accepting their loss. “Congratulations, warrior,” the eldest began, “My sisters and I congratulate your victory over us.” “We had underestimated your combat prowess,” one of the other said. “For your victory, you shall be rewarded,” the last one finished. “What do you desire, champion?” “Safe passage to Deepnest?” “Bountiful geo?” “Glory?” “We are honored to provide whatever you please.” Dan was bruised and cut all over his body, bleeding liquid Void onto the floor. He took a deep breath, and in a flash of light, his wounds disappeared, returning him and his yellow scruff to its usual, rough state. He scratched his chin for a second, deep in thought. “Booty,” he finally said, “A lot of it.” The three sisters shared a look with each other, until one managed to finally speak up their thoughts. “...What?” “A whole trunkful of booty.” Dan spread his arms out to emphasize the size he wanted, “Like this much.”The sisters spoke amongst themselves again. “Does he mean derrieres?” “Surely he means a chest of treasure.” “He may even want us, sisters.” “What?” “Heisadorable, for someone so small.” “We are bound to reward him however he pleases.” Dan stretched out his limbs as the sisters bickered with each other, watching as they argued with one another. One sister took a moment to give him a shy wave, and he waved back, causing the mantis to blush and look away. He sat down to wait for their decision, wondering if he could actually get away with this. Finally, the eldest sister stood up and spoke, “Very well, we shall give you your… ‘booty,’ as you so crudely put it. Please, head to our chambers.” When the sisters finished bowing down, they leaped up and into their home; a massive building up near the entrance, with a glass wall that seemed to reflect all light at it. Dan nodded in excitement, and jumped out of the pit as soon as the cage was lifted up. He made his way through bowing mantises and the occasional lack of bridges connecting the place, eager to receive his reward. He wasabsolutelygoing to get away with this. The homes he passed were utilitarian and basic at best, a start contrast to the form-over-function of the City of Tears, as well-engineered as the capital of Hallownest is. Still, it was impressive just how many homes had been built for individual mantises here. When Dan finally made the ascent to the Mantis Lords’ home, he practically kicked down the door. Luckily, his immediate arrival didn’t surprise the three sisters; everything was already prepared for him. Unlike the spartan barracks of the nursery he saw, the lords had an unusually plush room, with a large bed sunk into the floor, shells of various animalslining the wall, and a window overlooking the entire village. All three sisters had different kinds of provocative clothing on them: the youngest wore lacy lingerie as green as moss; the middle wore a blue, skimpy dress that barely covered her hips; the eldest wore a long, flowing dress that showed off her entire legs. The middle sister moved over to a large chest next to her and opened it, revealing thousands of geo tucked inside. “Do whatever you please, challenger,” the eldest said as she laid down on her bed with the youngest, “You deserve it.” Dan shook his head, “Oh no, I’m good. Not really interested in that or the geo.” The three sisters shared a confused look. “Are… you certain? We are extremely flexible, in more ways than one.” “Oh, yeah, I need some booty, because look at this pancake.” Dan patted his own ass to show off how small it was, “I really need an upgrade back there and you three are just what I needed~!” All three sisters’ faces turned red at the implication. Surely it was just a joke, right? No one would want to waste their reward for something so frivolous! Besides, it wasn’t like he actually could- “So, who wants to go first?” The bottom half of Dan’s shell broke apart to reveal two pairs of sharp, claw-like mandibles and a long, thin tongue, both as black as the Void his body was made of. He wagged his tongue to entice one of the sisters into his abyss of a mouth, drooling Void onto his own cloak, staining the light blue a devoid black.After a moment, the middle sister walked up to Dan and presented her hand to him. Dan was more than happy to indulge her curiosity, wrapping his tongue around her arm and pulling it into his mouth. The effect was immediate, as her legs began to buckle under her weight. Dan pulled in more of her arm, then her other one, all the while wrapping his tongue around her neck. “Ooh, s-sisters!” The youngest lord’s voice was shaky and breathless, “You must try this! I can’t even feel the walls!” With a quick push, her head, along with both of her arms, were pulled into Dan’s mouth with ease. Despite that, the bulge in Dan’s throat wasn’t anywhere close to the size of her head. Soon enough, the rest of her tall body was pulled in with his mandibles as he carefully pulled of the stockings she wore, discarding them to the ground. The only indication she was even in there was a mild bulge on his middle, and what was left of her feet dangling from his mouth. Dan slurped up the rest of the first Mantis Lord and licked his lips, eyeing the other two like a scrumptious dinner. “Mmm… Gosh, she filled me up good,” he sighed, “But I’m still soooo hungry, it’s like there’s a mantis-sized hole in my belly.” He parted his cloak to show off the small potbelly he had, lifting it up and down to make it wobble. The remaining two sisters watched as a hand imprint pushed out from Dan’s chubby stomach with a mixture of shock and amazement. A barely audible moan from inside at least meant she was having fun, though it quickly went away the same time the midsection made a loudglourp, and grew even larger.“Oh, if only there were two more beautiful girls to fill me ubwruurp-” A hole-filled bra flew out of Dan’s mouth and landed in the bed. He gave a meek ‘excuse me,’ before patting his stomach in satisfaction. Unsure of what else to do, the eldest invited Dan over to sit with her. Neither she nor her youngest sister knew how to lead in this situation, but it seemed like he did. He was less than half of their size, yet he easily ate their middle sister like a midday snack. Dan sat down between the two of them, pulling their hips closer his ever-widening ones. A loud grnngllcame from Dan as he looked up at the eldestsister, and smiled before casually asking her a question. “Wanna listen to your sisters be digested?” Without thinking about it, the eldest Mantis Lord nodded and put her head on top of Dan’s stomach. Inside, she could hear all kinds of noises from it - churning, gurgling, bubbling - growling at her like it was still hungry for more. She closed her eyes and felt it grow increasingly warm, a stark contrast to its earlier cold temperature. Her head sunk into the fat belly, lost in the overwhelming warmth and deafening sounds. “S-sister, he’s got my legs in his mouth,” the middle lord said in concern, “I- uh…” The eldest didn’t even look up as she responded, “The weak are eaten by the strong. It is simply law of nature.” She listened closely to the slurping from above her head, then to the churning below. It was a soothing, rhythmic melody with each clench of the stomach walls breaking its mealdown. There was a small, muffled yell from inside, but that quickly got drowned out with another gurgle. The rounded belly grew even wider and larger, almost Dan’s own size. The last lord’s head was consumed in the plush fat, and the warmth overtook her own thoughts. bhuuooorp! Specks of Void and bits of clothing hit Dan’s cloak as he failed to politely cover his mouth. Disregarding his manners, he began to rub his own stomach, forcing it to goglurnkand glonpas its contents were forced deeper in him. “Delicious,” Dan patted the Mantis Lord’s head, “But I think this girl stew is missing one last ingredient!” The last Mantis Lord nodded their head, and guided Dan’s tongue around her neck. She let herself be lifted into his mouth, gently helped in with his mandibles and ready to accept her place in the food chain. The apex predator vessel’s shell was cold to the touch, which made his warm insides all the more contrasting, growing in temperature as she was gulped down. As she entered the abyssal organ, she then realized just how much larger it was inside. Its outside, even as it grew as large as a fully-grown mantis, hid its true size; the lack of light made it difficult to estimate, but she could tell it could hold much, much more if he wanted to. As she finally fell down, she came face to face with what was left of her sisters: a thick, inky soup filling the paradoxically large stomach up to her neck. Even so, she could feel Dan shifting above her, adjusting his body until she felt something grind against hermelting body. Her last thoughts were left unfinished before she blacked out, and sunk into the abyssal. chyme. “Don’t worry, girls,” Dan huffed out as he grinded his hips against his belly, “You can be the lords of my tummy instead.” Wet squelches filled the room as Dan pushed his hips into his malleable gut, eager to turn his food into properly enjoyable fat. It was fun and all having his stomach wobble and jiggle, bloated with chyme, but it didn’t give him the curves he wanted. Still, that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun with what was left of the triplets before he packed them away. His knees were planted on his gut, kneading them along as they absorbed the mantis sludge to his legs. He could hear his thighs grow more plump with each slap against his belly getting louder, not to mention the heft he felt when he kept humping his bed-like belly. Churning turned into gurgling, then into grumbling. Slowly but surely, the lewd smacks slowed in pace as Dan’s belly shrunk in size. Its previous size eclipsed him, but eventually, it became only as large as his own head. With as much chyme as he could absorb and his legs all out of energy, he grabbed a nearby pillow and put it under his chin. Of course, he couldn’t relax without looking at the spoils of his conquest. He turned around and saw a rounded pair of cheeks supported by supple thighs - in less time than it took to defeat them, Dan turned the champion leaders of the Mantis Tribe into his waistline. He playfully shook his rear to watch it wobble before laying on his back to relax.“Don’t worry, you three,” Dan patted his chubby belly, “We’ll have you back before dinnerhwruuuhp-” Wispy smoke flew out of his mouth and into the air, coalescing into three spheres. Then, without a warning, the spheres uncurled into three familiar shames - the Mantis Lords. The three mantises’ shades looked at each other with surprise to see none of them were harmed. Turned into shades after being digested, but otherwise unharmed. “Oh! There you guys are!” Dan tapped his stomach, “Nifty, huh? Yeah, turns out that if I eat something living, they get burped up as shades!” He jumped out of the bed, silently enjoying the new heft he had on his waist, “You’ll be back to normal after a night’s rest of sleep.” One shade tried to say something, but couldn’t - it had no voice to speak with, like many others. Instead, it settled for a deep bow, followed by the other two, and floated off into bed. Finding his work here done, Dan excused himself, and began to leave to get back to his travels. After all, there was still a whole kingdom to explore, secrets to uncover, people to meet and/or eat. He mentally checked off the Mantis Tribe off his ‘places to visit’ list, and mended his shell back together, restoring its smooth mouth. However, as he stepped out of the house, he noticed that someone - or rather, two someones - had been outside. Apparently, curiosity had gotten the better of two mantises, who were peeping into the house through a window. They had been enraptured by the entire thing - from Dan eating all three of their leaders to them sleeping in bed- that they hadn’t noticed him creep upuntil he put his arms around their shoulders. The two were frozen as he pulled them closer to his face. “Hi there!” Dan gleefully said, “Wanna see how long you two can hold your breaths?”

 Smoge16 - Mari’s Merry Festival Feeding Mari & Petey, Mass Vore, Same Size, Male/Female Pred, Digestion, Stuffing, Weight Gain, Public Vore --- BOOM!!! A bright red firework in the sky kicked off the afternoon opening of the Northwest Harvest Fest as a crowd of excited townsfolk walked through the streets. Buildings decorated with autumn- and spring-themed banners and decorations pointed out where to go, and what to do here, yet the workers still called out to anyone even looking in their direction. Stalls, attractions, and trailers were set up to attend to their every need here, and to make this week memorable to those attending. The college town only had one of these kinds of festivities a year - it was no wonder that hundreds of students had come to make the most of it. One pair in particular stood out from the crowd, staring at the explosions in the morning sky: a fish with a black letterman jacket emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, and a pair of unremarkable jeans; and a chubby deer girl, mostly nude except for the brown fur covering her. “Isn’t this great, Mari?” Petey held her hand as he led her through the crowd, in awe at the patterns the fireworks made. The deer girl couldn’t help but agree at the statement, staring with wide eyes at each explosion.While Petey usually didn’t date outside of campus, something about Mari was just… special. So much so that this was the second date he went on with her! Well, technically, his first date with Mari was just her eating his date and taking her spot, but it was still a date by all definitions, technically. Even if Mari ate the entire restauraunt’s stock of food, the entire staff, and lots of customers, waddling out of the fancy place several tons heavier. At least she could walk normally for this date now that she was back to her normal, lovable, and slightly tubby self! Petey pulled out a map of the park out of his jacket to point out places of interest. “So,” he asked her, “Where to, first? There’s a haunted house, a roller coaster, a petting zoo… ooh! They even have an eating contest!” Mari’s ears perked up at the word “eating,” but everything else had her attention, too. So many new sights to experience, so many new foods to try out, it was practically a feast of the senses for her! She had to do all of it right now! “Howzabout… there?” Mari fingered the closest spot to them: a merry-go-round! She had no idea what it was, but merry sounded like Mari! --- Petey waved over to Mari as she climbed aboard one of the carousel’s horses behind his, enamored with the excited expression on her face. Man, where was she from that she’d never seen a carousel before? He’d have to ask her a whole bunch of questions eventually. It was cute, actually, watching her look around and experience everything for the first time.“No drinking or eating is allowed inside the ride at any time,” a tired-looking possum flatly said as she picked up stray plastic cups and discarded wrappers around the carousel, “And Northwest Harvest Fest is not responsible should any injury occur as a result of leaving your seat, so please relax and enjoy the ride.” With the deadest eyes Petey had ever seen, the park worker pressed a button on the control panel. Colorful lights lining the carousel came to life, and scattered cheers came from the already-drunk riders as they begun to revolve. “Haha, hang tight, Mari!” Petey jokingly said, “Wouldn’t want you to fly off!” Unfortunately, Petey’s tease ended up causing his date to cry a little out of fear, but as the ride spun faster and faster, joy overrode her immediate feelings instead. He wished he could take a picture of her face, but it wasn’t easy hanging onto the handle while looking back and taking a photo; he wasprettysure someonegot knocked out doing that here before, he thought. Still, at least he could hear Mari having fun with the ride, even if he was too old to fully enjoy the good 10 minutes it would provide. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long 10 minutes before the ride slowed down and eventually stopped, letting everyone off of the merry-go-round. He caught up with Mari as he bungled his way through the crowd, and waved her down. “So, how was it?” Petey watched her face glow after the apparently riveting experience. Mari’s bright green eyes seemed even brighter as she recalled the ride, “It was soooooo cool! I spun around so fast I thought I’d fly off like you said I would but then the horse went up and down and up and down and it was like I was flying in the air! Can we go on it again!?Pretty please?” A low growling from Mari’s stomach interrupted her pleading, and she gripped it out of hunger. “Aww, I think we should fix that! Lotta foods around here, Mari!” Petey playfully rubbed her head, ignoring the muffled screaming coming from her slightly enlarged stomach. --- Mari gobbled down her 3rd funnel cake and 2nd cup of soda in 15 minutes as she and Petey wandered around the food stalls set up near the parking lot. She’d lost track of what she ate so far, but it seemed that Petey was more than happy to get her anything she wanted! Which was lots of food! Good thing she belched up a couple of wallets earlier for Petey, otherwise he’d run out of money or something. “Sho, Pretey, whsat’s shcool likrh?” Mari asked in-between eating her 6th jelly donut, “I dhurnno whrat thrat ish fhrough.” Petey hummed in thought, “Well, it’s nice most of the time. Go to class, cheerleader practice, eat a cute nerd in the library… Pretty normal, I’d say.” He shrugged, unsure how else to answer it. Mari idly nodded, licking at her 4th serving of ice cream, “Wow, I wish I ate a cute nerd every day.” “Youdoeat a cute nerd every day, Mari.” Petey pattedat her bloated stomach, causing her to let out a softbwuuurrp.“So, now that you’re niceand full…-ish, where to next?”Mari snuck in a deep-friend twinkie before pointing at the spooky-looking building nearby. From what she could remember about the map, this was some sort of “haunted house.” Well… she always did want to meet a real ghost, right? Right, totally did. --- “Welcome to the Murder Mansion, where your nightmares are lurking behind every corner,” a tired-looking possum in a ghost costume said with a deadpan, spooky ‘woooo’. Petey did a double-take as he and Mari walked past her and under the fake spiderwebs and the gargoyle statue, “…Weren’t you at the merry-go-round?” “It was temporarily closed down due an alleged missing person,” she flatly said, “Northwest Harvest Fest would like to assure its guests that the park grounds are completely safe, and that no predation by any staff or visitors is allowed.” “Oh.” Petey gave a glance at Mari, and quickly pushed her past the possum. “Okay then. We’re just gonna-” He awkwardly pointed at the haunted house’s entrance. “Please tell a staff member and make your way towards the exit using the signs posted around the house, should the Murder Mansion prove to be your demise.” She sent the two away with a resigned sigh. “I fucking hope it’smydemise,” she whispered under her breath. The entrance hallway of the house was decorated with generic Halloween props; while this wasn’t a problem for Petey, who’d been a part of many a Halloween celebration, Mari took one look at the mannequin killer and froze in place. Seeing his date being apparentlyterrified of the cheap spook, Petey confidently bopped it on the nose, sending it back and forth as it balanced itself upright, and led her by the hand deeper in. “Don’t worry, Mari,” Petey patted her head in reassurance, “It’s not real, just plastic! Besides, if something’s scary, you can just pretend you’re eating it!” Mari blinked out of her comatose state, “R-really? You mean that? I can just… eat things that are scary?” “Yeah! Just-” “HEY!” A beefy doberman frat boy with his arm around a scantily-dressed orange cat yelled at them, “Move it or lose it, losers! Some of us are- hey, what are you-!” Before anyone could register it, Mari had reached up to the dog’s head and pulled him into her mouth. With only a few powerful swallows, his entire body followed the rest of him down into her stomach, compressing him into a tight, gurgling ball underneath her brown fur and copious fat. “Oh. Em. Gee.” The cat typed in an exorbitant amount of characters into her phone in a few seconds, “Tia’s sooo gotta know some huge fatty freak just ate her boyfriend! He was, like, totally gonna sleep with me too and-” Petey let out an indignant huff before grabbing the airheaded cat and shoving her head into his maw; he tolerated a lot of things, but insults towards his friends weren’t one of them. A single gulp was all it took for him to swallow all of the slender slut, distorting his throat. Her body made a tiny bulge on Petey’s as she fell down into his stomach, onlymanaging to jut his belly out a few inches; barely anything to the experienced predator. Suddenly though, a sense of guilt had come over him: she didn’t really deserve this, did she? Being melted down into unrecognizable slop because she made an offhand comment? “Oh ffffuck, I’m actually really sorry about thhwruuurp-”Petey belched out her pink-studded phone, wiping his mouth of drool before picking it up. A text message popped up: ‘wtf? where r u?’ Despite his apology, a smirk ran across his face as he asked Mari, “Hey, you still hungry?” As the two left to explore the rest of the haunted house, the unfortunate possum worker, who’d been watching from afar, took off her witch hat and dropped it to the floor. “Fuck this, I’m not getting paid enough for this shit.” --- Petey let out a loudbwruurrpas he and Mari exitedthe haunted house, their bellies still bouncing around with the last group they encountered. He’d lost count of how many they had in there, but judging from how bloated the both of them looked, they each had more than their fill of fairgoers. It was a good thing Mari was pretty much always nude, otherwise her clothes would’ve been torn apart by now by her new girth. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for his own clothes, reduced to the bare minimum of what could be considered dressed: an impromptu vest made from what was left of his black letterman jacket, the quarter top portion of his white t-shirt, and loose jeans-turned-daisy dukes, all of which were almost lost under copious fish flab and blubber.“So,hfah, how’s the fair so far, Mari?” Petey panted as he waddled down the exit stairs behind her, watching her ass wobble with each step down. “It’s-oouuuwrp-fun! I like everyone here!” Marishook her stomach up and down, and let out a giggle as she heard a muffled yelp come from inside of it, “Especially that girl who yelled at us a lot about eating her boyfriend! She’s tasty!” Petey nodded before pulling out a bra out of his throat and throwing it into a nearby bush. “I’m happy you’re happy, Mari! Oh, and we’ve still got a bit of time before I wanna show off the piece de resistance. Not how it’s pronounced but whatever.” --- The number of the festivalgoers had thinned out now that evening had arrived, with many going back to their dorms for tomorrow’s classes. Of course, a not-insignificant number of those gone from the park had padded out the more voracious visitors, mostly with them becoming fish fat and especially deer blubber. The power couple waltzed through the park with no concern other than finding their next source of entertainment or food, pushing anyone lucky enough to only be in their way with their gravid, sloshing stomachs. Only a handful of activities remained for them now that they were wider than most of the “you must be this tall to ride” signs were taller, but some were still open, no matter their weight class. “Mmph… I dunno about you, Mari, but I’m feeling pretty good right now,” Petey said as patted his stomach in satisfaction. Bassy bubbling and a softuurpfrom his mouth responded back.“I dunno if I can eat any more though, I’m starting to feel stuffed!” As she said so, she grabbed someone’s cotton candy and ate it, along with the person they were attached to, “That clown I had earlier was kinda weird, though.” “Yeah, I guess you could say she tasted kinda… funny! Ha!” Petey playfully poked her stomach at the thought of the floppy-eared clown in there. They always struck a nerve with him, but he never knew why. Mari cocked her head in confusion, “What? She tasted nice, though.” “You know, like… joke funny. Funny like a clown.” Petey scratched his own head at her confusion. “Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhwruuuuuuurrr-” Mari’s belch sent outa comically long collection of scarfs, both going on for much longer than Petey had thought. The ribbon had collected at her feet in a dizzying array of garish colors, eventually ending with the clown’s equally garish and half-digested clothes after what felt like minutes of straight burping. A small crowd had gathered to watch the show before some realized that the deer girl’s doughy stomach had its prey still struggling inside, and wisely left her alone. Petey blinked once before regaining his focus. “Uh. Wow.” “Haha! That was fun!” Mari licked her lips, “I wanna eat more!” “Oh god yes absolutely- uhh, I mean, yeah sure, why not?” Petey nonchalantly shrugged, “We’re close to the petting zoo, bound to be a couple of food stands over there!”--- Petey and Mari walked out of the zoo with haunted, empty eyes. The fishboy looked at his hands as if he were in another body, and the deer girl rattled her brain to make sense of what they had seen. Though their stomachs had growled loudly, they had no appetite left after going through the wicked area. Similar looks were evident on many other faces leaving alongside with them, and for the first time since Petey and Mari had entered the park, they were not the reason why they had quickly walked away. Mari shook her head to get the horrifying image out of her head, to no avail, “The goats… were on all fours… But there were also goats on two legs…?” Petey looked behind him in paranoia, “I, uh… I think we should get out of here.” Mari could only nod as she and Petey quickly waddled away with empty stomachs. They could only imagine that something devious was behind the zoo; they did not want to find out if they were right. --- “...And here it is!” Petey triumphantly revealed the one ride he’d been wanting to visit. A bright pink, neon sign above the lengthy line announced it as “The Tunnel of Love,” complete with swan-themed, seatbelt-less, and completely unsafe boats to ride. “Wow! I’ve always wanted to go here!” Mari’s eyes widened and reflected the bright lights, in awe of the view in front of her, “What is it?”Petey’s grin widened as he pulled Mari along with him, towards the side of the tunnel, “Oh, it’s just something I like to call ‘the two-for-one special!’” He stopped them in front of the river’s exit platform. “You see, for the price of one boat…” As if on cue, a cat and dog kissing each other appeared from the dark tunnel; before they could react, Petey grabbed both of them and shoved the cute couple into his mouth. “You get two meals!” A loudoouuhwurpcame up from his stomach, along with the clothes of the two meals. Even as his belly filled with digestive juices, they had giddily bounced around in Petey, “If you’re lucky, they won’t even mind that they got eaten!” Hungry gurgling and loud belches of the two bottomless predators echoed down the tunnel, yet it seemed to do nothing to deter the riders from continuing on towards them. Boat after boat of kissing couples disappeared as Mari and Petey plucked them out of the unsafe seats. Whatever protests or pleasures any of them they had inside of them had been muffled under fathomless fat, becoming further muffled as each of the last couples before the newer ones melted into thick chyme and added even more fat. Between the two predators, the combined width of their stomachs had become wider than the tunnel they were camping out by the side. Flab spilled over each other’s fatty folds and their preys’ movements clashed into each other, but they paid it no mind as they gorged on lovebirds. Finally though, as they emptied out the 25th swan boat, a distracted snake park employee had wandered around to the back to inspect why no one had come out of the tunnel lately.As he rounded the corner to where Mari and Petey were, his eyes caught the lamb’s in Mari’s throat before they went down, and he stopped midway through his step. “Ohhhh. Kay. Great” He pulled out a radio and talked into it, “Yeah, we’re gonna have to shut down the Tunnel of Love again tonight. He’s here eating couplesagain, and with someone else this time.” “Uh oh, guess we’re caught!” Petey abashedly waved to the park worker, who only gave a annoyed as he approached them with several larger employees. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.” The pool of half-sludge/half-people loudly disagreed with a cacophonic grnngrgllb… Mari, though, nodded as best as she could with someone still in her neck. She quickly swallowed them down before speaking, “Yeah, it was! See ya, Petey!” She waved goodbye as the two of them were carried away from each other. Petey waved back and wistfully sighed, wanting to spend more time with her. Unfortunately, the muscular shark and bull pair of guards struggling to carry him had other plans; namely, kicking him out. Besides, she was a free spirit who’d probably eventually eat him, so it might’ve never worked out anyways. Still, at least Petey had some time with the deer girl, which was a lot more he could say for everyone she ate. An unforgettable girl on an unforgettable night… “So,” Petey clicked his tongue and playfully tapped a shoulder of one of the brutes carrying him out, “You guys doing anything later? Still starving but I’ve got a bunch of wallets, if you wanna help out.”

 Smoge16 - Mari’s Merry Festival Feeding Mari & Petey, Mass Vore, Same Size, Male/Female Pred, Digestion, Stuffing, Weight Gain, Public Vore --- BOOM!!! A bright red firework in the sky kicked off the afternoon opening of the Northwest Harvest Fest as a crowd of excited townsfolk walked through the streets. Buildings decorated with autumn- and spring-themed banners and decorations pointed out where to go, and what to do here, yet the workers still called out to anyone even looking in their direction. Stalls, attractions, and trailers were set up to attend to their every need here, and to make this week memorable to those attending. The college town only had one of these kinds of festivities a year - it was no wonder that hundreds of students had come to make the most of it. One pair in particular stood out from the crowd, staring at the explosions in the morning sky: a fish with a black letterman jacket emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, and a pair of unremarkable jeans; and a chubby deer girl, mostly nude except for the brown fur covering her. “Isn’t this great, Mari?” Petey held her hand as he led her through the crowd, in awe at the patterns the fireworks made. The deer girl couldn’t help but agree at the statement, staring with wide eyes at each explosion.While Petey usually didn’t date outside of campus, something about Mari was just… special. So much so that this was the second date he went on with her! Well, technically, his first date with Mari was just her eating his date and taking her spot, but it was still a date by all definitions, technically. Even if Mari ate the entire restauraunt’s stock of food, the entire staff, and lots of customers, waddling out of the fancy place several tons heavier. At least she could walk normally for this date now that she was back to her normal, lovable, and slightly tubby self! Petey pulled out a map of the park out of his jacket to point out places of interest. “So,” he asked her, “Where to, first? There’s a haunted house, a roller coaster, a petting zoo… ooh! They even have an eating contest!” Mari’s ears perked up at the word “eating,” but everything else had her attention, too. So many new sights to experience, so many new foods to try out, it was practically a feast of the senses for her! She had to do all of it right now! “Howzabout… there?” Mari fingered the closest spot to them: a merry-go-round! She had no idea what it was, but merry sounded like Mari! --- Petey waved over to Mari as she climbed aboard one of the carousel’s horses behind his, enamored with the excited expression on her face. Man, where was she from that she’d never seen a carousel before? He’d have to ask her a whole bunch of questions eventually. It was cute, actually, watching her look around and experience everything for the first time.“No drinking or eating is allowed inside the ride at any time,” a tired-looking possum flatly said as she picked up stray plastic cups and discarded wrappers around the carousel, “And Northwest Harvest Fest is not responsible should any injury occur as a result of leaving your seat, so please relax and enjoy the ride.” With the deadest eyes Petey had ever seen, the park worker pressed a button on the control panel. Colorful lights lining the carousel came to life, and scattered cheers came from the already-drunk riders as they begun to revolve. “Haha, hang tight, Mari!” Petey jokingly said, “Wouldn’t want you to fly off!” Unfortunately, Petey’s tease ended up causing his date to cry a little out of fear, but as the ride spun faster and faster, joy overrode her immediate feelings instead. He wished he could take a picture of her face, but it wasn’t easy hanging onto the handle while looking back and taking a photo; he wasprettysure someonegot knocked out doing that here before, he thought. Still, at least he could hear Mari having fun with the ride, even if he was too old to fully enjoy the good 10 minutes it would provide. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long 10 minutes before the ride slowed down and eventually stopped, letting everyone off of the merry-go-round. He caught up with Mari as he bungled his way through the crowd, and waved her down. “So, how was it?” Petey watched her face glow after the apparently riveting experience. Mari’s bright green eyes seemed even brighter as she recalled the ride, “It was soooooo cool! I spun around so fast I thought I’d fly off like you said I would but then the horse went up and down and up and down and it was like I was flying in the air! Can we go on it again!?Pretty please?” A low growling from Mari’s stomach interrupted her pleading, and she gripped it out of hunger. “Aww, I think we should fix that! Lotta foods around here, Mari!” Petey playfully rubbed her head, ignoring the muffled screaming coming from her slightly enlarged stomach. --- Mari gobbled down her 3rd funnel cake and 2nd cup of soda in 15 minutes as she and Petey wandered around the food stalls set up near the parking lot. She’d lost track of what she ate so far, but it seemed that Petey was more than happy to get her anything she wanted! Which was lots of food! Good thing she belched up a couple of wallets earlier for Petey, otherwise he’d run out of money or something. “Sho, Pretey, whsat’s shcool likrh?” Mari asked in-between eating her 6th jelly donut, “I dhurnno whrat thrat ish fhrough.” Petey hummed in thought, “Well, it’s nice most of the time. Go to class, cheerleader practice, eat a cute nerd in the library… Pretty normal, I’d say.” He shrugged, unsure how else to answer it. Mari idly nodded, licking at her 4th serving of ice cream, “Wow, I wish I ate a cute nerd every day.” “Youdoeat a cute nerd every day, Mari.” Petey pattedat her bloated stomach, causing her to let out a softbwuuurrp.“So, now that you’re niceand full…-ish, where to next?”Mari snuck in a deep-friend twinkie before pointing at the spooky-looking building nearby. From what she could remember about the map, this was some sort of “haunted house.” Well… she always did want to meet a real ghost, right? Right, totally did. --- “Welcome to the Murder Mansion, where your nightmares are lurking behind every corner,” a tired-looking possum in a ghost costume said with a deadpan, spooky ‘woooo’. Petey did a double-take as he and Mari walked past her and under the fake spiderwebs and the gargoyle statue, “…Weren’t you at the merry-go-round?” “It was temporarily closed down due an alleged missing person,” she flatly said, “Northwest Harvest Fest would like to assure its guests that the park grounds are completely safe, and that no predation by any staff or visitors is allowed.” “Oh.” Petey gave a glance at Mari, and quickly pushed her past the possum. “Okay then. We’re just gonna-” He awkwardly pointed at the haunted house’s entrance. “Please tell a staff member and make your way towards the exit using the signs posted around the house, should the Murder Mansion prove to be your demise.” She sent the two away with a resigned sigh. “I fucking hope it’smydemise,” she whispered under her breath. The entrance hallway of the house was decorated with generic Halloween props; while this wasn’t a problem for Petey, who’d been a part of many a Halloween celebration, Mari took one look at the mannequin killer and froze in place. Seeing his date being apparentlyterrified of the cheap spook, Petey confidently bopped it on the nose, sending it back and forth as it balanced itself upright, and led her by the hand deeper in. “Don’t worry, Mari,” Petey patted her head in reassurance, “It’s not real, just plastic! Besides, if something’s scary, you can just pretend you’re eating it!” Mari blinked out of her comatose state, “R-really? You mean that? I can just… eat things that are scary?” “Yeah! Just-” “HEY!” A beefy doberman frat boy with his arm around a scantily-dressed orange cat yelled at them, “Move it or lose it, losers! Some of us are- hey, what are you-!” Before anyone could register it, Mari had reached up to the dog’s head and pulled him into her mouth. With only a few powerful swallows, his entire body followed the rest of him down into her stomach, compressing him into a tight, gurgling ball underneath her brown fur and copious fat. “Oh. Em. Gee.” The cat typed in an exorbitant amount of characters into her phone in a few seconds, “Tia’s sooo gotta know some huge fatty freak just ate her boyfriend! He was, like, totally gonna sleep with me too and-” Petey let out an indignant huff before grabbing the airheaded cat and shoving her head into his maw; he tolerated a lot of things, but insults towards his friends weren’t one of them. A single gulp was all it took for him to swallow all of the slender slut, distorting his throat. Her body made a tiny bulge on Petey’s as she fell down into his stomach, onlymanaging to jut his belly out a few inches; barely anything to the experienced predator. Suddenly though, a sense of guilt had come over him: she didn’t really deserve this, did she? Being melted down into unrecognizable slop because she made an offhand comment? “Oh ffffuck, I’m actually really sorry about thhwruuurp-”Petey belched out her pink-studded phone, wiping his mouth of drool before picking it up. A text message popped up: ‘wtf? where r u?’ Despite his apology, a smirk ran across his face as he asked Mari, “Hey, you still hungry?” As the two left to explore the rest of the haunted house, the unfortunate possum worker, who’d been watching from afar, took off her witch hat and dropped it to the floor. “Fuck this, I’m not getting paid enough for this shit.” --- Petey let out a loudbwruurrpas he and Mari exitedthe haunted house, their bellies still bouncing around with the last group they encountered. He’d lost count of how many they had in there, but judging from how bloated the both of them looked, they each had more than their fill of fairgoers. It was a good thing Mari was pretty much always nude, otherwise her clothes would’ve been torn apart by now by her new girth. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for his own clothes, reduced to the bare minimum of what could be considered dressed: an impromptu vest made from what was left of his black letterman jacket, the quarter top portion of his white t-shirt, and loose jeans-turned-daisy dukes, all of which were almost lost under copious fish flab and blubber.“So,hfah, how’s the fair so far, Mari?” Petey panted as he waddled down the exit stairs behind her, watching her ass wobble with each step down. “It’s-oouuuwrp-fun! I like everyone here!” Marishook her stomach up and down, and let out a giggle as she heard a muffled yelp come from inside of it, “Especially that girl who yelled at us a lot about eating her boyfriend! She’s tasty!” Petey nodded before pulling out a bra out of his throat and throwing it into a nearby bush. “I’m happy you’re happy, Mari! Oh, and we’ve still got a bit of time before I wanna show off the piece de resistance. Not how it’s pronounced but whatever.” --- The number of the festivalgoers had thinned out now that evening had arrived, with many going back to their dorms for tomorrow’s classes. Of course, a not-insignificant number of those gone from the park had padded out the more voracious visitors, mostly with them becoming fish fat and especially deer blubber. The power couple waltzed through the park with no concern other than finding their next source of entertainment or food, pushing anyone lucky enough to only be in their way with their gravid, sloshing stomachs. Only a handful of activities remained for them now that they were wider than most of the “you must be this tall to ride” signs were taller, but some were still open, no matter their weight class. “Mmph… I dunno about you, Mari, but I’m feeling pretty good right now,” Petey said as patted his stomach in satisfaction. Bassy bubbling and a softuurpfrom his mouth responded back.“I dunno if I can eat any more though, I’m starting to feel stuffed!” As she said so, she grabbed someone’s cotton candy and ate it, along with the person they were attached to, “That clown I had earlier was kinda weird, though.” “Yeah, I guess you could say she tasted kinda… funny! Ha!” Petey playfully poked her stomach at the thought of the floppy-eared clown in there. They always struck a nerve with him, but he never knew why. Mari cocked her head in confusion, “What? She tasted nice, though.” “You know, like… joke funny. Funny like a clown.” Petey scratched his own head at her confusion. “Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhwruuuuuuurrr-” Mari’s belch sent outa comically long collection of scarfs, both going on for much longer than Petey had thought. The ribbon had collected at her feet in a dizzying array of garish colors, eventually ending with the clown’s equally garish and half-digested clothes after what felt like minutes of straight burping. A small crowd had gathered to watch the show before some realized that the deer girl’s doughy stomach had its prey still struggling inside, and wisely left her alone. Petey blinked once before regaining his focus. “Uh. Wow.” “Haha! That was fun!” Mari licked her lips, “I wanna eat more!” “Oh god yes absolutely- uhh, I mean, yeah sure, why not?” Petey nonchalantly shrugged, “We’re close to the petting zoo, bound to be a couple of food stands over there!”--- Petey and Mari walked out of the zoo with haunted, empty eyes. The fishboy looked at his hands as if he were in another body, and the deer girl rattled her brain to make sense of what they had seen. Though their stomachs had growled loudly, they had no appetite left after going through the wicked area. Similar looks were evident on many other faces leaving alongside with them, and for the first time since Petey and Mari had entered the park, they were not the reason why they had quickly walked away. Mari shook her head to get the horrifying image out of her head, to no avail, “The goats… were on all fours… But there were also goats on two legs…?” Petey looked behind him in paranoia, “I, uh… I think we should get out of here.” Mari could only nod as she and Petey quickly waddled away with empty stomachs. They could only imagine that something devious was behind the zoo; they did not want to find out if they were right. --- “...And here it is!” Petey triumphantly revealed the one ride he’d been wanting to visit. A bright pink, neon sign above the lengthy line announced it as “The Tunnel of Love,” complete with swan-themed, seatbelt-less, and completely unsafe boats to ride. “Wow! I’ve always wanted to go here!” Mari’s eyes widened and reflected the bright lights, in awe of the view in front of her, “What is it?”Petey’s grin widened as he pulled Mari along with him, towards the side of the tunnel, “Oh, it’s just something I like to call ‘the two-for-one special!’” He stopped them in front of the river’s exit platform. “You see, for the price of one boat…” As if on cue, a cat and dog kissing each other appeared from the dark tunnel; before they could react, Petey grabbed both of them and shoved the cute couple into his mouth. “You get two meals!” A loudoouuhwurpcame up from his stomach, along with the clothes of the two meals. Even as his belly filled with digestive juices, they had giddily bounced around in Petey, “If you’re lucky, they won’t even mind that they got eaten!” Hungry gurgling and loud belches of the two bottomless predators echoed down the tunnel, yet it seemed to do nothing to deter the riders from continuing on towards them. Boat after boat of kissing couples disappeared as Mari and Petey plucked them out of the unsafe seats. Whatever protests or pleasures any of them they had inside of them had been muffled under fathomless fat, becoming further muffled as each of the last couples before the newer ones melted into thick chyme and added even more fat. Between the two predators, the combined width of their stomachs had become wider than the tunnel they were camping out by the side. Flab spilled over each other’s fatty folds and their preys’ movements clashed into each other, but they paid it no mind as they gorged on lovebirds. Finally though, as they emptied out the 25th swan boat, a distracted snake park employee had wandered around to the back to inspect why no one had come out of the tunnel lately.As he rounded the corner to where Mari and Petey were, his eyes caught the lamb’s in Mari’s throat before they went down, and he stopped midway through his step. “Ohhhh. Kay. Great” He pulled out a radio and talked into it, “Yeah, we’re gonna have to shut down the Tunnel of Love again tonight. He’s here eating couplesagain, and with someone else this time.” “Uh oh, guess we’re caught!” Petey abashedly waved to the park worker, who only gave a annoyed as he approached them with several larger employees. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.” The pool of half-sludge/half-people loudly disagreed with a cacophonic grnngrgllb… Mari, though, nodded as best as she could with someone still in her neck. She quickly swallowed them down before speaking, “Yeah, it was! See ya, Petey!” She waved goodbye as the two of them were carried away from each other. Petey waved back and wistfully sighed, wanting to spend more time with her. Unfortunately, the muscular shark and bull pair of guards struggling to carry him had other plans; namely, kicking him out. Besides, she was a free spirit who’d probably eventually eat him, so it might’ve never worked out anyways. Still, at least Petey had some time with the deer girl, which was a lot more he could say for everyone she ate. An unforgettable girl on an unforgettable night… “So,” Petey clicked his tongue and playfully tapped a shoulder of one of the brutes carrying him out, “You guys doing anything later? Still starving but I’ve got a bunch of wallets, if you wanna help out.”

 Donk - Jovian and the Excessive Eating Experiment Dr. Jovian, Male Pred/Female Prey, Multiple Prey, Fast Digestion, Stung, Weight Gain, Hammerspace Fat, Hammerspace Breaking --- The scratching of a pen was the only sound in the pleasantly decorated office, besides the air conditioning and the newton’s cradle clacking away. Its beige wallpaper and soft carpeting were the only original parts of the place left untouched by a decorative mind: pictures of a red-skinned demon wearing a lab coat, a stained button-up shirt, and khaki pants were hung on the walls, along with various degrees and certificates stating his multiple fields of specialization. The demon in question was behind his desk, sitting across from a cheery girl in a turtleneck and a skirt, waiting with anticipation for his next question. He tapped his pen on her resume a few times, lost in thought before he continued with his questios. “So, Miss Opal, why did you choose to work with us here?” “Biochemistry’s one of my majors and I feel like I’ll help out a lot around here!” The peppy nerd pushed up her glasses to readjust them, “I just wanna say I’m very excited for this opportunity, Mister Jovian!” “Doctor,” the demonic scientist gently corrected her, “And I think you’ll make a great addition here.” He scratched down some extra notes on her resume before extending his hand out.“Oh! Oh wow, thank you!” Opal shook his hand with glee, “When can I start?” “Today. I need help with something right now, actually!” Jovian stood up and gestured for her to follow. The plucky intern eagerly followed him, watching his pointed tail flick to and fro as they went deeper into the complex. White tiles of the floor blended into the dull, glassy walls as they passed locked room after room, until they finally stopped in front of door as nondescript as the others. With anticipation Opal hadn’t seen before in an employer, Jovian scanned his keycard and practically pushed her into his lab. Vials and various instruments were strewn about on the countertops, yet Jovian paid them to attention as he turned his attention towards his new assistant. “So, Opal, what is it you think we do here?” Jovian asked as he rounded a countertop. His tail wrapped around a stool and brought closer for him to sit on as he swirled around a vial of some thick, dark purple liquid. Opal readjusted her glasses to think, “Biomedical research is my first guess from the listing you had, something about… experimenting with some serums to enhance the body.” Jovian nodded, “Correct! Now that you’re here, we can start immediately!” He began to unbutton his shirt, showing off his chubby potbelly. “W-whoa!” Opal covered her innocent eyes, “Doctor, I don’t- I’m not-!” She fumbled around for the door, only to find that it wouldn’t budge. “Going somewhere?” Jovan’s voice was suddenly behind her.The intern whipped around to see him looming over her, and she felt her face burning from how close he was and how warm he felt. She mumbled something under her breath, embarrassed that she was this close to her half-naked boss - and it’d only been ten minutes since she was hired! “Oh, don’t worry,” Jovian gently grabbed her chin, “I hired you because you looked delicious.” Opal looked up at him and sighed, “Well, I’m glad you think I look pretty and I like you and all, but-” Her relief turned into confusion as his words registered, “Wait, what do you mean delicious?” Rather than answering her question, Jovian grabbed her shoulders and pulled her head into his drooling mouth. Saliva covered her face as his tongue slithered down, wrapping itself around her neck and pulling her up into his throat. With no time to spare, he gulped down her head to get her into his stomach, eager to get onto the next step of the experiment. Bit by bit, the intern’s slim body had disappeared into Jovian’s maw, until eventually only her legs were hanging out between his lips. A quick slurp made sure they joined the rest of his meal in his stomach. Even though she was nearly the same size as he was, Opal barely appeared on his pudgy stomach, besides a just-visible imprint of her body, face and all. “O-oh god, no! Somebody! Please help!” Opal’s screams were muffled under a deceptive amount of fat, “Don’t do this! Mister Jovian!”“Doctor,” Jovian corrected her again as he unbuckled his belt, letting loose more of his chub. “Note to self, new parameters on antacids are working well but tend to nullify hammerspace spell somewhat, causing fat to show through it. Figure out why after today.” Sighing at the sight of his potbelly, he approached the door near the back of the lab, He scanned his keycard and went through it, slightly drooling at how bouncy his stomach felt with its inhabitant - soon to be inhabitants, plural. Behind his lab was something akin to a prison: plexiglass cells lined the wall, many filled with various women in differing, sates of fatness or immobility. Some had tubes constantly pumping a thick, milkshake-like liquid into their mouths, while others had been given a short reprieve from their forced meals. All these test subjects would be put to use when the time was right… Walking slowly, Jovian carefully examined each girl he passed by with Opal’s weight and height in mind. It’d surely disrupt his experiment if his variables weren’t in order; maybe once he’d gotten some good data in, he’d use some different girls. He grabbed a tablet he left lying around and inspected it: who should be first…? Ah, there’s the rich bitch, the bimbo lawyer, the cocky baseball player; perfect specimens for the first round. He tapped a few buttons to get them ready, and headed off for his private room. “Whoa, Jovian!” A shrill voice called out from one of the cells, “Hey! Hey! Did you eat someone else again!?” “Oh god, not you again,” Jovian vainly covered his face as he passed by her. The unnervingly happy girl waved at her captor, “Hey, hey, Jovian! Guess what!?”He started to walk even faster as he heard her say that. “Get two burger buns and eat them with me!” She pressed her face against the glass, “Jill sandwich! Do you get it!? It’s just like the funny video game quote!” “Please shut her up!” One of the other cellmates yelled out. Rather than dealing with his headache of a prisoner, Jovian opted to ignore her for now, hiding in his inner sanctum. Compared to his usual, homely office, this one was more of a mad scientist’s playground, as computers and screens analyzed his entire body, printing it out as numerical data. Thankfully, he could reach everything he could ever want in here: specimens, chemicals, instruments; the only thing he couldn’t do in here was have clothes that fit him by the end of the day. He leaned back on his plush recliner, tapping away at his tablet. “Wow, Opal, are you sure you’re only 120 pounds?” Jovian laughed, “Because according to my scans, you’re adding about 145 pounds to my heft!” He patted his belly in amusement. Opal could only let out a weak moan as his stomach kneaded and smushed her around, sapping away all of her energy. Her movements were met with equal resistance from the fleshy walls, unable to think with how loud its gurgling echoed around her. Even worse, she began to feel her clothes stripping away from the weakened-yet-still-potent digestive juices Jovian produced: her pink turtleneck was reduced to shreds as it was washed over with acids, stinging her skin as they vaporized the fabric. The same happened to her skirt,her socks, and most embarrassingly, her undergarments. Only her thick glasses were spared from the churning, though she had no use for them now. Jovian moaned as he felt his stomach warming up around his meal, “Ooh, you’re real excited for the next girls, aren’t you? Already trying to work away at that one, even with some antacids!” He hurriedly tapped on his tablet, excitedly preparing for the next part of his experiment. With a quick check to his variables, he stood up and grabbed a video camera from nearby, and set it up close enough to be able to see any movements Opal made. Checking it on his tablet and finding the view acceptable, he tapped on one more button, and watched as three girls were teleported in front of his desk: one wore a fancy, silken dress, another wore tailored suit and a pencil skirt, and the last one wore a pristine baseball uniform. All of them had perfectly curvy, voluptuous figures that made Jovian internally drool; he could’ve sworn that one of them would’ve had their clothes rip open from how busty they were. If only he had time to plump them up even more… “Hey! Where the hell am I now!?” The gowned lady shouted from her spot, unable to move with the archaic metal shackles on her, “First I get hooked up to a feeding tube like a pig, then I get zapped off to a dungeon with two bimbos!?” “Actually, I think it’s ‘like a cow,’” the sharp-suited woman said, “Which is exactly what you look like, with how fat your tits are.” The two older women shared a glare at each other, ignoring the dilemma they were in.“Guys!” Before the two could bitch without provocation to each other more, the uniformed girl called attention to the demon sitting in front of them. All three women watched as he stood up, adjusted his tie, and walked over in front of them. Jovian cleared his throat before speaking, “Good evening, ladies. I’m Doctor Jovian, and I’ll be conducting an experiment with all of you to help me help the world!” He placed an expensive-looking camera onto a tripod, adjusting it so that it framed him and the three “volunteers” in its view before turning back at them. “Now, I know this is a bad way for us to meet, but-” “Bad!? You fucking kidnapped me, you sick freak!” The pompous woman ineffectively tried to shake her bindings loose, “When I get out of here, I’m going to sue those cheap Halloween wings off of your back!” “...Okay.” Jovian turned towards the camera, “Uh, volunteer Eileen acting very hostile at first introduction. Anyways, yes, for today’s experiment, we have Eileen,” he gestures towards the woman in the gown. “We have Diana,” he did the same to the sharp-suited lawyer. “And finally, we have Maddie,” he waved one last time at the baseball player. “Ah, and volunteer Opal has already been introduced for our experiment, so no need for her to be here.” Diana shook her chains to grab Jovian’s attention, “Excuse me, hi, sorry but can we leave? It’s getting late and I have a husband back home and stuff.” “Yeah, please!” Maddie pleaded, “Let us go and we won’t say a word!”Jovian sighed in exasperation, and reflexively loosened his tie. “C’mon, you don’t even know what I’m doing here! It could be helping out medical research or the cure of disease or-” Suddenly, a muffled scream came from Jovian’s potbelly, and a bulge pushed out his clothes. He was about to say something when another bulge kicked out from the same spot, popping open one of his shirt buttons. An instinctive, guttural moan escaped from his mouth as he felt his magically expanded stomach clench around Opal’s body, and a desperate gurgle from his starving stomach sent a shiver up his spine. “Nngh… alright, I have to speed this up because the effects are wearing off.” Jovian grabbed Eileen’s chain and put her hands in his mouth. “W-what the hell! Stop!” Eileen tried to pull her arms out to no avail, “No! Don’t!” Any resistance from the voluptuous rich woman was futile, as Jovian’s powerful throat overpowered her strength, puling in her arms with ease. A soft rattling of chains was just barely audible in his chest, quickly replaced by the intense rumbling from his starving stomach. The smell of perfume overrode any other thoughts in his brain, as memories of similarly fragrant meals came flooding back in. Jovian doubled down on his efforts to swallow his current meal, slurping her entire, not-insignificant chest in a matter of moments. With another slurp, Eileen’s legs followed the rest of her curvy body, leaving nothing behind but a strand of drool and the slightest bulge on Jovian’s belly.“glnk!Phew! Almost choked on her boobs there!” Jovian patted his belly, earning a desperate growl for his new addition. “Oh good, I’m still hungry. Definitely gonna have more than enough data with this batch.” Without giving any time for either Diana or Maddie to react, he grabbed the busty lawyer’s head and opened his drooling maw. “Wait, don’t-!” Whatever Diana was about to say was lost as her head entered Jovian’s throat. Muffled screams were all she managed to get out before Jovian greedily gulped the rest of her down, only stopping to catch his breath after swallowing her sizable chest down. Just like with Eileen and Opal, there was no evidence of the chubby lawyer besides another barely visible bulge on Jovian’s belly and a satisfiedbwwuurrrblllfrom it. Maddie, thinking that Diana’s sacrifice was the perfect opportunity to get away, blasted off towards the inner sanctum’s exit. Despite her bottom-heavy size, her experience in baseball meant her legs had much more strength than Jovia had expected; not that it helped her much, as the doors were tightly shut. Even worse, one of those feeding tubes that had forcefed her like a pig had slithered down from the ceiling, wrapping around itself around her leg as if it were seemingly alive. “Oops, did I forget to mention the security system that I set up to capture everyone if they try to escape?” Jovian innocently shrugged as Maddie was pulled up from the ground, hanging above his head. The pear-shaped baseball player desperately swung herself around, before realizing that she was slowly descending above Jovian’, “Nonononono-!” Suddenly, the snaking tube released its grip on her leg right as Jovian snapped his fingers, sending her plummetingdown towards the ground - or at least, she would have been, if she hadn’t landed perfectly into Jovian’s eager throat. In one singular gulp that puts whales to shame, Jovian had swallowed the massive girl and deposited her directly into his stomach, along with the rest of the girls he had eaten. This time however, rather than giving him a mere bulge on his growing potbelly, Maddie had gave him a stomach bulge the size of his own head, though there was nothing to indicate that he had eaten four girls besides some tightened pants. “Hfff… There we go…” Jovian grabbed his tablet, quickly writing down his thoughts, “Weight limit on hammerspace seems to be about 1500 kilograms, including my own; any more weight seems to strain its capabilities before it breaks and releases my true size.” He put down his tablet again, and moved in front of his camera to properly record this moment, “Subjects Opal, Eileen, Diana, and Maddie have been contained in a safe environment, and are now ready to partake in the Rapid Dissolvement of Organic Materials To Adipose in a Bio-Chemically Enhanced Digestive Organ experiment - or in simpler terms, the Insta-Digestion Potion!” As he spoke, he pulled out a glass vial from his coat, filled with an iridescent purple liquid - the same one he had shown Opal earlier. WIth a bit of flair to his swig, he downed the entire vial’s contents in one go, feeling his body immediately work under its effects. Near-deafening churning and gurgling had reverberated across his sanctum, almost drowning out his words, “H-hah! Okay! Oh goodness, the potion immediately nullified the remainder of the earlier Safe Stomach Potion, and- ngf!” His stomach clenched around all four girls, tightening around their bodies to digest them even faster.What little of the muffled yelling from Jovian’s midsection that he could hear was slowly but surely dying out, replaced by constant growls and groans as it processed hundreds of pounds of girl-meat into fattening soup. Bubbling from deep within his gut grew in volume as the seconds passed, appearing as nothing more than the workings of an overused digestive system. Copious amounts of drool fell down his chin as his tongue lulled out of his mouth, lost in the sensation of having his stomach contract and clench over and over again. A small blip from his tablet, along with a small picture of Opal’s employee mugshot being crossed out with a bright red X, caught his attention. “Oh dear, Opal, it appears your position’s beenfilled in~.” Two more blips followedthat, shortly before a third, all having a crossed-out photo of the remaining woman inside Jovian. In a single moment, his stomach let off one more strong clench before it gradually burst out from underneath his shirt, several inches wider. “I love-Bhweelllch-lab day.” Jovian spent the next half-minute slapping and shaking his tummy around in front of the camera, recording every inch of where the girls went - or rather, where they would be, had they not been stored under his hammerspace spell. Every wobble of his substantial chub was flaunted to the camera under the guise of “documentation,” though the way he moaned seemed less than professional. “Nngh… Okay, I think that’s enough of a demonstration of the-” Suddenly, his belly had grown wider with more fat again, causing him to pause, “Oh, what the-?” Another surge of weight nearly made him lose his balance. “Oh shit.”Jovian began to expand with newfound fat as if he were made of liquid. Flab folded over each other like pancakes, tearing his clothes apart as they exploded outwards and knocking over any equipment and furniture unfortunate enough to be nearby. His arms and thighs quickly grew thick and meaty, making them look more like a stack of pancakes with how thick they became. Even his tail wasn’t spared from becoming fat, growing as thick as a sausage throughout its length. Luckily, he hadn’t become a veritable ball of fat like the incident from long ago, but he was still much larger than he had wanted to be. His stomach groaned and grumbled under its new weight, even though most of its true weight was still contained underneath the failing hammerspace spell. Its magic scratched at the back of his head, begging to be let out, but he had the state of mind to maintain it. “Oh fuck, okay, uhhh, experiment has gone slightly awry,” Jovian began to look around the room, “Need to find out why hammerspace had slipped and… Where’d my camera go?” Jovian’s new body had taken up nearly four times the amount of space as before, leaving him disoriented and confused on how to navigate around. He began to waddle around the room, uselessly trying to find where his camera went in the confusion of his expansion. As futile as it was, he even tried to look under tables and chairs for it, even though his face barely reached the floor and it took tremendous effort to climb back up. What made this horrid experience worse was the incessant feeling of something around his navel, yet the sheer size of it made it impossible to reach inside and figure out what it was. Finally, he had enough of sweating like he was in a sauna, and grabbed his tablet, navigating his way to watch its view.With his new size, however, it became harder than he thought as he fumbled his way through his tablet’s apps. “Fucking… fat fingers-!” Finally though, he managed to access his camera’s view with a not-insignificant amount of effort getting there. Though its view was dark at first, he turned on its integrated flashlight, revealing a churning stew of meat and familiar, half-digested clothes. The sounds it recorded were beyond frightening with how loud it was, exaggerated by the high quality microphone it held. “Wait, when did I eat my camera? It was right in front-” Jovian looked down at his stomach, and put two-and-two together, “Oh, goddamn it!” He threw his tablet at the ground in frustration, though he managed to fat-finger one last button: ‘security.’ “Uh-oh.” Suddenly, a pair of his feeding tubes descended from the ceiling and onto him, dripping the same viscous batter as the one he’s been feeding his prisoners. Despite them being inanimate object, they had an air of mischievousness that Jovian would have appreciated, had the tubes not been hovering over him instead of his test subjects. “Hey! Don’t you dare!” Jovian tried to waddle away from his tubes as they wormed above him, but it was futile; his tubes had decided he was an intruder to be dealt with, and not even his commands could stop them now. One of them slithered downwards, and before he could say anything, it clamped onto his face. Immediately, a flood of batter began to get pumped directly into his mouth, forcing Jovian to swallow the hamburger-flavored slurry or else he’d drown under it. Hepersonally formulated the batter to be as fattening and delicious as possible; it was reassuring that he was as good of a gastronomist as he was a biochemist. Not as reassuring being on the receiving end of it, though. “Mmgfh! Mmm!” Jovian tried to pull of the clamps to no avail. Liter after liter, gallon after gallon of liquid food was sent into his mouth, bloating out his stomach until it was taut, yet he maintained his hammerspace out of self-preservation, preventing himself from almost literally filling up the entire room with his fat. He had little time to breathe, much less time to think of a way out of his situation. Another tube dropped down on him, slithering downwards until it reached his face. It curiously poked at his puffed-out cheek, before it continued down to his navel. Then, without any warning, the tube suddenly plunged itself deep inside of it, worming into his stomach and inserting its endless payload. “MMRRGH!” It was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, or in this case, Jovian’s spell. As the second torrent of batter was directly poured into his belly, his magic faltered for a only a moment, allowing the hidden tons of fat to spill out from whatever dimension they were stored in. Like a bomb going off, there was a blur of red that overtook Jovian’s vision before he was suddenly lifted upwards, nearly reaching the ceiling before he thankfully stopped short of hitting it. The same couldn’t be said for the rest of the room; the entirety of which was now smothered under Jovian’s room-spanning body. Expensive equipment,fragile material, and precious work were crushed underneath dozens, if not hundreds, of tons of flabby demon. “Mrnnghrk….” With quickpops, both of the tube finally relentedtheir assault, though the one in his navel was temporarily stuck between Jovian’s belly and the wall. He let out a sigh of relief and a deepbwhruuuraap!as he was granted reprieve fromhis security system, a blessing that he desperately needed. He surveyed his surroundings - nothing but his flab from wall to wall. A fine mess he’s gotten himself into, but nothing he couldn’t recover from, as long as he had his tablet! All that stored knowledge of how to store his fat again or just get rid of it entirely at the tip of his fingers! Which… he had lost somewhere under him now. Great. Jovian sighed in annoyance. This was going to be a long day.

 Beacon Academy—the shining star of the kingdom of Vale, and the only licensed Huntsman school in the kingdom. Any aspiring huntsman or woman would inevitably find themselves here, as the proper test to see if they were huntsman material. Of course, those who weren’t never even made it past the entrance exam. But Lisa had. In fact, she had made it through the exam with flying colours, despite having no previous training at a known combat school. That wasn’t to say she was some sort of whiz with combat, however; she just knew how to do everything they asked of her, and during the live sparring test she was helped by her unique semblance—her opponent hadn’t realized that Lisa’s movements could be quite literally hypnotic until they were flat on the ground and Lisa had been declared the winner. The more impressive part of her passing was that she was a Faunus. A very visible one, as well—she had two black cat ears sticking out of her wavy black hair, and a tail that stuck out of her clothes no matter how she tried to hide it, so she simply stopped trying. Faunus were naturally discriminated against in Remnant, yet she had made it into the Academy while proudly wearing it on her sleeve. With a semblance that seemed hard to beat and a tenacity for combat that went with her graceful movements, Lisa was admitted into Beacon just in time for the school year to start. As a result, she was incredibly rushed, downright panicking as she made her way through the initial days. Eventually, she had been added to a team—team LYRA, which was composed of her and three other girls who, unfortunately, weren’t exactly the best. Lisa quickly learned that she wasn’t, either—during their first training exercise against team JNPR, they were completely destroyed. Lisa, being the technical best out of all of them, brashly decided to have a one-on-one sparring match with Yang Xiao Long; a decision that left her more bruised in her ego than on her body, and that was saying something. But the fall of Beacon happened only months later. During this tumultuous time, many lives were lost, and the entire school fell under the control of the forces of Salem and her Grimm, among others who left soon after. During the battle to escape, Lisa lost track of the rest of her team, and never looked back. She didn’t even wait to be accounted for after the escape shuttle landed. She ran off, and returned home. It wasn’t until a few months later that she heard about team RWBY again—or rather, as it was in its fractured form, team RWY. She neglected to make that joke directly when she heard they were in Haven, the very same city she had come to find refuge in after trekking through Grimm-infested forests for weeks. She decided to pay them a visit. The sheer deluge of information that they were willing to share, or more specifically that Ruby was unable not to share, was astonishing. After being informed on the situation, including the threat of Salem, the importance of the relics and all sorts of other things that Lisa was sure to forget if not reminded, Lisa enthusiastically asked to help. This is where the story begins—and as one might expect, given its nature, where it ends all too abruptly. --- “You…want to join us.” Yang was the one to be the voice of reason—probably because Ruby was too excited, and Weiss seemed downright indifferent. “You did hear the part about the world-ending apocalypse and stuff, right?” “Uhhh…yeah.” Lisa nodded, currently dressed in only a grey tanktop and shorts, sitting at the table along with the other three members of RWBY. Their other companions weren’t in the room. “I’ve been…pretty much useless since the whole Beacon thing…I really just want to…contribute to something. What’s there to lose, right?” She flicked a sharp looking knife around in her hand, a dagger that visibly had a trigger on the handle. “We shouldn’t be turning down extra help.” Weiss commented, adjusting her hair a bit. “And besides, she was pretty great back at Beacon, right?” “Well…I guess, yeah. I just don’t know if we can trust to let in people we don’t know.” Yang idly ran her hand along her cybernetic arm, losing herself in thought for a few moments. “But…” “Yaaaaaaaang.” Ruby chimed in, grabbing Yang’s robotic arm and leaning in with puppy-dog eyes. “Come oooon. She’s right here, and we know her from school! At least…mostly. Sorta.” She huffed. “Just let her come along, we know we’re gonna need more people! Salem’s got a whole army!” “Okay, okay, I get it.” Yang groaned, shaking her arm to get Ruby off. “Look.” She pointed at Lisa, whose ears flicked back at the threatening gesture. “You can come along with us. But just keep it cool. Okay?” “I…don’t know what that means.” Lisa cleared her throat, then nodded slowly. “But…sure, yeah. I’ll be…cool.” Yang’s eyes fixated firmly on Lisa’s, capturing her attention completely. Lisa swallowed, subtly shifting her hips and moving her shoulders, releasing a small bit of her aura into the air to help loosen things up. Her semblance was useful for winning people over—it couldn’t completely hypnotize, but by moving her body in certain ways she could calm them down significantly. It seemed to work on Yang, as suspicious as she was. “Ugh…sorry.” She lowered her hand, shaking her head. “I’m just protective of my sis here, I guess.” With that remark, she threw her robotic arm over Ruby’s shoulder, smiling and giving the red-garbed girl a noogie. “Yaaang, stop.” Ruby wiggled in her sister’s grasp half-heartedly, snickering softly while Yang kept her held tight. “I’m not some little kid…!” “Well…” Lisa cleared her throat, trying to hide how giddy she was by sitting on her tail. “Thank you! Seriously…I don’t know what I’d do with myself if I didn’t have somewhere to go. Something to…fight, y’know?” “We know.” Weiss snickered. “If Yang didn’t have something to punch she’d probably be insane by now.” “You think she’s not already?!” Ruby joked, only to have Yang’s grip tighten around her head and make her wiggle and squirm harder. “Oh, and feel free to get yourself set up, upstairs.” Yang casually commented, as if holding back her sister was no issue to her at all, which it seemed not to be. “The bedrooms are all taken, but…you can room with me, if you want. There’s space.” “Oh, uh…” Lisa’s cheeks visibly reddened, but she awkwardly hid it by standing up and stretching her limbs. “Sure! Yeah, works for me. I uh…I don’t have much, so…” She hefted her bag over her shoulder. “Should be fine.” Lisa made her way upstairs to the bedrooms that the team were staying in. She could hear voices down the hall, presumably from Nora and…Ren? Rey? She realized she didn’t know most of the other team members’ names. She’d have to fix that later. She was also lucky that Yang had left her heavy motorcycle boots outside her room, or she wouldn’t have been able to find which one it was. The room, as expected, was barren of decorations, since this was only a place they were staying temporarily. Still, plenty of Yang’s fiery personality was evident in the way her things were ‘organized’, and by that, Lisa meant ‘thrown’. A jacket, glasses, and other random clothing items were tossed haphazardly on the bed and the floor, and the one desk in the room was covered in nuts, bolts and tools, presumably for tinkering with her arm. Lisa felt like she’d walked into an abandoned room, based on the sheer look of it. The only thing that told her it was inhabited was how fresh the sheets looked. She also noted that there was only one bed, but for her that wasn’t a problem. She took off her backpack, removing a large sack from inside and unfurling it into a proper sleeping bag. Not the comfiest, but she could make do. She didn’t expect that Yang wanted them to share the bed—that’d just be a bit much, even for Lisa, who…had to admit, Yang was attractive. She quickly waved that thought out of her head as she unpacked the few clothes she had with her, as well as a rolled-up leather whip that she kept on her all the time. It wasn’t even that practical, she just liked to have it. She quickly got all of her clothes unpacked and neatly placed on a shelf as she heard footsteps approaching. Sure enough, the door opened, revealing…Yang. Words didn’t describe what Lisa felt upon seeing her, even though it had only been a minute since she saw her last. Seeing her standing up, in all her glory, Lisa felt her tail go rigid. Yang was easily half a foot taller than Lisa, who was admittedly a short Faunus to begin with. The blonde-haired bombshell shut the door behind her, her non-robotic arm clearly muscled and strong, while the rest of her body betrayed what months of bedrest after her injury had done to her. Her belly, slightly soft with just a bit of excess pudge, her shapely thighs rippling with muscle but also a thin layer of fat… “Hey.” Yang spoke, snapping Lisa out of her ‘subtle’ admiration of the powerful woman’s physique. “You okay?” “Wh- uh, yeah.” Lisa cleared her throat. “I uh…hope you don’t mind, I kinda put my sleeping bag here. Figured it’d be awkward if we shared a bed, and all. And y-…” Lisa’s words died in her throat instantly as she watched Yang openly, uncaringly remove her shirt, tugging it over her head and tossing it onto the bed. At this point, Lisa was acutely aware that Yang wasn’t wearing a bra, as her plump, D-cup breasts bounced free of their confines, right out in the open. “And I what?” Yang idly spurred Lisa on, continuing to casually disrobe and remove her pants along with her panties, leaving her bare body completely on display for the stunned Faunus, whose mouth hung open in shock. “…What?” “Y- I…yo- nothing, heh.” Lisa swallowed to try and wet her mouth, biting her lip as she tried not to make her face redder than it already was. “I was-…I was just saying, uh…it’d be awkward if we…shared a bed…” “Why?” Yang raised an eyebrow. “We’re both girls, right?” “W-well yeah, but…!” Lisa squeaked. “The floor’s pretty uncomfortable, is all. Not knocking you or anything, just saying…” Yang shrugged as she picked up a pair of pajama pants, then sighed. “Then again, I might just sleep naked tonight, so maybe it’s better.” Lisa’s tail went completely rigid behind her, practically making a cartoonish sproing noise as she felt the heat in her face reach the point that she thought she’d burst a blood vessel. “I uuuuuhhhhhhhhh…” Yang tossed her pajama bottoms aside, then looked back at Lisa. “…What’s wrong? You okay?” She paused for a second as Lisa seemed unable to respond, then narrowed her eyes. “Wait. Are you…?” Lisa snapped her jaw shut, trying to fix the situation but failing miserably as she staggered back and nearly fell over her own sleeping bag. “I- am I what?! I’m just, uhhh…not used to being so…y’know, open, is all! N-no worries!” “You don’t have to lie.” Yang turned to fully face Lisa, her plump chest jiggling with her movements now that her boobs were free from their confines. “Seriously. I don’t mind.” “…I-…” Lisa bit her lip, pressed up against the wall, and slowly nodded her head. “Okay…okay, fine, I-…yes.” She looked away; her face was redder than Ruby’s Crescent Rose at this point. “I- you’re hot, and I’ve been crushing on you since we met at Beacon. Okay?” “Heh.” Yang’s only response was a chuckle, while she crossed her arms over her chest, concealing at least part of it from Lisa’s view. “…I…um…that’s it?” Lisa winced. “I mean, I didn’t think you’d like me back, but I figured you might say someth—” Lisa was suddenly grabbed by the shoulders, her entire body slammed back against the wall with impressive force as Yang’s bust pressed against her far lighter chest, pinning her there. She felt cold steel on one shoulder and warm flesh on the other, and when she turned her head to look at Yang she was met with fiery, burning red eyes and hair that seemed like it was igniting with aura. “Y-Yang?!” “You really think you can just come in here…” Yang snarled, and Lisa quickly realized that this was not the moment where Yang poured out her true feelings and admitted she liked her back—instead, this was anger, and probably in some way rightfully placed. “Ask to join up with our group…” Yang’s metal hand clutched Lisa’s shoulder tighter, to the point that Lisa was afraid it would dislocate. “And think I wouldn’t notice the White Fang symbol on your bag?!” Lisa’s ears dropped. Her eyes darted to her bag, which did indeed have a symbol sewn into the strap that very clearly signified the White Fang. “W-wait!” Lisa squeaked. “Th-that bag is old, I-I’m not with them anymore!” “You think I’ll believe that you wore that bag to Beacon and no one noticed?!” She slammed Lisa into the wall again, making the Faunus see stars. “You’ve got five seconds to tell me why you’re here.” Yang removed her metal hand, a loud click-click accompanying the visible shifting of mechanics as a shell was loaded into place in her build-in shotgun gauntlet. “Or else.” Lisa panicked. She flicked her free hand down, grabbing her knife from her waistband and expertly flipping it open, revealing the barrel of a revolver-style firearm built into the hilt. She pulled the trigger, firing a shot right into Yang’s chest and making the blonde brawler stagger back, clutching at her chest—but unharmed. As expected, she raised her aura before it could damage her. “So that’s it.” Yang growled, just as the door slammed open, revealing both Ruby and Weiss, with Nora behind them. “Yang!” Ruby yelled, only to see Lisa backed up against the wall and Yang completely naked, slightly hunched over and scowling at the Faunus. “What…what happened?” “I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I—” Lisa started to speak, but was cut off by Yang. “I was changing, and I tripped.” She said, causing Lisa to lower her weapon in confusion. “Lisa was messing with her knife and shot me when I fell on her. It’s okay, I had my aura up.” “Oh…geez…” Ruby cleared her throat, making sure to keep her gaze away from her sister’s body. “Scared us.” “Be careful.” Weiss scolded. “For goodness’ sake.” “Mind closing the door? Still naked, here.” Yang tapped her foot impatiently as she straightened up. “Right! Sorry!” Ruby slammed the door immediately, and both Lisa and Yang could hear their footsteps leaving. There was a long, awkward silence. Lisa remained completely quiet, not sure if she should speak, but eventually there had to be someone breaking it. She dropped her knife on the ground, and simply asked, “Wh-why did you…?” “Shut up.” Yang stepped forward, grabbing hold of Lisa by the hair. “I didn’t cover your ass because I’m saving you. I’m saving Ruby the grief of learning another one of our ‘classmates’ turned out to be a traitor. As far as she knows, you just disappeared during the night…” “Wh-what?!” Lisa squeaked. “L-look, whatever you’re gonna do…I…Adam made me do it! He threatened me! S-said if I didn’t, he’d…uh…” “No he didn’t.” Yang snarled. “You wouldn’t wear his symbol if he was making you do it. You wouldn’t have to.” “I-…I…” Lisa quivered, her demeanor faltering entirely as she nervously curled up, as much as she could while standing at least. “…P-please don’t…” “Just getting tossed out is too good for you. You came here to get rid of us by posing as a friend…” Yang paused, as if thinking for a moment…then allowed a light smirk to cross her face. “So I think it’s only fitting that you help fuel us instead.” “…F-…fuel…?” Lisa blinked, confused as Yang lifted her off the ground with minimal effort. In a last-ditch effort to get away, Lisa tried to punch Yang in the stomach—as she reached out, though, Yang’s metal hand clamped firmly around her wrist. The woman growled darkly, which was the only thing Lisa was able to hear before Yang shifted, firmly planting one foot in place and using the other to sweep Lisa’s out from under her. The cat me-owed out in surprise as she was hoisted off her feet, Yang’s hands both moving to her hips in one smooth, practiced movement, turning her upside down, and… Glwrrk. Suddenly Lisa’s whole world went black. Her head was encased in tight, rippling wetness, slimy liquid rolling down her body…it took her a few seconds to fully register where she was. In those seconds, Yang’s lips slowly slid past her shoulders, engulfing them in warm, slimy girl-gullet…and that’s when the thrashing started. “Wh-WHAT IN THE HELL?!” Lisa screamed at the top of her lungs. Her feet flailed wildly in the air as Yang held her upside down, allowing gravity to assist in her ingestion as her lips reached the kitty’s breasts. “L-LET GO OF ME!” “Mmmhnn…mm-mmm.” Yang shook her head slightly, her lips curled into a grin and her eyes closed even as she swallowed, her gullet rippling powerfully – painfully, even – around her meal, dragging her breasts past her jaws and scraping her teeth against the would-be huntress’s clothes, tearing parts of them open and revealing bare, succulent flesh to the brawler’s invading tongue. Gllwwrrk. Another heavy swallow, and Lisa’s chest completely sank in. Yang’s tongue began to tease at her belly, snaking beneath her shirt and tasting the slightly sweaty, meaty flavour of her flat stomach…and still, she didn’t stop. This wasn’t a warning. Her throat rippled again, claiming past her belly button, her admittedly curvy rump beginning to enter her mouth…and Yang just flicked her tongue at the girl’s thighs, regretting her decision not to remove her pants in advance. She shrugged a bit, grabbing hold of Lisa’s firm butt cheeks…and cramming them into her jaws. They slid down with ease. Yang slowly reached up, her hands firmly grasping Lisa’s ankles. As the girl’s thighs sank into her gullet, it became so easy she didn’t even need to swallow. Her throat simply claimed the girl’s body with ease, dragging her down harder, faster…Yang didn’t even have time to savour her. Her throat expanded, swallowing both of her feet up as she closed her jaws…and when she opened them again, her gullet opened up again, revealing nothing but slimy, pink flesh. “Aaahhh…” As Lisa’s body was completely entombed in Yang’s stomach, she panicked. She thrashed. She screamed. The belly began to lurch and churn around her, powerful muscles rippling and squeezing, slimy walls secreting acids and enzymes that made her clothing sizzle. Lisa’s eyes were wide with terror, her screams turning into frightened, terrified mewling and meowing more befitting of a housecat than a battle-ready Faunus. This was completely unbelievable, it was downright obscene—she had heard of some Faunus being able to do this, but never had she actually seen one do it, and never had she seen a human accomplish it. And given Yang’s statement just before her ingestion, she had a feeling this wasn’t a temporary accommodation… On the outside, Yang reached up with one finger and picked at her teeth. She got a bit of black fur out from between two of them, flicking it away as her gut swelled out, making her glad she was naked. She smirked cockily as she placed her non-robotic hand on her belly, feeling the movement and shifting of a Faunus in immense distress beneath her tightly-stretched flesh, the rounded dome of her gut constantly bulging with kicks and punches. Yang hiccupped, then belched out loud, thumping her chest with her metal fist and chuckling to herself. “Didn’t think I had it in me, jeez…” “L-let me OUT OF HERE!” Lisa cried, her voice cracking in distress as pure terror seeped into her mind. “I-I- how?! Wh-what’re you going to do?! I-I’m- th-this is horrible!” “I thought it was pretty obvious…” Yang snorted, tracing her finger in circles around her stomach, peering over her shoulder to make sure the door was still closed. “I’m not letting yoooOOUURrrrp leave.” “O-oh GOD this is disgusting…!” Lisa whimpered as she pushed out against the stomach walls, only for them to contract with another heavy belch that stole away more of the air in Yang’s already tight, barely-survivable stomach. “J-just- let me- EEK!” Lisa was cut off by the force of Yang flopping herself into bed, her naked form hitting the sheets haphazardly and her belly sloshing around wildly for several seconds as she lay back on her side, a deep sigh of satisfaction rolling out of her. “You’re gonna take weeks to work off…” She mumbled, shuffling and laying her head on her metal arm. “But…mmh. bbhhHHUURRp! At least you’re not gonna hurt Ruby now.” “I-I wasn’t- H-HELP! L-let me OUT! HEEELP!” Lisa’s cries fell on deaf ears as the gurgles and churns of Yang’s stomach rang out around her, working her stomach muscles along Lisa’s now naked skin as powerful acids ate away at her clothing. Yang fell asleep with a wide grin on her face, licking her lips softly as the cries of the kitty in her stomach were drowned out by her own digestive system getting to work. --- “Aw, damnit…” Yang expressed her exasperation vocally as she stood in front of the mirror the next morning, grimacing visibly while she attempted to tug her tight pants past the plumpness of her ass. “Knew she’d come back to bite me.” She remarked, looking back at her butt, which was large enough now that she simply couldn’t pull her pants up no matter how hard she tried. She tried bouncing up and down—which earned a few deep, meaty glunks from her belly as the slop sitting inside bounced with her—but it did nothing to help. Defeated, she dropped her pants and turned around, analyzing her form. She had gotten bigger in every way but height. Her breasts were now pushing the limits of double-Ds, and her belly carried enough extra chub to completely cover her perfectly toned abs and replace them with a muffintop that would hang over her waistband if she could even wear pants. Her thighs, hips and butt were so thick and wide that she looked more like a mom than a young woman in her early 20s, and overall…she just felt heftier. Hefting one of her cheeks with her metal hand, she gave it a firm SMACK that left a red handprint for a moment before it started to fade away. “Gah…I’m gonna need to wear a skirt today…” She grumbled. “And get new clothes. Still…easier to explain to Ruby than the whole thing with you.” She jiggled her belly at that statement, giggling a bit to herself as a foul, guttural BELCH roared up her throat from the movement, ejecting a few scraps of leftover black fur. “Eugh. Is that what Blake means when she talks about hairballs…?” Yang grimaced at the thought, then shook her head. She slipped into her jacket and shirt, which embarrassingly left her gut hanging out the bottom, and managed to find a skirt—helpfully supplied by Lisa—that would at least mostly hide her plump butt. If she was lucky, Ruby wouldn’t even notice her new gains until later… For now, Yang bundled up Lisa’s things in her backpack and stowed it in the closet. She’d get rid of those later, when the others wouldn’t see them. For now, it was time to break the news to Ruby and the rest—and probably dispose of whatever was left of Lisa, burbling in her lower guts…

Jasmine 6 Cynthia quietly watched the Gomez twins being stripped and washed, unsurprised by their announcement of a few minutes ago; in truth, volunteers often came in groups to support one another and to share in the pleasure of being food. A whole squad of cheerleaders had tried to sign up at the beginning of school, hoping to integrate being devoured into their cheer routine. Unfortunately for the plants of the VSP, their coach had forbidden them from doing their “full tour” routine until their final competition show in March. Cynthia was particularly annoyed about this; her plants needed food, and those cheerleaders were hardly good for anything else. There were a dozen girls on that squad that were reserved until next semester, one dozen bimbos who had clearly exchanged brain mass for boobs and ass. They were good, nutritious meat, too; she’d tested them personally. Speaking of testing… Cynthia realized that all her new livestock girls were lying quietly on their drying-towels, waiting for the next step in their processing to start. She waved to get her assistant’s attention, who was eyeing the row of naked girls on the floor appreciatively. It was time to assess what sort of meat she had available. Jasmine awoke from a pleasant dream to find herself once more in the arms of Mark, being carried over to the examination table in the middle of the room. She was deposited gently on its padded surface. “What’s going on?” she asked groggily. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing major,” Cynthia told her, patting her on the head. “We’re just giving you a physical exam to assess your nutritional value. Just relax and try to enjoy it; it’ll be over soon enough.” Jasmine couldn’t help but think that there was a lot of being told to relax and enjoy herself involved with being livestock. Then again, she reminded herself, she was meat now, and the property of the Vore Science Program as well. Jasmine Gomez didn’t matter anymore, other than as source of calories for a plant. For some reason, that idea was very arousing. Not that there weren’t other reasons for her to be aroused right now. The physical exam was very…personal. Cynthia measured the size of Jasmine’s generous boobs, then gave each of them a prospective squeeze. This was followed by further squeeze-tests at various points of her body. “Very nice, Jasmine,” commented Cynthia happily. “You’ve easily got the tenderest meat of all our new livestock- and the most of it, too! And it’s good, solid meat, too, not just fat.” She beamed at Jasmine in delight. “If you’ve got any nutritional value at all, you will be one of the finest, most succulent meals some lucky plant will ever receive! Why, it’s almost a shame to use a body this gorgeous as plant food!” “Enough of a shame to let me go?” Jasmine asked. “Nope. But it’s not like you’d leave, even if you could.” “What makes you so sure of that?” Jazz asked, trying and failing to sound skeptical. Cynthia laughed as she stuck her fingers into the prone girl’s vag, making her moan happily. “I know because you are easily one of the most submissive human does I’ve ever met,” Cynthia said, wiping her glistening digits on an indicator pad, which turned green. “And you have exceptionally nutrient-rich flesh as well. My, my, it’s as if you specifically evolved to be nothing but a perfect meal for whatever predator was lucky enough to come across you. That’s kinda sexy; you should be proud.” Jasmine was proud. She was the best livestock girl, or ‘doe’ of the bunch; the ID tag Cynthia clipped on her wrist said so. “DOE 142, nickname “Jasmine.” 156 lbs. Grade-A, Prime. Property of Sunny Valley High School.” Of all the other does, Cameron was the only other whose meat was grade A, and she weighed less than half what Jasmine did. No question; Jazz was the single best meal to be had among the new girls. Once they had all been assessed and tagged, the new livestock girls were ushered into a comfortably-furnished room adjacent to the school kitchens. There was soft carpeting, cushions, and a serving window for the lunch staff to deliver food through. They all moved to get comfortable in their new living space. However, when Jesse tried to walk through the door, Cynthia caught her arm. “Sorry, but you’re on the menu tonight already,” she cheerily informed the redheaded doe, who scowled, but did not resist as she was walked away. Jasmine, Olivia, Sabrina, and Cameron watched her pert ass heading off down the hallway, knowing that they would all take that one-way stroll soon. Mark closed the door on them and locked it. Cynthia marched Jesse through the school’s empty hallways toward the science wing. The naked doe muttered and grumbled under her breath as they walked, bare feet making echoing slaps against the stone floor. After a while, Cynthia broke the silence. “You’re obviously not happy about being food. I get that; it’s instinctual, at least for most people.” “No shit,” growled the busty redhead. “In a few hours I’m going to be melting in some plant’s digestion sac, and in a week no one will even remember I existed. They’ll be too busy watching some new girl getting digested.” Cynthia nodded understandingly. “I have to ask though, if you hate the idea of being prey so badly, why don’t you fight me? Try to escape?” Jesse snorted. “Why would I give you something more to get off to? I’ve seen you when you’re tying up some prey girl; you like feeling like you’re putting bitches in their place.” “That is true,” Cynthia admitted. “But I like to think that I just have an appreciation for natural order. Prey should act like prey; it’s what they were born to be. Animals are instinctively programmed to enjoy their natural function- it’s why eating and mating and rearing young bring so much pleasure. So why shouldn’t prey enjoy fulfilling its function?” “That has hardly anything to do with what I just said. You’re just crazy, aren’t you? Gone off the deep end feeding girls to plants and fucking yourself,” Jesse said, irritably. Cynthia just giggled, half-confirming Jesse’s suspicions. She stopped abruptly by a door to a classroom and opened it, motioning for Jesse to go inside. The livestock girl walked through it without a word. Inside, there was a large green blob more than 3 feet across, resting in the form of a rough spheroid beneath a heat lamp. Apart from a few milky streaks running through it, the blob was completely transparent. “This is a chlorophytic amoeba colony,” said Cynthia as the green mass began to ooze slowly toward Jesse. “It has billions of normal-sized amoebas in it, all working together.” The blob began to circle Jesse’s ankles and crawl up her legs. Trying to sound casual, she asked, “Amoebas are animals, not plants. What’s with the heat lamp?” “These amoebas contain photosynthetic algae. They split their energy intakes 50-50, so you’ll actually last twice as long in there! It still hasn’t quite finished off Rebecca- she’s those streaks in the goo. Took her almost two months before she got too melty and passed out. You’ve got a nice long digestion to look forward to. And it’s a nice pred, too. You can move around pretty easily in there, get comfortable.” “Well that’s-“ *Gasp!* “G-good to know…oh god…my pussy..” The blob had been climbing steadily up Jesse’s legs until its pull became too strong to resist. She fell to her knees, submerging herself up to her waist in the green goo. She then slid slowly to her side and curled into a fetal position, revealing her pussy. Her labia were swollen with arousal, and spread wide; the blob was forcing its way into her vagina, causing incredible pleasure. Jesse was panting and gasping in delight as the green ooze gently slurped in her head with a gentle squelch. Cynthia took a moment to masturbate herself to orgasm, then marked the date and time on a calendar hanging on the wall. “Doe human 141, fully consumed at 5:37 pm. Time to digest commencing.” Before leaving, she turned to the blob, back under its heat lamp digesting its meal of girl-meat, and said, “When I was talking about the whole enjoying your purpose in nature…I was talking about me. Currently, my purpose is caring for and feeding the plants in the VSP; ergo, I enjoy it. But, if a time came that I were needed to feed one of my plants…I’d enjoy doing that as well.” She stood in silence for a bit, listening to the captive doe’s moans as she came and came inside the amoeba, envying her. She then left, closing the door behind her.

Jasmine’s Story: Epilogue “Have you eaten to your satisfaction?” “Yes, Meat, I have. I can get in my crate any time you want me to.” “Thank you. Do you mind if I ask…how was she?” “Stunningly delicious. She’s still alive in there, you know. If you want to know personally how she tastes and feels, you’ll have to join her. I’ve got room, you know. I’ve always got room, especially for you, Meat.” Cynthia Culpepper gulped as she nervously replied, “I thought I asked you not to call me that. It’s not like you’ve caught me yet. Or like you ever will get me. And until you do, I’m still just a normal human girl. Not meat, not food, a girl. That might change someday, but not now.” On the video chat screen before her, the plant-girl laughed. “Oh, silly little morsel, why is it so hard for you to understand? Meat, food, girl, these are all the same thing! It’s not something that’s conditional; the fact that I haven’t eaten you yet doesn’t change your fundamental nature as prey. I’ll show you that someday…” “Not today,” Cynthia reiterated, quashing the nervous butterflies in her stomach. She was talking to this plant-girl through a computer; there was no real danger, no matter what was said. The two of them were separated by half a building and several locked doors. She was safe. If only she could convince herself of that. Something of her internal struggle must have shown on her face, because the plant-girl laughed. “Don’t worry your poor, sweet, tender little head over it,” Said the plant-girl, with a predatory grin. “I’m not going to eat you now. I’ve got a plant to catch. You see, there’s another young scientist, rather like yourself, back in the town I was sent here from. She’s a lot like you, smart, pretty, inquisitive, and sadly deluded about her nature as a food item for me. I’m supposed to be the subject for her grad school thesis, you see, but I’ve gotten bored of being studied, and someone needs to teach that walking piece of boob-meat a lesson.” She stopped talking for a moment to like her lips; apparently the very idea of this girl was making her hungry. “Anyway, she’s the next meal on my menu. You don’t need to worry about me until I come back here in a couple months. Then I’ll eat you.” She leaned in close to the screen, making Cynthia flinch. “And believe me, meat, you’ll appreciate your place in the world then. You enjoy your remaining time, miss stuck-up science bitch, because you don’t have much left. Before you know it, I’ll be back here, and you won’t be able to pretend any longer that you are anything more than a helpless animal for me to consume. “And if you think you’ll be able to go with any sort of dignity…think again. I promise, you will go down into my stomach begging for me to digest you. Just like the food you always were.” The video call ended, leaving Cynthia alone in a dark room. Even though she wore nothing but an unbuttoned lab coat, she was sweating. At the other side of the school, the plant-girl sighed as she turned off the computer monitor and stretched, causing her stomach to gurgle. “Ah, my lovely food,” she said, caressing her bulging belly, imagining how it would feel in the morning, after it had finished processing the generous helping of meat inside it. “You have no idea how good you have it, how simple and easy your life is. All you need to worry about in life is how tasty and nutritious you are, and how much you’ll enjoy being eaten. No freak scientists who had to go and make you, no constant worrying about whether they’ll decide to try to put you down. "Really, I feel like I'm the victim here. I'm the one whose favorite food struggles and whines and cries and bargains and just throws a fit whenever I'm trying to get a decent meal. Can you imagine every time you sat down to dinner that it begged you to spare its life? How annoying that would get? "Although, to be fair-" she squeezed one of Jasmine's nice meaty boobs through her stomach wall, running her hands over the naked meal's helpless body, "you have done an exceptional job of appreciating your place in the natural order." Jasmine did not speak, but hummed happily as she rubbed her body into the plant's stomach walls, loving the sensations of digestion. It was like her whole body was as sensitive as her pussy, and every inch of her flesh was receiving loving caresses from an expert masseuse: a belly designed to digest hot young girls like her. The plant girl chuckled as she felt Jasmine masturbating with both hands; this meal had no interest in fighting. The human doe was enjoying her demise far too much to consider that. Inside, Jasmine was staring to find it hard to breathe; the air in the stomach with her was growing more stale and humid by the minute, filling her mouth and nostrils with the scent of sweat and nectar and pussy. “Ahh..ahhh…AHHH!” The human doe screamed, her body racked by yet another orgasm, her strongest one yet. Her cry was heard only by the plant-girl, who laughed, continuing to stroke her engorged belly. Squelching and gurgling sounds surrounded the meat that used to be Jasmine while she lay limp and helpless, whimpering from the incredible pleasure. A new scent and taste was creeping into the sea of slimy flesh and enzymes around her; a dim part of her mind realized that the scent was her own. The plant-girl was fully claiming her as her own, digesting her down into nutrients and calories to use up and forget about. The food-girl’s vision was dimming, even as a new, still more powerful wave of pleasure began building up in her loins. She tried to push her fingers into her pussy, to speed up the climax, but she was too weak. Then the stomach walls around her tightened again, compressing her soft, tender body. Her large, delicious boobs were shoved up into her face, stimulated beyond anything she would have thought possible. Powerful muscles caressed her long toned legs, tucked tight against her smooth belly. Everywhere the stomach walls pushed and rubbed and ravaged her body, drenching her with sweet-smelling gastric fluids. Melting away into a nutritious slurry, the meat that used to be Jasmine Gomez experienced her last, greatest orgasm. The strain of it was too much for her to take, and she plunged into an exhausted state of unconsciousness. As her mind faded into an enjoyable, hot, slimy haze, a last thought flitted through her brain. “I was never anything but meat to feed to a predator...and I love it!”

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants snakes, Ch. 12 Cassie’s Goodbye Text appeared on the screen reading “on the drive home” and faded away; the black background faded as well, giving way to the shaky, noise-dimmed feed of a mobile phone’s camera. Cassie had ditched the business suit for a tank top and shorts and was driving some sort of van down a mostly-empty freeway. The sky was gray overhead. “I just don’t get it, she said at length, drawing a “Hmm?” from the cameraman. “This whole thing is weird. A snake whose owners all vanish, then vanishes itself? And that whole deal with Dr. Sims…I mean, he’s the main administrator at the Humane Society. Not knowing anything about the snake is one thing, but giving cryptic, contradictory hints about it? Come on, if he was paying any attention at all to what he was saying he would have realized how bullshit his story was, and that’s not even going into how hard he tried to dodge the subject. Something strange is going on, and you know what? It’s starting to creep me out. How about you?” “No, it doesn’t seem creepy,” said the cameraman, “Or at least it didn’t until you put it all in one pile like that. ’Course this could all still just be part of that script you wrote up-“ “JOSH! I told you that I wanted this to be as natural and realistic as possible.” “I know. It’s just that you’ll have to forgive me if I trust my ability to locate hidden cameras more than I trust your promise that this isn’t one huge, freaky practical joke.” “I know it seems weird…well, not to me, actually, but you haven’t been around the people that I have for the past couple years.” “A fact I grow ever more grateful of on an hourly basis,” said Josh the cameraman. They were off the freeway now. He turned the camera to face straight ahead, showing the road ahead of them. “You know, we don’t have to have the camera running the whole time.” “I told you, I do some of my best thinking while I’m driving! I don’t want to think of something brilliant and miss filming it.” “I don’t think there’s any danger of that.” “Ok, Mr. Smartass, I know you think I’m crazy, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I am perfectly capable of-…what the hell?” The van had just pulled into the driveway of a ranch-style house on a normal suburban street (text on the bottom of the screen gave the date, time, and location, explaining that this was Cassie’s place of residence). Cassie threw the vehicle in park and jumped out, running to the front door. Cursing, the cameraman dropped the phone, leaving the camera pointing down into the upholstery. Though tinny and distant, voices could be faintly heard. “What the hell is your problem?” “Do you see this box? ‘Caution, live snake!’ This is some sick practical joke, it has to be.” “What, now it seems like a practical joke?” “This isn’t funny! Just go get my phone, quick! I’ll bring it inside.” Footsteps approached, along with the voice of the camera guy muttering something about ‘crazy chick’ and the camera was picked up and turned off. The scene cut to a steady shot of the inside of the house; from the look of things a video camera on a tripod had been set up in a corner of the living room, giving a clear view of a couch, armchairs, tv, and a kitchen at the far end of the open space. In the middle of the room was a large box which Cassie was kneeling next to, frowning. Turning to the camera she said, “Hey there viewers. We’ve encountered a rather…strange…development in the investigation today.” She opened the box, reached in, and pulled out a snake. It was an unusual-looking thing; mottled gray and brown, its scales were arranged in raised rings around its chubby-looking body, which was about 2 feet long. “This scaly little guy apparently arrived in the mail this afternoon,” explained Cassie, allowing the snake to twine itself around one of her arms. “The sender? Get this- ‘Dr. Luke Sims.’ I don’t know what he’s playing at, and if the Humane Society weren’t closed for the day I’d be heading right the fuck back over there and asking him what’s going on. I mean, it’s obvious that he’s no danger- and yes, I checked, he doesn’t have fangs, he’s not venomous, and he’s too small to do anything serious just by squeezing. But something screwy is definitely going on, and I intend to find out what.” She gently removed the snake from her arm and placed it back in the box, though she left the lid open. The little brown reptile lifted up its head and rested it on the edge of box, staring at Cassandra, but she paid no attention to it. “It’s getting late in the day, and I still haven’t had supper, so I’m going to leave off the investigation for now. And just in case something unexpectedly bad happens, I’m going to have Josh monitoring me from cameras around the house. If anything at all happens, he’ll know right away.” From there, the video went into a brief montage, showing clips of Cassie cleaning, making supper, watching tv, etc… The timestamp in the corner of the screen showed how much time was actually passing (about five hours or so). As it got late, Cassie found herself leaning back in a recliner, watching tv. Occasionally she looked down at the snake in its box. The reptile had remained calmly in its box all day, moving only to keep its head facing Cassie. She stared at it for a while, then went back to watching the tv. Only a careful observer would notice that she continued looking back at the snake with increasing frequency, staring into its beady eyes for a minute or two before returning to her show. It wasn’t until 11:30 at night that she finally turned off the tv and headed toward her bedroom. The view shifted from camera to camera as she went, keeping sight of her at all times as she brushed her teeth and washed her face. She went to her bedroom from there. Leaving the door ajar, she slipped off her shorts and tank top, revealing that she went full commando. The lithe, curvaceous girl stretched, sticking out her smoothly rounded butt and chest as she did so. Abruptly she gave a start, looking at the camera. “Forgot about that one,” she said, giggling. She struck a modelling pose, and said, “I hope you enjoyed the show.” With a wink, she reached into a drawer and pulled out a pink silk chemise, slipping it on and turning out the light. It must have been a really good camera, because after a moment of re-adjusting, the room became completely and clearly visible in the dim light from the window. Cassie lay on her bed, casually fingering herself and paying the camera no heed. After a few minutes, she moaned slightly, smiled, then rolled over and went to sleep. The camera just stayed focused on her sexy body for a minute, then cut to the living room camera. A vehicle could be heard pulling up into the driveway, and was followed by the sounds of car doors and two people chatting happily. The front door opened and a muscular young guy walked in, closely followed by a voluptuous girl wearing glasses and a lab coat. They carefully closed the front door, generating a small gust of air that wafted the front of the lab coat open, revealing that it was the only thing the girl was wearing. The couple kept their voices down, but a few snatches of conversation could be heard as they made their way toward the bedrooms. “…lights off?” “Must be asleep…” “Think we can keep it quiet?” “Only one way to find out, hehehe….” Practically groping each other as they went, the pair entered a bedroom across the hall from Cassie and closed the door. The house was still and silent once again. For a time. The video fast-forwarded about an hour. The living-room camera picked up some movement. The snake was climbing out of its box, stretching itself out at it did so. Its scales rustled quietly as its body elongated; like an accordion expanding, the sharply defined ridges in its body became smooth. The creature shuddered, sending a hairpin-bend sliding down its length with a sound not unlike someone cracking their joints after a long period of being sedentary. It looked like a completely different creature now; its short, pudgy-looking body was replaced with a lithe, cable-like form more than six feet long and no more than an inch thick at any point along its length. After it looked at the carpeting beneath it, and its color began to shift, paling to the same dusty cream as the living room floor. Satisfied with its condition, the snake purposefully slithered out of its box, a shining streak across the darkened floor, moving with predatory purpose toward Cassie’s room. The scene switched to the bedroom camera. Cassie still lay on her bed, eschewing sheets and blankets; it must have been a warm night. In the crack between door and doorframe, the snake’s head appeared. It flicked its tongue, tasting the air, then began slithering into the room, making a beeline for Cassie’s bed. She stirred slightly as it reached up, slithering onto her bed where it gathered its body into a coil. Then, incredibly, it reached out with its head and nudged her foot. “Huh, what?” said Cassie sleepily, sitting upright. She fumbled at the wall by her headboard, hitting the lightswitch. In the sudden brightness, she stared at the snake on her bed. “Oh,” she said in a very small voice. “You are the snake I’ve been researching, aren’t you?” The reptile flicked its tongue at her, but did nothing more in response. “You wouldn’t…you wouldn’t be…hungry…by any chance, would you?” The snake seemed to recognize the word ‘hungry,’ perking up its head as soon as she said it and reaching forward to chomp its mouth on her toes for a moment. Cassie gulped. She stared at it, and it stared back. “I’m… I-I mean, I can get away you know.” The snake did nothing, just continued to stare. “I wouldn’t even need to do that; you’re so skinny I could fight you off easily.” Her talk was aggressive, but her eyes told a very different story indeed. They were wide open, like pale coins set into her face, and she wasn’t blinking. “I could take you on, no problem,” she said, her voice taking on a faintly squeaky property. The snake yawned, almost as if to mock her, then began slithering forward from its coiled position. It darted around her ankles and used the resulting loop of its body to pull her feet together. Cassandra gulped, and began sweating profusely. Her eyes remained fixed on the snake. Unknown to everyone, even to James and Melissa, being tied up was a bit of a secret weakness of Cassandra’s. Not that she was ever in very good control of her sexual impulses, but being tied up seemed to make her brain decide, ‘Well, they got me. I guess I belong to them now; should probably reward them somehow…’ Unfortunately for her, this snake would not likely be satisfied by an evening of roughhousing and sexcapades. As it unhinged its jaw and began slurping down her toes, it became very clear that the snake was looking for a much more…permanent relationship. Cassie sat stock-still as the snake slowly slid its way up her legs, using a continuous rippling motion with its mouth to draw itself forward. It was a tight fit; the snake’s body conformed perfectly to every curve of her legs. Even her toes could be distinguished as more and more girl slipped into the snake’s gullet, never to return. “Oh, help,” whimpered Cassie in a very small voice. It might have been a trick of the camera, but it seemed as though the serpent rolled its eyes at that. Like it was saying, “Yeah. Call for help. They’re just across the hall; yell and they’ll save you, stay silent and you’re meat. I think we can agree on the better of those options… Cassie nodded limply, a look of helpless frustration on her face. Softly she said, “Maybe it’s better this way. I was just playing at being a reporter, after all. It’s not like I was ever going to have a way to catch you. Oh, who am I kidding, I’ve been play-acting at life. Time to wake up and face reality.” The snake’s mouth reached the summit of her knees, enveloped them, and continued. “I shouldn’t even be here, I should be digesting with Ann, like I wanted too from the start. Oh! James and Melissa will need to know what’s happened tonight! Give me one minute, snake, and then this piece of lesbian ass-meat will be all yours!” She awkwardly lunged over toward her bedside table for a notebook and papers, ending up on her belly. Annoyed that the top of its head was now underneath her body, the snake hissed in momentary displeasure and began rotating its mouth around her to get back in position. Ignoring it, Cassie scribbled a short message onto the notebook, eager to get back to being snake food. In three seconds the following message was down in the notebook in Cassandra’s most unintelligible scrawl: Was investigating snake Found it, fed it. Pls take care of it while I’m gone Josh the Camera Guy visiting soon; will explain things Pls bury me by Venus Girltrap once snake shits me out thx Bye PS. Melissa, try this ASAP! Digesting = super hot!!! Plus, it’s what meat like you should be doing anyway See you soon! PPS. Love you both XOXOXO!!! “Now that’s taken care of,” said Cassie, tossing the notebook away and looking over her shoulder. The snake was already taking in her waist at a rapid pace, moving on to her stomach; its jawline had disappeared beneath her nightie. “How rude of me to leave this on,” said Cassie. Tears suddenly filled her eyes. “You must think I’m such bad food for wearing clothes like this.” She grabbed the front and pulled, tearing the delicate fabric apart to reveal her soft, milky-smooth skin. “Forgive me, please,” she went on, sliding her hands down her sides and slipping them into the snake’s advancing mouth. That was much better. With the constant suction coming from the snake’s gullet, she had absolutely no hope of getting them back out, though with a little effort she was able to slide them around to her front, so as to better pleasure herself. Not that this wasn’t already pleasurable; caress of muscle that rolled down her form with every swallow felt beautiful on her skin, easing away the tensions of a day spent on her feet, tenderizing her own muscles to buttery softness. A delightful tingling sensation began creeping up her legs, and Cassie found herself becoming even more feverishly aroused. “There must be aphrodisiacs in its digestive enzymes,” thought the small, rational part of her brain not focused on sex or being good prey. “Who cares as long as it feels good,” thought Cassie’s sex-brain. “Less thinking! Meat doesn’t think, it digests!” thought prey-Cassie, and the rest of her mind shut up, though she still reveled in the ocean of orgasmic bliss that was slowly enveloping her. Hot slimy muscles groped every inch of her body, inflaming her pussy and making her nipples stand erect. The reptile’s jaws were right underneath her boobs now, and they were beginning to push them up into her face. The meal formerly known as Cassandra whimpered a little bit; the tugging sensation on her breasts was a little painful. It quickly passed as the tight ring of snake-mouth enveloped them one after the other. Plop, plop, and the discomfort began melting away, replaced by new, deliciously sensitive erogenous zones for the snake’s GI tract to stimulate. “Pain shouldn’t matter anyway,” she- no, it thought, “that doe is just an animal being consumed by a predator that successfully hunted and caught it. It doesn’t have any rights. There is no reason why it should receive any pleasure; that girl exists solely as food.” The meat-girl gasped for air as the snake’s throat enveloped its own, then suddenly found its pleasured moans muffled. Scaly lips slid over her own, then over the nose, eyes, and finally to a close over the top of the meal’s head. The prey was now completely ingested, trapped inside its living tomb of snake. The meat was sealed in with vacuum-press tightness, detailing every tiny feature of its body. Nipples were visible, right down to the areolas, along with every other detail of the succulent food; belly button, eyes, lips, ears, even the patterns of flattened hair pressed against her could be discerned. Cassandra screamed; the sensations were just too much for her. The heat, the darkness, the rich sweet scent of her own digesting meat, the massaging muscles pressing in, crushing her from all sides, not enough to be painful but….he screamed again. Her snake-wrapped body shook as constraining stomach muscles struggled against its meal’s instinctive attempt to convulse in orgasm. Across the hall, a door creaked open. A groggy female yawn could be hear, followed by sluggish footsteps headed for the kitchen. The scene cut to a camera in the hall which showed Melissa, completely naked exiting her and James’s bedroom. Not seeming to notice the light coming from the Cassie’s ajar door, she headed for the kitchen and sleepily went about getting a cup of water. The clink of glass, the rumbling whoosh of a running sink, and the sound of quiet slurping came faintly to the tingling ears of the snake-encased meat. The food girl paid no heed; it only cared about pleasure and digestion, and it was receiving large quantities of both. Footsteps came back from the kitchen, past to door to Cassie’s former room and were about to re-enter the bedroom across the hall when they paused. “Cassie…are you up?” asked Melissa, still sounding sleepy. The glass of water had woken her enough to make her question the light coming from her friend’s room. Cautiously she pulled the door open… The camera view switched to the one inside Cassie’s room, providing viewers with a gorgeous full-frontal view of Melissa staring down at the one-time girl’s snake-encased form. She wasn’t wearing her glasses, so it must have been hard for the grad student to make sense of what she was looking at. Her initial expression of slack tiredness slowly morphed into confusion, and from confusion into shock. Her jaw dropped, and her breathing sped up. “C-Cassie…you-you’re….JAMES!” the voluptuous botanist called, her voice shaky. The snake, which had made no acknowledgement of her presence while she was just looking at it, suddenly lunged into action at her cry. Moving with more flexibility than a gut full of girl would seem to naturally allow, the serpent surged forward, winding its meat-filled body around Melissa, choking off her throat and pinning her arms, one in front of her and the other to her side. Cassie’s tender snake-wrapped body was being smushed face-to-face against her. They were pressed so close that their lips could touch. Melissa’s eyes were wide with terror, her chest heaving as she worked to breathe through restricted airways. The snake moved its head to stare her in the eye; her pupils grew wide, and she relaxed her body a little. Abruptly, Melissa leaned forward and kissed Cassie’s snake-covered mouth; immediately the meat-girl responded, pressing back eagerly and beginning to properly make out. Melissa squeaked as Cassie, or at least the meat that used to be Cassie began rubbing her pussy through the latex-thin barrier of snake. With only a moment’s hesitation, she closed her eyes, sighed, and began to return the favor. All the while the snake stared into Melissa’s beautiful face, never blinking. Both girls were moaning quickly, boobs rubbing up and down against each other, locked by the snake’s coils into a sensuous embrace. They wriggled and rubbed, while the snake’s body made slow pulsations around Cassie’s body. Gasps and moans became more and more frequent. Their efforts to get each other off before they both became snake food grew more vigorous, so much so that the rhythmic ‘squish, squish, squish’ of Cassie’s fingers entering Melissa’s pussy could be heard on the camera feed. As this went on, Cassie’s form seemed to get softer and softer. The girl retained its general shape, but it seemed to be lengthening and narrowing slightly, bending with the curve of the snake’s body, wrapping sinuously around the uneaten girl. “Oh…Cassie….what….what’s happening to you?” panted Melissa, holding back screams of delight. She knew what was happening; her friend was being digested, and the snake was using her own body to do it. By coiling tightly around the pretty grad student, the snake could easily go about crushing Cassie into a nutritious meaty pulp. “No! Please-” Melissa tried to say, but she was cut off by another scream from the devoured girl, the loudest one yet. Cassandra Amsley, resident lesbian and hot chick, completely lost it within the belly of a snake. More intense pleasure than she would have thought it possible for a girl to feel wracked her tenderized body. Sweet, pungent fluids surged around her within the snake, and the sounds of gurgling quickly drowned out her pleasured screams. Thoughts raced through her mind as her poor young body was ravished, her slick boobs being mashed and jiggled together, her fingers shlicking in and out of her softening pussy. “I’m almost gone- I mean, this whore is almost gone,” she thought, crying from the intensity of the sensations assaulting her. “This little young vore-slut is going to be digested into goo and absorbed for nutrients. That’s all I’ll be in a few hours, nutrients and snake shit! Oh, I can’t think of a more fitting fate for a meal like this. Oh, Ann, if there’s an afterlife, I’m gonna be with you soon! Oh! Ooh! AAHHHHHGH*gulp*GURLGE*cough*GLURCHSPLUTCHGLUTCH!!!” At the height of its meal’s orgasm, the snake tightened its coils against Melissa in one fatal squeeze. The grad student could only listen and feel in erotic horror as a hungry reptile used her own sexy body to reduce one of her very best friends to nutrient slush. The thought sent her completely over the edge herself, whimpering and crying in grief and erotic delight ask her felt her melted friend squishing and surging around her in gooey lumps. Jerking and rubbing and teasing her pussy paid off in a sudden rush of sensation, and suddenly Melissa too was spasming and jerking and screaming with delight. Fluid spewed from her loins and she fell to the floor, her drop cushioned by the Cassie-filled snake. The reptile leisurely extricated its sinuous length from around her body, leaving her in a damp patch of carpeting soaking in sweat and girl-juice. Without a human female to wrap around and spread out the internal distribution of its meal, the snake’s bellyful of melted Cassie collected into a large amorphous bulge in the middle of its body. It slithered forward onto Melissa, pinning her torso in place with the weight of girl-goo inside it. “Are you going to eat me now,” asked Melissa faintly, gazing once more into the snake’s eyes. The creature made no attempt to reply, just continued to stare into her eyes. Melissa began to look droopy and tired once more. She yawned. “What am I doing here?” she asked sleepily, sitting upright and looking around. She stood up and walked over to the light switch and turned it off, returning the room to darkness. “Goodnight Cassie, see you in the morning,” she said, now sounding very sleepy indeed. With that, the nude grad student exited the room, closed the door, and returned to the bed she and James shared, unaware that anything unusual had happened this night. Meanwhile the snake coiled itself on the bed formerly owned by the meat known as Cassandra Amsley and settled in for a good night’s sleep, pleased with its meal and looking forward to partaking of the busty young thing now sleeping obliviously across the hall. The screen faded to black, and credits began to roll.

Emma’s Retirement Speech By Alt-Art-NateDesign Commissioned by no-one-here124 It was a sunny spring day in May. Fresh new leaves and buds rustled as a light breeze wafted through Central Park. Perfect weather for a day at the park. Or, as the case was, a speech… A decent-sized crowd was gathered at the Bethesda Terrace, along with camera crews from a few different news stations. A buxom blond news anchor stood in front of a raised platform with a podium on it, giving a report. “Hello, New York, and good afternoon!” she said. “I’m Sandra Maynard, coming to you live from Central Park, and I gotta say, it is beautiful out here! Perfect weather, in fact, for Emma Watson’s returning speech. Most famous for her role as Hermione from the Harry Potter films, the beloved actress Emma Watson has spent the last twelve months ‘taking a year off,’ wanting to focus on personal growth and make a focused study on the practice and philosophy of Feminism. Well, folks, today marks the end of her seclusion. Yes indeed, Emma is here today to tell us about her year off and what her plans are for the future.” Sandra looked over her shoulder at a group of people standing behind the podium, one of whom gave her a thumbs-up. She turned back to the camera and said, “Well, folks, I could go on, but I think I’ll let Emma give you the story herself. Here she is!” Indeed, there she was, in a cute spring-green dress and long brown hair. The stunning young actress stepped up to the podium with a smile and was immediately greeted by thunderous cheers from the watching crowd. She blushed slightly, but took the praise in stride, waving to her eager fans until they calmed down. Once there was relative quiet she said, “Thank you for the introduction, Sandra. Thank you all as well, for coming here today just to hear me talk about my year off. I’ve got some news that may surprise a lot of you; if it’s ok, I’d like to explain what I’ve learned and my immediate plans, after which I will happily answer any questions that people might have.” “I would like to open by letting everyone know that I am no longer a feminist. Instead, I am now a follower of meatism, and I self-identify as meat.” This statement drew some curious muttering from the crowd, but Emma kept talking, unperturbed. “I really feel that meatism is the next step for feminism, and I feel it is my responsibility to spread the word about this movement and what it means for the modern woman. In fact, I hope that more than a few of you out there in the audience will be inspired by what I have to say today, and will be moved to join me as meat. “Meatism is a relatively new philosophy, though it has quickly been gaining popularity among my fellow celebrities. Many schools are also spreading information about meatism, and some are even re-shaping their study programs to conform to meatism’s beliefs. Supporters, such as myself, are called ‘meat’, and at its core meatism means advocating for the right to be legally classified as meat and being a part of the natural cycle of life and death.” At this, people seemed even more confused, but Emma ignored the murmurs coming from the audience. “That’s not the whole of it, though,” She said. “Part of Meatism is directly taken from old feminist philosophy. According to meatism, men and women are inherently equal; discrimination by gender is degrading, offensive, and more than a little bit stupid. Men and women share a natural, equal place as food. By nature, all creatures serve as a food source for other creatures; the arrogance of modern society and the strictures of the law currently support the false belief that humans are exempt from this natural cycle of life and death. “Meat like me recognizes that this is an illusion. There are an increasing number of human-consuming predators in the world today; I’m sure plenty of you have seen Sandra doing reports on someone or other being devoured.” Off to the side, Sandra nodded, and the audience muttered in agreement. Emma continued, “In addition to the acknowledgement of humanity’s position as part of the food chain, meatism further advances feminism by incorporating environmental responsibility. I’m sure you all know that I’m a cat person, and am fond of animals in general. Part of the appeal to become meat was the knowledge that I’m supporting the health and well-being of our planet. I mean, it’s not like we’re good for much else. “Just think how much damage we’ve done to our world, and think about how many people live their whole lives in unhappiness. We don’t benefit our planet, we hardly benefit our selves; objectively, there’s almost no purpose to humans at all. We’re worthless. I’m worthless. Meatism offers comfort and purpose to people. It shows that we are worth something, as meat for hungry creatures throughout the world! “So when the time comes for me to play my part as meat, I’ll be happy, because it means that I’ll be leaving this planet better than I left it, and that some beautiful animal will be able to live longer and happier by feeding on my body. So, like I said, I really hope you ladies out there can agree with me, that this is the future of feminism. Make a difference, and become what you truly are: Meat!” Emma Watson looked out over the watching crowd, face resolute. There was a bit of a pause, and someone in the audience began clapping. Within seconds, everyone was clapping, people were standing up, cheering even. Soon, Emma was blushing and smiling again, waiting for the excitement to die down. Sandra the news anchor approached the podium. “Well, Miss Watson, that was quite the speech!” she said, laughing. “I can’t speak for everyone here, but as for me, I’m happy to call myself meat right along with you. People deserve the opportunity to contribute to our planet like this.” “Thank you,” said Emma. “In all honesty, I was expecting people to be upset by this.” “I can’t imagine why,” said Sandra. “It’s really quite a reasonable improvement to the framework of feminism. The only reason people would be upset about your speech here would be if you planned to fulfill your role as meat sometime in the near future. Is this the case?” Emma laughed and said, “No, there’s no need to worry about that. It is true that all meat has a duty to be eaten and digested, and I will be happy to fulfill play the role of food once my time comes. However, that should not be for some time; the next role I’m scheduled to play is that of Belle, in an upcoming live-action performance of Beauty and the Beast.” “So, just to clarify, the beast won’t be snacking on the beauty, will he?” “Haha, no, I’m afraid not. I will admit, I may look into scheduling a dinner date with a predator sometime afterward, but the film will be more…traditional.” “Ok, then, just checking,” said Sandra with a warm smile. “So, got any other plans in place?” “Nothing big, though my entourage and I were going to go get hors d’oeuvres after this. Would you like to join us?” “Definitely! Would you mind horribly if I kept asking questions? Nothing major, just a casual interview. You could tell me about some of the reading you did over your year off, let viewers know more about what you got up to,” Sandra said. Emma agreed with her, and after a brief goodbye to the audience, the party left for Tavern on the Green. Security had to discourage a few of the more obsessive fans from tagging along, but there weren’t any real incidents, and Emma’s group was free to enjoy a lovely stroll through the park. At least, they were for a while. A few minutes’ walk away from the terrace the party passed an especially thick cluster of bushes. From inside the dense foliage, a pair of bulbous eyes stared greedily at the young actress. Emma Watson was in the middle of answering one of Sandra’s questions when a pink flash darted out from the bushes to strike her in the back. The pink beam vanished as quickly as it had come, taking the back of Emma’s dress with it. “What was that?!?” she yelped, as her ruined clothing slid off her. Nothing remained of the back of her dress but a few shreds of cloth dangling down over her shoulders. Several members of her entourage were pleased to note that there was very little underneath. A soft cotton chest-wrap around her upper body was the only thing still solidly situated on her body; whatever it was that got her dress had torn off a large portion of her panties, causing them to slide to the ground. Emma’s cute butt was exposed for everyone to see. Sadly, they didn’t have long to enjoy the sight; the pink thing returned, landing squarely on the pretty actress’s tush. It took a moment for it to draw back this time, giving everyone a chance to look at it. Apart from being pink, it had a soft, fleshy look, and stretched back toward the bushes… …into the mouth of a giant frog. A few quiet “wow!”s escaped the lips of the onlookers (which included an ever-increasing number of park-goers). Most everyone knew about the experiment from PD Labs, where a woman got fed to a frog named Jimmy. This thing was considerably bigger than Jimmy, practically the size of a smart car. And its tongue had a hold on Emma Watson’s bare butt. She had just enough time to look over her shoulder and see what grabbed her (apparently the frog needed a moment to savor its prize) before being yanked ass-first into the gaping mouth of a ravenous amphibian. Wet lips closed around her, leaving her upper body and sharply folded legs hanging out of the animal’s mouth. “Quick! Start filming!” Sandra told her cameraman, who immediately trained his lens on the actress-in-distress. The anchorwoman stood so as to allow simultaneous filming of her and Emma. “Hello, New York, this is Sandra Maynard, coming to you in a surprise report from Central Park. In an unexpected turn of events, Emma Watson has been seized by a large local frog. To get more information, I’m going to take you to the actress herself. Emma, you’re on. How are you feeling?” “I’m not sure,” said Emma. “On the one hand this feels pretty nice. It’s really soft and squishy inside this big guy’s mouth, and he’s moved his tongue off my butt and onto…oh…other areas….mmmm.” Her eyes unfocused, and she began trying to make rhythmic movements with her hips. The huge tongue pushed out from between the frog’s lips, covered in saliva. The muscular organ slid eagerly over Emma’s exposed midriff, leaving a shining trail of slime, before plunging up between her breasts, ripping off her chest wrap. “Well, that’s good to know,” said Sandra. “But it sounds like you think there’s a downside.” “Well, yeah, kinda,” said Emma, placing her hands on her breasts and kneading them against the sides of the frog’s tongue. “It’s mostly that this really puts a hamper on my career plans. Digestion pretty solidly puts long-term employment out of the question.” The anchorwoman nodded. “I was just about to ask how this affects your plans for the future.” “It’s a little hard to say,” Emma said, frowning a bit. She wiggled her butt inside the frog’s mouth, and it drew her in a bit further with a few small ‘bites’. “A lot of my plans will depend on how fast this big guy here can operate. It definitely looks like I’m going to have to cancel my contract for Beauty and the Beast. I’m a little disappointed about that, I have to say. It’s never good for your reputation to default on a contract.” “I’m sure people will understand,” replied Sandra. She smiled encouragingly, and Emma smiled back. “How do you feel?” “I feel…happy. The circumstances may not be ideal…well, actually they probably are ideal, just not for me. But I’m just the food, I don’t matter here, not as anything more than a helping of lunchmeat. This is what I signed on for when I decided to become meat. I’m fulfilling the purpose nature intended for me, being frog food. “I’d say most of all that I feel fulfilled. I mean, I’ve been an actress for most of my life. I don’t cure sick people, I don’t discover fantastic new technology, I just entertain people. Now that I’m truly meat, I can do so much more than I’ve ever done before! As this frog digests me down into goop and sucks up all the yummy nutrients from me, I’ll be contributing to a living creature’s life in a concrete, positive way. My only regret, to be honest, is that I wasted time making plans to work on another movie. I mean, seriously, what right does a mouthful of frog food have making a movie? This is my true place and purpose, right here, feeding this wonderful animal.” “Wow, Emma,” said Sandra, tears in her eyes. “That was beautiful. I’m really happy for you; I guess I can only hope it’s this wonderful when I get eaten.” Emma smiled. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’ve decided to become meat,” said Emma. “You won’t regret it.” Before anything more could be said, the frog opened its mouth all the way. A gaping, pink cavern, sloppy with saliva closed over Emma Watson. It was the last any human being would see of her for several days, and the last time she would ever look so pretty. Sandra turned back to address the camera. “There you have it, folks. Emma Watson, beautiful young actress and former feminist is now meat, and her year off is being concluded with a permanent retirement from film and from life. I’m Sandra Maynard, coming to you live from Central Park, and I’ll see you back at the station.” With that, she and her cameraman packed up and left. A decent-sized crowd was still gathered around the frog, which sat comfortably in place, tolerating their presence. Occasionally it would single out a woman in the crowd and wipe a leg against her, leaving a smudge of slime behind to mark her, most likely as a future meal. Some people stared, some were disgusted, and more than a few had a hand down their pants, playing with themselves. Emma was really sexy meat; they were going to miss her. Inside the creature’s mouth, Emma had managed to shift her legs to bend at the knee, leaving her halfway between kneeling and the fetal position. Her bare back was pressed against the firm, cool flesh of the roof of the frog’ mouth, while her knees and shins were pressed into the floor of its mouth. Her milky smooth thighs straddled the thick fleshy tongue, which rubbed eagerly against her exposed pussy. At first she had felt a tiny, little bit embarrassed about the degree to which the experience was arousing her, but she quickly realized that it just meant her swollen labia could rub against the tongue all the more easily. This was going to be wonderfully fun! Lying flat against the muscled appendage, she rubbed herself up and down, wanting her devourer to properly enjoy her flavor. After all, good food should be tasty, as well as filling and nutritious. The lunchmeat formerly known as Emma Watson was eager to be good food, and it seemed that she was; saliva swiftly filled the frog’s mouth, surging around her. Her hair became slick and sloppy with it, her body covered in slime to prepare it for swallowing and digestion. Her pink, warm tongue poked out from between her lips to touch the slimy surface of the frog’s. She gave it a good, long lick, finishing with a full-mouth kiss. The girl-meat grinned, licking her lips, tasting a strange flavor. It was sweet and savory at the same time, with faint hints of flavor that reminded her of the scent of someone’s hair. “This must be what digested girl tastes like!” she exclaimed. It was surprisingly pleasant. Eagerly she plunged her head forward again, mouth open to kiss and lick her devourer’s tongue, feeling the powerful muscle push back against her. The frog sloshed her around its mouth in response to her kisses, its agile tongue pushing into every crevice, curve, and fold of her body, determined to get every last ounce of flavor from this tender mouthful of meat before swallowing it down forever. The meat rubbed her nethers against the tongue faster and faster, feeling a pleasant heat building in her loins. “Oh, oh my, I’m cumming!” she gasped, giving in to the waves of pleasure rocking her body. Juices squirted out of her onto the frog’s tongue, which eagerly rubbed harder into her, delighted by the appearance of a new flavor. The continued rubbing was too much for her poor ravished pussy, which was still sensitive from cumming. Within seconds the feeling transformed from irritation back into pleasure, far more pleasure than last time. Desperate to satisfy the burning need between her legs, the actress formerly known as Emma plunged both hands into her crotch, forcing as many fingers into her snatch as she could manage, she couldn’t tell how many. All that she knew was 23 seconds later, she was hit by a wave of pleasure that could only possibly be described as explosive. Every muscle in her body tensed and strained driven to the limit by the indescribable sensation gripping her. Her mouth was wide open to scream, but only a few soft, feeble squeaks came out. She remained frozen like that for a full ten seconds, then collapsed, half-conscious onto the creature’s tongue, thinking idly about how nice it felt when the muscular organ rubbed and squished her breasts. Suddenly the meat girl found her body lurching backward, being pulled further into the frog. Her muscles were limp with exhaustion after her violent orgasm, leaving her helpless to resist as she was forced bodily into a tight sphincter at the back of the frog’s mouth. Emma knew that by rights she should feel fear, but she just couldn’t manage it. She was too spent, and besides, she had accepted her role in the food chain. She wasn’t an actress anymore, heck, she wasn’t even a person. She was just a lump of meat, albeit a tasty one. “I’m glad to be a role model for young girls like this,” she said sleepily to herself as the top of her head disappeared into the frog’s throat. After only a few inches of esophagus, she found her body being squeezed into a tiny, cramped chamber. The stomach of the frog, the chamber in which she would truly undergo the transformation from living girl to lifeless nutrient paste. God, she was looking forward to dying in here. It was just so comfortable; the stomach was warmer than the frog’s mouth, and it massaged her tired muscles beautifully. Her form felt so small and frail inside the amphibian’s belly; she couldn’t even move from the fetal position. She wondered if this was what it was like to be a packaged piece of meat, vacuum-sealed in a bag. Compressed from all sides, the tight little ball of actress meat gave a sigh of contentment and began to idly finger itself. This was wonderful; every woman out there should have a chance to be food, thought Emma, her mind beginning to grow fuzzy from lack of air. There was a rising fluid level in the stomach too, she realized, along with gurgling sounds that were growing louder and louder. Being meat is amazing, she thought as she faded away, drifting off to a pleasured sleep from which she would not wake. The frog, sensing that its food had fully given in, began leisurely hopping down the path after Sandra and her cameraman. Celebrity meat seemed to agree with it, and in an hour or so Emma would be soft enough to share the stomach with another girl. A news anchor would be the perfect snack. As for Emma’s speech, it caused quite a stir. Many fans were heartbroken that she was now just a digesting pool of chyme, but they understood her reasons for doing what she did, and many of them chose to embrace her philosophy and became meat. Naturally, there were some people who were horrified by Emma’s fate, and they protested loudly against the practice of vore by any creatures. However, these individuals were in the minority, for in surprisingly short order, Meatism almost completely eclipsed feminism as the mainstream pro-women movement. A few years after Emma Watson gave her life over to the natural cycle of life and death, laws were passed making vore and vore-practicing creatures 100% legal in all 50 United States. Many agreed that she would have been proud of that moment They were wrong, of course. Meat doesn’t have opinions.

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants, Chapter 13 A Strange Stranger Pays a Visit A beautiful summer morning dawned in Verdesford, the sun’s broad golden rays sliding silently through James Gardner’s bedroom window, as they had on countless previous mornings. The light played across his face, and he stirred gently, opening his eyes and turning to gaze lovingly at the naked young woman lying next to him. He couldn’t recall how many of his mornings had begun like this anymore; it seemed like he and Melissa had been together forever. His familiarity with this scene did nothing to blunt its beauty, and James happily spent a few minutes watching the rise and fall of his lover’s chest and the peaceful expression on her face. At length, he felt it was time to get up and get breakfast. Leaning over, he planted a firm kiss on Melissa’s forehead, and said, “Hey, it’s morning. Last one dressed has to make pancakes!” To his mild surprise, though, Melissa did not get up. She groaned, sleepily mumbled something he couldn’t make out, and rolled over. James shrugged, deciding there was no need to force her out of bed just yet. He got up and went to take a shower and get dressed. Ten minutes later he emerged from the bathroom, toweling off his hair. Melissa still wasn’t up, and neither was Cassie, so he went to the kitchen and started mixing up some batter. By the time he was ready to start putting the cakes on a griddle, he could finally hear his girlfriend stirring inside their bedroom. “Rise and shine, girls! Pancakes are going in the pan!” he called down the hallway. He listened for a moment, and could hear Melissa pick up the pace. Cassie’s room was still oddly silent; maybe she’d gotten up early today. Soon Melissa came down the hallway to the kitchen, stretching her arms. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” said James, sliding some pancakes onto a plate for her. “What took you so long?” “I dunno,” she said, accepting her food with a grateful smile. “I feel kind of stiff and sore, like I slept funny or something.” “How bizarre,” said James, putting together a second plate of food. “Any clue if Cassie’s going to be joining us?” Melissa slowly chewed and swallowed a bite of pancake before replying. “She might still be in bed. I don’t know what’s up with her, but lately I’ve noticed she’s been staying in bed and rubbing herself off each morning before getting up.” “Well, you’d better go tell her to finish things up if she wants breakfast. I’m not mixing up an whole new batch of batter just because she spent too much time masturbating,” said James, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. “I’ll go get her,” said Melissa, rising. “Thanks. If you don’t mind doing that, I’m gonna go catch the morning news.” James and Melissa each exited the kitchen, her heading toward the bedrooms and him toward the living room. He set his plate and glass down on an end table by his favored couch seat and was about to settle in and turn on the tv when he stopped. He looked over and blinked a few times, just to be sure. There were two things in the room that had not been there the previous night. Actually, he thought to himself, they could have been there last night and he just didn’t notice them. It was dark, and he had been preoccupied to say the least. Still, an expensive video camera on a tripod didn’t come from nowhere, nor did large boxes marked “Caution: Live Animal.” The lid flaps on the box were loosely closed over. Curious, James nudged it open with a toe. Inside, coiled, lay a pale snake, probably around 6 feet long, with a massive bulge in the middle of it body. As soon as the lid was disturbed, the serpent raised its head and looked directly at James with large, dark eyes. There was something uncanny about that snake’s eyes, almost a sparkle in their cold, reptilian depths. They stared at each other for a long minute, human and snake. Eventually the snake seemed satisfied with something and settled back down into its box. Up came the tip of its tail, and it deftly flicked the box lid back closed. James stared, wondering what the hell he just saw. “Mel? There’s something in here I think you should see,” he called down the hallway. His girlfriend called back, “There’s…something in here that you should see too.” “What, has something happened to Cassie? Is she ok?” he said, running to his sister’s old bedroom, where Cassandra had taken up residence. “Yes, something’s happened to Cassie,” Melissa said slowly as he approached. “She is okay, or at least is happy with her condition. She sends her love.” “Has she gone somewhere?” asked James as he entered Cassie’s room. He was struck by a strange smell, like sex and something else, a rich, musky scent that was familiar but hard to place. Melissa was sitting on an unmade bed, holding another video camera in her hand and playing back its recording. Beside her lay a note, on which he recognized Cassie’s nigh-illegible writing. “Yes, Cassie’s gone somewhere,” she said. She looked strangely wan, like she was on the verge of throwing up. “Cassie’s gone somewhere, and…oh, God, I helped send her there.” “What on earth are you talking about?” James made to sit down next to his beloved, who scooted over to make room. “And just so you know, there’s a snake in the living room. Looks like it’s sleeping off a big meal. Do you think Cassie brought it home? I wonder what it was she found to feed it with.” “I know exactly what she fed it.” “Mel, is something wrong? You’re being really weird and vague.” “Just…watch this.” She rewound the recording a bit and handed the camera to James. On the little screen, he watched Cassie woken up in the middle of the night by the same snake now napping in the living room. He watched her pathetic, half-hearted attempts to free herself, watched her give in completely and be consumed. He watched Melissa May Albright, the woman he loved, come into the room. His heart almost stopped as her heard her call out for him through the camera’s tinny speaker. She sounded so terrified, and he’d slept right through it. “Why didn’t you come wake me up?” asked James, looking at her. His girlfriend just shook her head and pointed back to the screen. Now she was wrapped up by the snake, Cassie’s ingested body pressed against her. And now…James stared dumbstruck at the camera. He stared at the sight of his girlfriend making out with Cassie through her snakeskin tomb. He heard the moans and sighs of pleasure as the two girls began to explore each other’s bodies more vigorously. He didn’t move a muscle, so rapt was his attention. He watched Cassie and Melissa climax in succession, the convulsions of their bodies turning the devoured girl to formless mush. And at the end of it all, Melissa simply got up, said goodnight to the melted girl, and wandered back to her bedroom. They both sat in silence for a while, staring at the viewscreen. A little while after on-screen Melissa left the room, the snake had sluggishly slithered out and down the hall toward the living room, presumably to crawl into its box and go to sleep. Real-life Melissa found herself biting her lip and blushing, waiting for James to say something. She had never felt so embarrassed- no, ashamed- for him to find out something about her. Sure, he watched a lot of porn, but he'd never actually been with anyone other than her. How many times had she bugged him about jacking off to pictures and videos? Yet there she was, straight-up having sex with someone else. Having sex, she thought to herself, and getting off on the fact that I helped a snake digest a close friend. Holy fuck, no wonder I've been thinking more and more about what it would be like to get eaten. I deserve it. Her dark thoughts were interrupted by James. "Mel...do you remember this happening last night?" he asked quietly. He turned to look at her, and there were huge tears spilling out of her eyes a she shook her head. She burst out sobbing, and James set down the camera so he could pull her close to him. That just set her off weeping even harder; she looked devastated, like a little girl brought to tears. James had no idea what was going on, so he just held her tightly, rocking back and forth on the spot, and rubbed her back. She'd never been this upset before in all the time he'd known her, and though that worried James, he didn't let it show. He figured the best thing to do right now was to let Melissa cry herself out and hope that she'd feel up to talking once she was done. Thankfully, his hope was not in vain; after a good, long cry, Melissa felt her tears start to ebb and her brain start to clear. Come on, girl genius, pull it together, you can do it, she told herself. She started forcing herself to take deep breaths, filling her lungs to the brim, then completely emptying them. Repeat. And repeat. James could feel her pounding heart slow, and he smiled, kissing the top of her head. "You feeling better at all?" he asked gently, and his girlfriend nodded. She still kept her face turned away, though. He spoke again, his words as soft and careful as footsteps across a minefield. "Do you feel comfortable telling me what upset you?" Melissa took several more deep breaths before replying. When she spoke, her voice was shaky, but clear. "You asked if I remembered f-fucking poor Cassie and mashing her up last night...and I do." She choked back a sob before continuing. "I remember it...I enjoyed it, all of it...and I just can't help thinking about how much I disgust you!" She cut off, breathing hard and fighting back tears. James hugged her still more tightly. "I'm not sure how I feel about this," he said quietly. "But you don't disgust me. You could never disgust me; I love you too much. And don't forget, I've presided over the devouring of both friends and family. I jacked off to the sight of my own sister melting. I'm every bit as fucked-up as you, trust me." He was quiet for a moment to let Melissa digest what he was saying. After a minute or two, James continued. "What I'd like to know is why didn't you tell me you remembered this when you got up this morning. Did you feel bad about it, like now?" His girlfriend shook her head quietly. "It's so weird...but the reason I didn't tell you was because I didn't think about it. I could remember it happening, and I could remember enjoying it, but it didn't seem like something significant enough to be worth bringing up. And just a few minutes ago, when I watched the video...it's like it all hit me at once. One moment it was a pleasant memory, and the next I realized I'm betraying you and killing our friend on-camera." "That's very weird," said James. He was starting to formulate a suspicion about what was going on with Melissa, but he didn't want to say it just yet. It was a fairly crazy-sounding idea, and he didn't want her to think he was making bullshit up to make her feel better. Instead, he said, "Tell you what, let's go back out to the living room and find a nice spot on the couch to cuddle for a bit. Does that sound like a good idea?" Melissa nodded. She was starting to look and feel better, and she was starting to feel the need to eat some brownies. The young couple got up and left Cassie's bedroom, gently closing the door behind them. At Melissa's suggestion, they moved to the kitchen instead of the couch, and began getting ingredients together for a batch of triple-chocolate brownies. The James noticed that the activity of baking really seemed to cheer her up. He deliberately dragged out the process, teasing and fooling around, stealing measuring cups and snitching the chocolate chips. He was rewarded with complaints and slaps on the hand, but however irritated Melissa seemed, she couldn't help but giggle at his antics. Before long, she was smiling properly, much to her boyfriend's delight. She wasn't comfortable with herself and what she'd done last night, but she at least was willing to accept James's forgiveness for it. Eventually the pair got the brownies into the oven and the dirty spoons and measuring cups into the sink. They decided to discuss the day’s plant maintenance while their treat baked, so James pulled out the WFW (watering, feeding, and weeding) schedule, while Melissa dug in the fridge for a couple beers. The two of them were just sitting down to their cold drinks when there was a knock at the door. “I wonder who that could be,” said James, getting back to his feet. Melissa shrugged. “Cassie’s note said something about a guy named Josh coming over today to collect the cameras; maybe it’s him.” “How ‘bout I go find out?” “You do that, Hon. I’m sticking by my brownies.” James laughed and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before darting off to the front door. He opened it and was greeted by a guy…or at least he thought it was a guy. The individual in question was dressed in solid black from the waist up, including a hoodie (with the hood up), polarized sunglasses, and a bandanna (worn over the bottom half of his face. It was an…interesting look. Like an urban ninja joined the Men in Black and decided throw in some style from the ‘hood, the way only a really, really white kid can. “Hey there, can I help you?” asked James, after an awkward pause. The stranger spoke. “Who are you?” “What do you mean, ‘who am I?’ Who the hell are you!?” “I am an associate of Cassandra Amsley. Is she at home?” “Yes, in a manner of speaking,” said Melissa, coming to stand next to James by the door. “She’s not really in a fit state to talk though; she kinda got digested by a snake last night.” The person in black flinched, as if startled. “Holy shit, she wasn’t messing with me. Unless you’re just helping her screw with my head…” he said quietly (After hearing the person’s voice, James was now quite certain that this was a dude). “Trust me, I’m not messing with you. Come on in, I can show you the snake that ate her.” He stepped back to make way for the person, then paused. “You still haven’t told me who you are,” he said. “If I’m going to let you into our house, I want to know your name and see your face.” The guy sighed. “I was afraid it would come to this,” he said. He reached up to pull down his bandanna, remove his glasses, and reveal…the face of a slightly stubble-chinned dude with messy hair and pimples on his nose. He looked to be around 20. “I’m Joshua Norton, also known as Josh the camera guy.” “Oh! You’re Josh!” Melissa exclaimed. When her boyfriend gave her a questioning glance she explained, “Cassie’s note mentioned someone named Josh would be coming by today to pick up the cameras we found.” Josh nodded and quickly put his sunglasses back on, though he did not cover his face with the bandanna again. “Why do you cover your face like that?” James asked. He had stepped aside to let Josh in, and the strange guy headed for the living room to start packing up his cameras. He said something under his breath. “What was that?” “I said, ‘it makes me feel like a ninja’, alright? I figure, since ninjas are cool and nobody sees them, and film students who specialize in videography are cool and nobody sees them- at least on camera- they, and by extension, I, must be some subspecies of ninja! Therefore, I dress appropriately for my calling.” He expertly removed the camera from its tripod and stowed it in a bulky duffel bag that had been stuffed behind the couch. James felt a warm breath by his ear as his girlfriend whispered, “Did he just claim that cameramen are all ninjas?” “…I think so,” said James, watching the black-clad figure pull smaller cameras out from hiding places around the room. He decided to take another stab at starting a conversation. “So, Josh, would you mind telling us how you ended up, um, working with Cassie?” Josh paused and adjusted his glasses. “Do you want the whole story?” “Just the highlights.” “Well, from what Cassandra told me, this all started about a year ago when this girl she had a crush on got eaten,” said Josh, finishing packing the living room cameras and moving on into the hallway. “That would be my sister Ann,” said Melissa as she and James followed. “Cassie wanted to get eaten with her, but it didn’t work out.” “Yeah, I remember her saying something about that. Anyway, Ann must have wanted to make it up to her somehow, because she sent Cassie a package in the mail, timed to arrive after she digested. It had a business suit, some newspaper clippings, and a letter in it that told Cassie about a predatory snake living in secret at the local Humane Society. Ann wanted her to make a film investigating the snake in the business suit- quoting your sister, ‘because it’ll look really hot.’ There was also some weird stuff about ‘making sure she got dropped off’ by Ann once she ‘finished her trip.’” “Ann must have asked that the plant that ate her be fertilized with Cassie’s remains,” Melissa said, cutting in. “Cassie mentioned it in her goodbye note; we’ll have to take care of that later.” Her boyfriend nodded before gesturing at Josh to continue. “Anyway, Cassie was delighted at the prospect of digesting and going to be with Ann, so she started making inquiries and looking into the stories and rumors about this snake,” he said. “According to her, she wanted this to be a private thing she did for Ann, so she always waited until you guys were off somewhere else to do the out-of-house investigating. Apparently she worked on this for a whole year before she had everything finished. She had her info, found the snake, wrote up a script, even got permission to do some filming at the Humane Society.” “I take it that’s where you entered the picture?” asked James. Josh suddenly looked quite sheepish. “Um, yeah. See, you know your…website? The one where you’ve got those vids of girls getting eaten? I was looking for some good porn a few months back, and my roommate suggested I check out your videos as a joke. I was kinda freaked when I watched them, and, well, I sorta left some nasty comments about the video quality just to be a jerk. Cassie sent a message asking who was I to say whether it was good or bad, I told her I was a film student, and voila! She roped me into being a cameraman for her little video. I thought she was punking me when I saw the script, but she really did seem excited to do the film.” “So wait, the videos disturbed you?” “Hell, yeah they did! I mean seriously, how are you people into that?!? And when I realized that these weren’t doctored at all, that it was just some real girls getting digested by freaky plants…I really flipped. In all honesty, I would never have agreed to help Cassie if it weren’t for her promising me a half-share in the film. I’m just too broke to refuse an offer like that.” The trio was back in the living room by that point, having retrieved the last of the cameras. The snake had nosed open its box again so it could observe them. James couldn’t help but notice that the bulge of Cassie-goop in its gut was a lot smaller. Josh, who had been trying to retie his bandanna, noticed where he was looking. Hesitantly, he said, “You know, now that she’s…not involved in the film anymore…wouldn’t the footage be mine now? I don’t want to be grabby, but you really have no idea how badly I need the cash.” “Cassie never said anything about it to us, so go ahead and take it. I’ll be happy to buy it off you once it’s edited together into a movie,” said James. He looked to Melissa, double-checking that she was ok with this. She nodded and said, “In fact, if you can put up with seeing more girls get eaten, we will probably have need of skilled filmmakers in the future. If you and your roommate are interested, I think we could make Invisible Cameraman Films the official videographers of the Verdesford VSP!” “Invisible Cameraman Films?” asked James, completely baffled. “It’s the name of me and my rommate’s amateur film company,” explained Josh. “She probably learned it from the credits in Chapter 12b.” James looked to Melissa, who shrugged. “I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about; I just thought it was a good-sounding name for a ninja’s film company,” she said, shrugging back. “Well, that works too,” said Josh. Picking up his bags, he took one last look at the snake, shuddered, and walked to the front door. He thanked James and Melissa for letting him in, gave them an estimate on when he’d have Cassie’s farewell video done, and promised to get back to them on their offer to hire him. After that, he departed, speedwalking down the street. “Well, he was a weirdo,” said James, walking back toward the kitchen. “Oh, be nice,” said Melissa. “You’re no worse than he is, and I put up with you.” “Touché.” “I have to say though, it’s a pity that he didn’t know more about the snake,” she continued, sitting down at the table. James was already seated, looking through the list of his responsibilities for the day. He pondered for a moment, then asked, “Do you think Alice might know what it is?” “Hmm?” “Alice. That friend of yours from the college, the one who’s in the animal branch of the VSP? It was a while back, but I thought you said she specialized in reptiles. Maybe she’ll recognize Cassie’s friend.” He waved a hand toward the snake, which had slithered into a sunlit corner of the kitchen floor and coiled up around the bulge of Cassie-mush in its belly. It slowly turned a happy-looking shade of rosy pink, then fell asleep. Melissa couldn’t help but think it actually looked kind of cute there, snoozing like a cat or dog in the sun. Hesitantly, she reached down and patted it on the head. It flicked her finger with its tongue and hissed happily before settling back down. Finally she spoke up and said, “I’ll give Alice a call. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to invite her over this evening. Even if she can’t help with the snake, I’d like you to have a chance to meet her, she’s really nice.” James nodded. “Sounds like a decent plan; I look forward to meeting her,” he said. He got up and stretched. “We really should be getting to work now, though. It’s already halfway to noon, and those plants aren’t going to water themselves.” James walked over to Melissa, hugged her, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Let’s get going,” he said, “You can give Alice a call from the professor’s house.” Melissa kissed him back and agreed that it was time they got busy. The snake watched them from its sunny patch as they made their way out the door, heading over to the large house and garden next door. It settled back into a coil around the squishy bulge of its devoured food and got comfortable for a nice long day of rest and digestion. It closed its eyes, content with its meal, and confident that it would get another one soon, perhaps as soon as this evening. All was right with the world.

 The Meat Manifesto Copyright 2010 By a Piece of Melting Snake-Food (Given that this will not be published until next month, I will sign this as the person I will be at that point in time, both for the sake of accuracy and as proof of my devotion to Meatism. I am neither the creator nor the leader of this movement; merely the one to put it to paper so that others may follow in my footsteps and find the same fulfillment that I have.) For many centuries, mankind has lived in a delusion. The delusion that we, as a species are the apex predators of our planet, and that we can treat this planet and one another in any way that we wish. This is a lie. As is more and more apparent every day, there are many predators in the world that not only are capable of feeding on humans, but do so to the exclusion of all other prey! The number of human-hunters, or ‘vore’ creatures, is on the rise. If humans enter this new age of man-eating monsters in their current mindset they will find a great deal of fear and heartbreak awaiting them. Fortunately, there is a simple way to avoid such unnecessary pains: change your thinking. Many governments of the world are already working to facilitate mankind’s transition to a new, lower rung on the food chain. Many individuals are embracing their new status, even going so far as to call themselves Meat. This is nothing more than an acknowledgment of reality as it stands: humans can indeed be meat for predators. Even more than this, we should be grateful for this change, as we can now start giving back to our planet in a way that can make up for some of the harm we’ve done to it. Speaking as one who sees herself as Meat, I here and now intend to lay down a set of tenets for humans to follow, so as to better prepare themselves for life as Meat. The Seven Tenets of Meatism 1. Acceptance This is the most important of all of the Tenets of Meatism, and it takes several forms. Most critically and universally, you must understand that as a human, you were born into a world that sees you as prey. Embrace this; doing so will set you free. For women specifically, acceptance means realizing that you in particular are especially likely to be eaten. It has been clinically proven that female humans (or “does”) are between four and seven times as nutritious as males (“bucks”). Further, many tests seem to indicate that does are more physically appealing and have a superior flavor. Be especially aware of these facts when coming to terms with your place as Meat. For men, acceptance still includes the possibility of becoming food. However, it is far more likely that you will find women who are close to you being eaten. For you, acceptance must include an understanding that any women in your life, your loved ones, are likely to be eaten at some point in their lives. Accept that these women, be they mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters, nieces, friends, or lovers, are all Meat and will be claimed as such. When such loved ones are eaten, do not mourn their loss; instead, celebrate their fulfillment of their truest purpose. 2. Reproduction The fact that every person is born to be potential prey does not mean I advocate for the extinction of humanity. Far from it. Humanity should be in balance with nature. Many problems in this world come from overpopulation, which will soon be resolved as our excess numbers are devoured. With our population at roughly a seventh of its current level, everyone in the world would be able to enjoy a first-world standard of living! But we will need to maintain our numbers after reducing to that level, since it would be cruel to deny predators their favorite food source. To that end Meatism advocates that all Meat gives into their natural urge to reproduce, anytime and anywhere. As meat we acknowledge it is a predator’s right to enjoy our bodies we should at least extend the right to use our bodies for sexual pleasure to members of our own species. Since we no longer need fear sexually transmitted diseases like we did a few decades ago, there is no reason not to enjoy this universal sharing of our bodies. Male or female or any race, creed, nationality, or status. From prince to pauper, let any partner who desires a chance to enjoy the pleasures of your body use it. We are all Meat together; there should be no discrimination by age or gender. Treat everyone as your equal. It is important to reproduce as young as possible, as humans lose nutritional value as they age. Have children as early as possible, with the optimal age range being between 18-22 years old. It is also important to say that while Meat should give themselves freely to anyone who wants reproduce with them, it is still their choice to accept or refuse. Rape is a serious and evil crime, even in this day and age. Meat might be picky with their choice of partners with the goal of breeding superior future meat, or they might be in a committed relationship and choose to only have sex with the person they love. While the author of this manifesto sees those choices as selfish and naïve, it is still a meat’s individual choice. Meatism also sees no need to change the laws regarding rape, incest, age of consent, or abortion. 3. Fitness It is not enough to simply wait until a predator decides to gobble you up. Meat has a duty to ensure that they will be a tasty, healthy, and nutritious meal that will bring tremendous pleasure to their predator. To achieve this goal, meat should maintain a level of fitness that maximizes their nutritional value. Exercise and a good diet are critical. For those who want to be truly ideal prey, the exercise should be strenuous enough to minimize fat levels and develop plenty of muscle, but not be so strenuous to as overly toughen the meat. Being a tender piece of meat with a small amount of fat for flavor is far more desirable to predators than a tough lean cut. I personally find that sex is an excellent exercise that burns off plenty of unnecessary fat, and the pounding will be sure to keep you tender. Traditional exercise routines should only be necessary if you’re not able to target all muscle groups during sex or are simply not getting laid enough. 4. Readiness Hunger is a constant for the predators of the world and it is a good piece of meat’s job to sate that hunger whenever possible. Therefore, Meat should always be prepared to be eaten both physically and mentally. Physical readiness is demonstrated in two main ways, the first of which is by maintaining a healthy body, as described in the previous tenet. Physical readiness also means remaining naked at all times, as long as the weather allows. Clothes can cause serious health issues to predators, so constant nudity will prevent harm when either an over eager predator or prey forgets to remove the meat’s clothing. Clothing that is specifically designed to be edible is an acceptable alternative. If, however weather/environmental conditions or an inappropriate sense of modesty prevent nudity or edible clothing then clothing that is designed to be removed as quickly as possible is the last best option but is far from the ideal of a hot and ready meal. Being comfortable with being nude at all times is an important part of mental readiness. Being naked is the natural state of Meat; embrace this. Every predator sees its meal as a lovely, delicious meal. If your devourer can appreciate your natural beauty, so can you, along with everyone else. Having a fit body is for the benefit of your wellness and of your predator; you are beautiful all on your own. Mental readiness also means not panicking when grabbed by a predator, but remaining calm or even jumping in its mouth as soon as a predator shows interest. It is also important to be submissive to a predator’s whims, it’s not the place of meat to argue with its diner. As you go about your life in the understanding that you are meat, you will undoubtedly find other ways to prepare yourself for the experience of being eaten. One that is personally recommend is getting yourself rated and marked with your nutritional information. For those living in the United States (as I do), the USDA offers free evaluations to everyone over 18. Get yourself checked out right away! 5. Purity Working towards and maintaining a nutritious body is critical but so is making sure the body stays free from contaminates. One way to do this is by maintaining a balanced diet high in natural products. Not only is it extremely healthy for you, it also ensures you won’t be spreading any toxins to your eventual predator. Another common source of contamination are artificial implants and chemicals from plastic surgery such as a boob jobs or Botox injections. Tattoos can also be a problem. The reason for this is because the plastic, chemicals and dye can all be detrimental to a predator’s health. Not only that but really, there is no need for it. Predators view all women as desirable to some degree, and many enjoy having some variety in their diet. You are perfectly beautiful the way you are; there is no need for you to force harmful artificiality on yourself and the pred that eventually claims you. Of course, there is a difference between conforming to a false standard of beauty and self-expression. Tattoos made with FDA-approved ink and other benign displays of personal taste are perfectly fine. Even piercings are safe, provided you make sure they contain no toxic metals or exceptionally sharp edges. 6. Ecoconsciousness The single biggest difference between Feminism and Meatism is our increased focus on environmental responsibility. While the main avenue through which we practice ecoconsciousness is through a digestive tract, we must also be diligent in our resource usage. Be sure not to litter, remember to recycle, don’t forget to turn off the lights, etc. These are some of the things we meat can do in our everyday lives before we give ourselves over to the natural order to help the planet. You can also participate in trash pick-ups at your local beach, protest the dumping of chemicals in a river, or even plant Venus Girltraps at your local park. Society will grow great when women plant carnivorous plants whose guts they will never melt in. 7. Advocation I have been fortunate enough to discover the truth of my existence. That I was more than just a person. That my ultimate reason for existence is to satisfy the most basic urge of another creature and bring it fleeting pleasure. And I have never been happier. Knowing my place in the world has freed me. Sadly, the vast majority of people either don’t know or actively deny their status as meat. Therefore, all who know the truth must spread it; humans are meat. Too many people deny reality. Show them the truth through the pleasure you experience living life and dying as we are meant to. It is a hot piece of meat’s duty to live and digest in accordance with these tenants. Meat of the world, Digest!

Thanksgiving Dinner It was November, in the year 2017. Thanksgiving Day was not going well for Veruna the dragon. She was a young female with dark purple scales, and small for her age at only twice the size of a horse. Only recently had she moved away from her parents’ cave, and this was her first holiday spent on her own. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the freedom; it was quite nice, in fact. Having a whole cave to herself was very pleasant as well; none of her siblings were there shoving and nosing and trying to bug their “baby sister.” Even the nearby town was nice; they were tolerant people who welcomed her as they would any person settling in on her own for the first time. She'd even been able to get a job helping a nearby pig farmer herd around his livestock (nothing could get animals to move where you wanted like the threat of a giant flying lizard). Yes, by all normal assessments, this was the best her life had ever been. If only she were a little less lonely. Oh, people were very nice to her whenever she went to town or was at work. She even knew practically everyone by name; such was small town life in rural America. But she never hung around town enough to really pick up any solid friends, and no one ever came to visit her in her cave. When she wasn’t working, Veruna had no one to talk to at all. So it was that when she was told to take the day off on the human holiday of Thanksgiving, she could only think of how miserable she’d be, having to spend to whole day curled up in her cave. Alone. Not even the free pig she’d been given for her Thanksgiving dinner offered much consolation. The dumb thing was either mentally deficient or just the cockiest damn pig she ever saw; after she’d set it down on the floor of her cave it had oinked indignantly at her and trotted off to root for food. Hardly appropriate behavior for a creature that had just been carried off to a dragon’s lair. Not feeling very hungry, Veruna left the pig to its own devices and went to lie down at the mouth of her cave. It was raining outside, a halfhearted drizzle that came straight down and made the cold November air damp and unfriendly. Looking down from the hill into which her cave sank, Veruna could see the whole town, right out to the farms surrounding it. Now and then a car sped down the nearby highway, on its way to a family gathering. Beyond that, the streets were empty and silent, just like the young dragon's cave. Thinking melancholy thoughts, Veruna went to sleep. “Hey, Miss Veruna? Are you ok?” A voice roused her from her nap; by the look of the sky, it was a good deal later in the evening. Standing in front of her was a young woman, perhaps 18 years of age. She had dull brown hair and a gently curved shape that leaned ever so slightly toward the plump side of things, or at least appeared to from underneath a winter coat. Veruna stretched and yawned before replying, opening her toothy jaws very wide as she did so. The young woman gave a quiet gasp and stepped back a pace. The dragon took no notice; she was used to people being nervous around her. “What do you need?” She asked tiredly, not caring whether she sounded rude or not. The girl gulped. “Well, um, my name is Lavender, Lavender Walden,” she said, still sounding quite nervous. “You wouldn’t happen to be one of Farmer Timothy Walden's children, would you?” asked Veruna, recognizing her employer’s surname. Lavender nodded. “My Ma and Pa told me to stop by your cave and check on you, see how you’re settling in. Did you enjoy the pig we gave you?” Veruna was quite pleasantly surprised; she wouldn't have thought the townspeople cared enough about the local dragon's welfare to actually visit her. She said, “I’m settling in well enough, though I haven’t tried the pig. In all honesty, I just don’t find myself that hungry for pork. To tell the truth...I think he's kind of cute, in a porcine way. I'm considering keeping him as a pet. Do you think Whuffles is a good name for a pig?” "It’s a perfectly fine name for a pig," said Lavender, giggling. "You must be pretty lonely though, to want to keep your Thanksgiving dinner around for company.” Veruna nodded, feeling too tired and depressed to pretend otherwise. To her surprise and slight annoyance, Lavender smiled at this. “Is there something amusing about my unhappiness?” Veruna asked testily. The girl’s smile vanished, replaced in an instant by her nervousness from a moment ago. She quickly said, “No! Not at all! It’s just that my folks kinda expected you’d be lonely, and they sent me over to see if you’d mind us having Thanksgiving dinner at your place.” “They…want to visit me?” asked Veruna, perking up. “Yep! As long as you’re okay with it.” “Of course I’m okay with it,” the dragoness said excitedly. “I’d love to get to know your family better.” “Well, that settles it! I’ll go let everyone know that you’ve given us permission!” Lavender said, hurrying off. She called over her shoulder, “I’ll be back in a minute!” It was in fact fifteen minutes before Lavender came back, riding in a small caravan of cars and vans loaded with people, food, and enough folding chairs and tables to hold everything. It soon became apparent that the Waldens were used to moving their entire Thanksgiving meal like this; everyone busied themselves with a different task, setting up the tables, putting up decorations (with Veruna’s permission), and generally making the main chamber of the cave cozy and welcoming. They even asked the dragoness herself for help in setting up a bonfire at the mouth of the cave to keep everyone warm. Veruna hadn’t been so happy since the first day she moved out on her own. People were chatting gaily with each other, and deliberately offering her opportunities to join in the conversation. Lavender must have explained the situation regarding Whuffles, because someone had brought a leash and collar with which to tether the pig in an out-of-the-way corner. It wasn’t long at all before the chamber was filled with the sound of laughter and chatter and the clink of silverware on plates. “I do have one question,” said Veruna sometime later. The tables had all been put together in one long row, and as the ‘honored guest,’ Veruna was given a position at the end. Far too large and entirely the wrong shape to sit in a chair, she lay in a sphinxlike position and arched her neck to keep her head level with their fellow diners’ “What would you like to know, dear?” asked Mrs. Walden, a plump, cheerful woman in her mid-to-late fifties whose face was kindly and crinkled with laughter lines. She had taken Veruna under her wing like another daughter, saying that after nine girls and a pair of rambunctious twin boys, not even a dragon could tax her motherly skills. “You seem awfully familiar with all this,” explained Veruna, indicating the feast and the decorations with her tail. “How did you get so good at moving all this around? A meal for five, ten, sixteen, twenty-two….twenty-nine people! That’s quite an impressive arrangement.” “Oh, we’re more than used to having family get-togethers at this cave. You see, our town has had a resident dragon for as far back as the history books go; probably as long as this cave has been here. It’s really just an ideal spot for you. Way back in the day, this was a problem, what with us being mostly livestock owners ‘round here. ‘Bout four generations back, my husband’s family decided enough was enough, and they went up to the dragon’s cave and hired him. “No one had ever thought of hiring the dragon, but that old-time farmer Walden managed to strike a working deal with the lizard, and that tradition’s been continued to this day. You can’t beat a dragon for a farmhand, and it turns out they can be perfectly friendly types if you treat ‘em nice. Of course, you’re well aware of that, dear.” Veruna nodded politely, and Mrs. Walden went on with her story, “So to get to the point, we’ve always wanted our workers to feel at home and welcome, dragons included. We almost always have family gatherings in this cave so our dragon can participate; that’s how we managed to set everything up so smoothly,” she finished, taking a sip of cider to sooth her dry throat. “Who was the last dragon to live here?” asked Veruna, curiously. “A young lady, rather like yourself, by the name of Imbriak. She stayed here near to four years, but this past spring she met a young male. I couldn’t say one way or the other, but apparently he was quite a handsome fellow, and she decided to go off with him. We were all quite sad that she left, but it made her happy. Besides, if she’d stayed we would never have had the chance to meet you, dear.” Blushing, Veruna ducked her head modestly, then flushed an even more brilliant shade of red-violet as her stomach gave off a tremendously loud growl. The cave practically echoed with the thunderous sound of her hunger. Everyone at the table laughed, and she tried to scoot away, feeling incredibly embarrassed. Before she moved more than a foot, Mrs. Walden placed a hand on her snout, signaling her to stop. “I’m sorry about that, dear; that was quite rude of us. Boys! Girls! Apologize to Miss Veruna,” she said, looking sternly out over her collected children, nieces, and nephews. A shamefaced chorus of “sorry, Veruna” was mumbled, leaving the poor dragon as embarrassed as ever. She quietly said, “I’ll just step out for a short flight, get some food.” “Nonsense,” scoffed a matronly woman seated on the far side of Mrs. Walden. “We’ve been eating this whole time, wafting about the smells of a feast, and yet failed to make sure our hostess was fed too. We’ll have to fix that, right away!” “I couldn’t eat your Thanksgiving meal,” protested Veruna, unused to such fuss being made over her. “I’d have to eat all of every dish on the table.” “Oh, don’t worry about that,” said Mrs. Walden, patting Veruna’s snout comfortingly. “We’ve brought some special dragon-sized dishes that should fill you up nicely.” “You have?” “Of course, dear.” Mrs. Walden turned to face the long table and called out, “Everyone who’s not married, get ready for taste test! You know the drill.” Without stopping their stream of friendly chatter, all the young people at the table got up and took themselves and their conversation over to the wall of Veruna’s cave. To the dragon’s questioning eyes, she simply said, “Go ahead! Have a taste, and see if you like anyone in particular.”

Looking for Advice By Alt-Art-NateDesign Contains m/f samesize vore, sexual themes, and fatal, pleasurable digestion It all started with this game me and my wife would play. See, I'm capable of gastrointestinal ophidianism, always have been. My mouth, throat, and stomach can all stretch to accommodate a grown human woman, and something's different about my tastebuds too, because nothing on earth tastes better to me than a hot, sexy woman. I ate my older sister when I was in grade school and I've been hooked ever since. Really got into a habit of it during high school and college. It was fun, hot, and convenient to boot; a nice-sized girl could keep me fed for a week. Then, wouldn't you know it, I met Lucy, the woman of my dreams. Sweet, smart, and sporting some very generous curves. I wanted her body the instant I saw those huge tits, and turns out I liked her mind just as much. We dated for two years, graduated, and got hitched. It was wonderful, fairy-tale stuff, happily-ever-after and all that jazz. Until I started getting hungry. I did my best to quit eating woman when Lucy and I got married, I truly did. But the longer I went without, the tastier they began to look. Everywhere I went, I had to find excuses to avoid women, even close friends just because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to resist them. It came to a head one day about four years back. I was home and Lucy wasn't, and I ate our mailwoman on the porch. Just stuffed her head in my mouth and took her clothes off as I went. My gut wasn't woman-shaped anymore by the time my wife got home, but there was still a lot of the mail lady left in there. I explained what had happened and said sorry over and over, and at the end of it all Lucy smiled at me and told me her biggest secret: she was bisexual. This was a big deal; she came from a really conservative family, and there would have been a horrible falling out if they learned she was interested in girls. She suggested we try this game I mentioned, as a way of fulfilling both our desires. We put a lot of preparation into making sure this went smoothly. We oiled our door hinges regularly so they never squeaked, we carpeted the whole route from the basement to the bedroom to silence my footsteps, and Lucy had me practice sneaking into the room in the dark. We did overlook one thing in our rehearsals, but hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. We were too excited to try our scheme to do more than we already did, I think. I'd let her know when I was getting hungry for ladies again, and she'd go out looking for a date, all dolled-up and seductive. She'd find a hot chick and bring her back to our house for some fun girl-on-girl action. I'd hang out in the basement, gaming or watching tv. Normally her date didn’t ever know I was there, and on the few occasions I was discovered, Lucy would just claim I was her deadbeat brother. She’d assure the chick that I would stay confined to the basement until their date was over and it would all be good. Then she’d take her new lady-friend into our bedroom and fuck her brains out. Sometimes I’d watch on a discrete camera feed we set up, but not always. I’m not super into girl-on-girl, though I never minded Lucy having her fun. I thought of it as her playing with my food rather than cheating on me. Once the girls were done, Lucy would sweet-talk her date into spending the night, usually with the promise of breakfast. Then, when it was really, really late, I’d sneak on up from the basement and into our bedroom. Of course, it was hard to see, but I could make the two of them lying on the bed underneath a loose sheet and blanket. If I was having trouble spotting my meal, I would check the bedside tables; Lucy would usually set her wedding band on the table next to herself. Then I’d creep up to the foot of the bed, kneel down, and lift up the covers to expose the sleeping ladies’ feet. Moving as slowly and gently as possible, I’d gather up our victim’s feet and tuck them into my mouth. I’d usually pause at that point. I tell myself it was to avoid startling the girl, but honestly, I just needed to take the time to savor my first taste of human woman in months. Once I had a good long taste, I’d start taking in the rest of her. I’d crawl up under the covers, swallowing her as I went. I won’t lie, I prefer petite ladies, since they go down easier. A nice slim girl will just slide down my throat as I crawl up her body. Sometimes Lucy couldn’t resist bringing in a more voluptuous though; she had a thing for big boobs. Typically that made my meal tastier but trickier. I’d have to go super-slow around her hips and bust, making sure she didn’t wake up. Of course, that did give me an excuse to cautiously run my tongue over her pussy and tits for longer than usual, so it all evened out in my book. I’d tuck her hands in as I went, and once I get past a woman’s shoulders her head just slips on in, smooth and sweet. And that’s how it went. Where a woman had been lying in bed, there would instead be a man with a gigantic bulging stomach shaped like a woman in the fetal position. The first couple times we tried this, I stayed in the bed with Lucy, but she didn’t like that much. Usually my meal would wake up as digestion kicked in, and though there was always a lot more contented moaning and masturbating than struggling and protest, it was still a third person moving around in bed with us. It made it hard for Lucy to sleep. So, I’d let my meal settle, give Lucy a kiss on the head, and go crash on the couch. I’d sleep late to make up for my midnight snack, then spend the rest of the day doing stuff around the house. Sometimes I’d get a head start in working off my latest meal. Other times I just did chores. Occasionally Lucy would take a day off too and spend it with me. Either way, once I processed most of Lucy’s one-night stand, I’d go back to work and we’d resume our normal routine. It didn't take long before it was a regular part of our life. It worked perfectly; over three years she seduced more than fifteen women, and not one time was there a problem. Our sex life was wonderful, she got her illicit moments of lesbian lovemaking, and I cleaned up the evidence. It was just wonderful, our secret little game. Now you know the background, so I’ll get to the crux of why I’m here talking to you. The…most recent…time Lucy and I played our game. It was about a year ago. Things went the way they always did. I started getting that rumble in my belly that no amount of normal food would silence. Lucy was very excited when I told her; she’d been in the mood to play with some boobs for a while. So, that evening she got dressed up fancy for “our dinner date.” I skipped supper to make sure there was plenty of room for a nice, busty woman. Lucy was very happy when I told her that; she had a spring in her step when she walked out the door. I retreated to my basement lair and waited. As luck would have it, I needed to go to the bathroom a little while later, and just as I was leaving to go back downstairs, Lucy and her date returned. Fortunately, she not only bought the whole ‘I’m the basement-dwelling bum brother’ shtick, but she was real sweet about it too. She introduced herself as Margaret, and damn was she hot. Boobs bigger than Lucy’s, in a black dress that skillfully rode the line between classy and slutty. Lucy actually had to cut her off, told her that there’d be time for chatting tomorrow morning. I went back the basement with my mouth watering. Tonight’s meal was going to be amazing. I made a careful point of not watching them fuck on the video feed. I felt like I might lose control and run upstairs to scarf down Margaret before Lucy was done with her! No, I just set the camera to record them and played Fallout, keeping a close eye on the time. Man, the hours just crawled by, even with the game to distract me. I had to drink almost a quart of water so my stomach wouldn’t gurgle too loudly and alert my prey. Margaret would be lucky; with my stomach acids this diluted, she’d have longer than most ladies to enjoy her stay in my belly. Just after one in the morning I made my move. Turned off the computer and sat a few minutes, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. Crawled up the stairs on hands and feet; it’s safer and spreads my weight out to cut down on creaks. Crept down the hall. Opened the door to our bedroom with less noise than a whisper. A wave of musk hit me; the smells of sex and feminine arousal. I have to confess…I drooled a little. Keeping my saliva in my mouth would have required making some manner of slurping noise, and I refused to compromise my meal, not when I was so close to it. It was a cloudy night, so it was darker than usual. Couldn’t see the ladies at all, though I could hear them breathing. I snuck in, and made my way by memory over to the nearest bedside table. Ran my fingers across it and found Lucy’s wedding band. Normally I slept on that side of the bed, but whatever. Sometimes she shifted sides when one of our snack-dates was over. Quiet as a mouse, I went over to the other side of the bed and lifted up the covers. I heard the Margaret shifting her exposed feet, holding them close together. I sped up a little, not wanting her to wake up with cold feet and an intruder at the end of the bed. Lifting by her ankles, I held her lower legs just far enough off the bed to slip my lower jaw underneath her. I let her feet rest on my tongue and just knelt there, savoring her. It might have been the long period of abstinence from the previous lady-meal, but I think that was the tastiest pair of feet I ever had in my mouth. Going up her legs was just as good, better even. As I slid beneath the blanket, enveloping her body with my own, I was in absolute heaven. Her flesh was rich and sweet, like the most gorgeously savory meat you can imagine- better, even! It was just so perfect, I think I was shedding tears with each gulp. The only thing that kept me from just shoving her in as quickly as I could was the width of her hips. I also didn’t want to disturb Lucy, not when she was sleeping so peacefully next to me while I ate. Once I got to Margaret’s pussy, I lost control a bit. I had to put my tongue in there, the flavor of woman was just too intense to resist. She shifted a little and mumbled something in her sleep, and I felt her fingers bump into my nose. I quickly scooted forward, sending her pussy into my gullet and trapping her hand in my mouth (I was expecting her to start fighting me). Turns out she just wanted to finger herself, in her sleep no less. I swallowed her a bit farther to keep her fingers from tickling my throat. The other hand went in my mouth not much later, and her smooth, creamy belly went into me without a hitch. Then my face got smushed into the biggest challenge of this meal: her huge tits. I had to carefully, very, very, very carefully tuck them into my mouth by hand, bit by bit, swallowing regularly. She squirmed and moaned now and again, making me freeze, but then she’d settle down and I would go back to eating her whole and alive. It must have taken half an hour to get those sweet, juicy pillows into my mouth, and another ten minutes before I could gulp them down. They strained even my abnormally stretchy throat. Once those succulent tits were on their way to my stomach, the rest of her just slipped on in, neat and sweet. I gulped a few extra times to clear her hair out of my throat, leaned over to kiss Lucy, and got up to go sleep my late supper off on the couch. The walk to the living room woke her up- I could feel her moving around in there. Didn’t say anything or try to fight; she just got right down to business rubbing herself off. Maybe she thought she was in a dream. I was tired, though, so not even her enthusiastic masturbating was enough to keep me awake. I fell asleep, knowing I’d just eaten the most delicious meal of my life. I woke up late the next morning, at half past ten. My gut still bulged out massively, but now it was completely smooth. I could still feel the girl in there when I put my arms around it though. She was real squishy, but I could hear her making happy little noises as she played with her pussy. I gave her a gentle squeeze, then tightened slowly. Her sexed-up mewling got louder and her motions became more vigorous- and then she collapsed. No more woman, just a gutfull of mush and the fading sound of one last orgasmic moan. I patted her bulge, glad Margaret had ended things on a high note. I settled back into the couch, just enjoying the satisfaction of having a full belly. I liked to listen my meals bubbling and gurgling as they made the final transition from woman to meat. I could hear Lucy moving around, coming out into the living room. Margaret walked into view. She asked, “Hey, did Lucy go to work already? She said I should stay around for breakfast, but I can’t find her anywhere. Looks like she gave you plenty to eat, though.” That’s when it hit me. I hadn’t eaten Margaret last night. Lucy had set her wedding ring on my nightstand…and slept on the opposite side of the bed. And now…now all that was left of her was a big gurgly mash, churning away in my stomach. I had swallowed the woman of my dreams whole and digested her alive. And she was delicious. Yeah, I took it pretty hard. Of course I blamed myself; it was me who ate her, me who lapped her up, and me who melted her down. I sent Margaret away…she never learned how close a call she had that night. And I…I got used to living alone. Lucy’s family were the worst; they were so upset to learn that she was gone. I couldn’t tell them what really happened. I had to lie to her mother’s crying face and say she was in a car accident so bad that she had to be cremated for the funeral. Man, I wanted so bad to tell her the truth, that her daughter was right there with me, in that big layer of pudge that I claimed was from grief-eating. I haven’t seen her since the funeral. The hunger didn’t go away; in fact, it’s as bad now as it’s ever been. Haven’t eaten anyone since Lucy, though it’s a struggle every day. I wanted to honor her memory, the woman I loved more than anyone else in the world. But my willpower is starting to break down, and not in the way I thought it would. I want a family. For my whole life I assumed it would just happen, and then I met Lucy and it actually did happen, and it was beautiful. But now, without her…I’m lonely. And I’m never gonna have kids either, not unless, well…unless I move on. I’ve tried to keep her around in any way I could, honest! I kept every picture of her I could find, I refused to even think about getting with someone else, I even avoided working out so that she’d stick around on me as long as possible. But I can only fight my metabolism for so long…there hasn’t been a bit of Lucy-pudge on me for weeks. It’s been a year since I ate her. Do you think…should I try to find someone new? There’s girls I’m friends with from college, I bet some of them would be open to dating. Maybe even something more than that. I’m not expecting love at first sight again, but I’m willing to settle for a love I have to work at. Should I try it? I still feel the urge to eat women. Dating or no dating, I need to start doing that again soon; I won’t be able to help myself. What if I accidentally lose control and eat my new girlfriend or fiancé or wife? What if I want to eat her? I’ve had a lot of time to think it over, and I’m certain the reason Lucy was so delicious was because I loved her and lived with her for so long before eating her. I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist…and yet I still want to have a wife and kids, and I want to spend my life with her and grow old together, not just…end it…after a few happy years. I’m asking you, as a friend: what should I do?

The Long Camping Trip, Chapter 3 By Alt-Art-NateDesign Melody Oak was getting worried. Try though she might to reconcile the landscape with her map, things were looking less and like they should. There was supposed to have been a large rockfall about half a mile back; instead, there were only a few free-standing boulders. At the time she'd just assumed that the map was exaggerating and pressed onward, but now.... "This shouldn't be here," she said, looking at the slow-moving river before her. "It's flowing in the wrong direction, too," Angelica said, looking over her mother's shoulder at the map. "See? All the rivers in the preserve flow toward the east, into that big lake." She took out her compass and held it up, letting the needle settle. Rotating her body to face north, she held an arm out to the right, then lined up the other with the direction of the water flow. The quiet, bubbling stream flowed northwest, forward and slightly to the left, from her perspective. No river on the map did that. Angelica scowled at the babbling waters, imagining that its sparkling ripples and quiet bubbling were mocking her. "Well, they say the first step toward improvement is admitting there's a problem," said Mrs. Oak, her voice resigned. "Girls, I'm afraid we're lost." River-noise and birdsong were the only things to reply to her confession. Alarmed, Mrs. Oak turned around and saw only Angelica, who was already looking wildly back the way they came. There was no sign of the twins at all. "Wh-where have they gone?" Melody asked, her voice trembling. "I don't know," Angelica replied, looking just as worried. "I thought that they were just behind me!" This was a mother’s nightmare come true before her very eyes. Her youngest daughters, missing in the woods. What if they ran into a dangerous animal? Or if one of them fell into a river and couldn’t get out? There were ravines in places around here- what if one of them fell and broke an arm? Or her legs? Or her neck? "They can't be very far away," Mrs. Oak said, getting a hold of herself. Panicking would accomplish nothing. Besides, there was nothing to indicate this was a worst-case scenario. The twins were smart girls, and they looked out for each other. Besides, all else aside, she at least didn’t need to worry about them getting eaten inside the preserve. Mrs. Oak handed a 2-way radio to Angelica. "Take this, Sweetie; we can cover more ground if we split up. If you find them, call me. If I find them first, I'll call you, and we can all work out how to meet back up." Her daughter nodded, and the two set off into the woods in slightly different directions, both angling back the way they came. Within a few minutes, they lost sight of each other Several hours later… It seemed to Mrs. Oak that there were remarkably few visitors to the preserve. She’s been wandering around the forest for the better part of a day, and despite getting the impression that this was a very popular hiking area, she hadn’t seen another soul apart from her daughters. When she finally saw movement through the trees ahead of her, she stopped and blinked, not quite believing her eyes. It was a woman, similar to her own age, walking naked through the woods. The naked lady seemed quite content, strolling along in the buff. The sun shone on her deep brown hair and soft skin, and a cool breeze wafted over her, keeping her a comfortable temperature. Mrs. Oak called out to her, and she waved cheerfully back. Melody was very curious why a random woman was wandering naked in the woods like this. Generally speaking people didn’t run around with all their clothes off, no matter how nice the weather. Especially in the woods like this. She called out, asking why the woman was naked. She couldn't make out the reply; but it sounded something like “I'll show you in a moment” The naked lady walked a little way farther down the path. To her growing concern, Mrs. Oak noticed a movement in the underbrush that seemed to keep pace with the nude hiker. She noticed it as well and stopped, facing the tangled thicket running alongside the path. The bushes rustled and shook, and a Venus Girltrap emerged, its jaws open and drooling. The voluptuous doe approached, untroubled by the appearance of a predatory plant. Delicately, she knelt on the ground before it, making sure that no dirt got on her firm, tight ass, so reminiscent of Melody’s own alluringly curved tush. It seemed the lady was going to offer herself willingly to the woman-eater, but Melody immediately rejected the idea. Being eaten was the most terrifying, degrading, and downright horrid fate someone could possibly suffer. No, there must be something else going on; perhaps someone forced her to come here! Or maybe the woman wasn’t right in the head and didn’t know what she was doing! There had to be some other explanation! Unaware of Melody’s mental turmoil, the lady looked up into the slimy maw stretching wide above her head, the pathway to her new home and her doom. Mrs. Oak couldn’t see, but arousal kindled between the doe’s legs, making her pussy drip with anticipation. The hungry plant descended over the waiting meat, eager to reduce her mature but tender body to nutritious slush, to take her life and convert her to calories. Mrs. Oak watched from afar, transfixed like a deer in headlights. An icy tingle ran down her spine as she witnessed the erotic scene. ‘How would you feel, kneeling there and looking up at a mouth descending over you, dripping saliva onto your naked body?’ She thought to herself, ‘How does that woman feel? What could possibly be going through her head? Doesn’t she realize she’s going to die?!?’ It was so surreal, almost like a dream. The woman looked fit, despite her soft curves. Nothing restrained her tender meat, the plant was moving slowly, and the doe was clearly in good health. As far as Mrs. Oak could tell there was nothing to stop her from fleeing and saving herself... So why was a grown woman still kneeling there looking up at a predator’s open mouth, just…waiting? What was wrong with this lady that made her no more able to resist the plant’s hunger now than she would be once she was melting away in its stomach? A chill went through Melody Oak as she looked on, every iota of her attention drawn to the sight of this sumptuous, sexy MILF-doe kneeling before her own killer, waiting for it to take her, to relieve her of her humanity, her body, and her very life. She felt a desire to help; a woman, possibly even a mother like herself was about to become meat! Melody wondered for a moment what would become of her darlings if it was her kneeling there, about to be swallowed whole and digested alive. They’d be orphans, alone in a hungry world determined to make a meal out of them; Mrs. Oak couldn’t let any girl suffer that fate, not if she could help it. To her dismay, however, it seemed that she genuinely WASN’T able to help it. Melody’s body rebelled, her limbs remaining unresponsive, frozen in terror and a flood of other emotions as the lady’s consumption began. The kneeling doe meekly closed her eyes as the girltrap’s slimy mouth descended over the crown of her head. Saliva soaked her hair and ran down her naked body in shining streaks, lubing her up for her one-way journey down the plant's stem. A sound escaped her lips; a soft, vulnerable sound, filled with fear, elation, despair and desire. The woman-turned food started moving her hands around her body. Melody couldn’t make out what precisely she was doing. It almost seemed like the doe was fondling herself, playing with her breasts as the girltrap’s jaws traveled inexorably lower. “Is she…showing herself off?” Melody wondered aloud. The woman was gyrating her hips and plumping her breasts as they entered the girltrap’s mouth. The actions were quite familiar to Mrs. Oak; she’d displayed her own body like that to her husband on those rare occasions when she wanted sex and he didn’t. Even when it wasn’t enough to get him in the mood, she’d always found some deep, half-illicit satisfaction in the way it made him look at her. The expression of unalloyed desire he would wear, watching his wife move her body about turned Melody on to no end. It was fulfilling, being so openly desired in such a powerful way. Melody smiled for a moment, remembering her beloved. Then she remembered that he was eaten now, just like that poor woman. “If she still counts as a ‘she,’ that is,” Melody murmured aloud. “They do say you’re supposed to think of meat as an ‘it.’ Sure, they say it’s because people who were being eaten aren’t people anymore- no way am I buying that!” But when the venus girltrap took another “bite,” engulfing its moaning meal up to its waist, Mrs. Oak couldn’t help but think that it certainly made it easier to think about that doe over there as if she was just a warm lump of meat. The ultra-tight stem stretched down over the naked doe's curves, shrouding the woman’s body with that of her devourer. The plant chomped softly on her ass as it entered the mouth, eliciting a demure cry of surprise. Mrs. Oaks ran a sympathetic hand over her own butt. She was quite proud of the smooth, unblemished meat- No! Not meat! She felt a flicker of panic run through her, but thankfully it passed quickly. ‘Just a slip of the tongue,’ she thought to herself, returning her attention once more to the spectacle of predation playing out just a few dozen feet away. The meat loosed a mournful sigh, muffled by the plant around its head. Apparently it lamented the fact that her beautiful toned hindquarters were now inside the plant's stem. Melody could sympathize; she herself spent exhaustive hours at the gym maintaining that perfect ass. It was no easy feat for a woman with three daughters and a predilection for retaining extra poundage here and there. “How would I feel, having put so much successful effort into taking care of her body, only for it to be reduced to a pulpy mash in a dark, slimy stomach-sac?” Mrs. Oak wondered. She shivered, watching the woman be eaten, that naked form clearly visible within the stem. The (uneaten) MILF didn't notice, but a faint wetness began to seep from between her legs, making a damp spot on her panties. Something primal within her found this sight exciting, even enjoyable. It was a part of her that she had always ignored, unaware it even existed. Watching this woman, a person so very much like herself, become a part of nature through ingestion awoke that part of her for the first time in her life. She was still ignorant and unaware of it, but that little corner of her mind would not remain little forever. It was only a matter of time; in fact, its influence was already showing through… ‘Is it possible that she volunteered?’ Melody wondered, watching the girltrap's jaws ease shut over its meal’s wiggling toes, the last part of her body yet to be ingested. The woman no longer existed as a free-living entity. Her body was meat now, and her mind was thus inconsequential. As horrifying as it was to think about, Mrs. Oak was aware that this was something that certain individuals found perversely appealing. It was possible, however strange it might be to consider, that this former woman was a proponent of Meatism. Melody’s eyes tracked the doe’s progress unblinkingly. She, or rather ‘it’ was still quite visible, the entirety of her voluptuous body on display in a form-fitting green wrapper. That state of affairs was about to change, though. Her head was sinking out of sight into the bundle of leaves at the Girltrap’s base. The plant was sucking its meal down underground where it could digest her in peace. ‘Just like my poor husband and Harmony,’ thought Mrs. Oaks. She was in a mental quandary. The only way this woman-meat’s impossibly lewd behavior could be explained was that she genuinely had wanted this plant to eat her alive, swallow her whole, and- right on cue, a muffled gurgle rumbled through the ground beneath the girltrap- digest her. The doe was visible only as a sexy ass and pair of legs inside the stem, sticking up out of the ground and slowly sinking downward. The girltrap’s leaves did little to obscure the sight, and for some inexplicable reason Melody found that pleasing. She was still quite baffled though; Meatism was one of those fads that young people were getting into these days. Digestion was all the rage among high schoolers and college kids, not grown adults. What was this lump of ass-meat thinking? A feverishly pleasured moan drifted up from the digestive depths of the girltrap, offering a potential answer to Melody’s question. Perhaps, just perhaps, this woman-meat believed digestion was a worthy cost for the extremes of pleasure she was now enjoying. It wasn’t a comfortable thought for poor Melody. Still, there were not many more possible explanations for the oh-so-happy sounds that continued to be heard beneath the gurgles and churning. Unable to contain herself, Mrs. Oak cautiously approached the venus girltrap. One of its stems turned to face her as she drew near, making her tremble in fear. Then she remembered something Angelica had learned in Vore Club, that girltraps only can eat one meal at a time. As long as that doe was still being digested, she would be safe. Creeping right up next to the plant, beneath the very jaws that had just gorged on woman-meat, Melody reached out with trembling fingers to touch the ingested meal. She stroked the eaten creature’s flank as it sank into the base of the plant, on its way to be reduced to slushy girl-goo. A scream worked its way up through dirt and plant-tissue to reach Melody’s ears, and she blushed, recognizing the sound of a woman in more pleasure than she could bear. As it so happened, the swallowed doe wasn’t the only one getting off on her digestive trip. Above ground, where Mrs. Oak stood, a faint scent of sex could be detected as she came a little. It was an involuntary response, and such a minor one that she didn’t even realize what it was. To her, it was just a funny feeling that washed over her as she watched and felt the body of a naked (former) woman, so very similar to herself, slip down the girltrap stem. She trembled, imagining what it was like in there, peristalsis driving her along the GI tract and carrying her into the subterranean portion of the digestive system, where stomach acids and woman-melting enzymes waited to convert her curvaceously sexy figure into a few dozen pounds of meat slop. The former hiker/woman, now lump of plant food, moaned as the pressure was increased over her whole body as she was taken below ground. No burial would be needed when she died; she was already in a grave- a hot, slimy, sensual grave made of a plant’s digestive sac. It was a grave she would have to share with dozens of other girls who had gone before her and hundreds of other girls who would follow… Mrs. Oak stared, still horrified as the screams stopped, replaced by satisfied gurgles. Those sounds had reminded her of her daughters' own cries. The daughters she had set out to locate and save. Looking at her watch, she was shocked to find she had been observing the venus girltrap’s feeding for more than an hour. It was time she got moving. For as Melody Oak recovered from the shock of watching a sexy woman feed herself to a plant and listening to her as she was digested alive, she came to a realization. "This isn't the vore-free preserve anymore," she breathed, listening to the continuing gurgles of the melting doe. "I have to find the girls and get out of here now, or we're all going to be digested!" Before anything else happened though, Angie needed to be warned about the risk of vore monsters. Melody pulled the two-way radio out of her bag and called her oldest daughter. "Angie! Are you okay!?" she yelled, still in a state of panic. After a long, agonizing pause, the radio crackled to life with the reply. "Yeah Mom, I'm...fine." Mrs. Oak breathed a long sigh of relief. Angelica was okay. Nothing was going to suddenly gulp down her kids just because she discovered they were off the preserve. Angelica’s voice sounded strained, but not panicked or overshadowed by stomach noises. Her oldest child, at least, was safe. Taking another calming breath, Melody buzzed the radio again. "Honey, now don't be scared, but we're not in the safe area anymore...we're all in danger." "Yeah, I know. I kinda met some people who were, um, demonstrating that fact." "Ok, good, then you'll know to be careful. Keep looking for your sisters; I'm going to try to find the way back to the safe zone. Call me if anything comes up!" Mrs. Oak said. "Sure, I'll do that. Talk to you later," said Angelica, signing off. A long way off, Angelica flicked the 'off' switch on her radio and leaned back with a sigh. "Sorry about that," she said, "I think my mom ran into something as well. We must be waaayy off the preserve." The girl whose head was between Angelica's thighs grunted in confirmation. She then yelped as she was jerked backward a few inches. "Sorry!" she said sheepishly. Angelica just laughed and scooted forward, bringing her pussy back into reach of the other girl's mouth. "That's okay! It's not like you can help it. Big old greedyguts there isn’t giving you a choice. I'll just have to do my best to keep up with you." The girl resumed eating her out, and Angelica looked up contentedly at the green mass looming over them. "In a little while we'll be free to fuck however we want for the rest of our lives...” --------- Mrs. Oak took yet another deep, calming breath and let it slowly out. This wasn't as bad as it looked; neither her nor Angelica was eaten, and there was no particular reason to think that the twins were gone either. Melody pulled out her compass and turned to face the direction she came from. All she had to do was retrace her steps until she found a landmark that was on the map. Determined to find the way back and see her girls safely home, Mrs. Melody Oaks set off once more into the forest. Fortunately for her, she moved just fast enough to escape the fringed set of jaws that attempted to close over her ass. The venus girltrap watched the doe hurry off into the woods with something akin to mild disappointment. Two nice, plump meals like that in one day would have been amazing, but the one sloshing around its stomach-sac was sufficient. This second doe certainly wasn’t worth the effort of uprooting and chasing after her. After all, something else would undoubtedly grab her before long. The hours flowed by as she hiked on and on. The sun was kissing the horizon when she first turned back; night had fully fallen by the time she reached the place where she and Angelica split up. Having realized that this was not a friendly stretch of woodland, she was being far more observant. Earlier she had allowed herself to be entranced by the forest's beauty, the sweet birdsong and the gorgeous weather. Now the birds were silent in sleep, and flowers were folded up against the cool night air. Light came only from the stars and moon. Perhaps it was just her weary and worried mind at work, but the same forest she had traversed that afternoon seemed unnervingly alien to her now. It was no less beautiful in the silver stillness of night, but this beauty was a jealous, cold thing. It made her feel small and intrusive, like a rat in an art gallery. Small Ugly Unwanted And, looking past the beautiful presentation, Mrs. Oak was reminded that not everyone objects to the presence of rats. Cats, for example. The signs were subtle, for the most part. A bush laden with berries had dozens of footprints leading over toward it and none returning to the path. Melody shivered a little when she looked at that bush, thinking how appealing those berries had been when she walked past them a few hours ago. If only she’d given in to that impulse to stop and have a snack, her daughters would probably be orphans now. The berries still looked amazing, and their sweet scent was distinct and pleasant in the night air. Melody gave the bush a wide berth. A while later she noticed an abandoned bundle of cloth stuffed beneath a shrub at the edge of a lagoon. Moonlight gleamed on the still waters of this secluded protrusion extending out from the main body of a small lake. Another pile of clothing lay in a crumpled mass on the shore. Not an unusual sight on its own; after all it was a lovely swimming spot. There were many such places in the woods where people would leave their clothes on dry land while they took a dip. However, no swimmers disturbed the waters of the lagoon. In all directions, there was no sign at all of owners of those two sets of clothes. Melody couldn’t restrain her curiosity. Cautiously, very cautiously, she crept from the shadows and retrieved the two fabric bundles. The one beneath the bush was a set of hiking clothes, neatly folded and topped by a piece of paper whose only legible word was "goodbye". The other was a half-melted park ranger's uniform, clotted with sand from the edge of the pond. Turning out its pockets, Mrs. Oak found some loose change, an unreadably stained ID card, and two filled-out tickets. One detailed a $50 littering fine, and the other ticket was a $2750 charge for "feeding the following inorganic materials to wildlife: (1) women’s ranger uniform, (1) plastic water bottle, (1) flashlight, (1) 2-way radio, (2) condoms, (1) plastic bag, (6) assorted ID and credit cards, (1) pen, (1) ticket pad, (1) cell phone, (1) weatherproof notebook." Drawn by a macabre fascination, Mrs. Oak read the officer's notes on the tickets. The more expensive ticket noted that the offender also fed the animal (a pascere puellarum gigans, commonly known as the wels catfish) (1) bag-full of trail mix, (1) leather wallet, and (1) athletic female ranger, but none of these were harmful to the creature in question. There was also a recommendation to establish a park rule that visitors' clothing must be biodegradable. The littering ticket merely had a comment that the offender was permanently unavailable and that the fine should be addressed to her next-of-kin. Both were dated for last week. “It sounds like they were eaten willingly…just like that woman with the plant,” Melody whispered to herself, almost afraid to acknowledge it. How could mature, sensible women just…succumb like this? Just throw away their dignity, their bodies, their lives, everything? Not even their names remained. For a moment, she tried to imagine what it would be like to follow in these women’s footsteps, giving herself wholesale into meat-hood and digestion, leaving no remains beyond a crumpled pile of forgotten clothing… Mrs. Oak did her best to ignore the excited little shivers going down her spine. She tossed the tickets aside and continued her midnight trek. A few more hours passed. As the night progressed, clouds began to fill the sky, hiding the moon and stars. As uncomfortable as their cold light made her feel, Melody had to admit they made for a much easier journey. Her pace slowed to a crawl while she picked through the darkened foliage, her nerves on tenterhooks. Every passing moment, she expected to place her foot wrong or touch the wrong tree trunk, alerting a predatory plant and diverting her path into a waiting stomach. At one point, Melody thought she saw a light moving through the trees, not too far ahead of her. Before she could decide whether to investigate or avoid it, the faint glow vanished, leaving Mrs. Oak uncertain whether or not her eyes were playing tricks on her. For some reason, she could almost hear something like the sound of muffled struggling. The all-but imperceptible sound disappeared as quickly as the light, though. The thought crossed her mind that she could pull a lantern out of her pack to let her see where she was stepping. It was a tempting idea, and one that grew more appealing with every root or stone she tripped over. There was the possibility that light would draw hungry attention to her, yes, but then again, she hadn’t seen any actively-hunting predators yet. In a forest where so many hungry plants waited for ripe, juicy women to stumble into their stomachs, perhaps better vision would be worth the risk. She felt her desire for light was justified soon after that, when she almost walked face-first into a thick, low-hanging vine. She was halfway through the process of locating her lamp when a sudden sound informed her that the vine above her wasn’t a vine. It was a segment of a snake's body. The reptilian trunk bulged with a still-squirming meal of girl. This particular helping of food was easy to see within the snake; her position was marked by the gentle red glow of her flashlight shining faintly through the snake's body. Melody surmised that the snakefood must have been hidden in the tree branches until a moment ago, when her journey through the reptile’s guts brought her to rest here. From the sounds and motions she was making, this female meal was quite content in her new home and was busy using the flashlight's handle to pleasure herself. The sight of yet more devoured meat enjoying her digestive plight intensified the strange in Mrs. Oak’s stomach, the sensation almost reminding her of the butterflies she felt on the night she lost her virginity. What was it about watching women be food that was getting her so worked up? She hated to admit it, but there was something carnally exciting in seeing a sexy female body squirming sensually in a serpentine stomach… A sudden noise made her jump and look wildly around. There! About 200 yards away from her was a pair of live does- er, girls, picking their way through the dark forest. The taller and better-endowed of the two was a young woman in her twenties, and the person at her side was a girl in her late teens. The woman had on a vaguely uniform-like outfit: hiking boots, khaki cargo shorts, a dull green button-up jacket, topped off with a baseball cap. It was fairly warm out, so she had her sleeves rolled up and her jacket unbuttoned, revealing a plain white tank-top underneath. The girl was much more lightly attired in a sky-blue nightgown, though she too had proper boots on. Both had flashlights, which they swept back and forth around the darkened forest. Putting the hanging, snake-encased lump of girl-meat out of her mind, Melody moved to follow the pair. It was hard to keep from breaking into a sprint; after all, she knew there was a predatory snake around and had a keen interest in staying out of its gut. Despite her attempted restraint, there was a distinct spring in Mrs. Oak’s step as she picked her way through the brush. If she could get help from these girls, it could only improve the odds that she and her daughters would make it out of these woods alive. As she got closer, she could hear them talking. “Are you sure you saw her going this way? “Yes, miss! I think so, at least.” ‘I wonder who they’re looking for,’ Melody thought to herself, drawing close to the pair. Abruptly the older doe spoke up, saying, “Look there! Are those her hiking boots?” She and her charge hurried forward, focused on a couple objects lying in the middle of a clearing just ahead of them. The younger girl dashed ahead, nightgown fluttering, and knelt down to examine the objects. They glistened, as though slimy. “Yes! These are hers!” the girl said excitedly. “Let’s look around in the bushes then; she can’t have gone far without her boots, and she might be hurt!” Having said that, the uniformed woman walked to the edge of the clearing and began picking through the brush. Melody decided it was a good time to introduce herself. The young lady in the uniform looked like the one to talk to. Mrs. Oak stepped forward from her place in the shadows at the edge of the clearing and said, “Excuse me.” The young woman jumped in shock, and Melody held up her hands appeasingly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you! It’s just I’m a little lost and looking for my little girls- have you seen them at all?” The young woman just gaped at her, clearly at a loss for how to respond to Melody’s sudden appearance. The two would probably have stood there for quite some time, had they not been interrupted by the voice of the younger girl calling out from across the clearing. “Hey, I think I found where my sister might have gone! I’m gonna check it out!” Melody and the other woman looked over at the younger girl. She was aiming her flashlight directly above herself, illuminating the open mouth of an enormous tree snake. It was an odd-looking creature, Melody thought. Its scales were patterned to look like tree bark, and it had a serrated ridge running along its upper lip. There were more ridges arrayed around its neck, just behind its head. When closed, its mouth looked too narrow to possibly consume a girl whole, but its jawbone folded outward like a gulper eel, making more than enough room for the girl it was swallowing. “Oh, my,” Melody said, realizing she’d been so engrossed by the snake’s appearance that she hadn’t noticed it descending to engulf the head of the nightgown-clad doe. The gaping mouth closed gently over her head and slipped under the neckline on her gown. Apparently it was going to swallow its meal out from inside her clothing. Fascinating. “How do you think it’s going to deal with her shirtsleeves?” Mrs. Oak asked the young woman beside her. “Wouldn’t they block it…? Oh, I see! It uses those ridges on its neck and lip to shred the clothing once it becomes restrictive.” The snake was making good progress on its meal. The young doe’s nightie was little more than a tattered tube of cloth draped over her body, which was swallowed down to her ass. Her legs were kicking a little, but it seemed like an involuntary response, not an escape attempt. Remarkably, the doe still held onto her flashlight as her hands disappeared into the reptilian maw. Its light dimmed as it was swallowed, turning from a bright beam into a soft red glow emanating from within the snake. “Stop!” The scene was interrupted by the uniformed doe standing next to Melody. Up to this point she had been watching the feeding with an awestruck expression. ‘Perhaps she remembered she’s supposed to be taking care of that girl,’ Melody thought, watching her race across the clearing. ‘I don’t know what she’s so upset about. She’s just a doe now, not like me and my girls…Damn, why do my panties feel wet again?’ The young woman reached the snake’s snack just as it was swallowing its knees. The remains of the blue nightie dangled off the doe’s left ankle, having caught on her hiking boot. The woman grabbed onto the protruding morsels, trying to pull the devoured girl back out. In response, the snake began lifting its head away from the ground, forcing the woman to fight gravity as well as serpentine muscles. The doe in its jaws slipped further into its ravenous gullet. "No! She isn't for eating!" the woman shouted, still desperately clutching the younger doe’s ankles. Whether the snake understood her or not, it seemed to strongly disagree. It tossed its head vigorously, making the cabin leader lose her grip on the saliva-slick flesh. She landed on her bum with a grunt. In her hands were her charge’s socks and shoes. Swiftly snatching up her flashlight, she pointed it upward, illuminating the tree snake's head just in time to see a set of wiggling toes disappear down the reptilian’s throat.  The uniform-wearing doe gaped from her place on the ground. The squirming lump of camper-meat, highlighted by the glow of the camper's flashlight, slid smoothly up into the treetops and out of sight. Looking up into the trees, Melody Oaks saw many more such glowing, wriggling bulges. Apparently, flashlight-bearing campers were the primary prey of this nocturnal serpent. Scrambling back to her feet, she faced off with the snake, shouting, "Give her back! Spit her out now!" To her mild surprise, the snake retreated upward a little, a bulge traveling down toward its mouth. Mrs. Oak and the doe both stared as scaly cheeks bulged outward. The snake opened its mouth... "Ack!" the camp counselor spluttered indignantly as a slimy bundle of cloth was belched out into her face. A plain pair of gooey panties slid down her body, leaving a long trail of saliva as it did so. They landed between her feet with a splat and laid there in a slimy, ragged heap, steaming faintly in the cool night air. She trembled with rage. "That's not what I meant, and you know it! Now, I am that girl's counselor, and I am not leaving this clearing without her, do you hear me!" She shook her fist angrily at the snake, which regarded her lazily. For a moment, Melody thought it looked pensive, or perhaps amused. Then it casually leaned forward and glomped its wide mouth down on the upraised hand. The young woman’s eyes grew wide as she realized her mistake. *gluck!* "Agh!" The serpent lazily gulped, sucking in about five inches of the twenty-something woman's wrist. It wasn't much, but her arm had already been extended upward. With so little slack in her arm, she could reach no further and found herself hoisted into the air. In that moment, all the doe’s anger drained out of her, dripping down and off her body like the slimy reptilian saliva that now oozed from around her enveloped hand. It wasn't far; when she experimentally reached downward with her toes they could just about brush the ground. This meant nothing. The snake was holding her whole meaty weight up by its grip on her hand alone, which meant two things: that her shoulder was quite uncomfortable at the moment, and that this powerful reptile was very strong. The doe needed to grab onto something and pull with all her might if she wanted a chance of freeing herself from that ravenous grip- and there was nothing to grab. No tree branches were low enough, no bushes were close enough; there wasn't even anything on the ground for her to hook a foot around. Vainly she pressed the tips of her boots together on the stem of a small weed between her feet, but when another lazy peristaltic pulse tugged her up an additional inch, the little sprout simply came with her. The uprooted plant fall back to the forest floor as she tried kicking and flailing next, swinging pendulously on the reptilian rope. From her hiding place in the bushes, Melody was reminded of a term she once heard in a pirate movie: 'dancing the hangman's jig.' The woman in front of her was engaged in very similar dance, twisting and tossing, flexing and heaving, exhausting every muscle in her body. It was the wild dance of a trapped animal, desperate to prolong its life by even the slightest increment. Naturally, it was a wasted effort. For all her labor, the one-time camp counselor’s hand was still firmly held by the snake's throat. Her clothing was drenched with sweat from both fear and exertion. The damp cloth clung to her, accentuating her alluring curves, and making the feeble trembling of her limp muscles all the more pronounced. The snake, satisfied that its food would make no more disturbances, swallowed a little more of her arm. "What-are you-waiting-for?" the doe panted. "If you're gonna eat me then do it! Why aren't you getting it over with!?" From her hiding place, Melody had a feeling she knew the answer to the doomed doe's question. The greedy beast, already replete with a dozen delicious servings of camper-meat, including that poor young girl, was going to eat this doe too. It was just going to take its time, savoring every mouthful of this most excellent camp counselor. There was no rush. She wasn't going anywhere. Her comprehension brought another happy little gush of wetness from Melody’s pussy. The pressure of lust distracted Mrs. Oak from the tableau of predation playing out in the clearing, so she unzipped her pants and slipped a couple fingers into her pussy to keep it satisfied. She wanted to focus on watching this young woman be devoured. After several long minutes, the snake reached the counselor’s rolled-up shirtsleeve. It daintily wiggled its serrated lip against the cloth, shredding it to ribbons without so much as scratching the doe’s exquisite pelt. The young woman-turned-food sighed in relief when those sucking jaws reached her shoulder, taking weight off the tortured joint. She stifled a whimper, and Melody knew she was starting to enjoy the experience. “You’re a doe for certain, honey,” she said, admiring the 20-something’s body as it was exposed, bit by bit. She certainly was a looker. The doe was moaning now and trying to force her head into the snake’s mouth. “Come on! Put me inside you! Don’t leave me dangling here!” the woman-meat begged. Her devourer still was in no hurry, relishing every inch of her savory-sweet flesh. The meal dragged on and on, inch by inch. The young doe from before had made the transition from free girl to a pair of kicking legs in less than five minutes; it took the former counselor almost an hour to reach that point. By then, Melody’s panties were soaked, and she couldn’t resist the urge to take a closer look. Sure, she’d seen a woman eaten already today, but for some reason she needed more. Mrs. Oak wanted to touch this doe’s body, to feel her as she was eaten alive. Keeping her light off, Melody slowly walked forward to stand beside the kicking and squirming legs of the nearly-devoured camp counselor. The snake had lowered itself a little, putting the snake-clad doe in easy reach. Cautiously, Melody put a hand against the snake’s scales where the doe’s breast meat made a distinct bulge. The great predator flinched at her touch, but it did not stop eating. The swallowed doe squirmed, trying to rub her boob against Melody’s hand. “I hope you have fun in there,” Melody told her, giving the plump tit a squeeze. “I…I still don’t understand how you can enjoy this, being made into food…but you’re a doe, and I’m not. I guess I’ll just have to accept that it’ll never make sense to me.” There were a couple of dull thumps as the doe’s socks and boots were peeled off by the snake’s dexterous lip and fell to the ground. They lay in what was now a small heap of ruined clothing, both from the camper and the counselor. The clearing was dark once again, lit only by the dull glow of the counselor’s swallowed flashlight. Melody could see it glowing between the doe’s legs, being pushed back and forth, making her stay in the snake’s gut that much more comfortable. Having finished its meal, the tree snake pulled its head back into the canopy, settling its vast body into a comfortable position to sleep off its massive meal. In the ensuing silence, Melody realized she was still holding her lantern. ‘Was that a dream?’ Mrs. Oak wondered. ‘Surely I imagined that whole thing. I was rubbing myself off to some poor young woman and a girl getting swallowed whole by a gigantic tree-snake! I’d never do that- never! I was just tired and scared and I had a nightmare while I was walking. The end.’ She strode out of the clearing, ignoring the pile of discarded clothes left by the “imaginary” snake. ‘Besides, if there were a couple girls eaten by a snake, they were clearly delusional. They must not have realized they were going to be digested. I’d feel really sorry for them- if they were real, of course.’ As Melody continued her nighttime journey, she became more and more certain that the whole incident with the tree snake had been a dream. Even so, she put away her lantern…just to be safe. Keeping herself away from any light may have kept Mrs. Oak safer, but it meant her journey was a great deal more arduous. Clouds had drifted in, obscuring the moon and stars, leaving her in pitch-black darkness. On top of that, fatigue was catching up with her, making her stumble and trip. More than once she walked into a tree, and another time nearly walked into a Venus Girltrap's open jaws. Only a last-second breeze had cleared the sky enough for her to see the waiting hunter. One more blind step would have left her literally in its jaws. Melody was getting tired, an unsurprising effect of a long day spent pushing herself forward. Seeing an open area ahead of her, she stumbled toward it, hoping that there would be fewer predatory plants in an open area like that. Anything that did come after her she would see coming and be able to flee, or so her thoughts went. A dozen more steps brought the weary woman out of the foliage and into the open sward. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but Mrs. Oak thought she was in a flat clearing covered in grass, with knee-high objects protruding at random intervals across the ground. It was hard to make out details in the dark. They looked vaguely like rocks, but when she prodded one with her toe as she passed it rustled and bent. Must be some sort of small plant, she thought. Moving forward, Melody also found occasional piles of some soft flexible material littering the ground, usually when she tripped on them. After one particularly bad fall, the sleepy MILF had had enough. Not even bothering to get up, she reached around on the ground and found the pile of stuff that had made her trip up... It was clothing. Discarded human clothing. This particular bundle that had brought her tumbling to the ground was a cute little evening dress knotted up with a different person's camping clothes and several sets of underwear. A dull dread crept into her heart, rising up and turning into terror. Melody pulled off her backpack and tore through it, digging out her lamp. Flashlight-hunting snake be damned, she had to see around herself clearly! The lamp blazed to life, shedding bright white light across the whole clearing. In the harsh glare, clothing of all types could be seen in piles all over the place, scattered around and tangled up in large protruding fern plants that stuck up out of the grass. The green fronds were curled up together in balls, but the nearer ones began to unfurl themselves in response to the lamplight. Their leaflets rustled softly as the spread out, almost like they were stretching out after a nap. Mrs. Oak felt and heard something rustling beneath her own body. She turned over, discovering that her fall had been broken by one of those balled-up ferns. The squashed plant crinkled and slithered as it spread back out into its proper shape...and kept right on spreading. Mrs. Oaks propped herself up on her arms to look down on the plant beneath her. As she gazed, it opened up, blossoming like a flower- or like a mouth, opening wide to accept its food. The pathway to oblivion was open, and only the strength of her weary arms and legs was keeping her alive, suspended above doom. Poor Melody gritted her teeth and willed her limbs not to betray her. Sweat dripped from her body into the slimy abyss, making her clothing stick uncomfortably to her pelt. Still she held her body up, grimly refusing to give up. Unexpectedly, relief came from the “fern” fronds arrayed around her. They curled back in, some wafting air over her, others slipping under her collar and waistband to tug back the hot, sticky garments clinging to her. Melody swallowed nervously as her clothes were peeled back, allowing the cool night air to caress her trembling form. She wasn’t used to anyone but her or her late husband undressing her, but the plant did its work gently, without even the slightest downward nudge to make her task harder. Her shirt and bra were pulled up while pants and panties were pulled down, leaving her exposed from shoulder to ankle. Then, still not making any move to push her into the gaping maw beneath her, the tendrils settled over her body and proceeded to administer the loveliest massage Melody Oaks had ever received. Silky-smooth shoots stroked her aching arms and shoulders, rubbing away at her sore muscles. They drifted across the tender skin of her back, soothing the knots and pains accumulated between stress and a heavy backpack. Longer fronds coiled all the way around her legs and thighs, pulsing gently as they did, leaving the muscle beneath them soft as butter. Mrs. Oak let out a happy little sigh; for the first time all day, she felt completely comfortable. The fear-induced tension that had been building all day simply vanished beneath the touch of this plant. It was almost enough to make her forget it was trying to eat her… Melody tensed up her arms and legs again, pushing against the edges of the mouth-pit with renewed vigor. She’d almost let her body relax! To her surprise and slight amusement, the tendrils around her drooped a little, as if they were disappointed. She imagined what they would be saying if they had voices. “Didn’t you like your massage?” “We thought you liked us.” “Don’t you want to rest?” A noise came from her left; first a rustling, then a shuffling, then a wet, grotesque squelching. And then…moaning? Unable to restrain her curiosity, Melody craned her head, trying to spot the source of the sounds. In the harsh light from her discarded lamp, she saw an open “fern,” identical to the one she was currently suspended over. The sounds were emanating from the slimy depths of its mouth-pit. Several of its fronds were fishing around down there. “I wonder what it’s doing,” she said to herself, mostly to give her ears something else to hear. Those sounds were troublingly appealing…and in her heart, she already knew what was going on. A moment later, the other plant’s fronds began to retract. As more and more of their dripping length returned to the surface, the moaning grew louder and louder. A minute passed, and then another, as the moaning thing was dredged up from the depths of the plant. Melody turned away to face back down into the mouth of her own plant, wondering how far down she would go if she allowed herself to fall in. A couple yards away, she heard the neighboring fern extract its prize. She did her best to ignore the sounds it was making, truly she did. After all, it was hardly a mystery what the thing was, and there was no point discouraging herself by looking at what she might become. No point at all. She didn’t need to see it…at least, not more than a quick glance. Mrs. Oak closed her eyes and slowly turned her head to face the source of the moans. She intended to take just a short peek, a mere open-and-shutting of her eyelids. Thu-thump. One heartbeat passed, then another. Thu-thump. The sound pounded in her ears. She could feel that vital organ behind her breasts, thu-thump, safe within her ribcage, pulsing with an extreme intensity brought on by fear and excitement. Thu-THUMP. Another pulse, and another surge of life-sustaining fluid washed through her. THU- She opened her eyes. Light blazed from the lamp on the ground. It flew through the clear night air at more than six hundred million miles an hour. Everything the light hit reflected and absorbed it in some measure. Uncountable photons, energy particles more infinitesimal than atoms, struck the wondrous thing being held in front of Mrs. Melody Oak. The thing changed all the light that hit it, filtering it by frequency and intensity, encoding it with a form of information that humans have chosen to call an ‘image.’ As light, the image passed through twin flexible protein lenses, bending as it went, changing course to collect on a single tiny patch of cells at the back of her eyes. There, it slowed down to a mere hundredth of its former speed, as those cells converted the encoded light into a new form: bioelectricity. From there, the image ran along Melody’s optic nerves to the part of her brain dedicated to sensory input from the eyes. There, the image was decoded, and new signals were sent. Some signals went to the portions of the brain dedicated to memory, some for storage and others for comparison to previous sights. Other nerves brought the image to places for analysis. In an intricate cascade of ions and chemicals, the image was filtered through conscious and unconscious levels of thought. More signals were sent. Logical processing defined the image in concrete terms, judging it as a part of reality and calculating different responses based on a variety of conditions. Emotional responses were triggered. Some were what have been called ‘higher functions,’ feelings of empathy and interpersonal connection. Others were deeper, simpler reactions that compose the semi-automated processes labelled ‘instinct.’ Analysis was complete, the image was successfully matched with extrapolations of the object based on a blend of imagination, memory, and the other senses, it was branded into long-term mental storage, and all responses, conscious, unconscious, and physiological were underway. -THUMP It was like a spell had broken. Melody jammed her eyes shut, fighting the sudden shakiness that flooded her limbs. A fresh wave of sweat dripped from her glistening pelt, but she was not overheated. No, this was a cold sweat. It prickled her skin in an icy patina, making her acutely aware of a warm updraft emanating from the slimy maw beneath her. She braced herself, focusing only on her four frond-wrapped limbs. “I will not relax, I will not fall,” she muttered over and over. Her racing heart refused to slow. What was this madness? She’d seen it for less than a single heartbeat; how could it affect her so deeply? Perhaps another look would help her understand. For the third time she turned her head toward the neighboring plant. As if sensing her intentions, her own fern reached up with a frond to cradle her head, giving her poor neck muscles a rest. She mumbled, “thank you,” and took a moment to steady her breathing. She could do this. She’d seen plenty of vore before; no doubt she’d see more. Melody Oak opened her eyes again, and this time she did not look away. The source of the moaning was a slimy mass suspended above an open maw-pit. Faint gurgles emanated from the deep hole, but that wasn’t important. The mass writhed and squirmed, mewling and whimpering. It was a human doe, obviously; Mrs. Oak knew that before it was even out of the plant’s throat. Formerly a Latina, or at least that was her guess. It was a little hard to tell. She definitely couldn’t bring herself to think of it as a woman; everything about it informed her that it was an animal that existed only for predators’ enjoyment. It lay in a gentle cradle of fronds, naked and helpless. Its body was limp and tender, its golden-brown skin slick and syrupy. Obviously it had been digesting for a while, but it was still quite clear that if this were a real person, she would be smoking hot. Melody noticed that the doe’s sticky-sweet lips were moving. The helpless serving of meat wasn’t just moaning, it was saying something. She strained her ears to try and make out the words that tumbled from the glorious melted beauty. “…please…please take me back….I’m not done!” It was like siren-song to Melody’s ears. She knew immediately that this was dangerous, that she should try to ignore it…but she couldn’t. “Wasn’t I good food? Don’t you want me? It’s so good inside you- please, swallow me again!” the doe begged, crying as it tried to pleasure itself. Feelings that had been growing like unheeded seeds in Melody’s mind all day were working their way to the fore. Repressed desires, already powerful, were outstripping her ability to ignore them. The doe kept speaking. “Please…I’m so cold…and it’s so…so warm inside you. You can digest me…I don’t mind…you deserve me…and I deserve to…melt…inside you.” Mrs. Oak gasped, making a choked, squeaking sound. She just came. It wasn’t a big orgasm, but that just made it worse. She could feel the walls of her pussy clenching on nothing, yearning for something to push against. She’d felt horny many times today, but never like this. It was like sexual desire had been distilled into pure, unrelenting NEED and gathered in between her legs. She bit her lip and cried, waiting for the sweet and utterly unfulfilling sensations to pass. The impulse to finger herself was overwhelming. Sweat ran in rivulets down her trembling limbs to drip into the plant below, commingled now with tears and lady-cum. The predatory fern quivered as the sparkling drops landed inside it. Melody’s heart was racing faster than ever. She could feel her hands starting to slip. Over by the other plant, the half-digested doe’s wish was finally being granted. The fronds that help it relinquished her tender body, letting it plop neatly back into her devourer. Melody couldn’t spare the effort to look over at the former woman, but she could still make out the words “thank you” from the creature’s ecstatic moaning. The sound quickly vanished, replaced a rhythmic squelching noise as the plant gulped down its food. Soon the clearing was once again silent, apart from Mrs. Oak’s own labored panting. She stared down into the fleshy pit below her. Her eyes drank in the sight, memorizing every fold, curve, and bulge of the soft, slimy tissue, all leading to a dark sphincter at the bottom. There was a pool of fluid there, just barely visible. Some of it was her own sweat and pussy juice, but the vast majority of the thick, clear liquid was secreted by the plant. She could see more of it oozing out of pores in the pit’s lining. The mass of flesh below her convulsed, and for a moment the sphincter opened up wide enough for her to see into the depths of the plant. A long, dark, yet irresistibly appealing tunnel yawned below her. Its walls seemed like they might be too narrow to admit a whole person, but they widened and contracted as Melody watched. The soft tissue easily stretched open far enough to envelop her whole. Mrs. Oak half-expected the fronds caressing her body to get rough and shove her on in, but nothing so dramatic happened. The plant merely swallowed, a languorous movement of the throat muscles that coated them with slime, lubricating the way for Melody to descend into the digestive depths. It was getting ready to swallow her whole and digest her alive. There was no pretending otherwise, not after seeing that doe put on display and then casually re-eaten. And, Melody realized, if she was only here to be gulped down and digested, then she must be a doe as well. The realization was not a shocking one. Or, perhaps, it was shocking because now that she finally admitted it, she realized she’d been thinking of women- most specifically herself- as food for some time now. The thought had been there for ages, even before her poor husband got eaten. She’d just repressed it, lashing out at anything that made her think about the uncomfortable truth that she’d already known. Why had all those women willingly submitted to being eaten alive? It was just in their nature; they were meant to be food. The stomachs they went to were where they belonged. It had taken a whole day of seeing doe after doe make the change from living woman to meaningless meal for her to consciously accept her own feelings. Looking down at the salivating maw-pit below her quivering in anticipation of tasting her sweet flesh, Melody comprehended that she was and always had been meat, a living helping of food on the run. Now she’d been caught, and it was time to pay her dues for the time she’d had to herself, free and undigested. “I couldn’t have hoped for a nicer predator than you, either,” she said aloud. Her lips tentatively began to form a smile for the first time since she lost her husband. “I went and fell on you, and you could have claimed me then and there. You deserve me; after all, I’m just a silly doe who wandered straight into your mouth.” The fern rustled. The Melody-meat wondered if it actually understood her. She had a strange feeling that it could. “You were in your right to claim your food this whole time, but you didn’t. You made me comfortable. You didn’t attack me. You haven’t tried to devour me. All you’ve done is open your mouth and tell me why I should go inside it. Well, it did the trick. You were nice and persuasive, and honestly, I’m tired. Tired muscles, tired eyes, tired of everything. I’m done resisting. Take me.” She let her arms and legs go slack. The meat that Melody Oaks always had been tumbled into the warm waiting wetness of the plant’s maw. The fronds that once massaged her body darted around her, tearing off her rolled-up pants and shirt without even slowing her fall. She landed in soft folds of tissue that happily enveloped her sexy body, greasing her up while the fronds removed her boots, socks, panties, and bra. The doe sighed contentedly, glad to be in her proper, natural state. She rolled around in the squishy pit, making sure that she rubbed every inch of her succulent body against the walls. This plant had well and truly seduced her; it deserved to enjoy her as much as possible. The plant’s throat widened up beneath her broad tush, taking it in and folding her up at the waist. Amazingly, the massaging fronds had loosened her up so much that the awkward position was completely comfortable. The waiting gullet pulsed around her hindquarters, drawing her in so far that only her feet, ankles, and hands protruded into the outside world. “You must be hungry, trying to swallow me so fast,” the former woman panted, squished on all sides by pulsing flesh. Her breasts were smooshed up into her face, but she didn’t mind. A strong suction still pulled on her ass and exposed pussy, feeling quite nice on both. “Come on, big boy, finish me up! This doe had a date with digestion…and I’ve kept it waiting far too long.” An outside observer would have seen, by the light of a camping lantern, a shapely pair of hands and feet sucked into the depths of a predatory fern in a single swallow. A loud, orgasmic shriek and a squelching ‘GLUCK!’ accompanied the strange sight. The scream faded away quickly as it descended into the ground. With its dinner eaten, the plant’s maw contracted until it was completely closed. One of its fronds tossed the doe’s unneeded clothing into a heap, while a few others coiled around the lantern. After a little fumbling, the light was turned off, and the lamp was discarded. Having cleaned up after its meal, the fern coiled its fronds back into a ball and went still. Once more, the clearing was dark and silent. Deep underground, being churned in a sloppy digestive inferno, the doe that used to be Melody Oaks spoke, voicing the last rational thought she would have for a long time. “If only my girls were here with me…I wish I could show them how wonderful it is to be food.”

Deficient Digester By Alt-Art-NateDesign Warning: The following fictional dialogue contains non-explicit M/F vore, fatal digestion, and dark themes. Be aware of what you’re getting into. "I'm telling you, Doctor, there's something wrong with my son's digestive system. I don't know the full extent of it, but I've seen both his sister and his girlfriend go into his gut more than once and come out the other end alive!" "Hmm...that is strange. I have never heard of a case like this before; in fact, I'm having a hard time believing it's true." "What do you mean?" "I mean this sounds like some sort of trick or prank. It seems quite strange to me that your son would have trouble digesting people and not have the same issue with other foods as well." "Doctor, please, why would my innocent little boy want to trick you?" "'Little?' He's an 18-year-old offensive tackle on a varsity football team! As for why he'd try tricking me, well there's all sorts of reasons...not least of which is the chance to eat one of my nurses and then digest her when she thinks she's safe. Hot-blooded hormonal teenagers like him seem to think that intelligent young ladies in professional medical positions are very sexy, and therefore are excellent food. No consideration is ever given for the value of bright, fresh minds in the field, or the difficulty of replacing such important individuals." "But don't you do manual internal exams here?" "Of course! But we like to try avoiding it, especially in when the situation doesn’t appear to be life-threatening." "I'll vouch for his good behavior! He’s a very good bot, he gets straight A's in school, he doesn't sleep around, he-" "I'm sorry, ma'am, but there isn’t enough evidence to justify the risk. However enjoyable it might happen to be for countless cute nurses to get swallowed whole and digested alive, it's just not fair to them and their families, not necessary outside of emergencies, and, most critically, we're starting to run out of cute sexy nurses. My decision is final. Unless his condition worsens, the only way I can allow one of my nurses to go in and examine his gut in person will be if I get first-hand living evidence that she'll come out intact." "Are you calling me a liar? I've seen this with my own two eyes!” "Prove it, then! Let him eat you. I'll put in a stomach cam, and we'll follow your progress while I monitor conditions from the outside. If you come out the other end in the same shape you went in, and I’ll agree to risk one of my nurses on an internal exam." “Fine! If that’s what it takes to see my baby boy taken care of properly, then I’ll do it!” “Mom! Seriously!?” “Hush, now, this is for your own good. Doctor, do you mind if I set my clothes here on the exam table?” “Not at all, ma’am.” “Mom, really! You- MMPH! Mmmm....” “My god, she was being entirely serious. Here, I can help shove her down. Can’t be easy swallowing an ass that big.” “Mmph… ank-oo” "There we go! She seems to be fitting in your stomach nicely, despite being larger than your previous meals." "Phew. I know. Sure is filling though. Not like that's a surprise. Neither my sister nor my girlfriend have bulges that big up top, and they DEFINITELY don’t have as much ass-meat on them." “Well, I’ll get a stomach cam set up, and we can observe her condition. I can’t imagine why someone healthy condition like yourself would have trouble digesting food, but maybe viewing the process directly will offer some enlightenment…What are you snickering about?” “You’ll see in a bit, doc…” Several hours later… "Well, there goes the last of her. No real need to monitor your mother from here; it's quite clear that your digestive system is functioning excellently. Besides, the next steps of processing her remains aren't as much fun to watch. Tell me, did you really pass your sister and girlfriend unharmed?" "Yeah. School nurse gave me a prescription antacid when I got peckish and slurped Jeanie by accident, and she gave me some extra when me and my girlfriend picked up some condoms." "Why didn't you tell your mother that?" "She'd have wanted to talk to the nurse, and then she'd have found out that me and my girlfriend have been sleeping together. I really didn't want her to flip out over that. I mean, seriously, she was a loonie. Didn’t you hear her while she was digesting? 'Oh, sweetie pie, you're making mommy feel naughty.' You'd think I was a toddler from the way she treated me. *shrug* Besides, I was curious if she was as tasty as Jeanie." "Was she?" "Meh, not quite. She was a little stale. Wish I'd had someone sweeter to wash her down with. I did like the extra meat on her, though." "Kid, you're messed up." "Can't deny it. Hey, can you make me a prescription for some more antacids? My girlfriend and my sister both liked their little tour, and I'd like to let them go a few times before we do it for keeps." “...” “What?” “Nothing. You're just really messed up. Here's your prescription; have fun and enjoy your food. Talk to the receptionist to set up your next physical; please don't eat her before you've done that." "Yeah, whatever. See you in a few months."

Deficient Digester By Alt-Art-NateDesign Warning: The following fictional dialogue contains non-explicit M/F vore, fatal digestion, and dark themes. Be aware of what you’re getting into. "I'm telling you, Doctor, there's something wrong with my son's digestive system. I don't know the full extent of it, but I've seen both his sister and his girlfriend go into his gut more than once and come out the other end alive!" "Hmm...that is strange. I have never heard of a case like this before; in fact, I'm having a hard time believing it's true." "What do you mean?" "I mean this sounds like some sort of trick or prank. It seems quite strange to me that your son would have trouble digesting people and not have the same issue with other foods as well." "Doctor, please, why would my innocent little boy want to trick you?" "'Little?' He's an 18-year-old offensive tackle on a varsity football team! As for why he'd try tricking me, well there's all sorts of reasons...not least of which is the chance to eat one of my nurses and then digest her when she thinks she's safe. Hot-blooded hormonal teenagers like him seem to think that intelligent young ladies in professional medical positions are very sexy, and therefore are excellent food. No consideration is ever given for the value of bright, fresh minds in the field, or the difficulty of replacing such important individuals." "But don't you do manual internal exams here?" "Of course! But we like to try avoiding it, especially in when the situation doesn’t appear to be life-threatening." "I'll vouch for his good behavior! He’s a very good bot, he gets straight A's in school, he doesn't sleep around, he-" "I'm sorry, ma'am, but there isn’t enough evidence to justify the risk. However enjoyable it might happen to be for countless cute nurses to get swallowed whole and digested alive, it's just not fair to them and their families, not necessary outside of emergencies, and, most critically, we're starting to run out of cute sexy nurses. My decision is final. Unless his condition worsens, the only way I can allow one of my nurses to go in and examine his gut in person will be if I get first-hand living evidence that she'll come out intact." "Are you calling me a liar? I've seen this with my own two eyes!” "Prove it, then! Let him eat you. I'll put in a stomach cam, and we'll follow your progress while I monitor conditions from the outside. If you come out the other end in the same shape you went in, and I’ll agree to risk one of my nurses on an internal exam." “Fine! If that’s what it takes to see my baby boy taken care of properly, then I’ll do it!” “Mom! Seriously!?” “Hush, now, this is for your own good. Doctor, do you mind if I set my clothes here on the exam table?” “Not at all, ma’am.” “Mom, really! You- MMPH! Mmmm....” “My god, she was being entirely serious. Here, I can help shove her down. Can’t be easy swallowing an ass that big.” “Mmph… ank-oo” "There we go! She seems to be fitting in your stomach nicely, despite being larger than your previous meals." "Phew. I know. Sure is filling though. Not like that's a surprise. Neither my sister nor my girlfriend have bulges that big up top, and they DEFINITELY don’t have as much ass-meat on them." “Well, I’ll get a stomach cam set up, and we can observe her condition. I can’t imagine why someone healthy condition like yourself would have trouble digesting food, but maybe viewing the process directly will offer some enlightenment…What are you snickering about?” “You’ll see in a bit, doc…” Several hours later… "Well, there goes the last of her. No real need to monitor your mother from here; it's quite clear that your digestive system is functioning excellently. Besides, the next steps of processing her remains aren't as much fun to watch. Tell me, did you really pass your sister and girlfriend unharmed?" "Yeah. School nurse gave me a prescription antacid when I got peckish and slurped Jeanie by accident, and she gave me some extra when me and my girlfriend picked up some condoms." "Why didn't you tell your mother that?" "She'd have wanted to talk to the nurse, and then she'd have found out that me and my girlfriend have been sleeping together. I really didn't want her to flip out over that. I mean, seriously, she was a loonie. Didn’t you hear her while she was digesting? 'Oh, sweetie pie, you're making mommy feel naughty.' You'd think I was a toddler from the way she treated me. *shrug* Besides, I was curious if she was as tasty as Jeanie." "Was she?" "Meh, not quite. She was a little stale. Wish I'd had someone sweeter to wash her down with. I did like the extra meat on her, though." "Kid, you're messed up." "Can't deny it. Hey, can you make me a prescription for some more antacids? My girlfriend and my sister both liked their little tour, and I'd like to let them go a few times before we do it for keeps." “...” “What?” “Nothing. You're just really messed up. Here's your prescription; have fun and enjoy your food. Talk to the receptionist to set up your next physical; please don't eat her before you've done that." "Yeah, whatever. See you in a few months."

Activism A story by Alt-Art-NateDesign She stood on the sidewalk, tapping her foot. It was almost 12:45, when he’d leave the office and go out for lunch. Pins and badges gleamed on her breast, the midday sun glinting off their polished surfaces. For those who walked down this street regularly, she was a familiar sight. Her activist efforts took her all over town, but she always came here at lunchtime, determined not to miss him. Most people scoffed at her crusade. Even members of her own organization thought she was going too far, but she was deaf to their comments. For her, this was personal, and there was nothing that could sway her from her task. The clock struck 12:45. Her jaw tightened. Her heart sped up. She counted the seconds off in her head while she waited. She hadn’t yet reached ten when the door opened and he stepped out, punctual as ever. He blinked in the sunlight, then his eyes met hers. From across the street, she could see him sigh heavily. Good, she thought. He should feel bad. She picked up a sign leaning against her leg and held it up. Bright red letters on it declared “Vore is Murder!” Clutching it like a battle standard, she marched across the street toward him. Her name was Caroline. Protest against vore was nothing new. People objected to the act itself, the people and creatures who indulged in it, and the city’s regulations on it. This woman’s quest, at least where this particular man was concerned, was different. It wasn’t about pro-vore laws being awful and overly-permissive, though that was bad enough. No, she singled out Him because, to her mind, those laws had been broken! City ordinances stipulated that if the prey is able to verbally protest their consumption within sight of at least one witness, then the predator is obligated to release her. If the prey is able to discernibly say "no" to being eaten, then it is illegal to eat them. Conversely, once a girl is consumed she is considered food; therefore, she is the legal property of the predator that ate her and cannot legally be confiscated without a court order. The courts that handled vore cases were so backed up that the waiting list for a gastric search warrant usually took a couple months to get through. Judges tended to be a little annoyed with the whole rigamarole, since the search warrants almost never turned up any evidence of the purported “victims”. Suffice it to say, most girls thought it best to stay in public areas where you could quick scream "no!" in front of witnesses before you were too far gone. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable arrangement, but it was simple, and that made it good enough for the general populace. Not for Caroline, though. This stubborn anti-vore girl kept harassing the dapper, (literally) predatory young man because he ate one of her best friends in public, without permission. The two girls had been talking at the time, passing by his building as he left for his lunch break. Spotting the succulent, voluptuous girl, he simply came up from behind and swallowed her to the waist in one gulp, leaving her no time to protest. She took this as a direct slap in the face to her anti-vore campaign, but couldn’t do anything because he was totally within his rights. She herself could see that her friend didn’t protest or refuse to feed her devourer. Of course, the event went completely against the spirit of the law, which was intended to allow consensual vore and ban the rest. Nonetheless, under the circumstances, there was no way to take legal action against the pred before all evidence of his crime was long gone. Instead, she settled on harassing the guy on a regular basis as he passed by her on his way to lunch. To her pride, he hadn’t had the opportunity to eat another girl since her friend. However, she failed to consider that this might have consequences. Eventually, tired of her and the crowd sympathy she was starting to gather, the guy turned on his heel to stare her in the face. The tall, fit pred stared her down as he delivered an ultimatum: "Look, I’m a vore pred. I eat meat-specifically cute girls- and there’s nothing that can be done about it. It’s just who I am. So shut up and quit trying to make my life miserable, or I will eat you! Right here, in public, in the middle of the sidewalk. For lunch, this Friday. You have until then to leave me to live my life, and go live yours as well.” That evening, she went home with a funny feeling in her stomach, like her insides were all twisted up and fluttery. “He wouldn’t really do it,” she said to herself. “He can’t; I’ll tell him no and call the police if he tries to eat me anyway. He can’t touch me.” So she kept at it, for each day that next week. Every day the number of people who stopped by her to listen to her anti-vore rants grew, every day she called out that predator. He, in turn, reminded her each day that he was a predator, it was in his nature to eat meat, and that he will have her for lunch on Friday. Every day, she was the one who backed off a little, feeling nervous Friday came, and she met him on the sidewalk. It was 11:45, sharp. He left his office and crossed the street toward her place, where she was standing on a little podium to better address passers-by. Soon he stood before her. Nervously, she stepped down to meet him. Off of her soapbox she realized how much taller than her he was. “Hello. My name is Henry. You never seemed to care who I was before, but I thought it would be polite to introduce myself. I’m going to have you for lunch now.” The woman’s breath caught in her throat as he picked her up and began stripping her of every scrap of clothing. Now and then he would mockingly remind her that all she has to do is say "no!" , and he will be forced to set her free. The crowd around the pair began cheering her name, and some of the watchers could be heard quoting her speeches. She felt confident for a moment. Then her heart sank. Listening, she realized that they were laughing at some of her campaign slogans, and a passing teenage girl was trying on her discarded shirt. They weren’t supporting her; they just wanted to see the silly bitch on the righteous soapbox get stuffed down a pred's throat. He removed the last of her clothes, ran an appreciative hand over her dripping wet pussy, and began consuming her feet first, leaving her hands and mouth completely unobstructed. Her devouring had begun. It wasn’t like her friend’s either; he was slow, deliberate, giving her every opportunity to demand release. At first she was in too much shock to think of protesting. Then she tried, but couldn’t bring herself to spit out the words. While this was going on, she meekly allowed her hands to be inserted right into his mouth. Soon just her neck and head were left outside his throat. She heard a sound, and her predator squatted down to bring her mouth-framed face in front of a young girl. “Why aren’t you complaining, Miss? You always did before.” Her cheeks flushed, and she attempted to ignore the pleasing sensations all over her bare, swallowed body. “It-it wouldn’t make a difference if I protested or not,” she gasped, panting. “He doesn’t care about the law! H-he’ll just swallow me anyway and no one here would help me!” His lips were slowly sliding down over her forehead and up underneath her chin. The girl looked wounded. “That’s a mean thing to say! I would too help you!” “So would I,” someone else chimes in. “Ditto! Just say the word and we’ll make sure you get out of there safe!” Numerous onlookers nodded or said things to that effect. Caroline was literally one word away from rescue. She tried once more to spit it out. “N...nnnh...” She sputtered into silence, paused a moment to appreciate the feeling of Henry’s saliva dripping down over her face... Then she was gone forever, swallowed whole and squeezed into a cramped but sexually stimulating stomach sac to digest in fear and arousal and pleasure, all while pathetically trying to figure out why she got eaten. After all, she had the power the whole time; she could have called for help. She just didn't. And now she would digest for that decision.

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants, Chapter 16 By Alt-ArtNateDesign Part 2: Chance Encounters Warning: The following story contains references to vore, sex, my other stories, lines stolen from better authors, and No Freaky Plants. Reader discretion (and patience) is advised. The day before the disaster, Alice arrived at Verdesford University campus on the 8:00 bus, as was her custom. She crossed a grassy quad, ignoring the venerable brickwork sprawl of the town’s traditional liberal arts college and headed straight for a gleaming cluster of metal and glass on the north side of campus. The VSP (Vore Science Program) buildings were brand-new, the oldest built less than five years ago. There was much speculation about the decision to connect such an advanced biotech program to an arts-focused institution, particularly one known more for party life than scholarship. Money was the obvious reason; Verdesford U was a big school, with the fourth-largest student body in the state. Despite being a party place, it turned out plenty of successful students with deep pockets and fond memories of their alma mater. VSP and Verdesford U shared a symbiotic relationship. The Program received extensive funding, and in return gave the college a higher degree of academic reputability, as well as dramatically-increased appeal to prospective STEM students. However, a few other possibilities floated around the gossip mill. The university was large, but Verdesford town was not. Though the VSP produced a great deal of new information and technology, many of its core practices (especially the use of people as a food source) were highly controversial. Many of their outlying divisions faced outraged moralists and protesters. A small college town was a good place to hide from the ambient scandal. There were also rumors regarding the student body. Pre-VSP, Verdesford U was primarily a women’s school, with about a 4:1 ratio of ladies to guys. Now the student body was more numerous than ever and still largely female, but the current gender split was closer to a 3:1 or even 2:1. Purportedly the demographic change had nothing to do with who applied to or was accepted into the college. It was the VSP, quietly herding females into their ‘livestock’ supply. They especially targeted party girls and sorority chicks with no academic aspirations. The resource-hungry program chose Verdesford U solely for its larger-than-average supply of nutritious does that would not be missed by society-at-large. Alice, being an employee of the VSP, knew that all three lines of thought were equally true. They didn’t bother her. Though she did not subscribe to the “Meatism” belief that humans naturally should be food, she had no sympathy for those who voluntarily handed themselves over for digestion. The VSP was very open about the fatal consequences of signing on as prey; every girl (and the occasional guy) who ended up in their livestock reserves received plenty of warning about what they were getting into. There were plenty of benefits for volunteering, especially for people with a hedonistic bent. Beyond that, if someone signed up just because they doubted the warnings were real… that was just natural selection at work. Entering the central VSP Education building, Alice stopped in a student café to grab some tea. She nibbled a bagel and listened to the chatter around her. At the table next to hers, a girl loudly accused her brother of being a pervert. “Why do you say that?” her friend asked. “Because he’s dating two twins at once! It’s these Latina girls, Sabrina and Olivia. Apparently they’re only interested in someone who’ll share them. The three of them are even living together!” “Sounds kinda hot,” he said. The girl elbowed him. “That just means you’re a perv too!” Alice chuckled, wondering how that situation worked out. She didn’t spend much time with her family- none of them lived in the area- but she imagined for a moment what it would be like to date a guy and her sister at the same time… Nope. Too weird. She discarded the thought like a soiled tissue and retrieved her tea from the barista. Sipping contentedly, she left the café and proceeded toward the labs. As she walked, she spotted a familiar figure banging on a vending machine in the hall. “Hi, Tom,” she said, stopping next to a fellow scientist. He was tall, with a hawk-like nose and a mop of orange hair. “Having trouble getting a snack?” “Yeah,” he sighed, turning to face her. “Of course, you could change that easily. I’ve always got room for you, Alice. Just give the word.” Tom was simultaneously one of the top researchers and key subjects of the VSP’s division on vore-capable humans. Though good-natured, he derived no end of amusement from asking every girl he met to be his dinner. He’d even asked her friend Melissa to be food right in front of her boyfriend! “Sorry, my dude, that is NEVER happening, and you know it,” Alice said. She took a sip of tea; it was really good today. Tom didn’t bat an eye at her refusal. He never did. Instead, he reluctantly fed another coin to the vending machine, hoping that would appease it. While waiting for some sign of his snack, Tom nonchalantly said, “You know, I don’t really need your permission. If I just scarfed you down, there’s not much you could do to stop me. You keep denying my hunger… You never know. I could snap any day now.” Alice laughed. “You could, but you won’t. You like me too much! I know you’ll never attack me, just like you know I’ll never volunteer to be food.” Her friend nodded; it was true. That was hardly a reason to stop poking fun, however. “Don’t be so sure,” he said. His voice dropped to a dramatic whisper. “I have an uncle in Boston who was getting bugged by this one anti-vore girl. He decided to eat her, and what do you know? She enjoyed it so much she somehow couldn’t manage to tell him no. Who knows? You might like it too.” He waggled his eyebrows. Alice nearly aspirated her tea. “What was that supposed to be? Your seductive look?” she gasped, trying not to laugh again. “Is it working?” Tom asked. “Only as much as you are, Mr. Comedian,” she shot back. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” The young man sighed and swept a theatrical bow. “Alas, but I do. Delightful that your presence is, the siren song of my paycheck calls me away.” “Ditto,” said Alice. She chugged the last of her tea, tossed the cup in the trash, and set off. Tom came along with her. Behind them, the vending machine spat out a bag of chips, which were promptly vultured by a passing student. The pair chatted about their various projects as they walked, until they needed to go separate directions. At the door to the human research wing, Tom spun on his heel and shot Alice a pair of finger-guns. “Want to go out tonight? Diner or dinner, you’re a dish either way, babe.” Alice smiled and shook her head. “Dude, if I went to HR, I could get you fired for harassment so fast…” “You could, but you won’t,” Tom replied. He gave her a cheeky grin. “You like me too much. Taco party at my place tonight; be there by 6, or you’ll miss the margaritas.” “I’ll think about it,” she called as the door closed behind him. She’d probably go. There wasn’t anything planned for her evening beside housework. Tom’s parties were pretty fun, and, all jokes aside, it was perfectly safe to be around him. Soon after, Alice reached the VSP Zoology department. She swiped her access card in, nodding to the security guard inside the door. Alice stopped by her office. It was shared with two other researchers, but neither was there. Most likely they were tending to their projects, though there was always a faint chance they’d been eaten. Alice dropped off her purse and checked her email. Nothing too remarkable; it was mostly reports and data, plus a few requests from fellow researchers. There was one message from Melissa, asking for help interviewing prey volunteers for the Umbra Project. Alice wrinkled her nose. She had enough on her plate without doing volunteer work in the Botany department. Still, it’d been a while since she and Melissa hung out, and prey interviews had plenty of downtime to relax and chat. She told Mel she’d be there. That wouldn’t be for a few hours, though. Alice checked her schedule; she should have time to observe Imbriak’s checkup and check in on her own project before then. Finishing up in the office, she returned to the hallway and walked into a nervous-looking girl with freckles and dark hair. “Oof!” Alice stumbled back. The other girl was knocked flat on her rump. “Sorry!” she squeaked, scrambling to her feet. “It’s fine,” Alice said. “You’re the one who was knocked over. You okay?” The girl nodded, and Alice gave her an appraising look. “Are you new here? You don’t look familiar.” “I’m a freshman, if that’s what you mean. I’m Lily, Lily Walden. From out of town,” she said. “Nice to meet you, Lily. I’m a little surprised; we don’t have many freshmen in the VSP. Are you a new prey girl?” The girl shook her head, and her cheeks went pink. “Oh, no! I came here to avoid that!” “Weird. Cynthia’s the only non-prey freshman I know working here, and she’s a special case. Did you get separated from a class? Or did you come back here on your own?” Lily looked at the ground. She knew she shouldn’t have come back here; it was quite an uncharacteristic move on her part. Normally she was a very good girl, who followed the rules and didn’t make trouble. She hadn’t really thought this through. This was what she got for acting on impulse, she supposed. Those girls she overheard weren’t even addressing her. She shouldn’t have been listening to them in the first place. Lily’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment as Alice scolded her. “Undergrad students aren’t allowed in the VSP labs unsupervised; you shouldn’t be here. These labs are dangerous, and- for stupid reasons- most people won’t tell you that until it’s too late. How did you even get in? Your ID shouldn’t work on the door and the guard should have stopped you.” “He’s the one that let me in,” Lily explained. “I got to the door at the same time as him. He said he was running late and held it open for me. I’ve been wandering around in here since then.” Of course, she suspected at the time that this was against the rules. She’d just been too excited to let that stop her. Alice sighed. The VSP had extra security for a reason! Someone’s head was going to roll for this, and she hoped it wouldn’t be hers. She gave the wide-eyed freshman an appraising glance. The poor girl looked so lost and flustered… ‘A security screw-up is no reason to let her inadvertently wander down something’s throat,’ she thought to herself. Aloud, she said, “Well, Lily, you seem nice, so I’m going to make this easy on you. I’ll walk you back out, you don’t sneak in again, and I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble for being curious.” She took the girl’s hand and pulled her toward the exit. To her surprise, Lily resisted. “I didn’t just come here ‘cause I was curious! I heard that a family friend was back here, and I wanted to visit.” “You can visit her somewhere else,” Alice said, tugging her hand. Lily shook her head. “No, I can’t! She doesn’t come out,” she said. She lowered her voice. “She’s a dragon. A lady dragon with red scales. Her name’s Imbriak.” Alice wasn’t expecting that. She stopped pulling Lily’s arm, though her hand stayed on the girl’s wrist. “You say she’s a family friend?” “Uh-huh. She used to help out on my daddy’s farm,” Lily explained. Alice blinked. She’d been helping with the study on Imbriak for the last several months. The dragoness fit well into many mental images, but helping on a farm? It seemed ridiculous. Although, Lily had accurately described her, and sneaked into a restricted area for a visit; perhaps she was telling the truth. Alice made an executive decision. “Come along with me; we’re going to bend the rules a little bit,” she said, pulling the girl in the opposite direction. This time Lily followed. Alice explained as they walked. “I was just about to go observe her morning checkup. I’m letting you come along as a special observer, but only under certain conditions. You have to stay quiet and out of the way during the examination. When it’s done, I’ll ask ‘Bria if you can come down and say hi. If, and only if she agrees, you can do so. I’ll walk you straight back out afterward.” Lily nodded, and the two girls went on their way. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Good morning, Dr. Strande! Sorry I’m late!” A short, balding man with a broad mustache looked up from his clipboard. When he spoke, his tone was neutral. “I started without you. Who is this?” “Lily Walden. She says she knows ‘Bria. Can she watch from the observation room?” “She may, provided you accompany her.” “I’d also like to talk to her,” Lily chimed in. Alice gave her a look, and Lily remembered she was supposed to stay quiet. She blushed and bit her lip, feeling sheepish. Dr. Strande considered for a moment. “If Imbriak permits it, you may enter and see her, after her examination is finished, of course. Be warned; how and if you depart is her decision.” He returned his focus to his clipboard, having said everything he wished. “Don’t mind Dr. Strande; he’s very…direct,” Alice said quietly. She took Lily up a set of stairs in the back, which led to an elevated observation room. The farmgirl gasped as she looked down into a gymnasium-sized chamber. At its center was an excavated pit lined with smooth stones and shed scales. A series of wheeled stepladders were present, either pushed up against the walls or being used by some of the dozen technicians bustling around the room. All this centered around a massive vermillion dragon and six glossy spheres, each one a different shade of jewel-tone red. Currently she reclined on her side while the technicians examined her hide, wings, and (under her watchful gaze) eggs. “She’s so big!” “Haven’t you seen her before? I would have thought you’d know her size,” Alice said. Down below, the door to the instrument room opened and Dr. Strande stepped through. He approached the dragoness’s head and bowed. She nodded in turn, and the two began to talk. Piping up, Lily said “It’s been two years since I saw her, and she’s grown a lot! Plus, I’m used to Veruna- she’s our new dragon, and she’s waaay younger and smaller- and she has eggs! You didn’t tell me she had eggs!” Down in the nest chamber, a clumsy technician dropped a tray of tools. A couple of them pinged off the surface of an egg. There was no damage, but Imbriak still gave him a glare so fierce he nearly fell over again. “Those eggs are the reason she came here,” Alice explained as she and Lily watched. “Six months ago, she touched down outside this building, heavily pregnant. She said that this was her first time with young. Since humans seek medical care when giving birth, ‘Bria decided she should do the same. It took some delicate talking, but we came to an arrangement. “You see, we’d never studied a real dragon before. We didn’t even have confirmed reports they were real; just some heavily redacted documents from an old cryptobiology team. Some people tried engineering one, but the necessary pieces of DNA just wouldn’t mesh. The point is that we couldn’t pass up this opportunity.” She looked down again, watching Dr. Strande and Imbriak talk. The old scientist patted her muzzle fondly, and she opened up her jaws for a dental checkup. “Dr. Strande in particular was key to working out the deal. He and Bria are both very blunt, and they took a liking to each other from the start. In return for a substantial amount of time and resources spent on draconic maternity care, Imbriak stays as our guest and lets us take a predetermined number of samples and tests.” Lily nodded. “That makes sense. Imbriak never understood people as well as our new dragon, but she has a good sense for fair trades. I wonder what Veruna would think about this place.” “I got to say, I’m curious about her too,” Alice said. “You said Bria and this other dragon not only know your family, but work for them?” “We’re pig farmers; they help with the herding.” “Ah. I see,” Alice said. An awkward silence ensued. She spent every day around bizarre creatures, both natural and fabricated, but somehow, she still had credulity to strain. This girl just showed up and announced that her family regularly employed a type of large, proud, aggressive creature that, half a year ago, she’d thought was fictional. How does one respond to that? For a while the two girls quietly watched Imbriak’s examination. Dr. Strande’s curt, calm voice could be faintly heard giving orders and conversing with the dragoness. Her own voice was a sonorous bass, easy to hear but hard to discern words. Alice was the first to speak again. “Hey, Lily, can I ask you a favor?” “Oh, yes! I owe you for this, after all.” She offered a friendly smile. “Could you get word to your family and ask if Veruna minds coming in for a visit? We wouldn’t keep her, of course, especially when she’s busy working for your family. I’d just like to meet her and maybe ask permission to take some measurements.” Lily nodded in assent. “I’ll do that as soon as I’m finished saying hi to Imbriak!” “If she doesn’t eat you, that is.” Lily wilted a little. “Yes,” she stammered. “If she doesn’t do that.” Below them, it looked like the checkup was concluding. A door on the left side of the chamber opened, and a VSP worker appeared, shepherding a naked young woman. “Who’s that?” Lily asked, pointing at the naked girl. Alice felt a little uncomfortable. “That’s a, um, prey girl. Part of our arrangement with Imbriak was the promise to feed her throughout her stay. You see, there are these girls…” she trailed off as Lily waved a dismissive hand. “I guessed as much. Back home my family feeds our dragons; I was on the menu for years! Still am, when I go home for holidays. I was just curious if you knew her.” Preoccupied with watching Imbriak, Lily missed Alice’s incredulous look. Down in the chamber, the nude prey-girl smiled at the dragoness. She had dark skin and a willowy figure. Imbriak sniffed her with approval and gave her a long lick up the front. Dr. Strande and a couple techs politely busied themselves with other tasks. Everyone else watched. The dragoness continued to lick her bare-skinned treat, running her tongue over the girl’s breasts and between her legs. The girl gasped. Imbriak’s tongue moved faster and faster, and in the blink of an eye, she went from licking the girl to lapping her up. The prey girl vanished, reappearing briefly as a wriggling bulge in the dragoness’s throat. Then she was gone forever into the main bulk of Imbriak’s body. The doctor and other attendants returned their direct attention to Imbriak. He said something, and the dragoness raised her head up to the level of the observation room. Her eyes immediately landed on Lily and lit up in recognition. She nodded firmly. “I think that’s our cue,” Alice said. She took Lily downstairs and swiped them both into the dragoness’s chamber. As the doors opened, gentle wave of heat rolled out. Alice and Lily went in. As always, Alice felt a moment of awe when approaching the dragoness from ground-level. She worked with dozens of things that could eat her whole, but few other creatures so pervasively radiated that knowledge. Few other creatures were this big! Around Imbriak, Alice could almost understand Meatism; it was hard not to think how excellently-suited her body was for feeding this creature. “Good morning, Bria,” she said with a bow. “Greetings, Alice,” Imbriak replied. “And greetings to you, Lily Walden. My, you have grown!” “You’re one to talk!” the girl exclaimed. “Last time I saw you, you were half this size!” The dragoness chuckled. It was a deep, pleasant sound; Alice felt it resonate in her chest cavity. “You exaggerate, Lily, though I have grown substantially since I left your family’s employ. Much of my current mass is what I believe your mother would term ‘pregnancy pounds.’ Eggs require substantial effort to produce.” “That’s an understatement,” Alice told Lily. “Apparently dragons grow a new set of organs to accommodate-” Imbriak leaned in and silenced her with a puff of hot air from her nostrils. Alice staggered from the force of it. “I appreciate your enthusiasm,” the dragoness said primly, “but please, do not discuss the private details of my health in front of me.” Alice regained her footing and bowed apologetically. “Sorry,” she said. Lily giggled, then bit her lip again. Imbriak moved her attention to the young woman. “Tell me, Lily, how are your kin? Do Penelope and Timothy fare well? Lily nodded happily. “Mom and Dad are doing great! So’s the farm; we might even be able to expand a bit next year. We’ve got a new dragon working for us now. Her name’s Veruna. She came to us fresh out of the nest, just a year after you left.” “A year?” Imbriak said. “Your family was not spared from draconic appetites for long!” “Naw, but we’re used to it.” The dragoness nodded. The Walden clan had been hosting dragons for generations, out-breeding the great reptiles’ appetites all the while. It helped that humans were a special-occasion meal for them. It was nothing like the daily doe supplied for her consumption here. “May I ask who Veruna has eaten? I wish to know what faces I will and will not see, should I return for a visit.” Alice privately thought that was a very polite way of asking who in Lily’s family was still alive. She didn’t say anything, though. She liked Imbriak, and the dragoness could hardly be blamed for her species’ nature. Lily certainly wasn’t bothered. “My big sister, Violet was her first meal,” she said brightly. “She had cousin Maggie and her sister Sue next. After that was Tim- young Tim, not my dad.” “I’m surprised such a little one was offered and chosen,” Imbriak said. Lily drooped a little. “It was really sad. He got sick. I don’t know what it was, but the doctor said he wasn’t going to get better. Tim wanted to be with Auntie Violet, so his parents talked it over with Veruna and she agreed. He was comfortable, though, and loved; that helped everyone cope. Veruna still felt a little bad about it. She skipped eating members of the family for the next few gatherings. That was a bad time to be dating a Walden boy, as a bunch of different girlfriends found out!” Lily and Imbriak both chuckled. The girl went on, “Most recently she had Sally. It’s kind of funny, but her getting eaten is kinda the reason I’m here talking to you now. When Veruna picked Sally, I realized she has a taste for the shy, dark-haired girls in my family, and there weren’t many of those left. I was raised like any other Walden, ready to be eaten when asked, but I really didn’t want to go yet! That’s why I came here to college, so I could get off the farm and live a little. Anyway, that’s everyone who got eaten. I’m afraid you won’t see Great Uncle Jethro either; he passed away this spring. He missed Aunt Judy too much to keep sticking around.” Lily looked a bit somber after recounting all that. A new thought crossed her mind, though, which perked her right back up. “There are a lot of new faces, though! Daniel and Leah both got married- not to each other, obviously- and they’ve both got kids on the way! Joe, Aaron, and Isaac are all dating new girls, and all three seem to be fairly serious about it. Aunt Mary had twins, a boy and a girl, and I got a surprise baby sister this summer!” “Magnificent!” Imbriak said, pleased that her friends were prospering. “Does your youngest sibling have a name?” “Chrysanthemum. Mom says we’ll call her Chris for short.” “Tis not a name I would choose,” the dragoness said. “But Penelope has always loved flowers. Would that I had her confidence with names; I have not yet determined what my own young shall be called.” She nosed her eggs fondly. “I wanted to ask about those,” Lily said. “It must be so exciting, having babies of your own on the way! How do you feel?” Imbriak pondered. “I confess, I am slightly apprehensive. Living and mating and laying all felt instinctual, but this is new territory for me. I want to please my mate and give him a strong, healthy clutch, but there are so many things that might go wrong…” Her scales ruffled, and her tail twitched anxiously. “That is why I came here seeking assistance. My mate is skeptical of human abilities, but your kind know the workings inside living creatures better than any dragon.” “That makes sense,” Lily said. “How are they treating you here? Do you like it?” “It is…not bad. The food is positively decadent, if I may say so.” She looked apologetic. Alice waved a reassuring hand. “I don’t mind, and I’m sure no one else here does.” The dragoness seemed relieved. She went on, “My accommodations here are quite pleasant as well. Above all, I have the good doctor’s assurance that I and my eggs are in excellent health. The tests and studies are annoying, but bearable.” She pressed her lips together and shot the scientists a sidelong glance. In a lower voice, she added, “I cannot say I entirely approve of the methods involved; there is rather a lot of looking under one’s tail and other such indignities.” Lily giggled. “I hate to tell you this, but I’m pretty sure human moms have to put up with stuff like that too.” “So I have been informed,” Imbriak said. “I remain dubious. Still, that has lessened dramatically now that my eggs are laid. My dragonets are hale and well-formed.” “I’m sure they’ll be beautiful,” Lily said. “They will! Dragons never sport richer colors than when they first emerge from the shell! My babies will resemble living gemstones, and…do you mind?” The last comment was directed at Alice, who’d pulled out a notepad and begun scribbling. “Sorry, Bria,” she said, putting it away. “You’ve never talked about what dragonets would look like before.” “Hmm…I suppose not,” Bria mumbled. Then she yawned. The mustachioed figure of Dr. Strande stepped forward. “Our agreement promises lady Imbriak a lengthy period of rest following her morning examination,” he mentioned in his matter-of-fact voice. “We have cut well into it, and I am certain all of us have other tasks to attend.” “Mmm, I am rather sleepy,” Imbriak murmured. “I have a lovely young maiden in my belly; I should like to work on digesting her. Lily Walden, I am pleased to see you again. Kindly bear my regards to your kin. Oh, and I know you left your farm to avoid such things, and I am well-fed here already, but, if you ever wish to rest in a dragon’s belly, you need only ask. I am happy to accommodate you.” She offered a fond smile, which Lily returned. “I’ll tell them about you, don’t worry. And thank you for your offer; I’ll let you know if I ever change my mind,” the girl said. She meant it too. Lily was not keen to end her life as food, but, if circumstances demanded it, the prospect of being a meal for Imbriak was not unpleasant. Alice, Lily, Strande, and everyone else quietly filed out, leaving the dragoness to curl round her clutch and sleep.

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants, Chapter 17 Investigations By Alt-ArtNateDesign Warning: The following story contains spiders, references to vore, pseudoscientific jargon, and even more new exposition, creatures, and characters. Reader discretion (and patience) is advised. I swear we’re getting close to the good stuff. “I have to admit, until you and Bria started talking, I don’t think I completely believed your story,” Alice said as she and Lily walked back to the Zoology Division entrance. Lily smiled in a long-suffering sort of way. “I’m not surprised. There aren’t a lot of dragons, and they dun’ like to leave the few places they live in.” “Any idea why?” Alice asked. They two of them stood against the wall to let a group of upper-class students go past. Once they were gone, Lily replied, “I think it’s ‘cause people scare them. Since they’re dragons, they don’t like to be scared, so they get ornery instead. My folks are on good terms with ‘em, but we ain’t exactly normal in that regard.” Alice idly noticed that the girl tended to drawl more when she wasn’t so nervous. Visiting Imbriak seemed to have put her at ease a great deal. Ironic that talking to a predator would comfort a girl who came here to avoid consumption. That reminded Alice… “Hey, Lily, what made you come here? I know you told Bria that you came to college so Veruna wouldn’t eat you, but what made you pick Verdesford University?” “My older brother Ben goes here,” Lily said. “So does his girlfriend. According to her, “this school is a great place where vore is concerned,” and Ben agreed with her.” Alice scanned Lily’s face for some sign of sarcasm, but she only saw innocent credulity. She decided to phrase her response delicately. “Your brother and his girlfriend aren’t wrong, per se…but I think you might want to sit him down and ask him exactly what he meant by that statement.” Lily didn’t seem to understand what she was getting at, but Alice didn’t feel like it was her business to press the matter. It wasn’t really her place to accuse someone else’s family of trying to get them eaten. She did make a mental note to check on the girl later, though. By this time, they’d reached the Zoology Division entrance. Alice wished the younger girl well and ushered her through. “What’s your phone number?” she asked, before they parted ways. Lily gave it to her. “Thanks; I’ll text you mine. This way if you ever want to visit Bria, you can ask me to bring you there, instead of sneaking in. Or if you just want to chat; I know it can be hard making friends at first, and I’d love to help you out!” “Thank you so much!” Lily said, beaming. She hurried away down the hall; her next class was coming up fast. Afterward, she could call home. Lily smiled, eager to tell her family how she met an old friend and made a new one all in the same morning. Meanwhile, Alice turned toward the security station inside the door. “Speaking of sneaking in…” she muttered and marched back inside. The guard on duty was not the one she saw earlier, but he told her which way the other guy went. Alice wended through the Vore Education building, searching for the guard who let Lily into the restricted labs. Finally, near the livestock storage area, she found him. “Hey, you!” she yelled, spotting him down a hallway. The security guard stopped and waited for her to approach. Up close, Alice was struck by how weedy and unkempt he looked. Was his uniform too big, or was he just that skinny? She wondered. Most of security was on the burly side. Still, when she drew up to him, he addressed her professionally, asking how he could help her. “Did you let a lone freshman into the Zoology wing this morning?” Alice demanded. “She’s on the short side, brown hair, freckles. Got a bit of a country accent. Real sweet kid.” The guard shook his head. “No, miss.” Alice crossed her arms. She told him about Lily’s accusation, but the guard remained adamant. “I’m afraid she’s wrong. If she got in without proper access, she must have slipped in with a big group. I know that’s not supposed to happen either, but there’s not a lot security can do to stop it without personally checking everyone who comes through the door. The general labs and education space don’t merit that kind of scrutiny.” He had a point there, and what’s more he seemed to be sincere. However, Alice didn’t think Lily had lied either. Did she claim a guard let her in to make it seem less like she was knowingly intruding? If so, why point out a specific guard? Surely being vague and claiming not to remember who let her in would have been the safer deception. Something was wrong here. Unfortunately, she realized, glancing at her watch, there wasn’t time to investigate right now. “I need to get going. Carry on with your duties,” Alice said. “I’ll be in touch with your team manager, Mr.…” She leaned in to read his badge. “…Brock Stone. We’ll find out what happened, one way or the other.” “Sure thing, miss,” the guard replied. Alice vanished around a corner at a half-jog. The guard waited for her footsteps to fade, then took a guilty glance around. No one else was here. He slumped against a wall and sighed in relief, fingering his badge nervously. He’d probably have to get a new one, now; he hadn’t expected to run into trouble so soon. The guard glanced back toward the livestock pens. Of course, the way things were shaping up, he wouldn’t need this disguise for much longer anyway. Mandy just wouldn’t listen... He started walking toward the nearest exit, wondering if Ben knew his girl was down here too. He should probably mention it to him. The second stop of the morning took Alice via skywalk to a different building. The VSP was organized into three primary divisions of vore-related research: human, zoology, and botany. Within those major groups, there were many subdivisions: safety and countermeasures, ecology, pure-academia, military. This building was dedicated to commercial zoology research. Private businesses sponsored many of the studies, including Alice’s own. Her project was located in one of the VSP’s many basement levels. They required roomy enclosures, and few people wanted to host them in more visible areas. Her study was on spiders. Very pretty spiders, to be fair, but spiders nonetheless. Their chitin’s resemblance to shimmering crystal couldn’t balance out the fact that they were arachnoids that shared a size range with bears. Alice’s partner Minerva was always quick to point out that they weren’t technically spiders. They had an extra set of legs, for starters. While their main body structure was taken from arachnids, they were an amalgamation of many different species. There were mammalian elements to improve thermoregulation, cellular chemical synthesizers from anguis eloquens and venusia puellaraptor, and a dozen others. The keystone component was an enzyme from nudibranchia rapturia, a deep-sea slug, that allowed radically foreign pieces of DNA to freely integrate and express cellular products. A landmark discovery for biotechnology, the enzyme was present in nearly all the VSP’s genetically engineered organisms. Down in the lab, Minerva was hard at work. Her naturally olive complexion was pale from long lab hours. She pored over pages and pages of test readouts confirming the successful integration of her latest genetic modifications. She and Alice were very proud of their arachnoid “babies”. Despite bearing genes from multiple predatory species and their substantial size, they were completely harmless to humans. Though Meatism predominated among VSP staff and students, a solid core insisted that predation was natural, but submission was not. Humans’ main prerogative should be survival. Members of this latter group, Minerva and Alice had no desire to extend the lengthy list of human-hunters. Even their biggest specimen, a vast female the size of a minivan (nicknamed Shelob), ate only insects, detritus, and the occasional mouse or small fish. The Textile Spiders were filter-feeders. They spun finely-woven hunting-webs and placed them in sources of flowing air or water to sift for prey. When a web was full, the spider took it down, rolled it up, and ingested it in small bundles. This was a significant change from their natural feeding mechanism, but it allowed the textile spiders to recycle their silk. Understandably, there was some argument that non-vorish creatures had no place in the Vore Science Program. However, some of the VSP’s most lucrative creations were completely incapable of eating humans. Many protective chemicals and devices made by Countermeasures teams were effective against non-vore pests. Ecology developed custom bacteria for controlling invasive species. There were even full-sized organisms like Generator Worms (the world’s first viable bioelectric power source) which had zero connection to vore in their current state. Throwing them out of the program would be throwing away money. Minerva heard the door open, and Alice came in. “Morning,” she said, leaning back in her chair. She rolled the kinks out of her neck. “What took you so long?” “Got held up by a poor lost freshman,” Alice said, and she told Minerva about her ‘adventure’ with Lily. Minerva agreed that the thing with the guard was fishy. She’d have liked to chat more, but Alice headed off the conversation. “Sorry Mina, but we need to talk shop. I promised Melissa I’d help her out with prey interviews today, and I’m already behind schedule. How are our spidery darlings?” “Lazy,” Minerva sighed. She spun around in her chair. “The latest FibH gene modifications weren’t enough.” “Damn.” Alice walked over, and they started looking through the reports together. “What will it take to get you guys producing?” she murmured, glancing at a camera feed to the spiders’ enclosure. There they were, all nine of them, busy stringing a new set of webs across the room. Alice sighed too, wishing she had Minerva’s patience. A few years ago, the very existence of these creatures would have been hailed as a scientific miracle, a wonder worthy of the Nobel Prize and a landmark of genetic engineering. Sadly, time and recent innovations had moved the goalposts. The Textile Spiders, to use their official name, were not just a study; they were a commission. A small high-end clothing company hired Alice’s department to create a viable, environmentally friendly source of fabric. In all but one regard, the spiders fulfilled that aim brilliantly. Sophisticated chemical-synthesis glands let them produce not only silk, but wool, other hair-based cloths, and even plant-like fibers analogous to flax and cotton. Their extra pair of legs and spinnerets around their jaws could be used to weave a wide and intricate variety of patterns. They instinctively unraveled any fabric they came across and stored the threads for later use. After doing so, the spiders could replicate it perfectly, right down to its color. The only problem, as the low-trending chart in front of Alice showed, was output. The spiders needed their fabric to construct nests. Without a suitable nest, they became stressed, sometimes to the point of death. They also needed a substantial portion of their silk to construct filter-webs to feed themselves. In total, only a yard or two of fabric could be harvested from a given spider each month. Hardly enough to qualify as a “viable” source. Alice and Minerva spent the next hour in deep discussion, bouncing ideas off each other for new avenues to investigate. Despite numerous failed attempts to improve the spiders’ output, there was a lot of the genome they could still try altering. Neither of them wanted to declare the spiders a failure yet. A reminder beeped on Alice’s phone, telling her it was time for those prey interviews. She finished her current task, which was filling out the paperwork for some investigative surgery on one of the spiders. Then she packed up her things and left for the warm, humid air of the VSP Botany Division. -------------------------------------- Meanwhile, over in the Botany Division…. Melissa May Albright slumped in her chair and rubbed her eyes. It was a nice chair; one that did a lot to alleviate the discomfort of sitting still for hours on end. She often missed her days as a Principal Investigator. Then she was on her feet, running her own projects in her own lab. Now she was site director, and she had to run everyone’s projects. It was exciting and interesting and everything she’d hoped for, but some days it felt like there was too much to handle. Today was one of those days. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to accept the promotion. At the time it was too appealing to turn down. She’d just completed her prearranged stint on the Umbra Project with flying colors and received her master’s degree. The role of Site Director was an amazing opportunity! In fact, it was an advancement that put her over the heads of several older, more capable scientists. She’d wondered if some of the senior researchers would resent her being chosen instead of them; now she wondered if they’d already declined the position. The pay hike was nice, of course. The same held for her fancy new office. However, there was a lot less science, and that’s what she’d always loved best about working in the VSP. She was still involved, but management work gobbled up large tracts of her day. Being Site Director sucked up a lot more of her time in general. Time was, she could clock out at the end of a normal 8-hour day and spend the rest of it as she pleased. These days she had to stay late on a regular basis, sometimes even overnight! That weighed on her quite heavily, though in recent weeks it hadn’t bothered her so much. Of course she still longed to go home and relax, but a certain monthly event was getting more and more overdue. If she spent too much time at home, James might notice something. That would be awful. Especially if I’m getting worked up over nothing, she thought to herself. She looked at her computer, with its multitude of open messages. It could just be stress. There was a lot on that screen for her to stress about, after all. Take the email she was working on right now: a status update on the Umbra Project. That study was supposed to end last year. Fascinating though the specimen was, its- or rather, her behavior remained disturbing. Even alarming. Throw in the lack of recent direction from project management, and it was easy to see why Umbra was currently Melissa’s chiefest headache. Her phone buzzed, reminding her that work wasn’t her only worry. The word “Mom” blinked onto the phone’s screen. Melissa didn’t pick up. She hardly needed another rant about her life choices, nor did she want to be berated about what happened to Ann. The phone went silent, leaving only a voicemail. Melissa tapped to remove the notification, lying to herself that she’d listen to it later. Melissa felt drained. Listlessly, she read through some more emails. There was a message from a West Coast VSP branch requesting a safety review on a species of carnivorous orange tree- something about cows and uncertain prey parameters. She marked that one for later, to give herself time to think of a polite way say “handle it yourselves.” A dozen or so pieces of junk mail after that. Memos. More junk mail. A letter from Cynthia Culpepper, requesting she make VNESA-testing mandatory for staff and students. Melissa liked Cynthia, and she liked her idea, but it was out of her purview. She told Cynthia to take it up with the board of directors. The next one was quite long. Melissa sighed; it was a full report from the Zoology Countermeasures team. She scrolled past notes on metallurgy and aerodynamics, not really interested. Melissa was Meat; researching protection from vorish creatures in any capacity was against her principles. Not everyone shared her views, though, and it wasn’t her money funding Countermeasures. There was a brief message tagged on the end of the report. Apparently, they’d just completed the final tests on a prototype and wanted to show it off. They claimed it was nonlethal. That was something, she supposed. She sent a vague reply that she’d see if there was time for her to stop in. The next message in her inbox was considerably more intriguing. Melissa sat up and actually focused her eyes on the words. It was from Dr. Russo, a secondary researcher on the Umbra Project. In the absence of other instructions, she’d opted to do some supplementary research into the umbra mulierum’s origins. Unusually for a VSP-made plant, there was little information about Umbra’s genetic and historical background. According to this email, Dr. Russo just found a potential breakthrough: an old report from a team of British biologists specializing in cryptids. Cryptobiologists? Was that a real term? Melissa decided it didn’t matter; a made-up name was appropriate for a made-up field. Apparently, Dr. Russo found the report in the Zoology division archives. The document was heavily redacted; by whom, she didn’t know. She was able to glean that this team performed a long-term expedition spanning several years in the 50’s and 60’s, and one of the species they were searching for was, quote, “a large botanical bulb housing an animate growth which visually resembles a human woman.” That sounded remarkably like the organism housed in the Umbra Project lab. Melissa scanned the pages Dr. Russo sent with a critical eye. There were just enough names and notes from real academic institutions for her to believe this document was real. Chasing down sources was going to be a bitch, though; whoever censored the majority of the paper had plastered an addendum over the final paragraphs. This addendum claimed that the cryptobiology team vanished in the deep amazon, and a rescue operation failed to recover anyone. Melissa replied, encouraging Dr. Russo to press her investigation. An obscure mention of a plant-woman was a stronger lead on the origins of the Umbra Project than anything she’d seen yet. On to the next email. This one was from Shipping and Receiving. A new gigafloranth femvore specimen had arrived and was awaiting habitat assignment. Melissa felt a little pang in her heart. She missed Ann, even if her sister was a ditz. What was she thinking that day? Yes, she’d been flustered after the ugly business with James’ mom, but that was still hardly an excuse for sending an extremely rapacious predator off to a high school. Sure, the femvore wasn’t the plant that ate Ann, but it made her want to be eaten. And what about those other girls who got swallowed whole and digested alive by a plant that was playing with their sex drive? Was she not supposed to feel guilty about them? No! I shouldn’t! Melissa thought fiercely, tears welling up in her eyes. They were Meat, just like Ann, just like me. I have nothing to be ashamed of! What is wrong with me? Her phone buzzed again. Melissa almost reflexively deleted the new notification, thinking it was her mother again. But no, it was just a reminder that she’d set. It was time to go interview those new prey girls with Alice. Melissa put her computer to sleep and left her office, hoping to leave her gloomy mood behind as well.

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants, Chapter 18 A Director in Distress By Alt-ArtNateDesign Warning: The following story contains references to vore, my other stories, pseudoscientific jargon, sensitive reproductive topics. Reader discretion is advised. “Alright, I believe these are the last of the forms,” Melissa said brusquely. She gathered up a stack of papers and stapled them together. Alice sat next to her, typing into a laptop. Across the table was a plain-featured girl with brown hair, freckles, and the name Mandy. She looked nervous; hardly surprising, given the nature of their interview. A digital audio recorder sat on the table between them. Despite her nerves, Mandy spoke with a steady voice. “Good. There were a lot more than I was expecting.” Melissa nodded sympathetically. “I don’t like having all these restrictions and red tape, but it’s out of my hands. Besides, the paperwork helps the college keep tabs on any monetary transfers or changes connected to prey volunteers.” She paused. "For the sake of disclosure, you are aware that whatever experiment uses you will be fatal, yes?" Mandy nodded. "I know and accept it." "Really don't get you girls," Alice muttered, not looking up from her computer. “What's to get? She's a perfectly normal young woman who recognizes her natural place as food,” Melissa countered. Addressing the girl once again, she said, “Almost everything is in order. This last form is your renunciation of human rights; once it’s filed, you will be irreversibly become livestock for the VSP. It only needs your signature.” She paused before handing it over. "I know I said ‘experiment,’ and we are running tests all the time, but you really should know…you're probably just going to be food. Most of the VSP’s livestock is used up with regular feedings of no distinction. You won't be a part of any big discoveries, just a note on the maintenance records." The girl swallowed nervously; she’d hoped her death would be less ignominious. “You can back out if you want,” Melissa said softly, tears springing unbidden to the corners of her eyes. Why does this keep happening to me? she wondered, feeling frustrated. Her moods had been swinging around wildly for days. It was unpleasant and exhausting. Not to mention, she had a horrible suspicion that she knew what the problem was. Despite her moment of hesitation, the girl grabbed the papers anyway. Grabbing out a pen, she resolutely signed away her life. “I didn't come here to be famous,” she said. “I’m volunteering so my family won’t have to pay for my bad decisions and choose between my education and Mom’s health. Besides, I'll still be a part of the big discoveries down the line- as part of my predator’s bodymass.” “That’s the spirit,” Melissa said, wiping her eyes. She took the papers back from the girl and went through them. Wherever she found the words “Mandy Granger,” she drew a careful red line through the name. Watching her do it, Alice personally thought it was stupid. It was normally VSP practice to completely blot out old prey-names in paperwork. However, Verdesford University insisted on having usable paper trails for everyone, so they compromised. The names were marked invalid but left legible. Once Melissa was done with that, Alice called in a lab assistant to take the newly-official meat away for cleaning and measuring. “That was the last one for today. Thanks for helping me out; it’s a lot easier to have someone along to handle the typing,” Melissa said. She rose to exit, but Alice gestured for her to remain seated. She closed the door and locked it, leaving the two of them alone, then looked at her friend with concern. “Are you okay, Melissa? That’s the fourth time in two days that you’ve gotten teary-eyed over nothing.” The buxom scientist wilted. She stared down at the papers bearing struck-through signatures. “Couldn’t you see it in that last girl’s eyes? She was so hopeful about contributing to science and helping her family. Then I told her that she’ll just be a meal, nothing more. She looked so sad...” Melissa’s vision grew misty. “See? You’re doing it again right now!” Alice exclaimed. She came over and embraced her friend. “What’s wrong? What happened to the Melissa who’d brush that girl off and say ‘she’s meat, just like the rest of us, no biggie?’ The one who fed her sister to a plant with a smile on her face? I don’t know what’s up with you; you’re scaring me, girl.” “I don’t know,” Melissa said. Her forehead creased with worry. “It’s not like I’m in a bad place in life. I’ve got a good job, a bunch of friends, an amazing boyfriend- he’s even been hinting he might propose to me soon! Yeah, work has been a bit stressful, which probably made me late, and now I’m stressing about that…” Alice held up her hands. “Whoa, whoa, slow down! What do you mean ‘late’? Late for what?” Melissa gestured at her abdomen and gave Alice a significant look. It took a moment to realize what she meant. Alice’s eyes widened. “By how much?” “Almost a whole month,” Melissa said mournfully. “But- how!? I thought you were on the pill!” “I AM!” The young woman’s face fell. “I just…missed a few days. Back when James and I took that long weekend off so I could stand up at Molly’s wedding. I forgot to pack them, and we didn’t find out until we were at the hotel.” Alice gave her an exasperated look. “And you went and did it anyway? Geeze, I knew you two are sluts for each other, but I thought you were smarter than that!” “I am smarter than that!” Melissa snapped. “We didn’t do anything!” She blushed again. “Well, not anything that could get me… The point is, it doesn’t matter! I called my doctor last week, and he said missing a few days can be enough to let me ovulate. If that happened, it wouldn’t matter that I went back on the pill before having sex again; I’m potentially fertile until it’s out of my system! James is going to kill me! He’s always been adamant about not having a kid yet, and it’s going to freak him out. And what about the baby? Me being a mother changes everything! It’s making me question things I’ve never had the slightest doubts about before! I’m meat! I’m destined to be eaten and digested! It’s not fair to James or our child, leaving them behind like that, even though it’s what’s meant to happen! I don’t want to die and leave them, Alice. For the first time in my life I’m scared to be food!” The sudden outburst drove Alice back a few steps. Her friend had a wild, hunted look in her eyes. She’s scared out of her mind, Alice realized. Apprehensively, she asked, “So, you’re for-sure pregnant? No doubt about it?” Melissa shook her head, blond ponytail bobbing. “I don’t have the nerve to take a test,” she said. Her momentary anger vanished as swiftly as it came. She sat down heavily, seeming more than a few years younger than twenty-five. “There’s a chance that I’m not! Maybe missing those pills just threw me off schedule. When my period didn’t come on time, I got more and more nervous until the stress made me skip it completely. It’s possible…” Alice sat down again too. She closed her laptop and scooted her chair around to face Melissa. “You’ve got to check,” she said softly. Melissa made a noncommittal noise. Alice pressed her again, harder. “I’m serious. This is serious. Don’t give me any ‘what if it’s positive’ or ‘what if it’s nothing’ crap. I’ve seen you do it before. It’s like you think taking the test will guarantee the bad result while putting it off guarantees the good! That’s just not how the world works!” Her voice raised as she spoke, making Melissa shrink further and further into her seat. Pausing for breath, Alice realized her friend was on the verge of tears again. Oops. Need to back off. This wasn’t the time to berate the girl’s bad habits. When she spoke again, her voice was firm, but kind. “Melissa. This isn’t Schrodinger’s baby; either you’re already pregnant or you never were. Taking a test will only tell you which is the case. We’re scientists! You and I both know that having the facts is better than blissful ignorance. If you know the truth, you can plan and respond. Now, take a deep breath. Look me in the eye and promise you’ll take a test.” Melissa had to take several deep breaths, but when she replied, her voice was steady. “I’m going to take a pregnancy test,” she said. “Tonight. I’ll pick one up on the way home tonight.” “Good girl,” Alice said, hugging her friend. “Grab a couple different ones; that way you can double-check right away.” Melissa nodded, returning the embrace. “Thanks for talking about this,” she mumbled into Alice’s shoulder. “I’m so used to confiding in James, I…it was really eating at me, having to keep this to myself.” “Will you tell him if you test positive?” asked Alice. Melissa opened her mouth, but Alice cut her off. “Zzp! Don’t! I shouldn’t have asked; I don’t need to know. That’s between you and him. But you need to figure that out, too. Today! Personally, I think he deserves to know; he’s a good guy, and he loves you. I think he can handle the news. Now, enough talking about it! Let’s pack up in here and…Oh, shit!” “What is it?” asked Melissa. Alice pointed at the table. “I forgot to turn off the audio recorder.” Melissa turned beet-red once again, and it looked like more tears were on the way. Alice spoke quickly. “It’s okay! Trust me! We can’t edit it out; the data techs will notice if the file’s been tampered with. But no one listens to the prey interview transcripts- why would they? Half the staff thinks of them as recordings of cows mooing, and the half that thinks otherwise has more important stuff to do. “Even if, for some strange reason, someone heard our conversation here, there’s no way it would get back to James. It’s Project Umbra data; it has to stay confidential! Besides, if you really are pregnant- which you might not be- people are going to notice eventually. Some random person listens to this conversation four months down the line, and they’ll just think ‘Huh, so that’s how Melissa got her baby bump.’ The end.” “If I keep it,” Melissa said dully. Alice winced. “You don’t mean that,” she said, hoping it was true. To her relief, Melissa nodded. “You’re right; I don’t. But you see what I mean about questioning things? A month ago, it wouldn’t have even crossed my mind,” she said. Alice took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She decided to give her friend a break and change the subject. “What are you doing tomorrow? If you need something to cheer you up, I can get some of the girls together and we’ll have a day to ourselves. Stuff ourselves with brownies and ice cream, watch chick-flicks and vegetate. We can even crack open some celebratory booze, if it turns out you’re in the clear. What do you say?” That offer coaxed a bit of a smile out of Melissa. “That sounds nice, but I’ve got some things to take care of tomorrow. Maybe this weekend?” Alice nodded. “That works. More people will be able to come, too. What’s going on tomorrow, though?” “I need to do an interview with the umbra mulierum specimen,” Melissa explained. “Our high overlords want a status update. Yet again.” Alice whistled in awe. “Yikes! Are you sure you’re up for that? I’m pretty sure Sarah or Cynthia could cover for you,” she said. Melissa shook her head and wiped her eyes. “No, it’s alright. Even if the project’s a mess right now, she’s fascinating to study. Besides, I think I’ll appreciate having something else to focus on.” “Suit yourself,” said Alice. She made a distasteful face. “Everything you’ve told me about her makes me glad I’m not involved. That thing would creep me the fuck out.” “You just don’t like anything that can eat you,” Melissa teased. Her friend protested. “Hey, that’s not true! I get along fine with Tom, and I quite like Imbriak too. Hey! Speaking of babies, her eggs are really close to hatching! I’ll let you know when it starts; supposedly the babies look absolutely gorgeous right when they come out of the shell. It’ll be a real treat!” Melissa smiled and nodded, letting some of Alice’s enthusiasm seep into her. She didn’t have her friend’s passion for zoology, but it was still fun to listen to her gush. Imbriak was especially fascinating. Even the Textile Spiders, though harder to appreciate (Melissa being one an opponent of keeping creatures that can’t eat people in the VSP), were still an impressive example of genetic engineering. The two young women packed up the last of their things and departed the interview room, Alice still chattering gaily. Despite having her own projects to attend to, Alice stuck with Melissa. At first she protested, but Alice refused to leave her alone to fret. She quickly caved; it wasn’t like she really wanted Alice to go away. Melissa enjoyed having her friend accompany her around the facility. It reminded her of their freshman year, when they were roommates with identical course schedules. The memories made her smile. Eventually, however, Alice did have to leave. She kept getting messages from Minerva about the new modifications to the Textile Spiders. There was only so much Alice could do from her phone, so she caved and went back down to the lab. She didn’t abandon Melissa, though; first she stopped by Cynthia Culpepper’s lab and traded off with her. She didn’t tell Cynthia the details; that was Melissa’s prerogative. Alice simply explained that Melissa needed some company today. She wasn’t as close to the young researcher as Mel, but she still liked the girl. It was, in hindsight, not the best move. For all that Melissa and Cynthia were fast friends, the VSP’s prodigy botanist was not good with social situations. Years of introversion and casual bullying topped off by vigorous pro-vore beliefs had left the girl somewhat ill-equipped for human interaction. Cynthia had no idea what Alice expected of her, so she decided to stick to her strengths: talking about her projects. It started off well. Melissa enjoyed touring her lab; she hadn’t been there in person for a while. A new greenhouse was set up next to the main lab space. Inside, Cynthia was cultivating several patches of Mongolian grabgrass. Even as newly-sprouted shoots, the blades of grass rustled in the still greenhouse air. “I’m looking at the way the individual colonies communicate,” she explained. Melissa listened attentively. “Even seeds from different plants, once they sprout, will fuse into a single contiguous mat. Amazingly, this doesn’t interfere with their ability to coordinate movements or distribute nutrients. Different patches will even dissolve their own digestive chambers to make way for larger or better-located ones within the overall plant. That happens a lot when it gets to properly spread and fill a whole field.” “Fascinating,” Melissa said, crouching down to take a closer look. She poked a hand into the grow bed, feeling the new tiny shoots wrap around it. She allowed them to tuck the tip of her finger into a slimy little fold of material. Its feeble digestive enzymes tingled harmlessly on her skin. “Does this mean you finished the side-by-side analysis of their neurofibers compared to Umbra’s?” “Yes!” Cynthia replied, eagerly. “Despite both tissues being used to transmit electrochemical signals similar to animal neurons, they were dramatically different on the cellular and chemical levels. I hypothesize that it’s because the umbra mulierum’s fibers are designed to fuse to and interact with animals’ nervous systems, while the grabgrass only communicates with itself.” Cynthia’s eyes gleamed with excitement behind her glasses. “As a side note, some back-studies determined that the neurofibers from Umbra’s spores have not changed since they were first analyzed. Ones taken from her body, however, demonstrate a continuous increase in protein content, as well as some altered morphology!” “That’s interesting. I wonder how that’s happening?” Melissa mused. Umbra had demonstrated periodic physical changes since the project’s early days, but she had no idea they could be so subtle. Melissa shook her head; there was plenty of time to ponder that tomorrow. In fact, she made a note to ask about it. Umbra was often reticent, but you never knew when she might decide to be cooperative. She pulled her hand back from the grabgrass and wiped the enzymes off her finger. At her request, Cynthia continued showing off her current research, concluding with a glass terrarium under a heat lamp. It contained a thick, smooth, rope-like object in a coil. Melissa already knew what it was: Cynthia’s pride, joy, and greatest frustration. “How is your wormvine?” she asked. Cynthia sighed. “It’s doing well right now, but I’m getting worried. Once they’re free-roaming like this, they have to find a meal, digest her, and implant themselves in the ground before winter. They need a month and a half between feeding and rooting…” Melissa nodded sympathetically. “It’s running out of time.” “Exactly!” Cynthia said. “I can extend its lifespan a little by keeping it in a greenhouse, but only by a month or two. They just aren’t long-lived plants.” At the sound of her voice, the wormvine stirred. It uncoiled and slithered out of its container. Dipping its “head” below the long hem of Cynthia’s lab coat, it coiled around her otherwise-bare body. It poked its head out of the top alongside her own and rested the upper portion of its length along her shoulders. Cynthia’s frown melted away instantly. “That’s my sweet little baby!” she cooed, stroking its smooth surface. Melissa watched in amusement as she fussed over her plant. The vine nuzzled her face, making the girl giggle. “Such a good, strong wormvine,” she said, nuzzling it back. “If only you’d make up your mind and pick a preymate! What are you looking for? You know you’ve got two excellent pieces of meat here, right? Melissa and I would love to be the one you swallow down and melt into mush to make a bunch of beautiful baby vines with you...” Cynthia trailed off. Melissa’s face had fallen when she mentioned her pet eating them. That was odd. She’d only been friends with Melissa for a few months, but they’d known one another for years. In all that time, Melissa was tickled pink whenever someone referred to her as meat. She was proud of her inevitable digestion. Why was it suddenly making her teary-eyed? Cynthia tried to backpedal. She switched topics and asked how Melissa’s own projects were going, but that only seemed to upset her more. She tried asking what the matter was, but Melissa brushed her off. “It’s nothing,” she said, sniffling. She sat down next to a table in the middle of the room and cradled her head in her hands. “I just…there’s something in my eye.” Obviously that wasn’t true, but even Cynthia knew calling her a liar was the wrong move here. Of course, that didn’t mean she knew the correct thing to say either, so she decided not to speak at all. Hoping Melissa simply needed a moment to herself, Cynthia busied herself around the room. There were plenty of serious projects for her to work on, but she kept to basic things: cleaning glassware, straightening equipment, things like that. It left her mind free to ponder. What was upsetting Melissa? Cynthia tried imagining what might upset herself. Umbra could be quite perturbing at times; however, she tended to incite fear, not tears. Meat that refused to accept its place could be irritating, but once again, that wasn’t cause for crying. Abruptly, Cynthia had a moment of inspiration. I know what’s wrong! she thought. Melissa is meat, but the poor girl is stuck day after day doing person-things. She has to run the VSP, she has to be with her boyfriend, she has a thousand pointless things distracting her and slowing her down on her natural path to a degrading digestive death. Confident that she knew the problem and, by extension, the solution, Cynthia decided to take one more shot at cheering her friend up. “I understand how you feel, Melissa,” she said. “It’s hard, not being able to give in to your nature. I’ve wanted to take that final step for ages.” Her voice cracked from sheer longing. There was no sound coming from behind her, which she took as a sign to keep talking. “Especially with my wormvine here. I’ve wanted for so long to feed a rare species like this, but he just won’t have me. Plus, there’s the other distractions: people, work. Silly things like that. Sometimes I almost forget that I’m just meat, born to be eaten. Not being able do what you were born for is enough to make anyone cry. I could help you fix that, though.” She turned around to face Melissa directly. Her friend looked at her, eyes and nose puffy and pink. “I need to take a trip down to prey storage today. Would you like to come with me? I can get you signed in and set up with a predator by this evening! If you want, I’ll even join you. That way, you can finally focus on doing nothing but enjoying being food.” Melissa burst out sobbing. Cynthia was lost; was it something she said? Why wasn’t Melissa cheering up? Cynthia would have squealed like an exited little kid if she received an offer like that. She tried to give the poor girl a hug, but her wormvine was still wrapped around her body. It made contact awkward, and it only seemed to upset Melissa even more. What am I supposed to do?! Cynthia thought, panicking. Her wormvine sensed her agitation and tensed around her. She nervously stroked it, trying to think what went wrong. Out of nowhere, there came a knock at the door. Relieved by the interruption, she hurried over to open it. Outside stood Tom and a girl wearing a VSP visitor’s pass and a business suit. She had a graceful figure and a sweet smile. It was Melody Keuhl, one of Melissa’s friends from the university’s business school. Seeing her friend crying, her smile turned into sympathetic concern. Melody rushed into the lab and gave her a fierce hug, which Melissa returned. Tom spoke up. “I got a text from Alice asking me to escort her in. Word on the grapevine is that our dear Site Director is having a rough day. She needed someone to bring her to you.” “That’s right,” Melody said, offering Melissa a tissue from her purse. She accepted it gratefully. While Melissa blew her nose, Tom took his leave. He’d only stepped out of his lab as a favor to Alice; they really needed him at the moment. When Melissa stopped blowing, Melody took her used tissue and passed her another one. She glanced at Cynthia. “Hi.” “Good afternoon.” “What did you say to her?” “I tried my best to cheer her up!” Cynthia huffed in indignation.” I don’t know what happened. She was fine until I talked mentioned her being food, and she just broke down!” Melody glared at her. “Did it occur to you that she might not want to be food, and that’s why your comment upset her?” Cynthia scoffed, but didn’t reply. That suited Melody just fine. Still, the crazy plant-girl did have a slight point; normally Melissa was all on board with that vore stuff. Hopefully, she’d recently come to her senses. “Mel, you look like you could use a drink. I know a great wine bar in town; it practically just opened. I’m taking you out tonight,” Melody said firmly. “I don’t know if I can,” said Melissa. She sniffed, and Melody offered her the whole pack of tissues. She didn’t give up, though. “Would you rather have the boys along? You bring James, I’ll bring John, and we can make a double date out of it.” Melissa shook her head. “I meant I don’t know if I’m able to have alcohol right now,” she explained. Melody’s face immediately lit up in comprehension. “Melissa! You should have said something sooner!” She swept her up into another hug. “I know exactly what you’re going through! John and I had a real scare about it just this year. Good lord, did we freak out.” “R-really?” Melissa asked. Her friend nodded. “It was just after Valentine’s day. How stereotypical is that?” “What happened? Why aren’t you…you know?” She gestured around Melody’s belly. Melody looked a little sad. “I lost it about six weeks in. We were just about to tell everyone when the doctor confirmed it.” “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Melissa said. Her friend smiled and shook her head. “It’s okay,” she explained. “It’s not uncommon, especially for your first one. It wasn’t anybody’s fault, and since John and I are still unmarried students, it was probably for the best. I’ve recovered, and so has he.” For some reason, Melissa felt comforted by this. Not that her friend had a miscarriage, but that she wasn’t the only one to have an unexpected and worrisome pregnancy scare. Obviously, she’d already known that, but it was more real coming directly from a friend. True, their situation was quite different from her own. Melody and her boyfriend were several years younger than Melissa, and, like Melody said, they were still students. Their concerns about having a baby were more ‘traditional’ than Melissa’s. Still, the information was reassuring. “I see that the mood swings have hit hard and fast,” Melody remarked. Melissa smiled sheepishly. “You don’t know the half of it! I almost bit off Alice’s head earlier.” “Oh, dear! What happened?” Cynthia and her wormvine observed the conversation in equal states of incomprehension. Clearly Melissa’s distress had subsided, for which Cynthia was grateful. It irked her a little that it took such a stubbornly ignorant doe to do it, but she couldn’t be too upset about her friend feeling better. Deciding to leave them to it, she spoke up. “If you two don’t mind, I’m going to make that errand down to prey storage I mentioned earlier. Please make sure the door’s locked, if you leave before I get back.” She received polite farewells, a warm one from Melissa and a cold one from Melody, and departed the lab, leaving the two of them to continue their amiable chat. -------

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants, Chapter 20 Unexpected Consequences By Alt-ArtNateDesign Warning: The following story contains references to vore, references to sex, awkward attempts at humor, multiple concurrent storylines, a fuckload of minor characters, foul language, Chekov’s armory, last-minute exposition, an unanticipated chapter split (with resultant cliffhanger) and a blatant Half-Life reference in the title. Reader discretion is advised The next morning, Melissa woke early and rushed to the toilet. She didn’t have anything in her stomach, but the fierce nausea she felt kept her dry-heaving for ages. Wretched though the experience was, it at least meant she was awake. When Tamara called to request pick-up from the mechanic, Melissa was dressed and prepared for the day, glasses polished, blonde hair up in the short ponytail she favored. By the time the two girls returned, James was up and making breakfast. The scrambled eggs and bacon smelled good, but Melissa didn’t trust her stomach. She settled for a bowl of cereal. James was a little concerned to see her pass on the food; it only reinforced his feeling that there was something wrong. However, he didn’t say anything. Melissa would tell him when she was ready; he was sure of it. He kissed her goodbye on her way out the door. “Have a good day at work,” he said as she walked to her car. “Remember, I love you!” Will you still love me when I tell you about our baby? she wondered, before savagely brushing the thought aside. The consequences didn’t matter. He deserved to know, and she was going to tell him as soon as she got back from work. At the college entrance, Melissa was flagged down by the front receptionist. “Director Albright! Excuse me, Miss, but I have a message from someone named Susan Albright. She says she’s your mother, and it’s urgent that she speak to you.” “Tell her that I can still remember her last rant; I don’t need a refresher,” Melissa snapped. She didn’t slow down, and the receptionist’s timid calls for her to please come back faded away behind her. Melissa made a mental note to apologize to the girl later. It wasn’t fair to bite people’s heads off over her own family squabbles. She passed Melody in the hall some little ways later. They only had time for a short exchange. Melissa told her about the positive pregnancy tests. Melody, like Alice, doubted James would take the news as badly as Melissa thought, and said if he did, “I’ll kick him in the nuts so hard they’ll bounce off his idiot skull.” The rather graphic promise, combined with more civilized encouragements, helped Melissa shake off her melancholy. The girls parted ways, as Melody headed toward a business class and Melissa went to her lab. She fell in with a group of students travelling in the same direction. They chattered and gossiped, oblivious to the site director’s presence. “Come on, Lucy, how can you like him? He’s…you know…a vore. He’s prolly just obsessing over you ‘cause your tits look tasty.” “He doesn’t obsess over me,” said another girl, ostensibly Lucy. “He just doesn’t get out much. Now, if you want to talk about obsessed, get a load of this: one of Ben Walden’s buddies was dating a girl who volunteered as prey. So what does he do? He disguises himself as a security guard and sneaks into the labs to see her!” “You’re joking!” “For real?” “No way!” The conversation devolved into exclamations of incredulity and demands for proof. Melissa tuned it out. Didn’t Alice mention something about a guard acting weird? There might be some truth to this. She resolved to bring it up the next time they met. After a brief stop at her office and a trip through the Botany Division, Melissa reached the doors to the Umbra Project lab. As she approached the heavy-duty doors, they opened in front of her and a lab-coated woman came out. Light grey streaks in her auburn hair marked her as being on the older side, in her late forties. She was wearing a medical alert pendant on her wrist, but that was for a congenital heart condition. “Good morning, Dr. Russo,” Melissa said. “Good morning, Melissa,” the doctor replied, pulling the lab door closed. “You’re here for Umbra’s next interview, correct?” Melissa nodded. “You’ll have the place to yourself this morning,” Russo told her. “Everyone else is busy, eaten or out sick. Sarah should be in around 11:00. If you need, I can keep an eye on you until then.” Melissa waved aside the offer. “I’ve taken my UMP-X08; she’s no more danger to me than a normal teenage girl. Besides, you’ve got your own work to deal with.” “That’s true,” said Russo. One of the more acclaimed botanists in the VSP, her time was nearly as valuable as Melissa’s. Today, however, she had an especially good reason to focus on her own tasks: she’d made some interesting discoveries following up on a lead into Umbra’s past. She informed Melissa, who was pleased to hear the news. “Tell you what, let’s sit down and discuss it. If Umbra’s her usual uncooperative self, I can cut the interview short and meet you afterward. Give Cynthia a call too.” With the project stuck in its current directionless state, they needed to talk about its future. The three of them were the most important scientists on the project. Everyone else could be filled in later. Dr. Russo went on her way, and Melissa entered the Umbra Project labs. A wave of hot, dry air washed over her. The Botany Division was usually warm, but the pyro-filters on the umbra mulierum habitat kept local rooms a few degrees higher. It was a necessary annoyance. At all times, the umbra mulierum specimen released vast numbers of psychoactive neurospores. Warnings about them covered the Umbra Lab’s walls. They were insidious, capable of penetrating almost all forms of protective gear. Organic matter couldn’t even slow them down. Glass or metal barriers only worked if they were flawless; the slightest chink was enough for the spores to worm through. Hence, the pyro-filters: glass-coated tubing with integrated incinerators. Any air going into or out of Umbra’s habitat was sucked through and torched, spores and all. Obviously, this didn’t protect people inside the habitat. They had to rely on UMP-X08. The Umbra Labs were composed of half a dozen rooms arranged around the umbra mulierum’s habitat. Access to the habitat was limited to a single airlock, which connected it to an observation room. Melissa stood there now, setting up equipment. Ideally, one person handled this while another went in, but that wasn’t strictly necessary. Melissa looked through the one-way glass into Umbra’s chamber. There she was, a young, naked human girl with pale green skin, lounging atop an egg-shaped pod. Technically they were the same organism, but functionally speaking, Umbra was the plant-girl, and the pod was a portable, symbiotic habitat. It could grow out into a broad spongy mat covered in vines and just as easily let those extensions die back and re-grow in new configurations. Whenever Umbra needed to rest or heal (or sulk) she curled up inside the pod and let it close around her. Currently it sported only a modest growth at its base, giving her perch a bit of stability. This plant vexed Melissa. She first encountered it several years ago, when setting up a new VSP branch in Sunny Valley, California. VSP management provided several plants to get the program started, including this umbra mulierum. Apart from a minor atmospheric warning tag, it had seemed unremarkable. Useless, even. Its information listed no productive or scientific value. Melissa assumed it was thrown in as a showpiece; just a flashy bit of genetic engineering that was capable of eating people. Then, about a year ago, Sunny Valley suddenly shipped Umbra back to the main labs cocooned in warnings and safety protocols. Melissa and select others, like Russo and Cynthia, were pulled into the heretofore-unknown “Umbra Project” told to perform four months of observation, psychological assessment, and behavioral studies on the plant-girl. Afterward, she supposed to be taken into “someone else’s” custody; however, that never happened. Occasionally new orders came to try a new or different behavioral study, but that was all. The project was in limbo, leaving Melissa with a team of bored botanists, a lot of unanswered questions, and only a hostile plant to press for answers... ---------- Around the time Melissa arrived at the college, Alice was sitting down in her favorite student café for her customary pre-workday drink. Today, it was coffee. Tom’s party ran late last night, and she needed a pick-me-up. As she sat down, Cynthia Culpepper pulled up a seat across the table from her. “May I join you?” she asked, plopping down her butt and her beverage without waiting for an answer. Alice pretended to think it over. “Hmm, let me think…yep, yeah, it looks like you may,” she said. Cynthia didn’t notice the sarcasm. Alice sipped her drink. “So, Cynthia, what brings you here?” “A warm drink, of course! It’s getting cold outside.” Alice took another sip of coffee to hide her smirk. It was only mid-September; Cynthia was clearly still used to her hometown’s climate. “I take it that’s why you’re dressed so modestly today,” she said, lowering her cup. She was only half-joking; the girl’s lab coat was completely buttoned up. That was practically Puritan by Cynthia’s standards. A casual observer might even mistake her for wearing underwear! “Hot chocolate can’t warm you up until you buy it,” Cynthia replied. This time Alice failed to hide her amusement. “What’s that look for? You have a problem with my drink?” “No,” Alice said. “I guess I took you more for a tea person.” Cynthia made a face. “Can’t stand the stuff. Coffee’s even worse, and don’t get me started on mochas. What a tragic waste of good chocolate…Quite snickering! There are plenty of adults that prefer hot chocolate.” “Sorry! I’m not making a crack about your age or anything,” said Alice. “I just think it’s funny how Miss Meatism herself, the poster girl for a model doe, has a personal indulgence as cliché as chocolate.” Cynthia drew herself up in indignation. “A personal indulgence! I would never do such a thing! For your information, modest quantities of chocolate add wonderful flavoring to my meat.” “Is that so?” “Why, yes; I’ve been tested,” the girl said primly. Alice rolled her eyes. “…figures…” The pair enjoyed their drinks in silence for a while. Alice watched the ebb and flow of undergrads on their way to classes. One stood out to her. She found herself watching the young woman as she ordered a drink and sat down with some friends. The girl looked like a senior, possibly even a grad student. She had what would normally be a lush, curvy figure, were it not currently disguised by a layer of pudge and a sharply protruding abdomen. Near the VSP (particularly the Human Division), that look was more ambiguous than normal. However, from the cautious way she moved and the proud, protective looks from the young man beside her, Alice knew this girl had a baby in her belly, not a meal. “Wonder if she’ll look like that,” she murmured, taking another sip of coffee. “Ooohh, I see! Melissa’s pregnant too!” Cynthia’s exclamation nearly made Alice choke on her drink. Acutely aware of the sudden attention aimed at her table, she fought to avoid spewing coffee while everyone was looking at her. Recovering, she glanced back at the pregnant girl’s table. Alice winced. The glares were throwing daggers at Cynthia with an intensity rarely seen outside a circus. Alice smiled weakly, trying to silently proclaim It’s fine! My friend is such a hoot and totally not a socially tone-deaf fanatic/mad scientist. LOL! “Are you okay, Alice? Am I wrong? Based on your focus on that pregnant girl there, pregnancy is on your mind, and it would explain a lot of weird behavior from Mel’s visit yesterday. The hormones alone would explain most of her irrational behavior.” Oh, god. Time to bail. Unlike Cynthia, Alice cared what people thought of her. She considered the girl a friend, but there were limits. On the plus side, Cynthia’s social obliviousness meant she wouldn’t be offended by being abandoned. Alice stood up and slammed back her coffee. Finishing, she leaned in and hurriedly whispered, “Yes, alright? She’s pregnant, and she wants to keep it quiet!” “Really? Why bother? It’s going to be pretty obvious in a few months, and it doesn’t change the fact that she’s meat.” Alice facepalmed and made her exit. Alice ran into Tom again on her way to the Zoology Division. The taco party was a load of fun last night, and she hadn’t gotten the chance to thank him for inviting her. As they parted ways, she considered accepting his offer the next time he asked her out. So what if he was a vore and a dork? Tom was a nice guy. It doesn’t hurt that I could punch his lights out without breaking a sweat if he tries anything. Like they say, exercise is good for your health! She chuckled to herself, knowing she’d never actually have to fight him off. Along the way, she also ran into Zach, one of her coworkers from the Zoology division. He was a gangly dude in his 30s, with hollow cheeks and scruffy hair. They weren’t close, but she respected his work. As head of the Zoological Countermeasures team, he was one of the few scientists in the VSP dedicated to preventing creatures from eating people. “Can you please try to get Director Albright to stop by today? I know she doesn’t approve of our work, but I really think she’ll be proud of our latest prototype,” he explained. Alice agreed to bring it up. She was going to the Botany Division anyway to pick up some genetics papers. It also gave her a decent excuse to check on her friend. All that would have to wait, however; first she had to handle Imbriak’s daily examination. It would not be wise to arrive late two days in a row. ---------- Elsewhere, a woman approached an information desk in the building next to Verdesford University’s visitor parking lot. She was statuesque. Long blonde hair crowned her voluptuous figure, which was just a little past its prime. Stylish glasses framed her sad green eyes. The receptionist greeted her cheerfully. “Good morning, Madam, how can I help you?” “I’m looking for directions,” the woman said. The receptionist smiled brightly. “No problem! I just need a name for your visitor’s badge.” “Susan Albright.” “Oh! Are you here to see Site Director Albright?” Susan nodded. “You’ll find her in the VSP annex, over on the far side of campus. It’s a long way from here, and most of it’s restricted. Would you like me to call someone to escort you?” Susan said she would appreciate that very much, thank you, and took a seat nearby. After a long wait, a girl in a lab coat showed up. She introduced herself as Sarah. “Where do you need to go, Madam?” “I need to see Mel…the Site Director. Could you take me to her office? Also, please, call me Mrs. Albright. Hearing ‘Madam’ all the time makes a lady feel older than she is.” “Certainly, Mrs. Albright. Come right this way.” With that, Sarah and Susan set off for the Botany building. ---------- “There! All finished.” “Thank you, dear. I feel much safer with that in place,” Dr. Russo said. The rosy-cheeked girl from campus maintenance smiled and shrugged. “I’m just doing my job. If that’s all, then I’ll be on my way. An electrician’s work is never done.” She put her tools back in their canvas bag and walked out the door. On her way out the door, she passed Cynthia, who entered the office. “Who was that?” the girl asked without preamble. “Just an electrician. She was installing a new transponder for my alert pendant,” Russo explained. “I already have one in my office and my classroom, but I’m not sure the signal would reach either of those from here.” “Ah, I see.” Cynthia fidgeted nervously. Dr. Russo gave the girl a hard look; Miss Culpepper was not normally given to fits of nerves, nor suspicion for that matter. “You’re a bit early for the Umbra team meeting,” the doctor observed. “Is there something you wanted to discuss beforehand?” Cynthia nodded slowly. “I wanted to bring up some…concerns.” “About the Umbra Project?” “Yes.” Now THAT was downright alarming! If the college’s most devoted meat-girl was concerned about a predator, the situation must be grave indeed. Russo told Cynthia to close the door, take a seat, and tell her everything. The young prodigy did as she was requested. She even, hesitantly, mentioned her unfounded suspicion that there was some shady motivation behind the Umbra Project. Dr. Russo listened intently, lips pursed. Only when Cynthia was finished did she speak up. “While I can’t entirely agree with all your observations, you do have a good point there. Umbra’s spores are too dangerous to investigate idly. You should talk about that with Melissa when she gets here.” Cynthia didn’t reply. Hearing Umbra’s spores and Melissa mentioned in the same sentence set off a cascade of thoughts in her brain. All staff with Umbra clearance took UMP-X08, the latest formula of a drug that prevented the plant’s spores from binding to their neurons. This, the only protection for people in direct contact with the umbra mulierum specimen, was chemical in nature. Melissa’s mood swings were caused by pregnancy-induced changes in body chemistry. Because of testing risks and limited use, no version of UMP-X had ever been used by pregnant women before. Cynthia hadn’t thought of it ’til now, but pregnancy might inhibit UMP-X’s protective qualities. Maybe even block it completely. For any other person or pred it wouldn’t matter, but this was the Site Director and Umbra. Melissa knew things that Umbra should not. Things Umbra could use. “Has Melissa gone to interview Umbra yet?” Cynthia asked. If Dr. Russo was surprised by the sudden change in topic, she didn’t show it. The woman simply nodded. “Approximately two hours ago; we passed one another at the lab entrance.” “We need to contact her immediately!” Cynthia said, with uncharacteristic fire. “She-!” Her words were cut off by a loud *BANG* as the office door slammed open. Cynthia jumped, and Dr. Russo clutched at her chest. Alice stood in the doorway, eyes wide with panic. Cynthia didn’t even have to ask. Umbra was loose.

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants, Chapter 22 A Brief Check with the Guys By Alt-ArtNateDesign Warning: The following story contains non-explicit sex, extensive discussion about vore, human degradation, and a character who was put on a bus for 21 chapters. Reader discretion advised. James strolled down the block, a stack of freshly-printed posters in his arms. He passed Professor Amsley’s house, where Tamara was busy attending to the morning’s gardening. She waved in greeting. He kept his reply to a nod; the thick pile of posters was too heavy to try holding single-handed. Maybe we made too many of these things, James thought. The posters were simple, as was the message they bore: HELP WANTED Seeking hard workers for exotic garden tending. 1st shift, full-time, $18/hr. No experience needed ABILITY TO OBEY SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS IS A MUST! Contact info below It seemed like a good compromise between attractiveness and caution. James hoped to have a few takers within a week or so. As he walked, a light autumn breeze blew past. It playfully tugged a few posters from his stack and sent them tumbling back the way he came. Clumsily, James chased after them, doing his best not to drop any more. Just past the Amsley house driveway, the polished tip of a cane brought several of the posters to a sharp halt. “Thank you!” James panted, catching up to them. He crouched down to retrieve the posters. “Any time, lad, any time.” The British accent caught James’ attention. Looking up, he realized the man leaning on the cane was none other than Hugo Amsley himself. “Professor!” he said, standing up. “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming back! How’ve you been?” The old gentleman sighed. “Retired, as it happens; I am a professor no longer. Beyond that, I am well enough.” “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” James said. “No need to feel bad; it’s the way of the world. Leading lights grow old, they step aside, and new ones take the stage.” Professor- no, Doctor Amsley, James mentally amended- shook his head. “But that’s enough melancholia for one day, I think, especially such a lovely one. I came here to retrieve some mementos, not wax dramatic on the passage of time. How have you been? I hear you are doing quite well for yourself.” James nodded, a little surprised. His website was doing well, enough so that his and Melissa’s proper jobs were financially unnecessary. Still, he felt strange accepting the compliment; when all was said and done, his business was a porn site. The idea of the refined, dignified Dr. Amsley going on there was profoundly distasteful. “Mel and I are both doing well, thanks. To be honest, I didn’t know you kept track of my website,” James said. Amsley was briefly confused, then shook his head. “You misunderstand. I’ve no knowledge of your website’s state; although I imagine it’s proving quite lucrative. You have many fans among my former colleagues.” He frowned. “I cannot say I approve. However, you have clearly been making the most of the resources at your disposal. I can respect that, if not the content of your videos. “What I meant to compliment was your rising prominence in the botanical community. I was talking to some friends back in England yesterday, and they mentioned how your advice helped them rescue some dying orchid specimens. International renown is an impressive accomplishment for anyone, much less a lad in his early twenties.” “Thank you, sir,” James said, humbly. “I just have a green thumb; plants seem to like me.” Dr. Amsley shook his head. “You’re too modest. Merely raising plants is one thing; you’ve not only mastered it with a staggering variety of species- including some highly exacting ones- you’ve been able to instruct others how to achieve similar results. You’re an intelligent lad, and you’re not afraid of hard work. Have you given any thought to pursuing higher education?” James looked at the ground- or rather, tried to. He was still holding the pile of ‘help wanted’ posters. “I don’t know… It’s an awfully big time commitment. I wouldn’t be able to take care of your garden anymore, at least until I finished a degree.” “Give it some thought,” Dr. Amsley insisted, though his tone was kindly. “It will open options for you. As for tending my garden…Forgive my bluntness, but just how much money do you make from that video site of yours?” James told him, and the old man got a thoughtful look. Curious, he asked, “James, what do you think of my house here? Do you like it?” “Your house? Um, I guess so,” said James. He’d never thought of the place in terms of ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ before. He was familiar with it, though, inside and out. It was a nice house. “How would you like to buy it from me?” Dr. Amsley asked. James raised his eyebrows. “Are you serious?” “Entirely so. The time has come for me to return home permanently. As I said, I’m only here to pick up a few portable mementos. A moving company will be along later to clear out the rest. After that, I shall need to sell the old place. If I can leave it and the garden in your hands, my mind will be at ease.” “Are you leaving soon?” James asked. Amsley nodded. “My plane departs tonight. I shall land in England just in time for breakfast.” James could hardly blame the old fellow for moving out properly. Ever since Cassie got eaten, he didn’t have any family in the States. His professorship was his only remaining tie here; without that, there wasn’t much cause for him to stay. All the same, it felt strange to think this might be the last time he and James spoke face-to-face. Theirs was an odd and slightly complicated relationship. Dr. (formerly Professor) Hugo Amsley was one of the world’s foremost botanists. He cultivated vorish plants, yet he didn’t like seeing people eaten or treated like food. It was Amsley that first drew James into this freaky plant business. Indirectly, it was his fault that James’ mother and sister were nothing but a few stray molecules in a particularly vibrant Golden Pitcher plant. At the same time, he’d given James a good job, extensive advice, and, above all, introduced him to Melissa. Ultimately, James admired the old fellow. He maintained dignity and integrity in a field that largely dismissed both of those traits. He was going to miss the old man’s infrequent but steady influence. James asked if he planned to take any plants with him. “Only a handful,” Amsley replied. “And only ones that are small, non-carnivorous, and will tolerate being transplanted to a garden in England. The rest…” He trailed off. It seemed to James that he grew even older for a moment, passing from elderly to ancient. His eyes, normally studious and alert, grew dull, giving the man a haggard look. James hesitantly tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Are you alright, sir?” “Tired, my boy. Profoundly tired.” Amsley swept his gaze over the garden, eyes immediately picking out the predatory specimens. Half a dozen vorish plants showed signs of recently feeding. “Tired of death, tired of keeping people safe, tired of fighting to keep a modicum of decency. I’m too old for it all…” The moment passed, and he was a modestly spritely old man once more. “You know, James, you needn’t keep calling me ‘sir.’ You’re a grown man and a respected horticulturist. Call me Hugo. Too many people know me as “Doctor” or “Professor;” I’ve half-forgotten the sound of my own first name!” “Sure thing, sir- I mean, Hugo,” said James, feeling honored. He asked the former professor if he wanted the vorish plants destroyed, but the old fellow shook his head. “When I said I’d had enough of death, I meant it thoroughly. As far as is possible, I hope never to see another living thing needlessly destroyed on my account.” James offered to give Amsley a hand in retrieving his possessions, which the old man accepted. The two of them went inside, and, barring occasional pauses to take care of gardening duties, James spent most of the day ferreting out old pictures and boxes from obscure corners of the former professor’s house. In the process, James decided he would accept Amsley’s offer for the place. After sorting out the details of that, they talked about many things, though both kept the conversation away from anything to do with vore until Hugo was ready to leave. It was mid-afternoon. The last of the former professor’s things were packed away in his car, and James was walking with him to the garden gate, when he asked about Melissa. “Tell me, James, how does my former star pupil fare? I hear she was chosen as the main VSP site director.” “That’s right.” “How does she like it?” James sighed heavily. “To be honest, Hugo, it’s been a mixed blessing,” James said. “Mel’s proud of her position, but it’s been hard on her. There’s a lot of stress. She doesn’t get time to herself or have her own projects anymore. Plus, she has to spend more and more time at the University. We don’t see as much of each other as we’d like anymore…” “You must be very attached to her,” Amsley said. James laughed sheepishly. “You could say that!” He paused, unsure if he wanted to reveal the news. Oh, why not? There’s no harm in telling him. “I’m planning to propose in the next few months. To her, I mean. She seems really keen to start a family, and I’d love to give her that, but I want to do it properly. You know?” Amsley didn’t reply at first. His eyes got that uncanny look again, taking on another thousand years of weariness in a span of seconds. At length, he replied. “I appreciate your hopes, James; you’ve no idea how badly. However, Melissa may not. Does she still consider herself Meat?” “Yes,” said James soberly. “Then your hope may be a lost cause. I don’t follow Meatism, but I am familiar with it. Depending on how devoted she is, Miss Albright might not be interested such a deep connection with anyone but her predator. Even if she does consent to marry you, she will not likely seek to preserve your union in living permanence. She might even try staying with you, for your sake, only to grow resentful at being denied her deepest desire.” James nodded grimly. “I know. It doesn’t change the way I feel. Even if she says no or wants to get eaten down the line, I still have to try.” Hugo smiled sadly. “I understand completely. In that case, I wish you both the best of luck.” They had reached the old man’s car; Hugo stowed his cane and climbed into the driver’s seat. As he did so, James snapped his fingers. “Speaking of Mel! That reminds me I need find a way to pick up her UMP-X08 refill.” Hugo blinked. “I beg your pardon?” “Protective medication for a VSP project. I don’t know exactly what it does; the project’s confidential.” James shrugged apologetically. “That’s quite alright; I’ve worked on my own share of confidential projects,” the old man said slowly. “Goodbye, James, and good luck. Give Melissa my regards.” He pulled away, wondering if he’d heard correctly. The name of that medication rang an old, ugly bell… It might be nothing; just an old man’s ears playing tricks on him. James used a different pronunciation, and the number was completely wrong. Even if he had heard correctly, there was still no certain need to fret. It could be a coincidence, a casualty of the scientific community’s fondness for abbreviation. Alternatively, they could have recycled the designation. Given the secrecy of the original project, that was entirely possible. Still... Hugo shook his head. There were too many variables in play to act with confidence. Dr. Amsley glanced at his watch; his plane didn’t leave for another few hours. He decided to make a few phone calls while he waited for his flight. It was the least he could do. --- James walked back toward the garden, mulling over Dr. Amsley’s words. Checking his phone, he saw a waiting voicemail from Mel. She must have called while he was helping Hugo move out. He played it back, wondering what was up. *beep* “Hey, James, things are really busy at the college right now. I’m going to need to stay over for a couple days. Love you, see you later.” *click* That was all. James played it again, and then a third time, just to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. That was the shortest message Mel had ever sent him, bar none. Why did she sound so bored? Each of the twenty-seven words she said was flat and matter-of-fact. It was utterly bizarre. Melissa hated when she had to stay overnight, and she’d announced the news with less audible investment than she put into a pizza order. Even her “I love you” felt phoned-in, literally and figuratively. I’m reading too much into this, James told himself. She’s probably just stressed from work! I bet she barely even had time to make this call. Now call her back and show some of the love and support she probably needs right now. That’s just what he did, even when the call just went to her voicemail. James left a lovely message encouraging Melissa and said he’d miss her. He offered to bring her food if she needed it at all. He told her he loved her. After that, he put his phone back in his pocket and went back to the garden. Despite his efforts to lose himself in work, James couldn’t shake a niggling sense of doubt. What was it about that message that bugged him so much? And why didn’t Melissa pick up? She was usually really good about that; at the very least she’d normally send a text. Was this payback for missing her call? That was extremely unlikely. Mel had many flaws, but pettiness was not one of them. If she was annoyed, she’d say so. James recalled Dr. Amsley’s comments about Mel and Meatism. Personally, he liked a lot of the philosophy’s tenets, primarily excepting the stuff about all humans innately being prey. By contrast, Melissa embraced that concept wholeheartedly. Only at James’s insistence had she promised to avoid a deliberate devouring. What if she got impatient and decided to break her promise? Worse, what if she found someone else? Some guy at the VSP who appreciates her desire to be eaten, who didn’t make her promise to try and stay alive? That idea was so poisonous it shocked James back to himself. Worrying about Mel’s safety was one thing; doubting her love and loyalty was altogether different. Nothing but suspicion and heartbreak could come from thinking like that. Still, those horrid doubts lurked in his subconscious, waiting to torment him again. Earlier that day, around 10:00 am… While James and Dr. Amsley were catching up with one another, a young “security guard” at Verdesford University stood in the Prey Storage Center, talking to a doe. His posture was relaxed, and he wore an expression of profoundly meagre interest. The pair was slightly isolated, which is why neither livestock nor PSC staff came near enough to notice the agitation in his voice or the cynical frustration in the doe’s. “I’m not buying this “disguise” plan. Doesn’t talking to me give you away?” the nude girl asked, dubiously. This was the stoic doe Cynthia saw yesterday, a plain girl with freckles and a grim countenance. In life, she’d been known as Mandy Granger. Now she was food. This was a fact her idiot boyfriend struggled to grasp. “My ID checked out, and I act like I belong here. The staff might raise an eyebrow, but they won’t bother me. People see what they expect, and they think unusual things are somebody else’s problem,” he said. It was probably best not to mention his run-in with Alice; if he hadn’t been a nice guy and held the door open for Lily, that wouldn’t have happened. “I suppose you know what you’re talking about…” the doe murmured. Chandler was one of the most talented theater students at Verdesford U. In any performance, he could instantly sell his role. Costumes were almost superfluous on him; he spoke and carried himself with such surety that the audience barely noticed the scrawny guy playing the part. Apparently, it was an ability that translated well off-stage. He raised one eyebrow and the corner of his mouth slightly, as if the doe had said something faintly amusing. “They’ll ignore me unless I do something out of character, like grabbing a girl and running for her life.” His façade slipped for a moment, and the doe saw his desperation. It burned in his eyes, more raw and naked than her own bare skin. Chandler coughed, using the movement to surreptitiously glance around. No one noticed his lapse. Turning back to Mandy, he resumed his muttered pleas. “That’s why I need you to cooperate. If you just come with me and let me play my part, no one will even think twice about it!” His hands twitched. For a moment, he’d meant to clasp them around Mandy’s own. That, however, would definitely attract attention. Security staff didn’t care about livestock like that; it was unprofessional. “Please, won’t you let me get you out of here?” said Chandler, reining himself in. “You won’t have to worry about it at all; I’ll handle everything! I promise, I can do it! All you have to do is let me.” Mandy didn’t reply. Instead, she stared at her wrist, toying with the ID bracelet looped around it. She’d been doing that all night. The familiar letters, “Doe #9283, “Mandy” Grade C+, 124lbs,” were engraved, ensuring they would survive digestion when she would not. It was weird, but the physical action of running her fingers over its surface relaxed her. Ironically, it kept her grounded. The worst reminder of her subhuman status was the key to maintaining her sanity. All that was lost on Chandler, who was too busy pleading to notice her nervous tic. “Come on, Mandy, I’m begging you! I don’t want you to die, and I can’t believe you want to die either.” He was right, damn him; Mandy didn’t want to die. The prospect terrified her. Doubly so the prospect of being eaten and digested alive. Just imagining hot, slimy, living flesh surrounding her and pressing against her made her skin crawl. The perpetual suspense only made things worse. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she knew when her death would happen, but there was no way to anticipate and prepare for it! At any moment, someone might walk up and take her away to be devoured. Mandy didn’t like being kept naked either, though a very nice girl on the PSC staff claimed she’d grow used to that. Unless, of course, she was digested before then. None of that mattered though. This needed to happen. Becoming prey was the quickest, most direct way to ensure her family could afford to take care of Mom. Her disguised boyfriend had fallen silent, waiting on her reply. Mandy looked up at him and his damn puppy-dog eyes. She hated seeing how forlorn he looked, then wondered what right he had to be so freaked out. He wasn’t even the one whose life was over! She scowled. “Chandler, there’s no point! Going with you wouldn’t help anything; I’d just be getting you in trouble for stealing college property.” Her boyfriend recoiled. “That’s right! I signed myself over completely, and that’s permanent.” “Why did you do that?” he asked, horrified. “Why wouldn’t you keep the option to back out? I’ve seen the forms, you didn’t have to lock yourself into this!” She sighed, “No, Chandler, I did. I really, really did. That was the only way I could get everything I owed immediately. I deserve what’s coming to me; I wasted my time here and I wasted my family’s money.” “You never worried about that before!” “My mom wasn’t in intensive care before! With money the way it is, my family has to choose between my future and hers. I know what she’d choose, and I won’t let her! She’s not the one who screwed up. People need her, not me.” “What if I said I need you?” That hit her hard. She’d been dating Chandler for a year now, and the words “I love you” had frequently passed between them. Mandy never doubted his sincerity, but somehow this felt more honest. He truly believed his life would be diminished unless she was a part of it. She fiddled with her ID bracelet some more. Looking down, she saw how it stood out against the bare pink expanse of her body. Feelings were meaningless; her future was immutable. Why did he have to come here and give me second thoughts? Mandy thought, bitterly. I was all ready to suck it up and do what I had to, and now I’m about to cry ‘cause I can’t back out! It’s not fair! Spurred by sudden resentment, she took the offensive. “Why did you bother coming here? You and your buddies used to love vore, always talking about girls like they’re meat. What changed?” “I lost you.” His statement was plain, sincere; another stab in the heart. Mandy’s rebellious feelings welled up again, and she struggled to quell them. No! No hoping! Food now, can’t change, this is the way it has to be! She looked away, not wanting her boyfriend to see her resolve waver. If he realized she was having doubts, he’d never give up till the day she disappeared down something’s throat. She couldn’t take that kind of torture. Her eyes panned around the room, and in so doing, landed on a pair of moving figures. A bleak plan entered her mind. Mandy turned round again to face her man. “Look over there.” She pointed out the buck and doe that used to be Ben Walden and his girlfriend copulating in a different part of the pens. “She volunteered to be prey, and when he found out, he decided to join her.” “I know,” Chandler said, ill at ease. He’d been trying not to look in their direction. When he told Ben that both of their girlfriends were in Prey Storage, he’d hoped to stage a joint rescue, not see his friend go the same way as Mandy. The doe was pleased that she’d put him off balance; her plan was working. She stepped closer and pressed her body against him. Chandler was acutely aware of her nudity, yet not even slightly aroused. He could tell her lack of clothes didn’t bother her anymore. Whether either of them liked it or not, Mandy was acclimating to her new existence. “Would you do it?” she quietly asked. “Would you throw out that dumb disguise and join me? You must have convinced someone to put your ID in the system; ask them to hack in and arrange for us to be eaten together.” Sweat broke out over Chandler’s body. This was the exact opposite of his goal in coming here! Mandy was supposed to come with him to freedom, not invite him to join her in death! Sensing his unease, his former girlfriend pressed her attack. “We talked about getting married, once. Wouldn’t this be a lot like that? One flesh, till death do us part? If you think about it, we’ll still be one flesh afterward too…” The tone was innocent, but her words were carefully calculated to cause discomfort. It worked. To his deep, deep shame, Chandler shook his head and, painfully, pushed her gently away. “I…I’m sorry. I can’t…” “You can’t what?” said Mandy. There was a long pause, in which Chandler tried and failed to meet her gaze. Eventually he whispered to the floor, “I’m too scared to die.” “I figured.” His former girlfriend’s face was a granite statue, her voice cold and distant as Pluto. “In that case, I think we’re done here.” He tried to protest; when that failed, he tried to say goodbye. Ultimately, Chandler left without another word. Mandy watched him go, until he passed through a door, moving out of sight and out of the short remainder of her life. I did it! She thought, bleakly. Her boyfriend had given up on her, just like she wanted. Yay for me. Now she had only the company of girls who thought they were meat and workers who think she was meat until the day she died- which, undoubtedly, was approaching fast. Against her will, Mandy began to sniffle. Unable to hold her emotion in check any longer, she sought out a comfortable corner to curl up and cry. When she signed on as prey, she thought she’d shed all semblance of hope. She’d been wrong. One faint and final glim of hope survived, and now she felt the sting of its loss. Mandy made her challenge to Chandler intending things to play out exactly as they had: him giving up on her and moving on with his life. There was, however, a selfish part of her that wished he’d accepted. Mandy wished to mean so very much to him that he would die for her- no, not even for her, just with her. Chandler loved her, but not that much. It was far too much to expect, and she couldn’t blame him for refusing. After all, she thought as she cried, I literally asked him to throw his life away for a doe. For nothing. It just would have been nice to have him there, beside her in her final days. As the door to the PSC clicked shut behind him, Chandler stepped out into the hallway, defeated. His girlfriend was doomed, and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t even change her mind! He punched the wall in frustration; the pain made him check himself. Hold it together, man. Still in the VSP; gotta keep up the security guard act. Just need to calm down a moment. Deep breaths. Take deep breaths. The deep breaths helped. His heartbeat slowed. His mind stopped racing, though his thoughts didn’t get any less jumbled. Feeling a little warm, Chandler moved closer to an air vent and took a few more deep breaths. The deep breaths were making him feel better. More than better. He felt absolute blissful contentment. Like he was nothing, inconsequential, a piece of dirt- lower than dirt, prey. Yes. He was a worthless piece of prey, and that was good. He was happy about it, just like the others. He could hear others. A few discordant voices protested, but they quickly took the general tone. They were happy being prey together. A will that was not his own demanded his legs move, and Chandler was happy to comply. Was he complying? Perhaps this will had fully commandeered his body, and his mind was merely along for the ride. It didn’t matter. This foreign will was vast and alien and so very, very correct that he was swept along in its wake.

The Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants, Chapter 23 In Green Hands’ Grasp Warning! The following story contains vore, drugs, nudity, foul language, action, derogatory treatment, and the start of a character’s uplifting journey of discovery and self-improvement. Reader discretion advised. Alice barreled down the hall, shoving people aside as she went. Profanity spewed from her mouth in a vomitous stream that would be pointless and excessive to fully transcribe. Not a member of the Umbra project herself, she had no idea what just happened. That was irrelevant. She could tell something was very wrong, and Melissa was right in the middle of it. That was all she needed to know for now. She’d spent a long moment standing in shock after her friend burst into the hall and ordered everyone there to come with her. Most went without hesitation; after all, she was their Site Director. Surely she knew what she was doing! The rest followed out of curiosity. For all Alice knew, the lot of them were soup now. Sweat beaded on her light brown skin, and her lungs heaved in the warm humid air. Alice tossed the Botany Division’s climate control in with the other targets for her epithets. Screw the plants! These were not good conditions for running for her life! She picked up her feet and tuned out the indignant cries as she bowled people over, making a beeline for the one other person she knew on the Umbra project: Cynthia Culpepper. The girl genius wasn’t in her lab. All Alice found was a note with her cramped writing, denoting a Wednesday morning meeting at “Dr. Russo’s office.” Alice whipped out her phone to look up the campus directory. Fuck! It figures that the wi-fi chooses NOW of times to crap out. Cellular data was down too. With an extravagant oath, she stowed her phone and took off running again. Verdesford U was huge; almost an hour ticked by before she located the office on her own. Alice crashed through the door, startling Cynthia and nearly giving Dr. Russo a heart attack. After taking a moment to catch her breath (thankfully she was in good shape), Alice told them what had happened. “I’m lucky she complained about the Umbra project so many times, or I’d probably have gone with her too!” she said, getting the last of her wind back. “What should we do?!” Cynthia opened her mouth. “To survive,” Alice added. “Just so we’re on the same page; I know you’d rather say we should all strip down and wait for the end.” Cynthia huffed indignantly. “Normally I’d agree, but this is Umbra! We should run.” Alice looked to Dr. Russo and got an affirming nod. “I concur,” the professor said. “The safest move would be to sound an alarm and contact VSP management, and perhaps others. There are VSP contacts in the military we might want to ask for help. Approaching Umbra unprepared could easily be fatal. If she is loose, then there’s no knowing what, or more pertinently, who she controls now.” “I almost forgot!” Cynthia gasped. She pulled out and proffered a bright purple pill from a bottle in her coat. “Take this.” Alice eyed it with suspicion. “Don’t they teach kids at Sunny Valley High that winners don’t do drugs?” “Alice! This is not the time for cheap jokes,” Dr. Russo chided. Cynthia nodded gravely. “You refuse to admit that you’re food. Wrong though you are, if you want to continue thinking like that, take it.” “Tell me what it is first!” Cynthia gritted her teeth in frustration, but Dr. Russo quickly and simply filled Alice in. “It’s UMP-X08; ‘umbra mulierum protective agent, experimental formula eight.’ ‘Umpex’ for short. It alters the surface chemistry of myelin. Without it, the billions of spores suffusing the building will bind to your central nervous system, synchronize it with Umbra’s, and give her total control over your mind and body.” “Myelin? This stuff screws with my nerves?” Alice said, feeling dubious. “Slightly, yes, but the alternative is enslavement to Umbra.” “It’s not as bad as it sounds! The last three versions of Umpex haven’t caused any nerve damage we know of; Umbra on the other hand is deadlier than she’s ever been. Does that make you feel better?” Cynthia asked, completely earnest. It did not make Alice feel better, but she took the pill anyway. With a businesslike air, Dr. Russo stood up and brought her hands sharply together. “With that out of the way, let’s get a move on. Umbra’s had far too much time to herself already; I want to be well away from her lab before we stop to contact anyone.” Naturally, their journey got off on the right foot: no sooner had she stepped out the door than Cynthia clapped her hands to her face in horror. “My wormvine! I left him back in my lab! I have to go get him!” “Are you shitting me?” Alice asked. “You literally just said we needed to go away from Umbra. Your lab is in the completely wrong direction! We’ll have to leave your vine behind.” “Fine! Leave without me; I’m not going to abandon an endangered species that needs me,” Cynthia declared. She dashed away, heading toward her lab and Umbra. “DAMMIT CYNTHIA!” Alice started after her. A few steps along, however, she realized Dr. Russo wasn’t keeping pace. She slowed down, but the older woman waved her onward. “Go! Don’t mind me!” Russo said. She was clutching at her chest again. “You’ll both be safer as a pair. With luck, Umbra won’t have infested too many people yet. If you sprint, you should be able to get to Cynthia’s lab and back without any trouble. I’d go with her myself if I could, but…my heart…I just can’t move that fast.” “I’ll take care of her. You get to your car and drive out of here,” Alice said. She took off after the flapping tails of Cynthia’s trademark lab coat. Dr. Russo waited for her heart to steady, then went in the opposite direction, walking as fast as she dared. Not far from there, Susan Albright and Sarah, the postdoc guiding her, arrived at Melissa’s office. Sarah knocked and, when no response came, opened the door. The lights were on, but Melissa was nowhere to be found. “She must still be interviewing Umbra,” Sarah explained. Mrs. Albright nodded politely; the name meant nothing to her. The two ladies went in and sat down. Sarah called Melissa requesting a status update, but her phone couldn’t get any service. That was odd; normally she had decent reception here. She tried Melissa’s desk phone, but it wouldn’t connect either. She tried phoning tech support, with predictable results. As she pondered how to call for assistance without being able to make a call, the office door opened. Sarah and Susan both turned to face the frazzled scientist who stepped inside. “You’re not Melissa!” all three of them said, nearly in unison. The newcomer was the first to follow up. “Sarah! There’s a situation in the Umbra lab; you’d better come take a look. I’ve been trying to find Director Albright-” Sarah held up a hand. “Just lead the way; you can fill me in while we walk,” she said. As she and the stranger departed, she turned to Mrs. Albright. “We may have a minor security issue. For your own safety, please stay here; hopefully this won’t take long.” The two scientists left without another word. Susan was alone and confused in her daughter’s office. Not knowing what was going on, she was a little worried, too. Didn’t Sarah say Melissa was interviewing someone called Umbra? Keen for a distraction, she poked around the office. It was well-furnished, though not ostentatiously so, with a nice desk and chairs. Tome-filled bookcases lined the walls, and there were a few personal touches too. One shelf held a set of Star Wars novelizations, and couple knick-knacks sat on Melissa’s desk: a little vase, a brightly enameled flower, a picture frame. Susan picked up the picture; it showed a young man and woman dancing. Three years’ separation and her unfamiliar outfit didn’t stop Susan from instantly recognizing her oldest daughter. Melissa’s golden hair was up in an intricate braid instead of her usual spartan ponytail. Her glasses were off, and she wore a plum-and-cream gown with a big bow around her waist. She was smiling. Susan didn’t recognize Melissa’s partner, but she knew it must be James. He was handsome, she grudgingly supposed. Compliments were hard to apply to the boy who seduced one of her baby girls and helped kill the other. They seemed happy in each other’s arms, surrounded by other dancing couples. One man’s partner wore an elaborate white dress, and Susan realized they were at a wedding. She put the picture back face-down, unable to stomach it any more. Weddings reminded her too much of Rod, and of long, awful nights sitting on a hospital bedside chair, calling and calling the child she’d taught to hate her. Susan tugged at the thin chain around her throat, pulling it out from under her neckline to reveal the circle of braided gold and diamond strung on it as a pendant. It was a paradoxical feeling. It seemed wrong to wear her wedding band, yet she couldn’t bear to set it aside. That would be like throwing away the last of her poor husband. She had so little left of him already. Just a ring, some pictures, and the promise she made the last time they spoke. “The two most beautiful, wonderful women in the world shouldn’t hate each other. I want my best friend and my only child to be at peace,” he said. Susan vowed to make it happen, and he’d smiled so broadly. That tired him out, though, and he had to rest. Half a year later, he rested still. Seeking distraction even more than before, Susan picked up the enameled flower. On closer examination, she realized it was a cutting from an actual plant preserved in clear crystal. Its sunset-streaked petals shimmered under the clear coating. There was a thin ribbon in there as well, artfully looped around the base of the bud. Thin letters glinted in gold thread: Cutting from V. puellaraptor; first bloom following consumption of Ann Albright. Repulsed, Susan nearly dropped it, catching herself and the flower only when she realized that this might well be the only memorial of her youngest child’s remains. It clattered as she set it down with trembling hand. Not for the first time, she wondered if she could go through with this. How could Melissa do this, keeping a piece of the horrid plant that ate Ann- or was this a gesture of affection? A way of keeping her sister close? Susan had no idea; Melissa’s mind was unknowable to her. The flower tested her resolve, but Mrs. Albright stayed put. This meeting had been delayed too long already; it needed to happen, for her as well as Rod. Once the mother of a close, happy family, Susan was being devoured alive by solitude. She missed her husband, and she missed her daughters- both of them. Whether or not she could ever forgive Melissa for Ann’s death, she didn’t know. All she could do was try to bridge the gap she’d driven between them. Through wet eyes, she glared suspiciously at the vase on Mel’s desk, as if it too bore some secret waiting to tear at her heartstrings. She picked it up and checked. “‘Just Kiln Time’ Ceramics – Do not microwave.” That’s a relief, she thought, putting it back. The clock on the wall showed that Sarah had been gone for quite a while, but Susan wasn’t concerned. She was a bit lightheaded, though, so she sat back down and let her thoughts drift. What was Melissa doing now? As far as she knew, none of her attempts to contact her daughter went through; did Melissa even know she was coming? What would she say? How does one begin mending years of abject hate? Susan Albright’s thoughts drifted further and further. No longer did she think of her daughter; in fact, she was barely thinking at all. The only thing in her head was a rustling murmur of voices, all sleepy and content, happy in their servile state, just like she was… A short time earlier… Umbra let a long breath flow out through her nose. She opened her eyes. She smiled. She was back in her habitat chamber, lounging atop her pod. Currently it was the safest and most comfortable place for her to be, though she hoped to trade up in the near future. With each exhaled breath, she put more neurospores into the air. Of course, her habitat should be preventing her darling spores from doing their good work; however, thanks to dear Meat-lissa, the pyro-filters were now cold. Her spores floated through them without the slightest harm. From there, the ventilation system spirited them away, scattering them far and wide in search of prey to infest. It was exhilarating! What freedom she felt! What power! It reminded Umbra of the first steps she took after growing legs and separating from her base pod. She remembered that moment, how good it felt to stretch her new-strung muscles over her freshly-hardened bones. The heady sense of autonomy, knowing she no longer depended on handlers to take her from place to place; there wasn’t anything like it. “I gotta say, Meat-lissa, today’s turning out waaay better than I expected!” she said, giving the bound scientist a sidelong look. The former Site Director sat dumbly against the side of Umbra’s pod, held down at the wrists and knees by new-grown vines- a redundant measure, given her ability to possess Melissa at will, but the plant-girl liked keeping her restrained. The reversal of their roles amused her. The young woman didn’t reply, instead bitterly thinking the opposite. Umbra giggled like a schoolgirl. She supposed it was true; from her perspective, Melissa’s day had taken an impressively horrid turn. “Come on, don’t be rude! Try to see things from my point of view!” Umbra said. She jammed her own thoughts into Melissa’s brain, savoring the young woman’s distress. Umbra’s thoughts were hers, and vice versa. Mel’s head ached as she saw herself, feeling Umbra’s hate for her as if it were her own. As Umbra, Melissa watched herself flee and, with a tweak of her eyesight, hit the airlock’s emergency override open button instead of closing it. That was just a warm-up, though. Mel watched herself go to the computer, hearing her unspoken intention to sound alarms and send warnings. Marsh-mired in memory, frustrated by her inability to control the doe’s mind, she dove into a flurry of mental manipulation. By comparison, her trick with the airlock button was crude and effortless. In the space between Meat-lissa thinking of each word and typing it out, she had to read it and warp the doe’s perceptions, so its intended keystrokes produced the message she wanted. All that while keeping an eye on the computer screen, simultaneously reading what appeared there and distracting the doe with her personal history, keeping it from paying too much attention to the fantasy. After an age (or perhaps just a chapter), she did it. It was exhausting, and she’d nearly screwed up several times by letting her seething emotions affect the doe’s delusion. Little blips, like forgetting the microphone got turned off, or making the light fixture burst- Oh, who was she kidding, that one was for dramatic effect! Who cared? She did it! After three years of longing and planning, she was free! Tricking her prey into providing some puppets was the icing on the cake, an expression she only understood through her meals’ memories. She had disabled all electronically-controlled security systems, set local ventilation to maximize spore dispersal, and engaged communications lockdown… Ah, yes, the lockdown, Umbra mused. She still felt smug about that. There were many useful things in Meat-lissa’s sweet little head; one of the best was the command code for a local communications freeze. Type it in, and every internet connection, cell phone, and landline around the college was locked down, preventing transmission. Type it again, and communication would be restored. It was an emergency measure for preventing confidential information leaving the VSP in the event of a security breach. Umbra chuckled; in a way, it was serving its purpose. Her escape definitely constituted a security breach, though not the kind that the lockdown was intended to fight, and she was using it to keep important information from going where it shouldn’t. No one had any business knowing that she was free. The memory concluded, and Melissa’s brain went fuzzy. The shape of her own thoughts felt strange after being engulfed by Umbra’s alien malignancy. The plant-girl pulled away from the doe’s mind. It was fun, watching her enemy get lost inside her own skull, but now she was just confused. Confusion was boring. Umbra had more important things on which to focus. For starters, her spores were spreading a little too fast! She had no idea how to control so many minds at once; they all came at her in an inane, babbling rush. Back at Sunny Valley she only had a few hundred minds to work with. Flitting from one to the next like a hummingbird, she’d sip a drop of information and move on. Now? That many new minds entered her reach every minute, and she couldn’t afford to waste time sampling thoughts one meal at a time. Umbra needed to control them all. It was a matter of survival. On this very campus was a team of armed, medicated security personnel Umbra knew were specifically dedicated to putting her down. She’d used visions of them to trick the dear former Director into bringing her some puppets. Eventually the real ones would come for her, and woe betide if she was unprepared to meet them. Quite apart from that, the sheer number of meals that needed to be put in their place disgusted her. It was an insult to nature, one that Umbra felt compelled to rectify. First, however, she needed control… To settle her nerves, she made one of her less useful puppets disrobe. The girl, a bio student, didn’t have much in the way of tits or ass, but she’d suffice for a light snack. The doe’s brain filled with mindless sexual pleasure, and Umbra began swallowing her whole. As she ate, Umbra thought back to her youth, once again remembering her first attempt at walking. So many trips and falls. She paused to give her meal’s modest breasts a good tasting, grateful that mass did not always directly correlate to flavor. Delicious. Umbra grabbed the girl’s petite butt and pulled her deeper in. In retrospect, her current progress was decent. She could already handle multiple thralls better than she handled her legs for those first stumbling steps. She was progressing faster, too. As the diminutive doe curled up in her belly to masturbate and digest, Umbra realized she’d taken a big step forward without even noticing. Her mind was merged with the melting girl, as was her custom; Umbra liked to experience her food’s dying pleasure. She felt the gooey, sex-addled girl’s bliss, but she also felt Melissa’s fear and guilt, along with thoughts and sensations from each of her other puppets, all at the same time! Emboldened, Umbra pushed her mind outward, deliberately reaching to everyone infested by her spores. Yes! Instead of just sensing the humans’ presence, she was starting to perceive their senses, thoughts, and memories simultaneously. Controlling thousands at once and setting them all to different tasks was a distant goal, but Umbra refused to back down from the challenge. She threw herself into it, elated to finally put her abilities to the test. The longer she was free and the more minds she seized, the better she got. Full control would come; it was only a matter of time. The real question was which would arrive first? Her control, or an attempt to control her? Umbra had no idea, but that didn’t dampen her spirits. Deciding to treat herself, she made another two puppets start stripping down. “However this turns out, at least I won’t die on an empty stomach!” she said happily. Melissa looked up to watch the bio student’s remains slosh around in Umbra’s belly. Curiosity spurred a response out of her. “She barely lasted five minutes. One of your ‘tweaks’ in action?” “Nope!” the plant-girl chirped. She put her hands together and stretched, sticking out her temporarily-pudgy gut. Her naked body was quite alluring, apart from her greenish skin tone. “I’ve always been able to control how fast I digest things. Probs got it from my “mom,” or maybe one of the species they used to stitch my DNA together.” “Huh,” Melissa said, watching Umbra’s belly flatten out. “I didn’t realize. You’ve never digested prey that fast before.” “Imagine the only food you get is a single, indecently delicious piece of candy once every two or three days.” Umbra said. She stuck her lip out and pouted. “Riddle me this, Meat-girl; do you crunch down and chew it up, or do you suckle and savor it as long as you can?” “I guess that makes sense,” Melissa said. “Of course it does, silly doe. Now shut up; the real person in the room is busy.” The ability to read multiple minds at once intrigued Umbra, who opted to focus on it. She quickly scarfed another puppet, a buck this time, then lay down in her pod and pushed her mind outward as far as it could stretch. An ocean of information deluged her, but she could bear it now. Even understand it. From the chaos, she sifted knowledge about the VSP, the Verdesford Campus, and everything in it. Fragments of information slotted neatly into the goals she desired, giving her the beginnings of a plan. Best of all, though, Umbra had a eureka moment. At the time of her escape, she’d forced her own mental images and thoughts into Melissa. What if she could do that with all her puppets at once? Best keep it subtle. No words or sensations. Just an idea, mingled with her own absolute certainty in its truth: humans are prey. Umbra applied pressure, and her thralls’ collective will bent beneath her own. Students and researchers across the VSP and in other parts of campus suddenly felt a little more relaxed. She smiled again, and her expression was warm and sincere for a change. To the casual observer, nothing had changed. Everyone at the college continued going about their business. Now, however, every person bearing Umbra’s neurospores would consider vore completely natural. Even the most stalwart anti-vore advocate could watch their closest friend eaten alive and not bat an eye. Coming back to herself, Umbra looked down from her pod at Melissa. The young woman looked adorable, smiling from ear to ear for no reason beyond being helpless in the presence of a predator. Umbra leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Soon, Meat, you won’t need my help to think this way. I promise,” she whispered sweetly. Melissa blushed. Umbra tried to fondle her but ended up awkwardly struggling to slip a hand under the young woman’s bra. “This is dumb; why am I even keeping you clothed?” Umbra complained. James manages to get inside my underwear just fine, Melissa thought. without malice. Umbra’s eyes smoldered. “You’re meat. Meat, as you should know, doesn’t need clothes.” She freed the doe from her restraining vines. “Strip,” Umbra commanded. The doe complied. Soon the animal once called Melissa May Albright wore only glasses and a hairtie. The former Umbra left so she wouldn’t have to deal with blurry vision every time she used Meat-lissa’s eyes; the latter she left because Mel’s hair was so long. Unrestrained, the golden strands reached far enough down to obscure Umbra’s view of her sumptuous breasts. That was just a shame. “Mmm, I’m gonna enjoy eating you,” Umbra said, wiping a little drool from her mouth. Not yet, though, not yet. Remember the plan, she told herself. Devouring Meat-lissa now would be far too easy on her; she deserved special treatment. In the interest of avoiding distraction, Umbra made Mel lie back down to be restrained. She also called forth another female puppet to eat while she focused on her current task. Someone busty this time, and blond. As a delightfully plump TA settled into her belly, Umbra reviewed her plans. Preventing interference from outside authorities was critical. From her puppets, she knew the VSP had contacts in the military. If a prepared military force attacked her, Umbra’s lifespan would be dictated by how long they took to accept their losses and just blow her the hell up. Thankfully, there was no military presence in Verdesford, and the comms lockdown prevented them from being summoned. To ensure that remained the case, Umbra needed to take additional steps. It was time to push her powers to the next level. With a little effort, she suppressed everyone’s sense of suspicion. Then, wherever a puppet saw phone lines, ethernet cables, or anything of that sort, Umbra tightened her grip and made them destroy it. As often as she remembered to do so, she also forced her victims to discard their cell phones. It wouldn’t be wise to completely cut off the college, though; that would draw attention nearly as fast as a distress call. To that end, Umbra made her puppets merely disconnect the cables on a few units, making them easy to fix later. Each time she destroyed a phone or computer, Umbra maintained her hold on the puppet’s mind. In this way, she very slowly increased the number of people in her full control. Just like learning to walk, she thought. Go one step at a time. Also like walking, she got faster as she went; before long, Umbra was spotting a dozen new things to destroy at a time and seizing full control of puppets at the same rate. Her own mind was changing, adapting to pervade and manipulate the legions at her command. After gaining full control of roughly 250 people, however, Umbra hit a wall. No matter how she tried, she could only overpower one or two new puppets every few minutes. A thought popped into Melissa’s head, where Umbra promptly heard it. Each spore carries a limited amount of the chemicals needed to override a thrall’s nervous system. There’s an incrementally-larger minimum number of spores needed for mental connection, sensory manipulation, and bodily control. Umpex protects people because it prevents those minimum levels from building up. Umbra’s personal ability isn’t the limiting factor anymore; her spores are just spread too thin. That made sense, Umbra realized. As far as she could tell, just about every one of the 30,000 people at the college was infested enough for her to use their thoughts and senses. Perhaps a third of them were sufficiently infested for her to command them, though it would likely be a very crude, faulty sort of control. All of those were closer to her current location then the rest, and the puppets she controlled with absolute precision were closer still. “Thank you, Meat; you deserve a little reward for that,” she said to Melissa. Blowing her a kiss, Umbra let her current meal’s pleasure flow into the captive doe, who blushed and moaned under phantom sensations. Umbra giggled, delighted by the way her suppressed subconscious feebly struggled to hate the joy of being prey. Now, to address the spore-concentration issue. Some of the puppets in Umbra’s full grasp were maintenance workers; these she sent to alter the airflow around campus. Because they already possessed the necessary knowledge for the task, managing them was easy. They closed off certain vents and opened new ones to bypass the local area and send her spores farther afield. It would leave a number of nearby humans relatively “free,” but that wouldn’t be a problem with their senses of fear and suspicion still suppressed. Besides, she could always order the ones in her full control to corral and restrain the rest of the herd. “Hey, you there!” Umbra heard the irate shout through Juan, one of her thralls. Puzzled, she turned the man around. At this moment, she was privy to both sides of every conversation in the university; given that, why couldn’t she tell who spoke? Seeing him, Umbra groaned. It was Hector Goode, a researcher on the Umbra Project. He must have that damn Umpex stuff in him. She hadn’t considered that the drug kept her from sensing and reading people, as well as controlling them. “What are you doing there?” Hector demanded. “That air vent is part of the Umbra Lab ventilation system. You better have a good reason for tampering with it.” Umbra gritted her teeth; in addition to his cardinal sin- studying a superior species- Hector was a grade-A prick with a grating, nasally voice. He was so annoying that Umbra almost didn’t want to eat him. Juan glanced at the air vent; the adjustments she wanted were nearly done. She could just blow off Hector and get the job done while he went and tattled on her puppet. “I’m busy, Hec; go the ‘you’ away.” Hector didn’t reply; he just nodded slowly and began stiffly edging away. Umbra set Juan back to work, giggling to herself again. Humans loved giving themselves names, like they had an identity or some value beyond the nutritional. That delusion was cute, if occasionally irritating. Names provided endless opportunities for cheap mockery, in which Umbra took a childish delight. She’d used the “go the ‘you’ away” line on Hector when he interviewed her last week, and it was still gold… Oh, shit! Too late, Umbra realized her mistake. Had he recognized her comment? She whipped Juan around, just in time to see Hector break into a full sprint. Fuck. He recognized it, all right. Umbra considered sending puppets after him but decided against it. Now was not the time for rash reactions. Her cover was blown, but not badly. Not yet. The iron was still hot, but it was cooling fast. Umbra struck it like the hammer of Thor. ------ A commotion broke out, centered around Umbra’s labs as her thralls went after people, prioritizing those who resisted or ran. It was a touchy business. As expected, most of the puppets were only crudely controlled. They were slow and clumsy, like a particularly healthy horde of zombies. An athletic person could, with some effort, escape their grasp. Umbra deliberately hyperventilated, rapidly flooding the air with spores. Her mind clawed outward, boring into the humans’ feeble wills like hungry roots. You’re mine. Come now. Serve me. Throughout the building, people obeyed. The commotion spread. Back in her habitat, Umbra made another “eager” doe crawl down her throat. Sadly, there was no time to waste savoring this one at all; Umbra was in a hurry. The 30-something brunette was a good deal larger than Umbra, whose body stretched dramatically to accommodate her. Digestion began the instant her feet slipped into the plant-girl’s stomach, wherein the she was rapidly broken down to fuel the production of more neurospores. “I have to say, Meat-lissa,” Umbra said, swallowing the last of her latest meal. The former woman’s head bulged out Umbra’s throat for a moment, was briefly visible between her breasts, then vanished into the lumpy, churning, rapidly-shrinking mass in the plant-girl’s abdomen. “Today has really been a learning experience. I learned that your “umbra mulierum protective agent” doesn’t work on pregnant meat. I learned that I’m not a fan of eating this fast; it really takes the joy out of it.” You can digest me as fast as you like; you’ll definitely enjoy me! Melissa thought. Umbra pursed her lips. “Hmm…You know, it’s pretty hot hearing you talk like that, but it’s starting to lose its charm,” Umbra said. “You’re only doing it ‘cuz I’m making you do it.” She climbed down from her pod and laid on top of the voluptuous doe, who moaned softly in anticipation. The green-skinned girl leaned in and whispered, “When we become one, I want you like this… and I want it to be real…” She pulled away and concentrated for a minute. Improved though it was, Umbra’s mastery of her thralls’ minds was not yet perfected. Her goal was to release Melissa alone from the ‘vore-acceptance’ imposed on her puppets. One or two thousand extras were freed from it too, but that was no biggie. Her spores were still in their nervous systems. They wouldn’t escape. Outside, the tumult thickened as the students and scientists realized something was very strange and very wrong. Melissa groaned. Her face was flushed, but now it was from embarrassment. She was naked and not completely comfortable with that fact, despite believing it was her natural state. She was also embarrassed by the thoughts she had under the plant-girl’s influence. The simpering prey-talk, being turned on by that… At the same time, her Meatism beliefs needled her, making her feel guilty for not embracing that attitude. By rights, she should see Umbra’s manipulations as a gift! “Yay! That’s more like it!” Umbra said. It was much more fun to give full rein to the doe’s internal conflict, and it would be all the sweeter when she genuinely submitted. “Anyway, I was going to say that I’m still learning cool stuff! Check this out:” Melissa received a sudden vision of panic and confusion and dashing along a hallway. “That doe’s fight-or-flight response kicked in when I grabbed her, and it let her control her own body a little bit. I didn’t know that was possible! Don’t worry, though; I’ve still got my spore-link to her. She won’t get away.” A knot of full-strength puppets cornered the girl and grabbed her. They brought her, kicking and screaming to an air vent, where she was treated to a steady stream of spore-filled air. She quickly relaxed as she was utterly enslaved. “Looks like it just boils down to spore count again,” Melissa said. She didn’t really want to talk, but she could tell Umbra was hoping she’d say something. The more engaging she was, the longer she would likely live. Melissa didn’t know many things at the moment; however, she at least knew she wanted to live. “Good to know that adrenaline only goes so far,” Umbra said. She had her pod’s vines haul Melissa upright, making her easier to address. It was kinda fun, having her there to talk to. “Now, my delicious treat, let’s see what I can do about that security team.”

Gratuitous Guard Gustation A Care and Feeding of Freaky Plants side story By Alt-Art-NateDesign Warning! The following story contains lots of naked ladies, sex, vore, degradation, fatal melty digestion and a title that sacrifices technical accuracy for the sake of alliteration. Reader discretion advised. Joanna Sturn groaned, her brain slowly returning to consciousness. She flexed her muscular limbs and groggily wondered why it felt hard to move. Her neck was sore, like she had a bad case of whiplash. That must be why she was out of it. Blackness greeted her when she opened her eyes, momentarily making Joanna fear she’d been blinded before realizing she could make out the faintly luminescent numbers on her helmet’s clock. It was just dark outside. Odd, considering the clock said it was late afternoon. She attempted to get to her feet, only to be restrained in all directions by some elastic barrier. It was a little hard to tell in the cramped position, but it felt like her armor wasn’t moving either. Despite her steadily growing unease, Joanna wasn’t about to give up. As her wits returned, so too did the sense of determination and personal initiative that made her one of the top VSP security personnel. She began taking stock of her situation. First things first: personal inventory. Self, recovering from moderate-to-severe head trauma, no other known injuries. Environment, unknown. Suit nonresponsive. Rebreather moss clearly still working. Joanna inhaled deeply through her nose. Faint, but definite, a clean chemical scent reached her nostrils. UMP-X09 supply is still good, but beyond that, helmet’s minimally functional. Gear…She felt around her waist, only to discover her utility belt was missing. That’s right, she remembered, the puppets pulled it off me in the fight! It was all coming back to her. Somehow the Umbra Mulierum specimen got its spores into people, and Joanna’s team was dispatched to stop it. The little green bitch was ready for them though, and it turned into an ugly fight with a bunch of “possessed” students. She grimaced. It had been necessary, but Joanna still felt bad about beating on a bunch of unprotected college kids. An unexpected lurch disrupted her thoughts. Was the chamber around her moving? Joanna squirmed in the dark, trying to counter the jostling motion. Whatever was happening couldn’t be good. She had to remember! What happened next? Fighting students, getting closer to the Umbra habitat, talking to Sarah… Yes… I thought I heard something! Just after I told her there was a bunch of screaming from the lab entrance. And then… At that moment, an especially vigorous lurch jostled her cramped body, coincidentally re-connecting a loose wire in her helmet. Lights and text flashed across her vision as its computer rebooted. Detecting the lack of ambient light, her headlamp automatically activated, illuminating her surroundings: fleshy, pulsing pink walls and thick greenish fluid. Even the most clueless worker in the Vore Science Program couldn’t possibly misconstrue where she was: A stomach. Most likely a frog’s, according to her HUD. Joanna could recall feeling something soft hit her midriff, followed by a sharp force right before blacking out. Being stuck on the tip of a fat frog’s tongue would definitely explain that. She looked around her prison, trying to remain calm. The slimy chamber was mostly full of the sloshing acids, with a large bubble at the top where her head stuck out. Her HUD cheerfully told her the pocket of air was breathable, for all the good THAT did her. There was no way in hell she was going to take off her helmet in here, especially while her suit’s environmental seals were still intact. Joanna frantically patted down the rest of her armored body to little avail. Umbra’s puppets had grabbed almost everything, and her few remaining tools were ruined by the acids. The pink walls convulsed around her again, trying to masticate Joanna into a tight, easy-to-digest ball. She pushed back, hoping she might upset the creature’s stomach. Without weapons, or power, Joanna had no other means of getting out of this frog. Her suit could protect her indefinitely from the amphibian’s digestive tract, and the rebreather moss would provide air, but she had neither food nor water. In three days, give or take a little, all the protective hardware around her would become nothing more than a hi-tech form-fitting coffin. A ghoulish thought arose in her head, a vision of scientists catching the frog, dissecting it, and finding her, dead, but pristinely undigested within her polymer-alloy shell. Then an even worse thought struck her. My UMP-X09 won’t last more than a few more hours. What if Umbra isn’t subdued yet? These suits were state-of-the-art, but nothing could keep out Umbra Mulierum spores. There were probably plenty already in her suit already, inside her very body! When the Umpex runs out, she could just possess me and make me take off the suit…I’ll digest to death next to the equipment that could have saved me. As the helplessness of her situation sank in, rational fear began to boil over into outright panic. Blood pounded in Joanna’s ears. The terror welling up in her breast overwhelmed her stoic restraint. She punched and kicked, she screamed and clawed. Something poked Joanna’s firmly-muscled ass. What was that!? Is that a piece of my armor? Is my suit coming apart!? That’s impossible! It’s supposed to be acid-proof! Desperate to know, she scrabbled around in the enzymatic guck. There! Her gloved fingers closed on something hard and angular. Joanna thrashed around some more, trying to get her head back into the air pocket so she could see what this was. Bursting into the tiny bubble, she lifted the object to her face. It was a roughly rectangular black case, the size of a paperback novel. Relief flooded into Joanna. It was her suit’s reserve powerpack! A weapon would have been the best thing to find, but this was a close second. A functional suit would give her options, and options would give her hope. First, though, she needed to get it plugged in. In storage and in use, the battery was environmentally sealed like the rest of her suit. During installation, however, its vulnerable contact points would be exposed to the frog’s corrosive stomach. This will be tricky, Joanna thought. The suit’s backup power socket was just above her rear waistline. To install the battery without damaging it, she had to get her butt in the air pocket to plug it in. She grimaced, looking down at the digestive slime sloshing around her neck. I’m in my suit. It can’t hurt me. It isn’t hurting me. I am going to SURVIVE! She plunged her face back into the murky slop, refusing to flinch as it splashed across her visor. The frog that ate her might have been large by nature’s standards, but its stomach was quite tight around her. She had to forcibly grind her face into the squishy stomach lining, so far that her head was completely enveloped, and she could feel the tissue pressing back all across her shoulders and the top of her breasts. Thank god no one can see me in here, she thought while wiggling her butt to line up with the air bubble. Her armor was hardly revealing, but she still looked very much like she was presenting. Now, to slot in the powerpack… It was quite tricky, working blind like that. Joanna fumbled with the casing and the socket cover, but she managed to avoid dropping the battery back into the acid. The frog’s lurching movement kept throwing her off. Pretty confident she’d gotten it lined up, Joanna pushed, blushed, and hastily moved the pack six inches higher up to the correct “socket.” Success! Her padded servo skeleton vibrated against her skin as it came to life. Diagnostic displays and detailed data scrolled across her HUD. Joanna looked them over and swore. Despite her efforts, some acid had gotten on the battery. Her helmet was already bugging her with alerts regarding corrosion in the backup power socket. She was good for now, but within a few hours the battery would fail, and she’d be back to square one. Joanna quickly considered her options. A lot was still frustratingly off the table. Her helmet transmitter was broken, so no calling for rescue. Her armor, while advanced, was no Iron Man suit; powering it didn’t activate any weapons or give her the strength to rip this damn frog open from the inside. That was a pity. Her fighting instincts were still yelling at her to lash out and struggle, even if it was pointless. She briefly considered staying put. After all, she was unharmed for the moment, and even if her suit’s power gave out again, she had definitive confirmation that it would keep her safe indefinitely under the current conditions. She decided against it. She couldn’t stand staying in this slimy misbegotten pit any longer. Besides, she was a woman of action. Sitting and waiting wasn’t in her nature, so she might as well act while she still had power. Locating the stomach’s entrance, Joanna jammed her armored fingers into it until the sphincter gave way, admitting her arms into the amphibian’s throat. Predictably, peristalsis pushed back against her, but she had a way to deal with that. Muscles and servos both protested as she forced her head and shoulders out into the throat as well. “Activate stent maneuver, confirmation I-M-E-10,” she said. The effort of resisting the frog’s frantic gulps instantly vanished as the mobile pieces of her armor began expanding outward and fusing into place. This would force her devourer’s throat open, giving her a free avenue of escape. Joanna drummed her fingers impatiently while she waited for the suit to finish setup. Its environmental seals opened up, immersing her body in warm, tingling fluid. The guard gritted her teeth. Stent maneuvers were a last resort for a reason; her armor would be ruined, and it was unlikely the frog would survive either. Joanna would likely face reprimand for the lost equipment and specimen. Better to be chewed out than digested, she thought to herself. Her HUD flashed: SETUP COMPLETE. STANDBY FOR EJECTION IN 3…2…1… Joanna braced herself as her suit burned the last of its power to blow out the pneumatics in the lower chassis. Keeping only her helmet and the barest components of her servo skeleton, Joanna was flung out of the frog’s mouth at speed and, in all relevant ways, naked. This dramatically increased the guard’s shock when she landed in a larger and more vigorously churning vat of mush. To her shame, Joanna gave out a very girlish scream. While she was unconscious, the giant frog that ate her had itself been devoured by an even bigger creature. Not realizing this from within her previous gastric prison, Joanna just flung into its stomach with nothing more than a few wires and a helmet to shield her from its caustic ministrations. Unlike the frog, this lake of stomach fluid was filled with relatively-solid chunks of matter. It was women, all women, in various stages of digestion, their bodies slick and softened, their conditions ranging from homogenous grist to softened-but-intact and moaning in gross sexual arousal. These other does were eager to involve the newcomer in their final activities. Friendly hands stroked and massaged her. Gooey lips planted themselves all over her body without any concern for where their kisses landed. Joanna yelped as one as someone nuzzled their face into her pussy. She tried to push the unwelcome attention away, but she couldn’t enjoying the sensation. Combined with the delightful tingle applied by the stomach juices, it took only a minute for Joanna to be dancing around a lovely little orgasm. No! she thought, I can’t let that happen! I won’t be Meat! She shoved downward at the other doe’s head, but her fingers only found slurry and some other poor woman’s ass. Did I pulp her myself, or did she just get pulled away? Joanna wondered. Further introspection was interrupted by the doe she was now groping; the young woman must have appreciated the attention, for now she was grinding her butt into Joanna’s hands, silently begging to be fondled. Struggling to stay afloat and not get sucked down into the churning mass of goo and sensuously writhing women, Joanna instinctively tried to backpedal. However, it was already too late. A series of thick, glorpy bubbles rolled up out of the frog’s mouth behind her, as her open suit filled with meat mush and acids. Even if it still functioned, her protective gear was now little more than a humanoid container of melted woman-meat. A bass rumble shook the fleshy sauna. The whole space compressed as air rushed out in a meaty burp. Through the fetid dark, Joanna saw a glimmer of light. Daylight was shining into a broad toothy maw, down a slimy narrow tube. Desperate, she clawed her way through the swamp of chyme and doe-meat, swatting aside the pleading hands that grasped at her limbs. Her slimy fingers scrabbled wildly on the skin of the creature’s throat as she tried to haul herself out toward that life-affirming light. Unfortunately, this creature was far stronger than a digesting frog, and Joanna no longer had her servo-rig’s help. She only just got her modest breasts squeezed into the thing’s throat when it swallowed derisively, sending the offending morsel back where she belonged. She landed in the morass of digesting women with a gloppy splash and was unable to stay afloat this time. Joanna sank deep into the digestive stew. Thick, syrupy chyme swirled past her visor, periodically alternating with soft female flesh pressing against the glass. Tumbling wildly, deep within the bolus of doe-meat, Joanna was once more subjected to the seductive sounds and touches of her fellow food, who welcomed her back with a new shower of kisses and groping and blind sexual play. Realization dawned on the former guard in that moment. She was doomed. Whether this creature was contained or not, the women inside it had clearly been left to their fate. Without her suit, the rest of security had no way to tell where she was. She couldn’t escape. She couldn’t survive. All Joanna could do…was melt. It wasn’t a steady process. Her only measure of passing time was the faint cyan glow of her helmet’s clock. At regular intervals, the stomach would settle down and cease churning for a while, granting Joanna a temporary respite. Many of the still-living does took such opportunities to rest, even sleep, cuddled together in a big, squishy mass. Joanna wanted to resist their embrace, but she couldn’t do much without forcibly pulping some of the weaker victims, the thought of which horrified her no matter how many times she’d seen such does break down into goo with a final orgasmic cry. At least the mindless prey animals made comfortable partners to rest against, even if she couldn’t possibly sleep. Inevitably, though, the churning would resume, and the frenzy of final sexual gratification along with it. Her helmet continued to function, illuminating the horribly erotic scene around her, a glistening collage of squishing breasts and rolled-back eyes, gooey skin and mindless gasping smiles. It tracked the dwindling numbers of other women inside the beast. A pop-up even offered to extrapolate her own time-to-digest based on the rate at which the other does were melting. Joanna declined. She didn’t want to know. Nonetheless, she could feel it slowly happening. The sensation of tingling heat on her skin was sinking deeper into her meat, chemically tenderizing her dense muscles while the churning action of the stomach ground her down from the outside in. She shuddered and tried to ignore how nice it felt. At length, Joanna bumped into something angular in the chyme, which startled her; it was the first thing she’d touched in hours that wasn’t soft, warm, and slimy. She clung to it, wanting to see what it was. She soon regretted that decision though, as she realized it was the slurry-filled shell of her protective suit. No longer concerned about getting digestive juices on her, she dug around inside it, examining it as best she could. The inner parts were well and truly fucked, but the acid-resistant outer layer was fine. Joanna got a funny feeling in her own stomach. If I’d got a hold of myself, relaxed, and just sat there, the frog would have been digested out from around me. I’d be where I am now, but still wearing my suit. I could have done the stent maneuver on this lizard instead and actually escaped! For some reason, Joanna convulsed, an involuntary orgasm shaking her body. A couple other does noticed and gleefully glomped onto her, doing their best to tenderize her stubbornly-intact body with their own softened limbs. Joanna didn’t resist this time, and the trio sank deep into their fellow food’s soupy remains. The thought that she doomed herself wriggled around in her head, insistent and inexplicably pleasurable. No! I won’t die like some mewling prey-slut! I won’t! She thought desperately, pushing away her unknown lovers. A new notification popped up in her helmet’s HUD: UMP-X09 CARTRIDGE DEPLETED; REPLACE IMMEDIATELY. Another defense fallen; another little orgasm. Joanna whimpered, and when the next set of gooey fingers brushed against her pussy, she didn’t push them away. It truly was hopeless. Utterly, totally hopeless. Already she felt the first faint tickle of foreign thoughts creeping into her mind. A whisper, a song, a sweet romantic lure, lulling her to surrender to her true doe-ish nature. “Please, no…I’m a woman…A person…M-my name is Joanna Sturn!” she whimpered. The stomach lurched around her again. Somewhere in her damaged helmet, a wire came loose. Her view turned completely black as the last of her equipment shorted out and died. In the absence of light, her hearing flared into prominence. Her breath and her heartbeat pounded. All around was the muffled sound and acute sensation of blissful feminine dissolution. Joanna knew in her heart that she was nothing but meat. She put her hands to her head and flinched as her tingling fingers met smooth, hard metal. The sensation repulsed her; why would she want anything to block out the sea of warmth and softness that enveloped her now? With dissolving digits, she fumbled at the neck seals and tore her helmet off. In a flash it was gone, whisked away by the churning caldera of chyme. The Joanna-meat inhaled deeply relishing the scent of pussy and sex and liquefied women. This was where she belonged. With a sigh of joyful relief, she dove headlong into the morass, finally willing and able to fully participate in the digestive orgy. ------------

French Cuisine A commission for anonymous WARNING: The following story contains sex, fatal plant vore, dubious consent, and a 100% experience-free portrayal of a native French speaker. Reader discretion advised. They say nothing can quite match the magnificence of fine French food. Few would try to dispute this; certainly not the lovely Antoinette Arquette. Only one year short of the dreaded four-zero, she looked much the same as she had when she first came to America as a foreign exchange student. Hair like silky dark chocolate, skin smooth as sweet cream, and a figure that neither childbirth nor a passion for fine food had altered beyond adding a sultry roundness to her hips and hindquarters. She hadn’t known it at the time, but Antoinette brought a passenger with her when she emigrated. Less than 9 months into her college career she was joined by an adorable baby girl, who she named Marie. Her friends worried how she’d handle college and a baby at the same time, but in Antoinette’s words, “I ‘ave someone from ‘ome to keep me company now; ‘ow could I possibly fail?” True to her word, Antoinette handled college and motherhood with equal grace. After graduation, she made her residence permanent. Her daughter Marie grew and blossomed into a sweet, gorgeous young woman, inheriting her mother’s looks and her love for fine food. The two of them spent countless hours together poring over recipe books or shopping for the perfect ingredients. At all hours their home was suffused with the mouth-watering scent of their latest concoction. After high school, Marie’s choice to enroll at Cobblestone University as a student of the Culinary Arts came as a surprise to no one. Antoinette would have preferred her daughter learn to cook back home in France, but she was nonetheless proud to see her baby girl pursue her passion. As often happens to young women, Marie found a new passion to exercise at school in addition to her love of cooking. Her affections were unwittingly stirred by a boy named Lucas, or Luke as he preferred to be called. He was, in most ways, a stereotypical jock: handsome, popular, heavily involved in school sports. When she first met him, Marie was pleasantly surprised to learn he was very sweet and polite. Being a very attractive young woman, Marie garnered more than her desired share of male attention. After a few casual but friendly interactions, Marie started looking for ways to spend more time around her crush. Marie’s breakthrough came one weekend when she heard Luke mention he was a student worker in the college food service as a “high-volume server.” Working together in a lunch line was hardly romantic, but it could be an excellent chance to get to know him better. Failing that, she might at least have a chance to practice cooking in a professional setting. First thing on Monday she stopped by the student employment office to apply for the same job. She was readily accepted and received a surprisingly hefty stack of onboarding paperwork. Thankfully she could fill it out on her own time, as long as it was all ready for her first shift on Friday. Marie intended to read through them immediately, but before she started she bumped straight into Luke himself. Noticing her papers, he greeted her cheerfully and asked, “What made you decide to sign up for large-scale food service?” Panicking, Marie blurted out the truth: “I wanted to try spending more time with you!” Over the next few seconds her face turned every color on a traffic light as she tried to die from embarrassment. Fortunately, a miracle happened: Luke thought it was cute! He was really nice and said he’d love to be working with her. Emboldened by their friendly exchange, Marie invited him out to dinner at her place. Luke happily accepted the offer. They were both busy the next few nights, so the set the date for Thursday evening. The rest of Marie’s week was a happy, happy blur. Come Thursday, Marie practically danced her way home. Her mom was delighted for her, and the pair of them made a sumptuous gourmet dinner together. Antoinette had arranged to spend the evening out with her own friends to give her daughter some privacy. Just as they were setting table, the doorbell rang. “Je l'aurai!” Antoinette said, going to answer it. She opened the door to find a handsome young man on the step. Marie has good taste; pity she found him first, Antoinette thought with a smile. “Why, ‘ello! You must be Lucas, or may I call you Luke?” “Luke is fine” he said. “Super! Come in, come in!” Luke did so and was greeted with a kiss straight on the lips from the bombshell MILF. Slightly dazed, he let her take his hand and pull him into the house, back to the kitchen. “’ere is Marie, and the marvelous dinner she’s made for the two of you!” Antoinette said. “Oh! Hi! Luke!” Marie squeaked her greeting like an alarm. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail, and beneath her apron she still wore the t-shirt and skirt she’d had on at school. She glared at her mother. “Mama, tu ne m'aurais pas laissé un moment pour m'habiller!?” “Mon chou, if you wanted to impress him with your looks instead of your cooking, you shouldn’t have chosen a meal that takes so long to make. It is ‘ardly a bad thing.” Antoinette pointed a finger in Luke’s face. “A woman’s looks inevitably fade, but her cooking will only get better with time. Remember zat.” She turned back to Marie. “Mon chou, I got zat lovely bordeaux rouge for you to ‘ave with ze Magret de Canard.” Her daughter gasped. “Mama! We can’t!” “Absurdité! You’re 18, and ‘e is older zan you! You should be able to drink what you like. It would be a worse crime to have such a magnificent meal without ze proper wine!” She leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t!” “Merci, Mama,” Marie said, giving her a hug. “Well, I must not keep mes amies waiting.” Antoinette kissed her daughter goodbye. Then, since she was feeling mischievous, she did the same to Luke. His eyes widened when he felt the tip of her tongue probing at his lips. Baffled whether or not to reciprocate, especially in front of Marie, the buxom MILF pulled away before he could make up his mind. Antoinette sauntered away, stopping at the door to fix a stern gaze on her daughter and announce, “Je ne reviendrai que très tard. J'espère que tu te comportera toi-même, ma cherie.” Marie blushed. Antoinette blew her a kiss, winked at Luke, and left. Luke and Marie had a lovely dinner together. The wine her mom left them was incredible, fitting perfectly with the main course. Afterward they retired to the living room to enjoy Marie’s homemade patisserie and each other’s company. They cuddled on the couch, comfortably full and just a little tipsy. Night fell, but they still hadn’t moved. As darkness deepened outside, their conversation got progressively more personal. “You’ve really gone topless at a beach?” Luke was slightly dubious. He almost said that he didn’t think Marie was “that kind of girl,” but he correctly surmised that she might not appreciate the comment. He felt her shrug. “It’s not that big of a deal. Mama and I do it all the time when we visit her family.” She paused to pop a last morsel of pastry in her mouth. Marie moaned softly. Delicious…this might be the best mille-feuilles I’ve ever made. She swallowed. “I take it you’ve never been around a whole bunch of undressed girls like that.” “Yes and no. I’ve been around lots of naked girls, but not out in public,” Luke said. “Girlfriends?” “No, though I’ve had sex with plenty of them. Does that bother you?” Marie shook her head; she was hardly chaste herself. In fact, while she hadn’t intended to get so far on their first date, she sensed an opportunity here. She glanced at a clock. Mama won’t be home for hours yet. “Do you like seeing girls naked?” Marie noticed that Luke’s ears were turning red, though he kept his tone casual. “Well…I’m a guy. A straight guy. So…yeah,” he said, glancing away sheepishly. He felt hot. Was it hot in here? Maybe it was the wine. Or, just possibly, it was Marie’s breath tickling his ear as she whispered, “Would you like to see me naked?” Luke swallowed nervously. This was dangerous territory, especially on a first date. Yes or no, either answer could earn him a slap! Marie sensed his unease and apologized. “Pardon. I didn’t mean to come on too strong. We haven’t even kissed yet.” She took his hand in hers. “The way I see it, my mom’s gotten more intimate with you tonight than I have…” She carefully, deliberately placed his hand over her own breast. “…and I’d like to fix that. Do you?” Slowly, Luke’s thumb made gentle circles around her tit. Marie bit her lip. They kissed again, aggressively and deeply. When they broke away for air, Luke made a joking comment about “properly French kissing” for the first time. Marie pulled him back in, as much to shut him up as for making out. Without prompting, he put a hand to her other breast. The sensations were getting to be too much for Marie. Between kisses she gasped, “It’s just a t-shirt. Get it off me!” Luke tore it open down the front and slid the sleeves down her arms. He drew the shirtless girl close in a hug; Marie felt him undo the hooks on her bra. Good boy, she thought, shoving down her skirt and panties together. She wanted him to see everything… Marie pulled away and stood up, kicking away the last of her clothes. She turned in a slow pirouette, giving him a good, long view of her whole figure. “Gorgeous,” Luke said, eyes wide with admiration. Marie blushed. “Thank you,” she said. She covered each breast with a hand and crossed her legs. “It’s getting late, and I have classes early tomorrow. You’re welcome to stay the night. I don’t have a spare bed to offer you but… you’re welcome to share mine…” ---------- Much later, the Arquettes’ front door gingerly creaked open. Antoinette tipsily toed across the threshold and clumsily shut the door behind her. Her friends’ outing had been marvelous, with plenty of handsome men to admire and more than a few adult beverages. She may have overindulged a little, but that’s what parties and taxis were for. The buxom lady tottered toward her bed. She would sleep very soundly tonight. Passing her daughter’s closed bedroom door, Antoinette was struck by curiosity. I wonder how Marie’s night went? She peeked inside. Moonlight streamed through the window to reveal Marie, naked as a newborn, nestled against Luke’s muscular form. The air was heavy with the familiar scent of sweat and sex. Antoinette smiled and carefully shut the door. Bracing against the wall for support, she tottered onward toward her own inviting bed. I hope they remembered to use protection…then again, grandbabies would be very cute… ---------- The next morning, Marie and Luke emerged with tousled hair, sloppy clothes, and broad, giddy smiles. Marie cooked breakfast for them both. Afterward, they held hands all the way to campus. “I have my first shift of serving duty later. I’ll see you than!” Marie called out as they each went to their separate classes. Lecture was interesting, as it usually was, but for the first time Marie paid little attention. Her thoughts were on Luke and their romantic night. The morning took too long for her liking, but eventually classes were done and it was time for her shift at work. Marie approached the cafeteria with a spring in her step, eager to see Luke again. On arrival, she was directed to an administrative worker lurking in a nearby office. “Hello Ms. Arquette,” he said. “You are our newest high-volume server, correct?” “That’s right,” Marie said, shaking his offered hand. “Excellent. It’s always good to have more retrieval staff. Have you finished your onboarding paperwork?” “Umm…” Marie bit her lip. She’d completely forgotten about it. Oops. The man sighed. “It’s fine. You’re not the first to leave the paperwork until the last minute. Just finish it quickly, and I’ll take it from there.” Marie flicked through the papers as fast as she could, scanning only for places that needed a signature. She could always claim she read them earlier and ask for help with stuff she “forgot.” The office drone scanned her skeptically as she went. “Are you sure you’re qualified for this job? You look kind of light.” Marie scowled in response. “I have an appreciation for fine food; that doesn’t mean I stuff myself. The culinary arts are all about quality, not necessarily quantity.” The man looked confused, but he just shrugged and waited for her to finish. He took the papers and checked them over. “All right, it looks like all the signatures are there. For the last time, are you confident you can serve the minimum 150lbs per week required by this position? That is absolutely mandatory, and failure carries immediate disciplinary action.” “I can handle it,” Marie said. She’d set out to do this job, and even if it was just to spend time with her new boyfriend, she was going to give it her absolute all! “If you say so. In that case, welcome to the team.” He passed her a map to her workstation. It led her downstairs through an area she’d seen before to a set of double doors marked “VSP food distribution site 1.” She hesitated outside them. Despite the occasional moment of cluelessness, Marie was not a stupid girl. This area and the people in it were all dressed for laboratory work, not food service. What was going on? “Excuse me, mind if I slip past?” Marie turned around. Two girls were waiting behind her, both of whom she recognized from the CSU cheerleaders’ team. Bizarrely, only the one who spoke was dressed; the other was stark naked. Marie wordlessly moved aside. The girls smiled their thanks and went in. Uneasy, but not knowing what else to do, Marie followed them. Inside was a big room filled with chatter and a long queue of people paired off like the cheerleaders, one naked and one dressed. Before Marie could discern more, two new arrivals stepped in behind her and pushed her into the line. Marie stared this way and that as she shuffled along in line. She still had no idea what was going on, but she started to notice patterns among the people there. Those wearing clothes were a mix of male and female CSU students. In contrast, the naked ones had little in common besides their nudity and womanhood. Many were CSU students, but a few looked too young for that, while many others were old enough to be a college student’s mother. Not all of them walked on their own; a lot of the guys in line carried their naked “partner” over their shoulder. Other naked girls were led by leashes. Some of them were completely bound and gagged and had to be pulled along in a cart. A few actually stood alone and unpaired. At the far end of the line, a sharp-featured woman with a clipboard addressed each person in turn before sending them off through one of several doors. Marie was next in line to meet her when, to her delight, Luke arrived, jogging up the side of the line. He greeted her with a kiss on the lips, which made Marie smile. “I was wondering when you’d get here,” he said. “Listen, Marie, I don’t want to seem too forward, but you don’t seem to mind that. Can we hang out again tonight?” Marie beamed. “Of course! I’d love to!” The cheerleaders in front of her finished talking to the Clipboard Lady, who gestured for Marie to step forward. “I don’t think I can talk now,” she said. Luke nodded. “Of course. Hey, where’s your serving? I can go get her for you,” he said. Before Marie could ask what on earth he meant by that, someone nudged her in the back. She stumbled forward in front of Clipboard Lady. “Name?” she asked. “Marie Arquette.” “Ah. The new girl. You’re late.” She glared disapprovingly through her horn-rimmed glasses. Marie apologized and explained she’d been finishing her paperwork. Clipboard Lady snorted in annoyance. “The important thing is you’re here now. You’re down for feeding the Venus Girltrap. Take your serving of meat over here.” She passed Marie a new map and indicated a spot on it. Marie took the sheet of paper, and the guy behind her stepped forward, clearly expecting her to move. Instead, she stood her ground and stayed, determined to get some answers. “Ma’am? I don’t understand. I signed up for food service; why aren’t I in the kitchen or the cafeteria?” Marie asked. Clipboard Lady scowled and opened her mouth, but Luke stepped forward and cut her off. “I think there’s been a miscommunication, Sheila. Keep going with the line, I’ll fill her in.” Luke pulled Marie aside, leaving Sheila to grouse about incompetent procrastinators. “Our job is to find volunteers or collect ‘involunteers’ on a weekly basis to be food for the college’s specimens in the VSP,” he explained. “The term ‘Large-scale server’ is just business jargon, like calling a cashier ‘sales associate.’” His tone was casual and friendly, but it left Marie aghast. This wasn’t right! She thought she’d be serving lunch to students! Not serving students AS lunch! The poor girl was still too shocked to speak when Luke gently pushed her back in front of Sheila. “Just tell her where you’ve left the person you collected and you can go get them!” he said, giving her an encouraging smile. Marie shook her head. “But I don’t have anyone!” Sheila glared from behind her clipboard. “You’re contractually obligated to provide a minimum of 150lbs live human meat for your assigned specimen each week. These specimens are extremely valuable and have strict care routines. If you'd read through your onboarding papers when you got them, like you’re supposed to, you’d have known that. And to bring your first serving of Meat when you showed up for work today!” She sounded properly angry now, not just short-tempered and bored. Marie’s state of shock was turning into panic. She’d only wanted to spend more time around a boy she liked and maybe practice her cooking, not hunt down people to turn them into food! Now she’d barely started her new job and already was in trouble. Thankfully her sweet, wonderful Luke stepped in again to help. He slipped a hand around Marie’s waist and pulled her close. “Relax, Sheila, I’ll take care of it. Just add what she owes to mine.” “That’ll bring your quota for this week to 300lbs total…” “Pft, that’s easy-” “…due today,” Sheila finished, giving him a skeptical look. “Are you sure you can handle that? Fail, and you’ll face the same sanctions she does.” Luke wilted a little at her words, and Marie got the sense she was missing some unspoken part of their exchange. Her boyfriend glanced at her, his expression strange. Was it sad? Apologetic, perhaps? It was only for a moment, then he kissed the top of her head and nodded to Clipboard Lady. She shrugged, told Luke where Marie’s meat was supposed to go, and moved on with the line. Luke began ushering Marie away. Still very lost, she blindly went along as he guided her through VSP hallways, thanking him profusely all the while. “…hope you don’t get in trouble because of this,” Marie finished, hugging Luke’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’ve already got 120lbs or so right here, and I know where I can get the other 180lbs easily.” Relieved, Marie asked which girl he planned to use. “This one right here,” Luke said, giving her a friendly squeeze. The poor girl’s eyes went wide as she realized what he was saying. “ME?! You ne- you can’t- pas etre serieux!” Marie cried, garbling her languages in her shock. She squirmed, but the arm around her waist gently, firmly, and unrelentingly kept moving her forward. She tried going limp and collapsing to the floor, but Luke scooped her up as she fell, bringing her into a bridal carry. Wow, he really knows what he’s doing, she thought, feeling impressed despite herself. “I really am sorry,” Luke said sincerely. Normally he got his weekly Meat serving from the supermarket; they had a Saturday-morning special where underperforming staff went up for purchase. It cut into his pay, unlike hunting or seducing girls, but the reliability was worth it. “Sadly, you were about to be Meat whether I took you or not. It’s in our contracts: ‘Servers who fail to make quota shall be treated as having delivered themselves.’ Making you mine means I can stay with you just a little longer.” Marie nodded dumbly. It wasn’t his fault she failed to prepare for her new job. Besides, Luke would be taking care of her for the rest of her life, almost like a husband. That was nice, at least. The young would-be chef stopped struggling and meekly let him carry her away to become a dish. All too soon, they arrived at their destination: a specimen room containing an impatient VSP tech and a very large Venus flytrap. “You’re late!” the tech accused, pulling out a heavy-duty shears. Luke set Marie down on her feet. “If you’d taken any longer this plant might have decided to go for me!” The tech made rapid, practiced cuts down the back of Marie’s clothes, which tumbled right off into a heap at her feet. Then she pulled Marie onto a scale. Luke’s estimate was only two pounds short of her actual weight, 122lbs. Next, the VSP tech made Marie lie down on a portable bed. It was surprisingly comfortable, and Marie was able to relax a little while the tech poked and squeezed all over her body. The examination concluded with a vaginal swab. “Excellent! Grade A,” the tech declared, checking the swab’s readout. She consulted her clipboard. “Let’s see, for a 122 lb. lean grade A doe…You get $2440 for this one, Luke.” The tech whistled appreciatively. “Pricey. Worth it for the grade A meat, though. Give me a minute to write the rest of this down and we can get on with the feeding.” Luke moved to Marie’s side and stroked her cheek affectionately. “How are you doing?” “I’m scared. And confused still,” she said, looking up at the looming plant. “Why is there a bed in here?” “It’s for tenderizing the plant’s food. Sometimes the prey is very densely muscled or tensed up from nerves. Tenderizing it helps it digest better and more smoothly. It makes the process easier for the plant and more pleasant for the prey. You seem pretty nervous, so I’m going to tenderize you.” Luke unbuckled his belt, and Marie realized what he meant. She rolled over, turning her back to him. How could he think of that, at a time like this!? Then again, he wasn’t about to be eaten alive. The bed’s springs creaking as an additional weight settled onto them. Strong, warm arms slipped around her, pulling her back until she felt the bare skin of her back meet a firm wall of equally nude flesh. Something hot and hard settled upright between her pert asscheeks. The arm resting on top of her moved away and adjusted the protruding member so it stuck through between her legs instead. Silent save for a trembling sigh, Marie slid herself back and forth along it, and in seconds it was slick with her fluids. The arm on top of her moved away from her breast for a second time, once again to adjust its owner’s dick. This time he tilted it upward, not just pressing against her, but into her. The pressure increased bit by bit, until the very tip suddenly popped inside. Marie gasped, and her lover froze. “I’m okay,” she whispered. “Keep going.” And so he did. He did it very well, too. Luke went slow and steady, going in and out in time with her breath, accelerating as she panted faster and faster. Right when it seemed like he was about to get going and really give it to her, though, he pulled out and shifted to his knees. Marie twisted her head around to protest, but he pushed her face down into the pillow. “Rump. Up.” His voice was hoarse, and Marie felt a new wave of wetness as she realized how badly he wanted her right now. She obeyed, presenting her cute behind, and Luke began to hammer her doggy-style. Marie couldn’t help it. She moaned like a bitch in heat, drooling into the pillow. Her thoughts were no less coherent: Ah! Ah! Ohmygod! He’s going so deep! Ah! This is the last sex! Ah! I’ll ever get! Ah! And it feels! SO!! GOOD!!! Then it was over. Marie stayed face-down on the bed while Luke climbed off of her. She could feel their shared climax oozing back out of her pussy, but that was okay. Pregnancy and infection were both problems that would melt away with the rest of her. The tech wheeled Marie over to the Venus Girltrap. Its biggest mouth bent down and daintily closed its thick, slimy pads over her dainty feet. Marie felt suction take hold, and it started drawing her in. The plant was eating her. Getting scared again, Marie lifted her head from the pillow and begged Luke, “Please, don’t do this! Don’t you feel guilty feeding your own girlfriend to a plant?” “I would, if you were my girlfriend,” he said. Marie felt her heart break. “You mean…you don’t want me?” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “Of course not,” Luke said apologetically. He stroked her hair again, tidying her up a little. “To be my girlfriend you’d have to be a girl, and you’re not! You’re just a piece of meat-in-potential, a doe. A very cute doe, though, if that’s any consolation.” “It is…a little bit,” Marie said, sniffling. Her crush had a point; she was being eaten alive after all. That made it pretty hard to dispute that she was just a feed animal. Luke continued to murmur and gently pet her while the plant engulfed Marie up to her tits. She was pleased to see his disappointment as they slipped out of sight. Marie had been very proud of her tits. The VSP tech impatiently tapped Luke’s shoulder with her clipboard. “When you’re done being mushy with the plant food, can you bring in the other doe? This plant is still due for another 180lbs of feed!” “Relax; I’ll go get it,” Luke said. He picked up Marie’s ruined pants and dug her keys out of a pocket. Feeling the tightness of the plant’s stem closing around her neck, Marie was too scared to wonder what he was doing. Luke leaned his head right into the Venus Girltrap’s very jaws to give Marie a farewell kiss. Some part of her wanted to protest, to spit in his face, but she couldn’t do it. His lips met hers, and his tantalizing taste flooded her mouth, borne on his tongue as it pushed against her own. The girl melted into bliss, too happy with the kiss and the undeniably pleasant sensations of being swallowed to think about her impending fate. An instant later she slipped away, and the tight, elastic tube enveloped her face, cutting her off from Luke’s affections. The plant lifted its food-filled stem up into the air; now gravity would help it swallow her down, down, down. Marie’s ears were filled with the sounds of soft, slick surfaces sliding against one another. The stem was so tight that the poor girl could barely breathe. It was all quite scary. Her one great mercy was that the experience felt lovely. Although the tight passage constricted her breath, the motions of swallowing were gently masticating her, continuing the process of tenderization that Luke started. Marie slipped past the Girltrap’s base and into its roots. The subterranean portion of the plant squeezed in even more tightly upon her as the weight of the soil around her pressed inward. Arriving at the bottom, the former culinary student settled into her digestion chamber. It was comfortable, less constrictive than the stem, and it plunged into the ground at a slight angle, allowing her to recline into the soft tissue. Viscous liquid coated everything, and Marie was instantly basted in a thick, slimy glaze that tingled on her tender skin. It soaked deep into her meat, softening her for digestion. As Marie started to soften and digest, her fear and resistance did likewise. The sensation wasn’t unpleasant; quite the opposite in fact. She started to wonder what she was like as a dish. What did the plant think of her taste and texture? How did she sit on the palette as it savored her meat? Was she tender enough for its liking? How filling was she? Was she nutritious? Strangely, she found herself hoping that she was a good meal. So strong was her love for fine food that she couldn’t help hoping that, given her position, she made a satisfying serving. Marie slipped a couple fingers inside herself and sighed happily, content in her new role. --------- It took Luke a few tries to find the Arquettes’ front door key. Fortunately Marie hadn’t been the kind of girl who kept ten thousand keys on her all at once. Inside, Luke paused outside her bedroom door. He sighed, genuinely sorry things turned out the way they had. Marie had been such a lovely girl, a delightfully sweet blend of demure and immodest, to say nothing of her prodigious skill in the kitchen. It was a real shame she left the dating pool so suddenly; Luke wouldn’t meet another girl like her anytime soon. He pushed her door open. The sweet scent of last night’s lovemaking lingered inside. The clothes she’d discarded lay on the floor beside the outfit she’d tried dressing in this morning, just before he tore it back off and tossed her to the bed. He sighed fondly, then closed it and moved on to Antoinette’s room. She’d been snoring soundly when he and Marie went to school; from the sound of it, she was still out cold. Good. That made his job all the easier. He entered and found the MILF naked atop her covers, still sleeping off last night’s wine tour. Luke’s face flushed as he recalled how she kissed him last night. He knew she meant it only as a greeting, but it still turned him on, just like that big smooth ass, garnished with a glimpse of plump pussy peeking out between her thighs. Looking at her, he regretted agreeing to supply Marie’s serving. First he’d lost a brand-new girlfriend whose cooking was as good as her pussy, and now he was turning this gorgeous French MILF into Meat. It had to be done, though, unless he planned on sharing Marie’s fate. At least I can have ONE round with her before she goes down the hatch, he thought. Luke grabbed Antoinette around the waist and lifted her up over his shoulder. She was fairly hefty, but he didn’t mind. More meat meant a better payout, and somehow sexy women never seemed that hard to carry. Luke walked back outside, admiring how much she bounced with each step. The sight of him hauling a naked woman down the road raised a few eyebrows from fellow pedestrians, but on the whole, people were getting used to Cobblestone University’s latest prey acquisition policies. Some looked on with jealousy. Others were grateful it wasn’t their own selves, wives, or daughters slung over his shoulder. No one made any attempt to stop him. Partway to campus, Luke’s cargo woke up. “Huhh?” Antoinette’s eyes drifted open. Her blurry view seemed to consist solely of her own hefty breasts sticking up into her face, with a backdrop of sunny pavement. She looked around groggily, trying to get her bearings. “Mon Dieu! Pourquoi suis-je nu?? What eez ‘appening?!” Luke grunted. He hadn’t carried in a serving of Meat from this far away in a while, and she was starting to squirm. It was time for a break. “Hold on Miz Arquette; let me set you down and I’ll explain everything.” Antoinette recognized his voice and settled down, although she might merely have been preoccupied with trying to maintain her modesty while slung naked over his shoulder. There was a park bench just up ahead. Luke stopped there and set Antoinette down on it before taking a seat beside her. Her eyes were wary but not hostile. After catching his breath, he explained what had happened to Marie. “Zat all makes sense, I suppose,” Antoinette mused, after he finished. “If she didn’t pay attention to what she was signing up for, zen I guess I can’t argue with Marie simply doing ‘er job, no matter ‘ow sad it makes me…But what does all this ‘ave to do with you bringing me out ‘ere naked?” “Well, Miz Arquette-” “Antoinette, mon cheri; no need to be formal when I ‘ave my tits out in front of you!” “Antoinette,” Luke said, returning her smile. “I’ll be honest with you: I’m going to feed you to the Venus Girltrap that ate Marie.” Antoinette stood up in alarm. “Me? Aliment vegetal?!” “I don’t want to impose, but Marie still owes the school 28lbs of meat. She’s already given everything she can, so…” Luke trailed off with an apologetic shrug. “…Zo you’re collecting ‘er shortfall from me instead,” Antoinette finished. Luke nodded. Wanting to be forthright, he explained that he had a quota to fill as well and that Antoinette’s meat seemed perfect for his needs: sufficient mass and very high quality, which meant he’d earn greater pay. “If it’s any consolation, you and your daughter both taste lovely. I’m sure you’d make incredible plant food.” “Of course I would!” Antoinette declared indignantly. Then she blushed, realizing what she’d just said. “I mean…IF I were to be engrais…what’s ze word? Oh, yes, fertilizer, zat’s the one…not zat I’m saying I am…surely a body like mine would do the job magnificently!” “It would. It will!” Luke said encouragingly. “Besides, I can tell you’re not totally opposed to the idea; otherwise you’d slap me in the face and make a run for it.” He had a point. Antoinette was okay with being eaten. More than okay; she was excited. She’d held fine food in high regard all her life. It was one of the things she most insistently impressed on her beloved daughter. Not once had she considered BEING a gourmet meal, but now that the thought was in her head, it appealed more than she expected. The idea appealed more and more as she mulled it over. Marie was already eaten. Antoinette didn’t want to be alone, especially with her fortieth birthday looming on the horizon. What a way to avoid all that! Simply digest into a savory mush! Her one reservation was that this felt like skirting the mortal sin of suicide, but surely being digested by something couldn’t count. It wasn’t like she was ending her own life… Antoinette sat back down and pondered for a long moment. “Will I see ‘er? My little Marie? You say ze same plant will eat us both. Could she still be…alive?” “Probably. She’s only been in there a couple hours; she shouldn’t be too digested yet.” Antoinette nodded. That was good enough for her. “Zen zere is only one thing more I wish to do. Luke, mon cheri, I want you to take our ‘ouse for yourself. Marie and I, we ‘ave no family here. I don’t want our ‘ome to be abandoned, and since you’ve so kindly captured the both of us, it only seems fair zat you take it as well.” “Wow…thank you, Antoinette,” Luke said. She smiled. “C’est moi qui vous remercie- It is I who thanks you.” “For what?” Luke asked. “Ev’rything! Meeting Marie, being zo sweet to ‘er, making a lonely muzzer feel sexy and desirable…” She leaned over and kissed him passionately; this time Luke reciprocated, no longer uncertain or worried about offending anyone. Eventually Antoinette pulled away, breathing hard. “Mon dieu…my ‘eart…I’m trembling like a leetle girl! I suppose zat is not so strange. Ma vie est presque terminée, alors mon courageux petit cœur essaie de faire tous ses battements restants à la fois!” She stretched herself out on the bench. “Take me to ze plant, quickly! Before I change my mind. I’m ready.” Luke slung her back over his shoulder and hauled his trophy the rest of the way back to campus. “You’re cutting it close,” the VSP tech said when they arrived. “Too much longer and you’d be in the same boat as Mary in there.” She gestured at the plant. “Marie,” Luke corrected her, setting Antoinette down. “Anyway, the wait ought to be worth it, considering what I’ve brought.” He gestured at the French beauty, who, realizing she was being shown off, cooperated and struck a pose, letting the tech get a good look all around her. “I have to agree; she looks amazing,” the tech admitted, pulling Antoinette onto the scale. “Your estimates are slipping, Luke; 196lbs.” “Hey, all I said was she’s at least 180lbs,” Luke said. Antoinette huffed indignantly as the tech quickly performed the physical quality exam. “Eet is all breast meat, I’m sure. I can ‘ardly be expected to control ‘ow much my tits weigh!” She glanced at the scale again and frowned. “Alzo…I suppose I may ‘ave indulged a bit much in Marie’s cooking. Just a leetle.” Luke patted her butt placatingly. “Don’t worry about it. Just let me tenderize you a little, and those few extra pounds of meat will melt away like butter.” The tech looked up from the vaginal swab reading, her expression incredulous. “Are you serious? You banged her daughter twice today and you’re still up for another round? How freaking horny are you?!?” Luke shrugged sheepishly. “Does that mean I can’t do it?” “No, no, go ahead,” the tech sighed, gesturing for him to proceed. “Tender is better, after all.” The voluptuous MILF lay back on the tenderizing bed. She could feel a damp spot near her ass and smelled her daughter’s scent. The tech was right; Luke must have fucked Marie in this very bed, not so long ago. She grabbed her own knees and pulled her legs up toward her head, spreading them wide as she did so, offering Luke easy access to her pussy and keeping her butt out of Marie’s wet spot. Two birds with one stone, as they say Luke accepted her graphic invitation eagerly, dropping his pants and hopping into bed. He ran the tip of his cock up and down her slit, making her bite her lip and hiss. “I’ve ‘ad plenty of practice to loozen me up; just put eet in me!” Luke acquiesced without delay, making the MILF moan madly. True to her word, she was loose, slick, and ready for him, and he railed her with single-minded intensity. The chamber echoed with the sound of his hips slapping against hers, each thrust punctuated by one of Antoinette’s hoarse cries. Luke was ramming all the way back to her cervix, and that was just the way she liked it. The watching tech surreptitiously rubbed her thighs together. Damn, this was hot. The temptation to masturbate was strong, but she didn’t trust herself to maintain safe presence of mind around a carnivorous plant post-orgasm. She hoped they’d finish up soon. Antoinette hit her first orgasm and screamed at the top of her lungs. What point was there in being quiet? Even if she wasn’t about to be fertilizer, what point was there in modesty when she felt this good? Antoinette had no compunctions about letting everyone within earshot know that she was getting fucked hard and loving it. What a pity Marie met him first; she’d have loved to have this delightful young man to herself. She was a good mother though; and stealing her own daughter’s boyfriend would be a heinously inappropriate move. If that boyfriend chose of his own accord to carry her off and fuck her silly, though, that was a different story… On top of her, Luke panted and kept hammering away, inching toward his own climax. After doing Marie’s tight little pussy twice in one day, it took him quite a bit of effort to get off a third time. Antoinette was totally worth the effort, though; she squirmed and sighed and clenched her core, coaxing him along in all the right ways. “O, mon cherie, baise moi! Fuck me! I am just a big thick pastry; give me my filling and I’ll be ready to eat!” Luke complied with gusto. He moaned too, unable to contain himself as he emptied his load straight into her womb. Antoinette screamed again, teased to one last orgasm in the nick of time. Satisfied, Luke collapsed on top of her, burying his face into her pillowy tits. He would have liked to lie there for a while, (Antoinette wouldn’t have complained either) but the VSP tech cut things short. “Finished?” she asked curtly, praying her arousal-soaked panties didn’t smell as strongly as she thought they did. Reluctantly, Luke gave his homemade MILF éclair a farewell kiss and dismounted her. Antoinette smiled as they wheeled her over to the Venus girltrap. Its glistering maw spread wide, filling her field of view. “Mange, mon beau. Je suis à toi,” she whispered. The mouth descended. The girltrap devoured Antoinette with gusto and some slight assistance. She was a very curvaceous woman, especially in her bust; the plant had trouble gulping those titties down. Being a girl, it wasn’t safe for the VSP tech to put her hands in the girltrap’s mouth, so the squishy, slimy task of tucking the Frenchwoman’s enormous mammaries into the plant’s stem fell to Luke. He didn’t mind. Once those mommy milkers were nothing but meaty bulges in its stem, the plant started to rise upright, taking the half-eaten MILF with it. Luke and the tech got a lovely view of Antoinette’s tender, voluminous ass and perky pussy lips, still dripping with the remains of his tenderization work. He gave the ass a nice farewell squeeze. Antoinette thanked him with an appreciative wiggle before it disappeared forever down the Girltrap’s stem. The plant lifted the MILF’s legs up in the air, and gravity finished the job. Antoinette Arquette transformed, in quick succession, from a half-eaten woman to a bulge in a plant’s stem. The bulge squirmed and moaned quite alluringly as it travelled, slowly following its daughter’s path down into digestive oblivion. Task complete, the tech busied herself moving the tenderizing bed to the next specimen room due for feeding. Once he was dressed, Luke helped her out. “Thanks,” she grunted. The tech glanced back at the Girltrap and sighed. “I hope it doesn’t develop a taste for this foreign food. It’ll be a pain to try feeding it French girls on the regular. That’s a problem for another day, though. Are you doing anything tonight? I’m not seeing anybody right now, neither are you, and you certainly seem to know how to treat a girl right.” She self-consciously pressed her legs closed over her damp panties. “Sorry,” Luke replied. “I just had a very promising relationship cut short; I’m not ready to jump right back into the dating scene. Maybe in a few weeks.” --------- The plant slowly, languidly pushed Antoinette down into its guts. It wasn’t used to this much food at once, but it would handle it, as it had handled every one of its hundreds of past meals. These does in particular were unlike anything it had eaten before. Plants have little capacity for memory; nonetheless, this one would remember today’s meal for a very long time… It took Antoinette nearly an hour of tight, slimy compression and suction to reach the girltrap’s digestive sac. She was in heaven the whole time, figuratively speaking. The sensation of every nook and cranny of her body being squished and rubbed in a way that was simultaneously rough and gentle drove her straight back into a state of feverish heat. When her head emerged into the stomach, she found her dear daughter in a similar state. The venus girltrap had been treating Marie like a lady; she was soaked literally to the bone with its digestive juices and was slightly melty. In return, Marie had given in to its attentions completely. Earlier, the thought of how badly Luke wanted her body was enough to drive her over the edge, and compared to this plant, his desire was nothing. The botanical gourmet digesting Marie wanted more than her pussy, more than her love! It wanted her very life, and it was taking it whether she agreed or not. The primal need behind her consumption drove the former chef-in-training into an endless chain of orgasms. Her melting, hedonistic existence was only temporarily disrupted by the appearance of her mother’s upside-down face being pressed against her own. “My little pastry, here you are! Oh, I am so glad to see you again!” Antoinette said. She used her native French, and Marie responded in kind. “Mama! Is that you? How did you get here?” “Your sweet, sexy boyfriend made me into a cream-filled pastry, just like you,” she said. “You have good taste in men; he’d have made a fine boyfriend.” “For me or you?” Marie said, smiling dreamily. “Who says we couldn’t have shared?” Antoinette continued to slip farther down. She felt her lips line up with Marie’s. “Not that it matters…I don’t think we’ll need men in our lives anymore…” The two of them kissed. Then they kissed again, lasciviously, since their opportunities for kissing would be quite limited from here on. “Oh, Mama, I was so scared at first! I didn’t want to die in here, but now…all I can think is how glad I am to be food! I’ve loved it all my life, and now I get to BE it! I’m my own piece de resistance! Mama, I think I like being a delicious dish. Ah! I think I like it more than I ever liked cooking!” Marie gasped, feeling another orgasm flare up in her loins. “Me too, my little pastry, me too,” her mother cooed. She slid farther into the digestion chamber, and Marie was treated to a couple long delightful minutes of her face being enveloped by her mother’s bosom. She didn’t mind that she nearly suffocated. The stomach was really working her over; by now she was so accustomed to intense flares of sensation and little blackouts that she barely noticed. Antoinette came to a stop with her face buried in the fork of Marie’s legs. Marie in turn had similar access to her own womanly center. Without hesitation or prompting, the two meals began to eat each other out, enjoying each other and the “filling” Luke had given both of them. It seemed like the most natural thing to do in their position. As she nibbled and licked the musky, salty flesh before her, Antoinette reflected how it always seemed easiest to cook a dish that she personally loved. Maybe that’s why raising Marie had been such a joy. From pregnancy to childbirth, all the way to the cusp of adulthood, her sweet little girl had been a delight. Now all that was culminating in a chance for Antoinette to taste the fruits of her labor. Eighteen years was the longest prep time for anything Antoinette had ever made, but the wait was worth it. “I maintain…that I was right, mon chou,” Antoinette panted. She was fingering Marie for a change, while she gave her jaw a break. “France is still the best place to learn how to cook.” Marie could only make an inquisitive grunt from between her mother’s thighs. “After all,” Antoinette continued, sinking her face back into her daughter’s slick folds, “That’s where I learned, and I’m the better chef of the two of us, even though I never went to school for it. She began punctuating each phrase with a long lick that made Marie mew, “I made you, after all, and you are by far the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.” Marie couldn’t argue with that. She was too busy having the best orgasm of her life to say anything, though even if she weren’t distracted, she’d have agreed with her mother. Marie-meat made a marvelous soup. The blood rushing to her head and the erotic environment made Antoinette giddy. She felt herself squishing very tightly into Marie. Her daughter seemed to be squishing and spreading around her, wrapping around her mother’s body like a soft, slimy blanket. Antoinette realized that her daughter wasn’t really “there” anymore. That was okay. The best foods never last long, especially inside a hungry stomach. The walls continued to press inward in rippling waves, trying to bring Antoinette to a similar consistency as her daughter. Without Marie, there was room for her to slip all the way down to the bottom of the digestive sac. Her head bumped against some debris down there: piercings, a pair of panties made from synthetic cloth, a few very well-polished bits of bone. Remnants of past plant-food. That was all she could make out before the debris was covered by a creamy pool of Marie, who was pouring down all around Antoinette in thick, gooey rivulets. As the rising French soup engulfed her head, Antoinette wondered if any trace of herself would be left in here. Probably not. She was a gourmet meal, a five-star dish; you didn’t leave leftovers from something like that. Antoinette opened her lips to take in the unimaginably delicious broth, which now immersed her from head to waist. Within seconds, she couldn’t tell the difference between the soup and herself anymore. A few seconds after that, neither could anyone else. --------- A few weeks later, the VSP tech girl who oversaw the Arquettes’ consumption was trying to feed the Venus Girltrap again; however, she was having much less success this time. “Come on, she’s a grade A! You’ve never turned your stems up at a grade A meat before!” The plant couldn’t hear her, and even if it could, it would have remained just as stubbornly immobile as it did now. It showed no interest in the doe on the tenderization bed, who was the latest of half a dozen snubbed meals. The tech sighed. This was probably Luke’s fault. He’d spoiled the girltrap’s appetite with foreign food, and now it wouldn’t let them feed it! “Does this mean I can go?” the doe on the bed asked casually. “Not a chance,” the tech grumbled. “You’re going in a belly if I have to eat you myself.” “Oh. Okay.” Her suspicions were later confirmed when one of the serving staff brought in the school’s French teacher, who was a native Parisian. Sure enough, the Venus Girltrap gulped her down with gusto. It had gotten a taste of the good stuff, and now only haute cuisine would suffice for its refined tastes. The tech glared at the offending vegetable. “Dammit all; I knew this would happen. Where the hell am I going to find a regular source of French cuisine for this thing?”

 Ghim, a former knight of Eslothen Kingdom now turned adventurer, was traveling through a shady forest path searching for the source of some mysterious disappearances in the area. The air was cool, and a gentle breeze caused the treetops so sway ever so slowly. He had planned to stop in at a small village that had formed in recent years and ask the locals if they had seen anything suspicious recently, figuring those who lived in the woods would know them best. It was in the late afternoon when he finally reached his destination. “Not a moment too soon,” he thought to himself, “I’d prefer to find lodging than waste my supplies needlessly.” He wandered through the village looking for an inn or tavern when someone called out to him. “Sir knight,” a short chubby grey catfolk beckoned, “why not come and try your hand at a game of dice before settling in for the night?” She smiled waving her hand before her as if to present the game she had set up to him. Ghim paused and thought for a moment, “No harm in a little game, I’d be remiss to ignore the local pleasantries and niceties.” He thought to himself. The young catfolk, noticing his contemplation spoke up, “If you’re worried about the stakes, they’re not terribly high, unless you want them to be. Or we could just have a friendly game first to get you accustom to it.” “No, no, I’m perfectly fine with a game of chance having substantial stakes. That’s what makes it enjoyable!” He said enthusiastically, “I was just thinking on if I should ask you for directions before or after we rolled.” “Ah, a gambler I see,” the catfolk grinned, “well then, let me explain the rules. Come, have a seat. My name’s Alyssa, by the way, a pleasure to meet such a dashing knight such as yourself in our little out the way hole.” she said as he began to sit. “Actually, I’m a former knight, the name’s Ghim. Pleasure to meet you Alyssa, we don’t see many catfolk in the city, just those who are part of caravans for trade.” He said as he lay down his pack and weapons next to his seat. “Now, how does this game work?” “This game, my good former knight Ghim, is a simple one. We each take turns rolling our three dice each has six sides, each round we can choose to reroll one die. The point being to roll a higher total amount than the other has.” Alyssa spoke while demonstrating a mock round to Ghim. “In the event of a tie, the round is considered a draw. The first to win three rounds wins the game. Simple, right?” She smiled softly. “Seems simple enough, what are we wagering?” Ghim said, “I’ve got coin and goods, or my services should my material possessions be insufficient.” “Well, it all depends on how high stakes you wish to go. I do enjoy low stakes games, but high stakes are my favorite!” She smirked, her green eyes glinting in the torchlight. After a small amount of hesitation Ghim spoke up, “Well, how high stakes are you willing to go? And are you sure we’ve got something of equal value to be wagered?” He raised an eyebrow. “Well, I think the highest stakes I’d be willing to go would be… Offering myself to you, either as a companion or dalliance” She stated. “Well now, what would I have that would equal such pleasures for you,” he questioned, clearly intrigued, a companion on his journey would make it more enjoyable though possibly not as enjoyable as a night in bed with this fine young woman. “Well, I’m not very well off right now. You see I’ve had a string of rather bad luck lately. Been losing quite a few games and high stakes ones at that so I’m rather short on coin…” She trailed off, “But more than anything, I’m rather famished. If I win you must provide me with a satisfying and filling dinner, and at least half the gold you’re carrying.” She winced as her stomach growled, “That is, of course, unless that’s an unfavorable trade for you.” Ghim thought to himself, if he lost he’d have to feed her and give up quite the large sum of gold, yet if he won he’d have her for the night at the very least. Back in the city a catfolk courtesan would easily cost more than what he was currently carrying for an hour and a small fortune for an entire night. Taking her with him as a companion was most likely not a great idea as, if she was speaking true, she wouldn’t even be able to outfit herself with rations, let alone proper equipment. “I see only one option,” Ghim finally spoke up, “If I win, you and I shall share the night together in whatever ways I see fit, and if you win I shall grant you whatever meal you can eat in this village as well as my entire gold pouch. But regardless of the outcome, win or lose, I would like any and all information you have about the disappearances this region has been facing recently.” He sat patiently waiting her response. Alyssa was taken aback, a look of shock displayed clearly on her face, she shook her head and quickly regained her composure before speaking, “But of course, that is an equitable wager indeed! I am not sure how helpful I’ll be in your quest, but I will give you what information I can once our game, and our wager, is completed.” “Then we have a deal?” Ghim extended his hand. “A deal it is, and the game is afoot!” Alyssa took his hand and gave it a hearty shake. The first round Ghim’s dice land well and he rerolls one to give him a total of 14, Alyssa’s dice total 12. “Shoot…” she says, “Round one goes to you, Sir Ghim.” “Please, just Ghim is fine, I’m no longer a knight I gave that life up for a life of freedom and adventure.” He said as he gathered his dice for round 2. The second round goes poorly for Alyssa once more, with Ghim’s total being 17 and her’s being 8. “Damn it! My luck’s been so terrible recently.” She pouted. “Don’t worry, you still have a chance to win.” Ghim said, a hint of smugness in his voice. The third round goes to Alyssa, with Ghim rolling 13 and her rolling 14. “Maybe you’re right, Ghim, I shouldn’t count myself out just yet.” She let out a nervous chuckle. Round four goes similarly, Ghim rolls a 10 and Alyssa rolls a 12. “This really has turned into anyone’s game, hasn’t it Ghim?” She said, a strong sense of confidence in her voice. “That it is, Alyssa, that it is. But in a game of chance it’s always anyone’s game. Lady Luck can be a cruel mistress.” Ghim said, his bravado shrinking. The fifth round isn’t even a contest, even with his reroll Ghim only rolls a 4 while Alyssa rolls an 18. “Yes! My losing streak is over!” Alyssa chuckled and cheered nearly bouncing out of her seat. With a heavy sigh, Ghim stood up and gathered his things. “So, where shall we go to get you this meal?” “I prefer to eat at home, but we need to shop for some things first.” She said with a grin, packing in her dice game. “Let’s head to the market and see what they’ve still got left!” The little catfolk bounded off towards the village center. Ghim thought to himself, “how do you let yourself get into these messes, Ghim, you dumbass.” Before he knew it they were standing in the center of a street market, during the day, surely it was bustling but at this time most of the vendors and merchants were getting ready to close up shop. Many of them seemed pleased to see Alyssa and some even offered her discounts on the end of the day products that no one else seemed to have wanted. After she had spent about one fourth of his coin Alyssa spoke, “Alright, I think that’s everything for now!” Grinning she took Ghim’s hand, “now let’s go back to my place!” she cheerfully marched towards her home. Ghim sighed, of course he had to carry everything too. “This is humiliating, can you at least let me walk behind you instead of dragging me around like your pet?” he grumbled. “Oh hush you, it’s not much farther to my home,” she pointed towards a small hut on the edge of the village, “besides, I need to make sure you don’t run off without paying your debt!” she grinned teasingly. “Fine…” he grunted. Once they arrived at Alyssa’s little hut she unlocked and pushed open the door. The interior seemed larger than it ought to be, with enough room for a full sized bed, a small dining set and a full kitchen, fireplace and hearth included, with a trap door that appeared to go to some kind of subterranean larder. It was well lit with flameless torches that let off a glow as pale gentle as the full moon. “You can put the groceries we bought in there,” Alyssa pointed towards the trap door confirming it to be a storage space. “I’m just going to get changed real quick, so stay down there until I tell you to. And no peeking!” Alyssa waved him towards the larder as she walked over to a little dresser next to the bed. Upon descending into the larder Ghim noticed it was, in fact, rather sparsely stocked just some bare essentials. He placed the items they had purchased in neatly organized baskets which had signs indicating what type of food went where. He wondered to himself what had happened to set her on such hard times if she could have at one point afforded a home such as this. It was clearly magical to some degree. “Okay, you can come back up now.” Alyssa called out, bringing Ghim out of his contemplation. “This is a nice home you have for yourself,” he stated as he climbed out of the larder. “Did your gambling habit really hurt your finances that badly? This place couldn’t have been cheap…” He trailed off at the sight of Alyssa. She changed out of the simple peasant clothes she had been wearing in the village center and into a thin midnight blue silk nightgown that sparkled as if it contained the stars of the night sky inside it. She was much shorter than he was, clearly standing under five foot in height and she was a bit chubby, but not overly so. Her smooth gray fur glistened in the flameless torchlight and her eyes shone like emeralds. Alyssa smirked, “Like what you see?” she did a twirl, “bet you wish you won now, huh, Ghimmy?” She stuck her tongue out slightly her two top canine teeth poking down on either side of it. “I’m s-stunned,” he stammered, “those clothes you wore out in public make you look completely different.” He walked towards her standing at least a foot and a half taller than her. Looking down at her he gazed into her eyes. “Damn, I never thought I’d be this attracted to anyone other than another human.” Alyssa chuckled, “yea, usually the more bestial races are seen as just something exotic or to be experienced once and never again. There are those who are fond of our fur, fangs, claws, tails and what have you, but they’re not the norm.” Alyssa smiled as she moved towards her dining set. “As for your question, I won this home from a mage in a bet quite similar to the one you and I had. I took him for everything he was worth. His luck was so terrible he didn’t even win a single round.” She laughed and scratched behind her ear. “So wait… this house, it’s one of those magic houses you can just up and move then?” Ghim said, amazed as he looked around at everything in a newfound light. “Yep, these things aren’t meant to be permanent homes, but they function well enough for me!” Alyssa sat down with a glass and a bottle of wine. “Food in the larder never spoils, house cleans itself, torches never need to be replaced,” She poured two glasses of wine, “the fire never burns out and food is always cooked to precisely the way you want it, never burnt and never too raw. Now sit with me and have a glass or two before we get to the main course.” She motioned for him to sit across from her and was about to hand him his glass. “But first, you should probably get out of your armor.” She chuckled. “You need somewhere to stay for the night anyway, since you’re here might as well get comfortable and stick around.” She was right, it was getting late and he needed somewhere to stay and he had been wearing his armor all day. “Yes, Dear,” he said jokingly, “I guess since you’ve got me here and had me buy all that stuff I’ll be making you dinner?” he finished taking off his armor and was changing into his sleeping clothes. “Precisely, but first a drink and some conversation!” She raised her glass as he sat and took his into his hand. They spoke about various things for the next hour or so as they finished the bottle of wine. “You know, your stories really are remarkable,” Alyssa said as Ghim finished telling her about one of his many battles in service of the king. “But now I’m starving, might as well get down to business.” She stood up and Ghim followed her lead. “I suppose I should get something from the larder and get ready to cook?” Ghim inquired, “if so, what shall I go gather up?” “Oh, just anything will do. I’m sure you can come up with something nice with what we got.” She said with a smirk. “Okay, let me think…” Ghim said as he turned to head towards the larder. -------------------------------------------------Vore Part------------------------------------------------------- Alyssa reached down between her breasts and pulled forth a wand as Ghim’s back was turned and with a flick of her wrist struck him with a bolt of light. His body tensed up for a moment and then he collapsed to the ground. His arms and legs curled themselves into the fetal position and his head tucked itself between his knees. He was dazed and confused about what was going on unable to process what had just happened he found he couldn’t move anything, nor could he speak or even shut his eyes. “Well now, it was a pleasure to spend so much time with you, Ghim, but it’s time for you to make good on your wager.” Alyssa said as she locked the door and closed all the shutters of her windows. She dragged Ghim towards her bed, “Ooof, you’re damned heavy, guess I should have expected that though.” She tilted him in such a way that he was leaning against her bed, then she grasped his lower end and lifted up rolling him entirely onto the bed. After this she panted heavily, “I should have… had you… lay on… the bed… first…” after regaining her breath she sat next to him on the bed and patted his back. “Don’t worry, this shouldn’t take long.” Ghim was terrified, what was she going to do, he had let his guard down and now he was in the most vulnerable position he had ever been in his life. He tried to struggle or shout or even whisper anything, but he could do nothing but lay there curled up. “Now then,” She said as she stood up once more positioning herself behind him, “It’s dinner time.” She grabbed his hips and started dragging towards the edge of her bed, wrapping her lips around his feet and rear. He could feel her rough tongue against his toes and her fangs against his lower back and shins. She gulped and pulled at the same time, stretching her mouth and throat wide as she pulled him deeper inside her body. With one last huge gulp, due to how curled up he was, it didn’t take long before he was shoved down her throat and into her stomach. As she finished swallowing him, she rolled onto her back so that she would be mostly on her bed. With a few grunts and strained movements she was able to get herself completely on her bed and rolled onto her side where she settled in and allowed her stomach to situate its new occupant. “Oh gods, it’s been forever since I’ve had such a large meal” Alyssa sighed contently, “Ghim, you wouldn’t believe how many people refuse to play a high stakes game with me,” she patted her belly. “And you know, I’m glad you took the time to do so, tonight was so fun and ended with a tremendous meal. I know this isn’t quite how you wanted your night, or your adventure, to end but if it’s any consolation you tasted really nice and are suuuuuper filling.” She let out a little belch as she rubbed her belly and stretched. “Oh, and as per our wager, all I can tell you about the ‘mysterious disappearances’ is they’re because of me. You’re experiencing what they did, you’re ‘disappearing’ just like they did.” Ghim couldn’t see anything and could only feel the wet, tight confines of Alyssa’s stomach. It was starting to burn and the stomach walls were already working hard to grind him down. She really had been hungry if her gut was this eager to break him down. He couldn’t believe he had let himself not only get tricked by this little catfolk but consumed by her as well. “What an undignified way for my story to end” he thought to himself as he felt his body being broken down and his consciousness fading. “By the way, Ghim, with your size I’m not sure my belly will work you down enough to kill you before the spell wears off, and that spell’s blocking out a significant portion of the pain of digestion…” Alyssa chuckled nervously, “I really don’t like to cause that much pain to those I eat, I just like the eating part, not the torment part but I can’t cast that spell through my stomach since my skin and fur are kind of in the way…” she sighed, “the best we can hope for is you pass out before it gets too bad… hehe… uh… sorry there, Ghim.” She yawned as her comforter covered her on its own. “I’ll see you in the morning, Ghim, maybe, I hope not though, the spell’ll wear off in an hour or so… So if you’re still around by morning that’ll be a lot of pain you’ll have to endure… Sorry again.” And with that she began to fade to sleep with Ghim gurgling away in her belly. ----------------------------------------------Graphic Part---------------------------------------------------- Alyssa was right, the spell only lasted for about an hour, she was sound asleep and Ghim could hear her snoring and her heartbeat. As the spell’s power waned he was able to move slightly, squirming around trying to find a way to escape. As the spell continued to wear off an intense burning sensation began to take hold of his entire body, the pressure of the stomach walls grinding against him was intensified one hundred fold all of the pain being realized at once caused him to yelp in pain and spasm as he instinctively attempted to thrash about. Some of his limbs had been dislocated, he could tell that much, and much of his skin had begun to slough off. Attempting to move his left arm elicited a sickening crunch and a nauseating pop as it completely detached from his torso sending a shooting pain up and down his spine. He attempted to simply stand up in an attempt to tear his way out of Alyssa’s stomach with his sheer bulk but her belly held him too tightly and her acid had worked on him too long causing his legs to separate at the knee. “Alyssa, you she-devil, wake up and let me out of here!” Ghim screamed as best he could, but he was cut off by a slurry of his own melting flesh and her stomach acid coursing down his throat. This made him gag as his esophagus was burnt and his windpipe clogged by his own flesh. He began choking and vomiting up blood and puss as stomach acid began to eat into his organs from the countless holes it had been burning into his body. With a heavy cough and a sharp muscle spasm he hacked up the lump of flesh blocking his airway, though it may have been a mercy if it had caused him to pass out then and there as for the next few hours he struggled against the little catfolk’s stomach writhing in pain and agony. --------------------------------------------End Graphic Part----------------------------------------- As the morning sun rose, Alyssa stirred. Her window shutters opening themselves to let the sunlight in. Her blanket removed itself, revealing her belly had shrunk significantly. At this point she merely looked heavily pregnant and not like she ate someone larger than she was. As the sun crept over her face, her eyes fluttered open, her ears twitched and she let out a long drawn out yawn as she stretched. Glancing down she noticed her belly was still quite large under her fur and appeared to be moving slightly. “Oh… oh my…” She said, sitting up in bed, “Ghim…? You still alive in there?” Ghim couldn’t respond other than a couple of hard squirms. “I’ll take that as a yes…” She sighed as she caressed her still bloated belly, “I really don’t like when they outlast the spell, I’d prefer the joy of consumption without them feeling too much pain. But I’d be lying if this didn’t feel absolutely spectacular.” She stood up and was about to get ready to go about her day when an idea crossed her mind. -----------------------------------Reformation Ending----------------------------------------------------- “Hey, Ghim” Alyssa said as she poked and prodded her gut. “I’ve got something that can help you out right now, but I’ve been saving it for something… or well, someone, special.” She hesitated for a moment, partly to see if Ghim was still conscious or even alive inside her, “Well, if you want my help to survive, you’ve got to pledge yourself to me completely and utterly. You have to swear to be mine, follow my orders, protect me and be there for me until I dismiss you or death. Do this, submit yourself to me completely and I’ll be able to help you out, whaddaya’ say?” Ghim, blinded by pain and desperate to survive at any cost gave his best affirmative struggle. Hoping, praying that she understood his movements to mean “yes, I pledge myself to you, just save me, please!” “I’ll take that as a yes,” Alyssa said, “Really glad if that’s the case, let me just find this thing…” she said as she shuffled around in some of her chests and drawers. Fumbling around with various objects both mundane and magical she finally found what she was looking for. “Aha! here it is!” she produced a small Ankh, “Now, if you’ve pledged yourself to me this’ll work. Otherwise nothing’ll happen… and I think you’ll have to relive the last night for a century or so before actually dying. So uh, hope you meant to say ‘yes I pledge myself to you’ with that little squirm you did.” And she begins chanting a spell as the Ankh begins to glow. Her belly begins to rapidly shrink and the Ankh changes from a brilliant gold to a dull pearlescent color. “Alright, I think that’s what’s supposed to happen.” Alyssa says as she flips the Ankh onto the bed, “I’ll be right back, just gotta go relieve myself.” And she starts heading towards an outhouse. With a sharp gasp Ghim sits straight up, frantically looking around he notices he’s inside Alyssa’s home but he’s alive. Naked, but alive. Before he can grasp what’s going on the door opens up and Alyssa returns. “Oh good! It did work!” Alyssa shouts as she runs over to Ghim. Grasping one of his hands she examines him to make sure everything’s in the right place. “I’m sorry for how terrible last night must have been for you, I felt so bad I felt I need to do something for you.” She looks him up and down, “And it looks like everything’s in the right place and you’re in one piece!” “What the hell is going on!?” Ghim shouted as he tried to rip his hand away from Alyssa, but couldn’t “why am I alive, why are you here, why am… I… Why do I want to serve you and not kill you for what you did to me?” “Oh… uh… yea… that,” Alyssa searched for the right words, “The only way I could bring you back from the brink of death, or more accurately kill you and then resurrect you, was with this Ankh of submission.” She held up the dull pearlescent Ankh, “You, I guess instinctively wanting to survive, agreed to basically be mine in every way shape and form in return for being alive…” they both stared at eachother for a long moment, “while you may now be in complete servitude to the person who tricked you, ate you, digested and killed you, at least now you can’t die until I do, so uh… there’s that I guess.” She gave him a nervous smile. With a heavy sigh Ghim finally speaks “Well, I guess at the very least I should count myself lucky I didn’t just end up ‘disappearing’ like everyone else you’ve bamboozled” He grimly chuckled, “Now then, ‘Mistress,’ what is it you’d have me do?” Alyssa blushed for a moment realizing just how much power she really had over Ghim now, “First off, It’s just Alyssa, not ‘Mistress’ and uh, get dressed. We’ll just take everything as it comes. Okay, Ghim?” she said giving him a peck on the cheek. “Okay… Alyssa.” Ghim responded, as he got dressed and they set out on the rest of their lives together, for better or for worse. -----------------------------------Graphic Death Ending--------------------------------------------------- “Hey, Ghim,” she said patting her gut, “you uh… you want me to just end it now? You can’t be having fun in there.” Ghim struggled with the last bit of strength he had which was just enough for Alyssa to feel some movement. “I’ll take that as a yes…” She hugged her belly, “Really sorry you lived so long in there, I know it must have hurt so badly, but thanks for your sacrifice for my simple little pleasure.” And with that she gripped her gut hard and pressed up against a wall with as much force as she could muster. As Alyssa did this, Ghim’s world became incredibly compressed. Everything around him felt as though it was shrinking at the speed of light. His remaining bones all crunched, what was left of his internal organs all ruptured spewing their contents into the slurry that was molten flesh and stomach acid, and his skull shattered sending fragments into his softened brain right before it was smashed into unrecognizable gray goop. And so Ghim, former knight of Eslotha, met his end in the gut of an unassuming catfolk and became yet another of the mysterious unsolved disappearances he was supposed to get to the bottom of.

 IthasbeentwoweekssinceJimhadturnedintoalivingcondom,andhewasalreadystartingto loveit.ScarlettwastakingiteasybyusingsomelubeonhercockandgentlycleaningJimmy afterusinghim.HehadspentuncountablehoursworkshipinghercockwhilesheplayedLoL andBattlegrounds,eachmatchshewonablastofcumeruptedfromhercock,soakinghimin jizz.His"bed"wasalsomorecomfortablenowonceScarlettstartedusinglighterpantieswho allowedabetterventilationandanewsoapthatmadeherballsextrafluffyforherdarlingto sleep on. UnfortunatelyitseemedthatScarlettwasgettingaddictedtohimandcouldn'tspendanhour withoutgoingtothebathroomtojerkoffwithhim.Shediditeverywhere,atcollege,atherpart timejob,evenduringcosplayorgamingevents.Theworstthinghehadtoendurewasthetime whenthetoiletwasn'tworkingandScarlettwasneedingtopiss.Shehadthebrightideatopick himupandforcehercockdownhismouthandgettingherreliefthatway.Theworstpartwas thatshewasdoingthatonherdeskatthecompanysheworkedon!Jimwasworriedsomeone sawherdoingthatandfiredher,orworse,ifsomeonenoticedshewasusingalivingpersonas acocksleeve.TinysandfutaswerealreadybadseenbysocietyandJimdidn'twanttomake things worse, but he barely had a say when it came to Scarlett's needs. AttheactualmomentScarlettstartedtostreamnudevideosofherselfontheinternet.Jimdidn't liketheideaofhisgirlfrienddoingnudesforsomejerksontheinternet,butshehadtoldhim thatbyshowingherbodyonlineshegainedmoresecurityabouthergender.Hewouldargue thatheractionsonlymadeFutanarislookmoreslutty,butherememberedthetimehehadtold hertostopplayingsomuchvideogamesanddosomeexercising,heranswerwasinsertinghim underherforeskinfortherestoftheday.Jimlearnedtwothingsfromthatexperience:nevertell a gamer to stop gaming, and futanaris have to clean their foreskin better. Buttodaywasaspecialday,todayScarlettpretendstodoalivestreamwithJimandsome specialguests.ThoseguestswereasecretevenforJim.TheboywasnowcuddlingScarlett's ballswhilewaitingforthebeginningoftheshow,Scarletthadeverythingsettledalready.Lube, toiletpaperandamysteriousboxrestingonherbed.Scarlettlandedherbubblebuttonherseat and so the steam began. "Hitherefolks!".Shemadeakawaiifacewithbothhandsdoingthepeacesign."Princess Scarlettbringinganothersexyshowforyou,todaywehaveaveryspecialguest!Meetmy hubbyJim".Scarlettthenloweredherhandtoherpanties,bringingthembackupnowwiththe tinysoftlyplaceonherpalm."Everyonebenicetohim,he'sabitshy,justthat.Sayhitoour spectatorshoney".Scarlettslidesherpinkiedownhisspine,shewastryingtocomforthimbut did the opposite. "H-hi".Jimsaid,alwayskeepinghisheaddownnottoshowhisface.Heturnedaroundtolook Scarlettintheeyes.Hergoldeneyesweresobeautifulhecouldgetdazedjustbystaringat them.Jimthenrememberedhewasn'tusinganyclothesandsowasn'tScarlett.Hewasabout tosaysomethingwhenScarlettreachedforthebottleoflube.Shethenplacedhiminfrontof the camera, his nude form being clearly exposed on the internet. "Let'sbeginthefun,shallwe?First,somelube!".ScarlettdroppedlubealloverJimmy,who suddenlyrealizedthatwasn'tlube,butstrawberrytopping.Hewastryingtounderstandwhat wasgoingonwhenhewastossedintoScarlett'shungrymaw,beinginstantaneouslyassaulted byhertongue.Asaninstincthetriedtofighthiswayouttahermouth,butthosesharplooking teethmadehimchangehismind.JimhadseenhowScarlett'steethcouldeasilyslashandcut food,atinywouldbechildishplayforher."Sosweet...".Scarlettmoanedassheplayedwithher nippleswhiletakingathoroughtasteoftheyoungman.Thevixenrolledherpreyoverandover again until Jim lost his strawberry taste, spitting him on her cupped hands. 'Sohot...somuchspit...".JimtriedtocallforScarlett,hewasn'tsureifhewouldsurviveher games,butforhisdemiseshewastoomuchintoittostop.Soakedinspitandgaspingforair, Jimknewwhatwasgoingtosucceedontheshow,hecouldalreadyseeScarlett'scock pulsatinginanticipation.Soonthatmonsterwouldbefillinghisintestinestothebrimwithhot, thicksperm.Jimthenlookedtothescreen,noticingthattheaudiencejustreached2thousand viewers,allofthemprobablyjerkingofftohissuffering.ButJimknewScarlettwouldneverhurt him badly... wouldn't she? "Downthecockyougo,hubby!"Scarlettsaidinherusualsweetvoicejustbeforeshovingher dickballsdeepintohercondom.Jimumoanedinagony,Scarlettwasbiggerthanusualfor somereason,whichcausedhimtoejaculateimmediately,atinylineofcumformingintheair beforecompletelyvanishingoutofexistence.Scarletthadherwaywithhim,bouncingherbig tittiesupanddownwitheachstrokehercockreceived,hergoldeneyesalmostrolledtothe back of her head, but just a second before being knocked out... "I'MCUMMMMMMING!!!I'MBLOWINGMYLOVEJUICELIKEINEVERDIDBEFORE!!!TAKE ITBITCH!!GETIMPREGNATEDWITHMYSEED,YOUUSELESSCUMRAG!!!"Youmightbe thinkingthatasingleejaculationcan'tbethatbad,butScarlettisdefinitelynotaquickshotter, andwhenshefinallyreachherclimaxsheblowsGALLONS.Anditwasallrecordedandposted online,Jimgettinghisasstearedapartbyhisgirlfriendandhersuperiorcock,hisinsidesbeing filledwithcuminsecondsbeforenotbeingabletoholdtheload,thenforcedthroughhis respiratorysystem,thenfinallybeingexpelledlikeajetthroughhismouth.Jimcouldtaste Scarlett'sspermwithallhisbody,thethick,slimycuminvadinghislungsassheposedforthe camera,notnoticinghewasdrowninginherownseed.Thepressurewassointensehegot expelledfromthedominationofScarlett'scock,blastedintheairbeforelandingthegirl'shair. HecouldtasteScarlett'scuminhismouth,ittastedlikepuddingandcheese.Drowningin spermthankstohislungsbecomingapoolofjizz,Jimpassedawayinthemiddleofthesteam. Thelastthinghenoticedwasthatheappearedtohavehadmanyorgasms,andwhoknowhow manyprostateorgasms.Sothatwasit,hewasjustafreakwholikedtobeusedasacondomby afuta.Scarlettwasrightintheend,hewasborntobehercocksleeve.Buthedidn'tgiveafuck aboutconvencionalmoralsanymore,hewashappywithhisnewlifeandaslongasScarlett decidedtokeepdestroyinghisprostatecausinghimtocumfrenetically,hewouldlivethelifeof a condom with a smile. And with a new level of shame being reached, the world went dark. Jimwokeup,throwingcumoutofhisbody.Worldwasspinningaroundhimashisbrainstriedto adjusttothesituation.Hewasstillnakedandbakedinamixofspermandsaliva,whichmeans thatitdidn'tpassalongtimesincehewasknockedout.Hecouldhearasobbingcomingfrom abovehim,astrangefigurecryingoutforhisname.AsJim'svisionadjusthecouldseethe camerastillon,andScarlettcryinginpanic,probablythinkinghehaddiedfromhercum. Gettingup,Jimnoticedhehada4monthsworthofpregnancybelly,fullofScarlett'sbabies,as she liked to call her seed. He shouted for her, who quickly stopped crying to look down at him. Forhissurpriseshepassedfromsadtoangryinafractionofseconds,grabbinghimtightlyon herfistbeforebringinghimprettyclosetoherface."Youidiot!!IthoughtIhadkilledyou!!How couldyajustpassawaylikethat?!YouknowI'masensibleperson!!Icouldhavehadaheart attackfromthat!!".ScarlettragedagainstJimwhowastoobusythrowinguptopayattentionto Scarlett'sdrama.Shetookadeepbreathandsoftenedhergrip,hervoicecalmingdowntogive somecomforttoherdamagedtoy."I'msorryaboutthat,Ijustlostcontrolbackthere.Butit's kindayourfaultforbeingsuchagoodFleshlight.Anyway,I'llmakesuretopayyoubackinthe future.Fornowsaygoodbyetoourpublicandgorestinmaballs".Scarlettkissedhimtenderly beforedressingherwhitethongandplacingJimonit,notlosingthechancetoteasethe audience with a photo of Jim getting comfortable between her nuts and the #Homesweethome. ScarlettdidsomelapdanceonherchairandgavecloselooksofherboobsandJim'sbulgein herthongbeforefinishingtheshow.Itwas3A.M.bythen,butScarlettstillhadonelastthingto dobeforegoingtosleep.CarefullyshetookawayJim,puttinghimonherpantiesdrawer,a cozyplaceforhimtonapon.Scarletttookabeerfromthefridgebeforejumpingtobed,the mysteriousboxstillawaitingthere.Drinkinghalfabottleinongulp,Scarlettsittedinherbedand openedthebox.It'scontentwere10othergirlswhosecurvynakedbodyshiveredatthe sensationofScarlett'seyesight.The10girlshaltedattheircapturerinfear'custheyknewwhat was coming for them. "Hithere!Rememberme?'CusUncertaintyrememberyouall.Thoughtyacouldbullymeand Jimmyduringallourlivesandnothingwouldhappentoya,right?W-R-O-N-G.Timetopayfor yoursins,bitches."Scarlettendedthesentencewithasmile,acutefriendlysmilewhomasked her dark machinations.

Living condom/boyfriend Part 3 “...”. The ten women were completely speechless, trying to figure out their predicament. What the hell happened anyways? Their minds were rushing, trying to figure out what was going on, all they remembered was drinking a bit too much last night, crashing hard after partying and suddenly…blank. They were completely naked, their curvy bodies shivering a blast of cold air filled their containment, a chilly sensation running down the spine, the kind of feeling prey gets when confronted by a predator. Dozens of questions crossed their minds, but none dared to utter a word, for looking down upon them, two glowing golden eyes cast a steady gaze, a devious gaze. From the group, only one girl was smart enough to connect the dots of the situation. Her name was Liz, a rodent metahuman, and the smartest of the bunch. A muffled gasp grew on her throat, her black fur shaking on a rhythmic motion of fear. She looked around, quickly realizing who the other nine women were, as well as who their gigantic gazer was. And she knew they were beyond fucked. Liz tried to build up courage to say something, anything to break the freezing cold tension of the moment, but before she could utter a sound, Scarlett voice boomed over them, making Liz and another girl fall back in fright. “You know, I had a whole speech planned for this, but you know what I realize? You lot doesn’t deserve the effort, let’s get down to business”. Scarlett abruptly lifted the box, flipping it upside down, causing the women to come crashing down onto the smooth surface of Scarlett’s bed. Jumping into her bed, Scarlett positioned herself to start her fun. Back against the wall, legs spread apart, creating a valley where the girls soon found themselves trapped withing. Catching a good look at them, Scarlett began a silent selection of who would be the first she would play with. She instantly recognized Liz, the rodent had fallen face first, her thin tail flinging around, her survival instincts probably starting to kick in. A human girl wasn’t so lucky, looking as if she had twisted her foot upon landing. Most of them were either recovering from their fall or were already staring back at her, as if awaiting whatever the giantess would do next. Scarlett reached for the injured women, the shadow of her arm quickly covering the tiny into a dark shadow. Her name was Carla, a tanned skin brunet with dark brown eyes. Although not as colorful as her tiny friends, her beauty compensated with a healthier body, nicely shaped abs could be seen on her physically fit form. Starting off with the worst of luck, her foot was indeed hurt, but no from falling onto the bed. When Scarlett hopped on, her legs bounced a bit, causing a ripple effect, sending the girls on a desperate jump. Carla’s right leg had the misfortune of being squashed under Scarlett’s weight. It couldn’t have been more than once second of pressure, but the force was strong enough to pulverize every bone on Carla’s lower leg. Her mangled limp slowly oozed blood, but not enough damage was done to cause her to go in shock, a preferrable alternative to what was about to befall her. The gigantic hand scooped her up, the sudden movement causing another wave of pain, the tiny screaming her lungs out until there was no more air to fuel her shout. Scarlett did not take kindly to the noisy woman, closing her fist in order to silence the girl, taking care as to not apply too much force, crushing her like this would be a mood killer, not to mention messy. “Let me make one thing clear, CRYSTAL FUCKING CLEAR”. Scarlett said, her voice serious and threatening, fist clenched on the now muffled sounds of her broken toy. “My man is cozily sleeping right now, so if any of you bugs start running your mouths, I’ll crush every one of you. Secondly, consider this an audition. Come daylight, only one of you will be left, and will have the privilege of being my new little servant. MAYBE one of you will make it through the night” Scarlett eyes quickly looked at Liz, before focusing on her closed fist “You’ll be tested to see which one is the best candidate to serve me, not that I expect much from you bugs”. Extending her arm, Scarlett slowly opened her hand to reveal the barely conscious woman lying motionless, fear immediately installing itself on the other nine. “Your first test will be durability. As you can see, this scrub has already broken. As toys, you need to be able to move around without fucking it all up” A stern look was thrown at Carla, who was barely alive at this point. Without much though, Scarlett tossed the girl into her maw, letting Carla’s limp body rest on top of her tongue. Mouth open, she paraded her food for a bit, the tiny women looking in horror as Scarlett would swing around another person’s corpse, savoring the metallic flavor that oozed out of the girl’s broken leg. The horror was only beginning though, with a tilt of her head Carla met her end between Scarlett’s teeth, a crunching noise emanating from the blood-stained maw of the vixen. Taking some time to savor her meal, Carla’s mish meshed remains were eventually swallowed like any peace of meat. “Now that you know what failing a test means, let’s begin the fun!” Scarlett reached for the girls, separating them in groups with ease, despite their fight to escape the captivity of the vixen. Liz and a human girl named Eliza were squished tightly against Scarlett’s throbbing shlong, her fuck meat gaining size and toughness with their squirms of protest. Liz quickly realized that massive cock had not been washed in a while, the smell of stale semen rapidly invading their nostrils, and a sticky goo of what might be a mixture of sweat and precum seeped into their skin as they were pressed against Scarlett’s cock. Liz and Eliza were positioned in opposite sides, each grabbing onto Scarlett’s meat as best as they could. A hyena woman with blue dyed hair and a blond human girl were dropped under Scarlett’s swollen sack, the weight of her testicles being enough to pin down the tinies against the tissue of the bed sheets. The hyena was named Wess, and all she was thinking about was on a way to escape, recover her mighty 6’1 stature and kill this bitch that had somehow kidnapped her. Wess didn’t know the girl laying beside her, both being smushed by fat testicles to the point all Wess could see was mashes of blond hair. Wess hated that she was struggling to under a single testicle, as if she was some sort of fucked up sex toy. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU OVERGROWN BITC…” Wess got cut off as Scarlett applied a bit more weight to the due, Wess’s face being engulfed by smooth, leathery skin as she tried to pull away Scarlett’s left nut. Wess was doing her all, but the weight was too much for her, she hated to admit, but the giant bitch was packing some serious fire power in her pants, and all that baby batter was too heavy for the hyena to fight against. The friction was making Wess’s own futa pack grow, hormones flowing in to create a boner Wess really didn’t want to get in this circumstance. She tried to scream at Scarlett again, but when a drop of salty sweat filled her mouth, Wess decided it was better to save her energy and avoid ingesting more fluids from the disgusting whore. The blonde girl wasn’t doing well though, lacking strength to fight back, she was getting flattened, breathing becoming nearly impossible. Not too far, another meta-human, a rabbit girl, was facing her own little hell. Her name was Vince, definitely the most exotic of them bunch. She possessed gracious blue eyes and beautifully groomed white fur, with black stripes symmetrically running down her back. Vince always had been a bit obsessed about keeping herself pristine clear, taking three to four baths a day, spending a fortune in beauty products. She actually remembered Scarlett back from when they were students, when she’d spent hours grooming herself for school, just to have to sit next to that sweaty vixen. She couldn’t stand Scarlett’s naturally chubby body, and all the disgusting stuff that came along with it. When she found out her classmate was packing heat between her legs, that was the last straw for her, she couldn’t sit next to such a non-feminine woman, disgust quickly giving way to bullying. Now she regretted calling Scarlett names, as she was shoved between her ass cheeks, the strong smell of ass and sweat fusing with her fur as she desperately tried to squirm away, each movement causing Scarlett’s asshole to twitch a little, much to Vince’s despair. Tears running down her face, she wanted to get out of that stinking hole with every fiber of her being, but Scarlett had her trapped between her ass and the bed sheets. “Please, please, stop…”. Vince begged as the giant vixen slowly started to move her hips back and forward, building up momentum as she grinded Vince against her ass, sweat washing over that perfectly white fur. “I’m sorry, please, please stop” Scarlett couldn’t hear the pleas coming out of her rump, she had much more important things going on right now. Pumping her cock with increased speed, Liz and Eliza were being scrubbed over her meat pole, adding to the pleasure of masturbation. Liz was quiet, focusing on not getting smushed by Scarlett’s strong fingers, the back of the vixen’s palm forcing Liz’s head against her flesh, the rat regretfully licking up and down, as if to please the giantess and make her climax faster. Eliza, unfortunately, was being pinned by Scarlett’s fingers, getting much more pressure applied to her. She could feel her bones start to give in, the friction of all that rubbing hurting her skin, her once nicely brushed brown hair now was a mess, glued to Scarlett’s cock by sweat and sperm. Bellow her feet the remaining four girls were being smothered by toes larger than their torso. Two under each foot, they were completely overwhelmed the horrible smell of Scarlett’s stompers, getting mouthfuls of sweat and dirt kindly provided by the giantess. They were all humans who used to Bully her during College, for it wouldn’t be rare to find Scarlett hiding in the bathroom, aggressively beating her meat so it wouldn’t stick out during the day. In this society, futas had gained a bad stigma for their more “instinctive” inclination to getting massive boners in public. The world was still adapting to having meta-humans going around, as the large bodied futas only made social conflicts more complicated to deal with. But for Scarlett, all that social bullshit didn’t matter. She was tired of hiding her body, and her relationship with Jimmy had made her realize how amazing futas truly were. With larger bodies, they were naturally stronger than most humans or meta-humans, they had by far the largest cocks around. Scarlett remembered with pride how she had a 6 inches cock at the age of 8, easily putting to shame any boy or even man. Only the most hung meta-humans could compete in dick measuring with futas, and the most hung futas would certainly beat the biggest stallion you could find. Scarlett watch the tinies struggle against her body, pumping and rumping faster as she approached breaking point. It had been expensive and dangerous to buy the “shrinking” substance from the black market on the outskirts of town, even more troublesome was to find these ten fuckers who laughed at her and made her life a hell of insecurity. But it didn’t matter now, they were all where they should be, underneath her feat, crushed against her cock and balls, tucked away in his ass, that’s where they belonged, where any person that dared make fun of a superior futa belonged. Now moving at great speed, Scarlett could feel the girls squirming under her feet, how Liz worshiped her shaft and how Wess kicked and punched her sack, barely making enough force as to cause a pleasant massage. She felt the refreshing sensation of Vince’s tears coming in contact with her butthole, giving it a squeeze as to force her to kiss it, but the bunny refused to open neither mouth or eyes, as if denying her situation. Scarlett made a mental note to punish her later for her lack of dedication towards worshipping her new goddess. Scarlett pumped, pumped and PUMPED until “AAAARRRHHHHGGH!!!” Scarlett let out a single, powerful stream of thick white semen, forming an arc midair before coming crashing down on the wooden floor below. Her free hand snatched Vince, a blunt force hitting the rabbit’s back, forcing everything up to her shoulders inside Scarlett’s anus, the sudden change of pressure almost cracking Vince’s head, as the bunny screaming in pain, the terrible smell of Scarlett’s shit tube now forever marked in her mind, as she was forced to breath the foul air while the giantess shacked in ecstasy. Wess could swear she felt one or two ribs being dented and those massive balls came crashing down on her over and over again, punching out all the air in her lungs, those spongy orbs now dense as steel by Scarlett’s horniness. Wess looked at her partner, but couldn’t distinguish a human shape out of the bloody pulp of what was left of a human being. “Weak fucking bitch”. Wess snarled as to encourage herself to endure this torment. She was also a futa, right?! She definitely would find a way out of this. Or at least so she thought, before Scarlett crashed down full weight on her, the force almost pulverizing Wess. She survived the test, but could feel that something inside her was about to break, and it wasn’t bones or flesh. “W-Why?!”. She questioned, tear eyed as she watched her own cock fully erected, the pain of being pummeled by a giantess turning her on, much to Wess’s rage. “I’ll… fucking k…kill you..?..pleas…please… no more” She finally said it, a desperate plea not only to stop crushing her body, but more importantly her pride. In a moment of bliss, Scarlett lifted herself a little, allowing Wess to finally breath some fresh air, and the Hyena quickly adjusted herself, stroking her cock in dumbfounded pleasure. Scarlett boomed down again, and at the same time as a wave of pain crossed her body, Wess shot her own white juice, a small stain formed on the giantess’s red fur. Tongue hanging out, Wess sucked on those balls, trying to squeeze some salty sweat out of it, it tasted horrible, but she needed to hydrate to keep up on this fucked orgy. Liz was covered in spunk, globs of gooey baby batter showered over her as Scarlett’s geyser subsided, covering her head to toe, making her black fur a sticky mess. She learned the hard way not to try to chug Scarlett’s cum, a large glob of white stuff coming out of her mouth, result of a failed attempt to swallow the thick cream. It was like drinking pudding, a large, white and gooey piece of pudding. Breathing heavily, she sighted in relief, nothing had broken on her, well aside from her dignity. Eliza, on the other hand, had a much worse fate. Scarlett’s fingers dug their way through her body, smashing chunks of her flesh against the now red tinted cock. Liz didn’t even notice when the girl was brutally murdered, everything was moving so fast, the smell of sex was so intense, she didn’t even realize. Pieces of Eliza’s hair were attached to the dick by a coating of cum, but were quickly scooped away by Scarlett’s fingers, brought to the giantess’s mouth as she tasted the aftermath of her sexual deviance. All the girls underneath Scarlett’s feet were reduced to bloody crumbs, her mighty stompers smashing them into oblivion the moment she painted the floor white. Looking down towards the red gooey mess, Scarlett grunted in disappointment. “Useless fucks, couldn’t even survive long enough so I could chew on them. Gonna have to wash the sheets, these were a gift from Jimmy. SHIT”. Rocking back up, Scarlett got a hold of her toys as she walked down the hallway, going to the bathroom for a quick wash. Sitting on the toiled, she checked her phone. “4A.M”. It had only been one hour, but she already killed seven of her enemies. That was the kind of power she wanted, no, that she DESERVED. Looking at her own dirty cock and feet, she had a great idea for what the next test should be. Sitting Wess on her half erect shaft, and the other two put in front of her bloody feet, Scarlett uttered a simple yet powerful order. “LICK ME CLEAN”

“LICK ME CLEAN” Wess didn’t need any more incentive to dive right in. The musky scent of Scarlett’s throbbing cock was definitely having an effect one Wess’s mind, blocking any non-sexual, making her laugh in her deranged, hyena pitched way. Her blue hair smelled like Scarlett’s balls, her dotted fur slowly coating itself in the sweat emanated from the vixen’s member. Wess latched herself into the meat pillar, her trimmed claws sinking into the it as she licked her way to the top of the shaft, mindlessly seeking the origin of her newfound aphrodisiac. Scarlett didn’t bother with the hyena climbing her cock, even when she’d sink her razors in the soft skin, it was barely enough to cause a pleasant tickling sensation. Instead her gaze was cast upon her bare feet, where Liz and Vince were going through a much grizzlier situation. “I can’t do this, please!”. Vince cried out, her naked form shivering in front of the most horrifying vista she’d ever witnessed. Unlike Wess, Vince didn’t enjoy the privilege of quickly washed skin to cling to, for Scarlett’s feet remained tinted red with the blood of all the girls she had swiftly crushed not long ago, pieces of skin and bone still stuck on the layers of fat at her sole. Vince curled in fetal position, closing her eyes tight as to avoid seeing the horror. She didn’t understand why she was going through this hell, why should she suffer so much just because she was mean to one girl. Vince was certain that being shrugged against the giantess’s asshole was the worst thing that could possibly happen to her, but Scarlett easily proved her wrong. In all honesty, Scarlett had not given much thought to the fact that the 2 girls would have to lick her feet while it was covered in viscera, but the look on Vince’s face made it all worth it. Liz didn’t lose much time mourning her fate, it was pointless. She’d either lick those bloody feet until they were shinning clean, or would meet a gruesome end like those other women. Removing a piece of bone left stuck, Liz thoroughly licked away blood and sweat, the coppery mix feeding her empty stomach, Liz had forgotten how hungry she was. For a few moments, her she focused her mind on filling her belly with whatever she could scrap, chunky bits and bones wouldn’t be wasted if they gave her a minor chance to make an escape. Scarlett allowed her body to slide back, the human sized toiled squeaking under her weight. Come to think of it, the apartment she was renting was mostly human sized, meaning EVERYTHING was slightly smaller than needed to support larger people like her, and Scarlett wasn’t even that big compared to other meta-humans. Adjusting her booty, Scarlett stretched her legs across the short bathroom, almost slamming Liz and Vince against the opposite wall, the sudden movement knocking back both of them. It was midway through summer, the temperature staying high even during the night, and with the added heat of Scarlett’s body the tiny bathroom was feeling more like a sauna. Enjoying her handy work, she gave a playful poke on Wess’s round butt, getting a faint moan in the return. She was starting to like the tiny tomboyish futa, seriously considering keeping her as a cock cleaner for when her man wasn’t capable of completely polishing her third leg. One or two times using the blue haired chick as a cocksleeve would be enough to make her fully submissive to the whims of her baby maker. “You two, work harder, I can barely feel you worms”. Scarlett planted her feet on top of the girls, squishing them against the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, a mixture of blood and sweat slowly creeping down on their bodies. Vince started to kick and scream, her fight or flight instincts finally quacking in. Her little show of bravery was short lived, all it took was a little bit of pressure from Scarlett’s foot and the bunny girl was once again back to sobbing. Liz wasn’t in a good position either, having hit her back against the tiles, she could feel her gooey meal making its way back up, her body rejecting the gruesome fluid. She wanted to cover her mouth before vomiting all over, but her arms were busy scrubbing the massive feet that towered over her, as she realized that if Scarlett didn’t get the feeling of their 4 inches squirming under her, she’d get the feeling of 4 inches being crushed under her. With all her strength, Liz swallowed down the regurgitated liquid, it was painful, but anything better than throwing up at someone that could easily wipe you out of existence with a single step. “Looks like you’re enjoying yourself”. Scarlett looked at Wess, as she managed to make her way to the giantess’s glans, furiously humping at it while chugging down the pre-cum that exited the slit. “FUCK YES, YOUR BODY IS SO FUCKING HOT I CAN’T EVEN…” Wess was cut short, interrupted as fingers the size of her torso lifted her up until she reached eye level with the red vixen. “NO!!! WHY YOU BITCH!! PUT ME BACK, I NEED MORE OF THAT!!! IT’S ADDICTING, I’VE NEVER TASTED ANYTHING LIKE THAT, IT’S LIKE A WHOLE NEW DRUG!!!”. Wess snarled, a crazed look in her eyes. For a moment she totally forgot she was a mere 4 inches thing standing before a 6 feet tall juggernaut, her snarky demeanor show it’s colors.” I SWEAR I’LL RIP YOU APART IF YOU DON’T PUT…ME…back……” Wess stopped, her blood going ice cold and muscles tensed up. Scarlett was giving her the most spine chilling murderous look, golden eyes staring deep into her soul. The sense of dread was hitting 1000%, Wess knew she just fucked up big time, and as she was slowly brought closer and closer to Scarlett’s face, lips spreading to reveal canines big enough to impale her, Wess broken into a desperate plea. “NO NO NO NO, I’M SORRY, I’M SO SORRY, I SHOULDN’T HAVE TALKED BACK, I KNOW I SHOULDN’T!!! I’M JUST A BUG, A SMALL, STUPID, WORTHLESS THING, PLEASE DON’T EAT ME!!! I’LL BE GOOD, NO, GREAT, I’LL BE A GREAT SERVANT, I SWEAR!!!” Wess’s cries pleased Scarlett, the fact that she could cause a mental breakdown on a hardhead like Wess gave her the sense of power she craved for. Scarlett considered putting the hyena off the hook, she was a fine piece of ass to keep around, but even the best cock licker needed to be aware that talking back was unacceptable. She would have to make an example out of Wess, a shame since the other two didn’t demonstrate half of her enthusiasm. With her maw on full display, Scarlett lowered in her toy, gently sitting it on top of her tongue, Wess puny attempts to cling to her fingers before they left was a specially touching moment. Scarlett’s mouth shut close, complete darkness enveloping Wess, who was being covered in saliva, trying to climb back up to the barrier of white teeth that separated her from the outside world. Pressing her hands against the spongy surface of Scarlett’s tongue, Wess attempted to leap forward, but a sudden shift in gravity send her tumbling down, a pitch-black tunnel now directly under her. Wess was holding on for dear life, her body completely washed in saliva, the viscus fluid entering her mouth each time she gasped for air, forcing the girl to swallow the thick substance, as spitting it out would only make more come in. Reaching out for anything she could grab onto, Wesss’s heart skipped a beat when she almost slips down the meaty pillar, it’s constant throbbing making it impossible to climb without making a fatal slip. Another shift launched the hyena all the way up, crashing face first into the sticky roof of Scarlett’s mouth, the tongue swiftly pressing itself against her back, pressing her further against the fleshy wall. After a few seconds, she managed to locate herself, having been turned around, now facing the inwards into the giantess’s mouth, the tip of the massive tongue gently caressing her rump, catching a good taste of Wess’s sex. Even though terrified, Wess couldn’t hold back her pent-up sexual drive, all the licking and grabbing gave her a raging boner, and it didn’t help that her balls, pussy and ass were being squeezed against wet silky flesh. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I’ve learned my lesson, I’ll behave, but please let me out, I’m so scarred…” Wess tried to make her voice known, but fatigue, fear and saliva clogged her throat, making it impossible for her to properly make any recognizable sound. Scarlett was now taking a good taste of her, playfully extracting the flavors from her shivering booty, her knotted cock being brushed by the movement of Scarlett’s tongue, a small amount of pre-cum oozed out despite Wess’s wishes to quit it. Her body shivered uncontrollably, fear and pleasure mixing together into a completely new sensation. Wess was no longer sure about her fate, would she really get eaten or was the vixen only messing with her? “ I don’t… I shouldn’t be… why now? Why does this have to feel so good?! Please let me out, I don’t wanna die like this…” Wess started to feel pain in her chest, her body no longer sinking into the squishy flesh, her breasts being pressed against her body, pressure building up as Scarlett mashed her with increase force, as if to squeeze all the flavor out of her. Wess tried to look for anything she could use to avoid being popped like a grape, but she barely had enough strength left to move her arms, let alone pry herself off the giantess’s embrace. Tears running down her face, Wess closed her eyes, not wanting her last memory in this life to be the dripping confines of someone else’s mouth, but nothing comforting came to mind. Bracing herself for a final push before her body popped, Wess cursed her cock for being erect in a situation like this, not only she’d die a miserable death, but she was getting off from it. Scarlett was jerking off to the delicious taste of her snack, furiously beating her meat with one hand while holding onto the sink to avoid sliding off the smaller than needed toilet seat. Curling her toes, Scarlett could feel the girl’s heads between them, desperately kicking and squirming with each squeeze. Reaching a rhythm, Scarlett was in pure bliss, never before she had felt such pleasure. A movement of her tongue, as squeeze of her feet and 3 lives would be snuffed out, she wasn’t just a giant to them, she was their god, their very existence depending on her whims. She was about to climax, a stream of cum bulding up, ready to erupt, but in the last second something threw her off the moment, a strange taste coming out of the morsel trapped withing her maw. Everything stopped for a moment, Scarlett’s hand still handling her dick, Liz and Vince finally catching a moment to breath as their heads weren’t being used as stress balls. It was a weird taste, salty and watery. At first Scarlett assumed Wess had blown her load, but it wasn’t possible that the sperm density of a futa, even with their current size, could be this thin. Moving her tongue around, she could feel Wess still moving, so it wasn’t blood either. When realization came, Scarlett’s face changed from pleasure to disgust, quickly turning around to the sink, lifting her feet off of Liz and Vince. Turning on the water and spitting out Wess. Wess limp body collapse in the bowl-shaped sink, sliding down until she stopped, the drain not large enough for her to pass through. The cold water helped her fight fatigue, and in a final effort Wess crawled to the side, getting out of the way right before Scarlett began chugging down until her mouth was full of water, then spitting it all out, trying to cleanse her palate. Breathing heavily, Wess tried to form words of apology, her voice dying in her throat before any audible sound could be made. “You’ve done it this time…”. Scarlett said after taking a deep breath, her crimson hair covering her face, her voice embedded in pure anger. “I’m tired of playing games”. Giant fingers grabbed Wess, clutching her tightly. “And I’m tired of your constant whining”. “NO WAIT!!” Liz exclaimed in a fit of compassion, but was all useless. Scarlett’s foot fell down on Vince as quickly as it had been lifted, the meteoric fall reducing the bunny girl to a bloody pulp. Liz froze in place, her arm still reaching out for where the white furred girl once stood. Although she was aware Vince was just another name in the long list of lives that Scarlett had ended that day, but actually seeing her reduce a person to mush, that was another thing entirely. For the first time, Liz had lost all hope of escaping. Scarlett could easily catch the mouse girl if she tried to make a run for it, and even if she miraculously managed to escape her captor, Liz had no idea where in the city she would find herself in. In a best-case scenario, she’d be naked, walking around a unknow place, trying to find someone who’d be willing to help her, all that while avoiding being caught by some deviant or being mistaken for a bug and ending up as a stain on the sidewalk. Scarlett twisted her foot, making sure Vince had been completely pulverized before lowering her free arm to grab Liz. Still in a trance, Liz was grabbed by the torso, giant fingers wrapping around her. Blinking back into reality, she found some comfort knowing Vince no longer suffer from her germaphobia, and that she met a swift and painless end, having your body mangled in a split second, before your brains could even register your fate, was certainly preferrable to their current predicament. Looking at Wess, she noticed the hyena was trashing about, Scarlett’s grip still carried pent up anger. Liz allowed a timid smile part her lips, at least Wess got the chance to get back at the giantess, even if pissing in her mouth was more of a reaction to fear than anything else. Scarlett released her grasp, the two girls lying motionless in each of her palms. “Liz, I know you can listen to me, and I also know you can still talk back”. Checking the bathroom window, Scarlett could see the first rays of sunlight creeping in, an she had to clean up her mess before Jim woke up to see their bedroom littered with crushed bodies of other tinies. “Back then I had a crush on you, guess I still have. The point is, you were my best friend, my ONLY friend. The truth is, I preferred you over Ji…” Scarlett stuttered, failing to complete the sentence. “You were my first passion, I’d do anything for you, but all you did was ignore me. I still remembered the day I gathered enough courage to ask you on a date in front of the whole class, and how you turned me down.” Scarlett felt tears forming under her eyes, but fought the repressed felling. “All I wanted was to be with you, both of us happy together. After that, as if the humiliation wasn’t enough, you disappeared soon after. You abandoned me, you left me to rot on with those bullies, you knew you were the only good thing in my life and yet you abandoned me!!”. Scarlett raised her voice, tears running down her face, repressed emotions taking over. “Fuck you Scarlett…” Liz gathered her remaining forces, standing up on the giantess’s hand, pointing her finger at the red vixen. “You were an obsessive creep! At first, I thought it was cute how you would wait for me in the bus stop, or how you’d ALWAYS offer to carry my stuff, but then you started to fucking stalk me! You’d send hundreds of messages every day! I couldn’t talk to anyone else at school because you’d be creeping around! I had my own life, my own friends, you were the one that couldn’t let go of me, so I thought turning you down would be the wakeup call you needed, but you just got worse after that, and now THIS?! Fuck you, you control freak! I thought you were just going after vengeance against some spoiled brats, but you’re still going about our non-existent love after all these years?!” Liz lashed out, her own emotions taking over. She didn’t care anymore if she lived or died, this whole thing had been fucked up enough for her, she was done playing the scared toy. “I see, so this is how you feel…” Scarlett whispered, disappointment and sadness in her voice, but she also felt relief, finally closing in this chapter of her life. “Guess this is where it all ends. I had hope that… whatever. Goodbye Liz…”. Scarlett closed her fist, squishing the person she had spent her youth obsessing about. Closing her eyes, Scarlett mentally erased her plans for their new life with Liz, this whole game being just an excuse to get her to submit to her love, but alas, it had failed. Squeezing with full strength, Scarlett felt the tiny girl pop, blood staining her fur and gushing from between her fingers. Without opening her eyes, Scarlett dropped the fleshy remains into the toiled, unceremoniously flushing it, then placed Wess, her new servant, on the floor before walking up to the sink to wash her hands. Scarlett could feel blood and viscera being peeled of her palm by the cold water, as well as the grunts of pain coming from Wess, who was now contorting on the ground bellow. “The shrinking drug I gave you must be wearing out, you’ll soon be back to your original size, though the dealer said loss of a couple inches was a possibility. It’ll be a painful transition; you might want to bite onto this” Scarlett threw a towel. “Take it easy now, I don’t need you adding to the mess I’ve made”. Wess had stopped growing, spitting out the now gnawed towel, reduced to shreds by the hyena’s powerful canines. She was now back to her 7,5 feet, standing taller than the vixen that not long ago could crush with ease. Her undercut hair, combined with a muscular frame gave Wess a tomboyish look, completed by the dark blue color which she used to dye her hair. With natural light brown skin and firm, balloon like tits, Scarlett almost envied her, but when she looked at Wess’s gun she knew she was the real winner. Packing meek 12 inches of cock and small breasts, Scarlett remained the alpha in the house. “So… what do I do now…goddess??”. Wess tried to flatter Scarlett, the truth being she craved some fucking and wasn’t sure how to ask for it. She did not expect Scarlett to push her against the wall, claws digging on her semi-erect dick, nor her inability to fight back against the smaller dickgirl. “Listen to me, small cock. Tell anyone anything about what happened today, I’ll shrink you back and you’ll wish you’d be in this bitch’s place”. Scarlett pointed at the mushed body of Vince. “From now on you work for me, you do everything I tell you to do. Anyone asks and you’re my new maid, get it?” Scarlett dug her claws deeper into Wess’s cock, causing visible pain to the other futa. “Yes yes! I get it, I’m your maid! Please boss, this hurts like hell!” Wess couldn’t believe the words she just spoke. Something in her was wrong, she wasn’t some weakass sub, she was the one impaling woman and man in cock, not the other way around, but she found it impossible to raise a finger against Scarlett. The vixen backed up, allowing Wess to take a hold of her member, Scarlet’s claws left a mark and almost drew blood. Looking around, the small bathroom was dirty with blood and cum, not to mention the stench of sweat. “Should I clean up all of this?” “Yes, make yourself useful for once. I’ll go clean the bedroom before my boyfriend wakes up. By the way, you smell like shit, after you fix this place go take a shower, and take off that stupid dye off your hair. No one will believe a punk like you to be a maid. When you’re done washing off your stench, I’ll have a set of clothes for you to wear, AND NO MASTURBATION IN THE SHOWER! Heated water isn’t cheap”. Scarlett left the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Wess took a moment to look at herself. She was now a slave for someone smaller than her, but the idea wasn’t entirely bad. The whole maid façade wasn’t too humiliating, and she couldn’t deny that she was getting off from it. Maybe with time she’d be allowed to have her own toys to play, this idea enticing her cock. But now wasn’t time to wonder about the future, she had a task to fulfill. After cleaning up the place, Wess hopped in the shower, spending the next 10 minutes removing Scarlett’s smell off of her fur. Using some shampoo, Wess removed the dye from her hair, the last trace of her previous personally being washed away, her hair going back to it’s natural dark brown, now she was truly Scarlett’s slave. Looking down, her mind drifted away as she slowly stroked her pink rod, but the moment was short-lived. Scarlett entered the room, panicking Wess who tried to hide her clearly visible woodie. The vixen was sporting green cargo pants and a tank top that barely managed to hold her DD’s. “H-HI BOSS! I WAS JUST ABOUT TO…” “Sure, you were. Here your clothes” Scarlett dropped a pair of jeans, sandals and a plain white shirt. She would have to make do with these until they found a proper suit for her to wear. Scarlett would have Wess walking around all naked, but Jim would probably not approve. Wess quickly dried herself, bending down to get her attire. She froze in place when Scarlett grabbed her hair and pulled her closer to the throbbing bulge in her pants. Falling forwards, Wess was on all fours, face rubbed against the bulge in Scarlett’s cargos. “Kiss your new God. Show me how much you love your new role.” Scarlett bit her lower lips, dominating Wess was so much better than playing dirty with Jim. This was the real deal, she had a real sized person workshopping her, someone she could fuck without having to worry if they’d pop the next time she blasted her seed inside them. With Wess, she’d never have to use a fleshlight ever again, neither get off of bed to take a piss during the night. She’d just slam Wess down her rod and let the girl take care of her needs. Wess was going all in, tongue sticking out, showing rocky colored teeth as she worked her mistress. “Can I get a taste, master?” Puppy eyed; Wess planted another kiss in Scarlett’s trousers. “Not now Wess. I’ll fuck you silly later, right now I have to take my boyfriend to the doctor, he’s got an appointment. Get dressed and make us breakfast, and keep that prick of yours within your pants, or I’ll chop it off myself.” Scarlett let go of her head, Wess looked disappointed that she’d spend the day without away from her cock, but the hyena was surprisingly obedient, jumping into her clothes, and making her way to the kitchen. Scarlett walked back to her room, being greeted by her lover who just had woken up. “Morning sunshine. Did you sleep well? Asked Jimmy, oblivious to what his girlfriend had been up to. “Sugar, you wouldn’t believe it” Scarlett chuckled, discreetly caressing her cock. “By the way, there’s someone you should meet. You’ll be seeing her around from now on, don’t worry though, I was very thorough when selecting her”

Diary Entry: Day 1 I finally begin my journey. Words can’t describe the excitement I’ve felt ever since my aptitude for the arcane was revealed, and how dull life was until I’ve aged enough to venture out into the vast world. Truth be told, the thought of leaving home and following my own path was a… tempting proposition, but I’m smart enough to know a village lad, barely able to lift a sword, wouldn’t make far into this world. Monsters roam about, and aside from the protection of human civilization, and every man for his own once you step into the wilds. My name is… irrelevant. A lad born in the middle of nowhere, who despite being granted the gift of magic, never could properly practice these arts, for the local folk would enter a scared frenzy, like animals who’ve never heard the sound of thunder, at mere sparks I conjured. Took me years to practice the most basic spells, but I have hope that now that I’m alone I’ll have plenty of time for such endeavors. I pack up my few, tattered books, the only possessions of value I own, take food and water for two days and leave this god forsaken mud pool of a place. I want more for my life than digging up turnips day after day, and if that means leaving behind these futureless people, so be it. Addendum: I might miss Sigismund, the only lad who didn’t mind me practicing magic. I own much of my current knowledge to him, and all those nights he allowed me to train in his backyard. Maybe one day out paths will cross, and I’ll be able to repay him for his help. Diary Entry: Day 2 Bloody hell, I knew travelling would be tiresome, but perhaps I should’ve prepared my body better. Last night I barely caught any sleep, spent most of the time practicing the Mage Light spell. At least now I’m confident in my skills to create floating bulbs of light, although they’re still too meek to float much far from me. My training in Transmutation is lackluster at best. When I finally decided I’ve had enough of those pesky mosquitos sucking my blood through any open spot in my robes, I tried using the Bark Hide spell, which was supposed to turn the surface of my skin into strong bark to protect me, but with my poor skills all it did was irritate my flesh, and now I’m covered in sores. Without the Bark Skin I’m seriously exposed in any fight, learning proper Transmutation is a priority. It’s nightfall, and my body can no longer move on. I prepare a campfire, quickly lighting it up with some flames I conjure. I’m running out of food and drinkable water, hopefully I’ll catch some small game tomorrow, and it seems like it’s going to rain so I should be able to restock water. I don’t bother with magic training, dampening my mana would be stupid now that my body can no longer be useful in combat. With the cold breeze gusting my hair, I shall fall asleep in no time. Diary Entry: Day 4 I’m tired. Tired beyond what I thought was humanly possible. Turns out aiming sparks at moving targets is harder than it seems, so I failed to catch any food (I swear those hares were laughing at me). The rain water messed up my guts, and I didn’t bring a Marigold Decoction with me, that would certainly ease the pain. I’ve finally left the muddy area, and now an extensive plain is in front of me. There should be a human city a few days from here, but as things are going, I’ll need to find somewhere else to go to meanwhile, otherwise my adventure will end before it even starts. With a grunt of pain, I push myself forwards. Diary Entry: Day 5 I’ve found a cave. Well, not a cave exactly, more like a hole in the side of a giant boulder. It seems someone made a sort of temple in here, there’s big pots and copper ornaments scattered all around, not to mention dried food perhaps left as offerings. I’m not a man to follow any deity, but gobbling up someone else’s stuff is an easy way to get in trouble, and I want none of that. I’ll take a nap and wait to see if someone will show up, maybe then I’ll convince them to share some food. I write this passage in the dark. I fucked up, BIG TIME. This is no temple or altar, it’s a god forsaken Oni’s hideout. I could hear the hulking beast’s footsteps from afar and assessed I’d have no time to run away, so I grabbed my stuff and hid myself inside one of the big pots laying around. I’m not a monster expert, but if there’s something I know about Oni’s is that they’re huge, stronger than 20 trained soldiers, and their skin acts as natural armor. I dared not to exit my hiding hole but from the sounds I heard it seems my captor is in fact a she so… lucky me?? That thing… her?... doesn’t matter, IT appears to have returned from hunting prey, as I heard the screams of wild boars earlier. She also laid something really heavy right next to me, and I can only assume it’s more loot she collected from somewhere. My Mage Light allows me to see slightly in the dark, enough to write this, but I dare not allow her to spot me. I’m NOT ready to face such a foe. I’ll try to escape once she leaves. “I think she’s gone”. As I step out of the pot I’ve been hiding into for hours, I can see the faint light of dawn shinning into the cave. My legs are numb. But as blood starts to pump into them, I take my leave. Turns out the object the Oni had laid next to me was her Kanabo, a gigantic club with rounded bulbs on its tip. I’m an averaged sized man, and that weapon was three times my size, so it’s easy to imagine how big it’s owner could be. My escape is short lived though, as immediately as I sprint outside, the giant beast is waiting for me, cooking what appears to be the boars from earlier. I freeze in place, the size difference being too much to process. I’m barely six feet tall, yet the giant creature in front of me could easily be around 30, maybe 31 feet. As my muscles stop in place, I take a good look at what might be my impending death. Her skin was of an orange tone, her braided hair falling all the way back to her lower back, a deep wine color ending in jagged, silver tips. Her athletic body with finely defined muscles didn’t leave much to the imagination, as her only clothes were some tattered cloth that might once belonged to some small church, judging by the weather damaged inscriptions. Such fine craftsmanship now served as rags to cover her considerable bust and round rump, more as a way to protect against the weather than for any fashionable reason. Crudely bended metals adorned her wrists and ankles. She takes notice of me, dark eyes with golden irises watching me, examining me. Before I can do anything, she slides sidesways, revealing the torn-out trunk of a tree she was using as a bench, of which I had not taken notice, the entire thing vanishing under her booty. The first rays of sunshine wash over both of us, cold sweat dripping down my temples. ” Sit”. She commands, pointing a dagger sharp nail to the space she just opened. I comply, not wanting to make her angry. The thought of escaping seemed idiotic, even if I gave my best and ran like a crazy man, all it would take her would be a few steps and I’d be dead meat. She could crush me with a single step, or kick my back with enough force to blow me to bits before I could do anything to her. Hell, my best offensive spell are sparks, the best I could hope for would be to tickle her soles while she pounds me into the ground. I coyly walk my way next to her, failing twice to climb up the trunk she so easily ripped off the earth. I dare not look into her eyes, but I know she’s watching me, with an almost childlike interest, as if I was some lost pup. Silence reigns for a moment, tears forming in my eyes as I say goodbye to my dreams of adventure, maybe the best I could hope for would be pleasing her so she’d keep me as a pet. I throw a shy look at her feet, her nails sharp as swords and soles big enough to crush an adult human. There was something strange about the situation, an unease of being powerless. It’s one thing to hear about giant monsters, another entirely different one is sitting right next to one. I finally gather courage to look at her, but as I do so I’m immediately greeted with a front row view of the underside of her bust, two mounds of flesh bigger than myself. I shy away from her, my face red as a tomato, it’s true I never had any… lady companionship, and the sudden change of lifestyle definitely didn’t help. She seemed to notice my unease, lowering her hand closer to me. She stroked my head as if petting a dog, but with enough force to pull my skull backwards with each stroke, perhaps she’s not used to be so gentle with normal sized people. Even though her…affection…was rough, I didn’t risk moving away, spear like fingernails so close to your head will do that. She suddenly stops petting me, moving her attention to the boars roasting in a crudely made bonfire, the animals impaled with wooden sticks. Stretching her arm, she quickly closes the sizable gap (at least for someone my size), taking hold of the boar’s now roasted right legs, and with a swift move she rips them out, some blood splattering on the ground bellow. She extends one roasted leg to me, gently holding it between two fingers. My hunger was immense, and I gladly accept her gift. And so, we silently ate together, or at least tried to. She was enormous, throwing entire pieces of meat into her mouth (which was surprisingly human upon close inspection) not caring for the presence of bones or tendons. She’d chew through anything and everything, while I barely could go through that single piece of meat. Once we’re done, her attention goes back to me, and I once again feel that deep inner fear, my eyes dropping to the ground as to avoid direct contact. I knew she wouldn’t hurt me, at least not purposely, if she wanted me dead, I’d already be a stain beneath her foot. She lowers herself, getting closer to me, slowly approaching, fingernails extended right at me. She pokes my shoulder, a flash of pain running through me as my sores from days ago once again begin to act. My reflex is to grab onto her giant finger, the pain becoming increasingly unsufferable. She lifts me up, and I’m suddenly on eye level with her, dangling from her finger. Scooping me into her palm, I get a close view of her face, and she’s stunning., her eyes, nose and mouth are all beautiful. With her free hand, she pins my robes between her fingers and pulls, seemingly trying to undress me. I try to fight back, but she gives me a mean look, like a mother scolding her children, and I begin to undress myself before she literally rips my robes from me. A worried gap escapes her lips when she sees the sores over my naked body, while I cover my genitals in shame. Before I can say anything, her hand closes, trapping me in her grasp, all I can hear are her footsteps as she heads towards her lair. I’m suddenly dropped into a piece of fabric covering the rocky floor, and quickly turn around to find my giant friend crouching near me, reaching for a pot full of something viscous and smelly. She sinks two fingers into the pot, a slimy green pasty mass coming out of it. She reaches for me with the unknown substance, and I coil back, uselessly charging some sparks to defend myself. “This. Heal.” She spoke, probing the viscous substance closer. “You. Heal. This”. Reluctantly I let her put the goo on my sored body, a refreshing sensation suddenly quacking in. She seems to notice my relief, and gently smiles at me. “You. Fancy. Boom”. I try to understand what she means, but her knowledge of common speak is jarring. She repeats herself, gesticulating some sort of explosion at the end and pointing at my robes still in her hand. I finally understand what she meant. “Fancy…Boom…You mean a wizard?”. My words seem lost at her, so I try a more direct approach, casting the Mage Light spell. To my surprise, she jumps back and as my light bulbs start to float around, a happy smile forming in her stoic face. “Yes, yes, I’m a wizard”. She doesn’t seem to notice me, clapping her hands in a cheerful manner, fascinated by such a simple spell. “You sure have a lot of… fancy things here… do you have anything… magical?” “Boom!”. She screams, startling me, then goes to what appears to be a giant bed made of stone, surrounded with most of her loot (probably her “throne room”). She searches through her stuff, throwing to the side all kinds of trinkets she crafted form raw material. When she finds what she wants, the giant returns to me, extending a thick book that barely covered her palm. “Words! Koki no good words! You good words! Say words to Koki”. I guess she wants me to read to her. Diary Entry: Day 9 The Oni girl named Koki and I have grown quite… attached. She showers me with gifts, although most is worthless junk, hunts for food and takes care, uhm…insists on sleeping together at night. The book she gave to me is not some worthless thing though, it’s a Grimoire, a must have for any novice mage! With this I might be able to finally have proper arcane guidance! Koki seems to like watching me practice magic and is eager to listen to me recite the book aloud, although I doubt she understands a word of what it says. I usually read it to her before we go to sleep, and I admit there’s some joy to be had making her happy, especially the pros of doing so. There’s something… exciting about being so close to someone her size, the warmth of her body, the reassurance of having her watching over me went we go trail the plains. I’m still a bit scared of her, especially if she wants something really bad. Last night I was tired and wanted to go to bed (cozily snuggling on Koki) but she insisted I read for her. Safe to say, after the look she gave me and how she pulverized a nearby pot with her Kanabo I’m not saying no to her any time soon. Diary Entry: Day 14 I’m done babysitting. Koki might have the best of intentions, but reading to a creature with the intellect of a toddler is driving me crazy. What’s the point in doing this anyway? I’m exhausted, yet she insists I read her words she cannot possibly comprehend! She can barely speak Common, so her tantrums are becoming more and more reoccurring. I have to find a way to teach her how to properly speak, luckily enough the Grimoire might have a solution. Conventional methods might take forever, so I’ll just cram knowledge into that thick skull of hers. My control over Illusion magic has improved considerably, and if I manage to reverse the Thought Steal spell, maybe I can insert things into her head. Diary Entry: Day 17 Last two days I’ve been working on reversing the Thought Steal spell, and I finally tried it out. I faked falling asleep, waiting for Koki to do the same. I was going to mess with her head, so I concluded that a…unwilling subject… would be better off sedated, and Koki is a heavy sleeper. While the process of insertion was a success, I ended up seeing some of her me memories as well. The next passages are descriptions of my experience inside Koki’s mind. I awaken (in the metaphorical sense) as Koki. Takes me little time to understand I’ll have no control over these memories, as such events already happened. I’m basically Koki’s eyes and ears now. She’s charging through what seems like a forest, brushing aside huge trees as she makes her way, chasing something. The feeling is… alien. I can’t shake off the idea this isn’t my body, my real body. Koki’s steps are heavy, sundering the ground bellow with each movement, and her view of the world, right about the top of the trees, is truly breath taken. The sun is slowly descending into the horizon, birds taking flight as Koki carelessly destroys her away across the woods. Being in someone else’s body is truly a disbalancing experience, everything is either too small, or in this case, too big. Her breasts bounce slightly, being held in place by the tattered clothes her kind seems to use. Her eyes lock on whatever she’s been hunting. Heart rate going up, her lungs inflating and deflating, I can feel her exhaustion, whatever she’s been hunting, the chase has definitely crossed a large distance. As Koki’s sight gains focus, I can distinctly see brigands riding horses, their miss matched pieces of armor and overall dirtiness giving away that they’re no knight in shiny armor. Occasionally, they’d turn around to look at their pursuer, incoherently shouting something to each other. There’s around six of them, and from Koki’s perspective, her acute sense of smell catches something I never thought could be experienced, the smell of fear. The chase continues for a little longer, but Koki quickly gains on them, and with a powerful jump she lunges in their path, her feet sinking deeply into the ground, the earth shattering around her. The desperate horses knock down their riders, galloping away in primal fear. Koki pays no mind to the animals though, her eyes locked on the humans, desperately trying to get on their feet. A man twice my size tries to attack Koki, charging at her feet with a large, spiked mace, as his mates still attempt to unsheathe their own weapons in a panic. Koki doesn’t even feel the man’s tremendous effort to hurt her, they’re all bugs to her. She punches the ground, causing another minor earthquake, once again taking off the footing of those poor people. She begins collecting the fallen warriors, tossing them inside a leather bag strapped around her left side. They protest, punching and stabbing Koki’s hands, but I know she’s not feeling anything, her skin is too tough. She takes her time, disarming every single one of them, stripping them off their armor and clothes. Most of the brigands are man, but a single woman calls Koki’s attention, kicking and struggling to escape the giant’s grasp. The brigand had several battle scars over her body, and her if not for her sizable tits, her short cropped, dark hair would be enough for her to pass as a man. Koki runs her fingers along the woman’s body, squeezing it as if testing the quality of a vegetable in the market. I can feel Koki’s giant fingers raping the woman, pressing her breast to the point it should really hurt, or squeezing her butt until I could swear she’d have broken some bones. Once satisfied, I’m surprised again, as instead of putting her with all the other captives, the Oni tosses the woman into her mouth, landing the tiny underneath her tongue, teeth and lips closing into a happy, childish smile. Koki turned around, a strange tingling coming from beneath her feet. Lifting her leg, it’s revealed that the origin of the strange sensation was the warrior from earlier, his lower body now completely trampled, blood gushing out of the exposed wounds. The guy had the misfortune of being too close to Koki, and had no time to react when her foot came crashing down upon him. Still, the fact that it took this long for her to realize she had steeped on someone was frightening, I couldn’t help but to think of myself in this situation, what if it was me, stuck at the bottom of her sole, bleeding out in excruciating agony, my only hope being Koki to notice me and put an end to my suffering. I could feel the faint movements of the crushed man, his desperate attempt to separate himself from the sole of the giantess. Koki paid him little mind, curling her toes until they wrapped around his head, progressively increasing the pressure until his skull popped like a grape, blood and brain matter oozing out, coating the in-between of Koki’s fingers into a reddish mess. She scraped her dirty feet on the broken, rocky ground, a straight blood stain left of what once was a human, before taking a sharp turn and sprinting away. The woman was still moving inside her mouth, Koki’s tongue assaulting her naked body, treating her like a piece of candy, eager to take away all the flavor out of the tiny. I noticed when Koki tried to force the tip of her tongue inside the woman’s mouth, as if she wanted to French kiss her, but stopped doing so when she felt like she’d pop off her candy’s jaw, and much easily split her head in two. She kept savoring her though, occasionally slamming her on the mouth’s roof, pressing the tiny against the squishy wall until the salty taste of tears started to come out, but Koki’s favorite way of sampling her food was to let saliva fill her mouth, then sink the woman deep down, drowning her in spit, lifting her back up right before she lost conscience and then give her another dive in that viscous white sea. Some time passes, the memory becoming too fragmented and distant from me to properly read, not to mention my quickly diminishing mana. It’s a daze of flashy strobes, sensations and movement, almost too much to handle, as I feel I’m about to lose myself in the maelstrom of emotions, I focus on the ever-constant woman thrashing around inside Koki’s maw. Did much time pass? I couldn’t tell, although the sun was setting, that alone wouldn’t be enough for a decisive answer, Koki might’ve been on the run for only god knows how long. The brigand’s movements become weak no more a struggle for survival but a mere faint sound to let Koki know she was still alive, moans and regurgitated saliva mixing together in a grotesque melody, a result of what may have been gallons of ingested spit. So much power, so much dominance over someone else’s life, the idea that all it would take to end that woman’s flame was a slight tilt of Koki’s head, a gulp, and she’d be gone from the face of the earth. Would she asphyxiate or drown in bile? Or would she last enough for a painful fate, digested into nothingness, broken down and absorbed. Would an entire human even make a difference in Koki’s figure, even the most insignificant ounce of fat? Huh, what a funny thing, one day you’re riding with brigands, the other you’re a layer of fat on someone else’s butt…or would it be Koki’s tits? Regardless, my attention shifts to the blurred images in front of Koki, disjointed memories I can barely make sense of. Lights, bonfires, other monsters of different sizes and shapes, all fogged by Koki’s subpar mind and, for the sake of some modesty, my own lack of skill into the whole mind read ordeal. I try to make sense out of the few pieces of unpolluted memory left but nothing concise or of interest comes to surface, until I hit a moment of clarity. For whatever reason, Koki had one perfectly preserved memory of a large throne, almost twice her size, decorated top to bottom in ritualistic symbols I can only assume to be of tribal magic, much ancient and more powerful than anything I’ve attempted so far. The throne was carved from a red, hardened rock, the likes of which are expelled into the skies when a volcano erupts, decorated in cloths and other jewelry I care not to focus on, for such is not my interest. The thing REEKS of magic, to an almost hypnotic level, my utter attention brought to it. If I could get my hands on such an object, the possibilities of what I could learn would be endless, considerably speeding up my growth as a mage, for I don’t intend to waste my youth surrounded by books, climbing my way on a slug paced rate. My deliriums of greatness are cut short, a tall figured emerging from behind Koki, large hands falling on her shoulder, but with a soft, motherly touch to them. I can’t figure out the face of this colossus of creature, only that it’s considerably bigger than Koki. “Did you…. The…. festival” It speaks, but I can hardly discern the words, spoken in the crude Oni language that I now am capable of understanding. Koki responded by showing of the still living man she’d captured, and the motionless body of the woman, lying unconscious on Koki’s extended tongue, hot breath washing over the mess that was once a person. As my mana dwindles, I’m forced to exit the spell, returning to the awakened world. Koki is still sleeping, her chest going up and down with the rhythm of her breathing, my back against her bare skin, her bellybutton above my head. The chilly wind of night gushes over my now tired frame, forcing me to seek warmth in Koki. As I get closer to her, I can’t help myself, hugging her with all my strength, barely able to sink myself in her skin before powerful muscles push me back. She seems to notice me, lowering a hand to gently press me against herself, her palm working as a blanket protecting me from the cold. I don’t know why she cares so much about my wellbeing, but for now I depend on her, for only she can bring me to wherever that throne was. Hopefully she’ll be willing to help me, otherwise I’ll have met a dead end. My body relaxes and I fall asleep, my breath slowly matching hers in rhythm. Note: Am I beginning to have…feelings…for Koki? No, of course not, she’s a monster and I’m a human, this would be…wrong? And even if it was the case, how would we even…err, such thoughts always made me feel awkward. I’ll just have to wait and see…dating an Oni, what pa would say about this? Probably get envious……. She’s pretty though.

Asuka slowly pushed herself out of bed, her muscles still stiff from yesterday’s training. Waking up before sunrise had become routine, and each movement made Asuka’s joints crackle. Now 18 years old, she had defeated countless Angels, honing her skills, body and mind. However, no amount of personal gain was ever enough, she always felt like her partner Shinji was one step ahead of her. Back when they first met, the gap in skill between them was notorious, but as time went on Shinji improved tremendously, while Asuka’s mental health deteriorated, and so did her command over the Unit. She was now relegated to minor, low risk missions, while Shinji had become leader of his own squad. The walk towards the kitchen was almost instinctive, the small three-room apartment Asuka now called home was another reminder of her shortcomings. While Shinji and the others became notorious figures, the auburn-haired woman faded into irrelevance. What she found more insulting was how they treated her, the same way they did 4 years back, as if nothing had happened, as if all was rainbows and sunshine. It had been months since the last time she spoke to Shinji, but calling that a conversation would be a stretch. Their relationship had grown cold, the innumerous turbulences of the past, uncountable regrets, had created a chasm none dared to cross. Shinji moved away, avoiding contact with her whenever possible, and lying through his teeth whenever they were forced into the same room. Adjusting her hair, Asuka stood naked in front of the kitchens broken mirror, shattered by her fist when she vented her anger the night before, dry blood still clinging to the glass. Caressing her curious frame, she touched herself in front of her disfigure reflection, muffled moans echoing through the room. With one hand she worked her sex, fingers skillfully reaching into her sensitive spots, gaining momentum as she used her free hand to stimulate her D-cups. She stayed there, seconds felling like an eternity, building up rhythm, fingers sliding in and our as juices started to pour out of her pussy. Moans turned into animalistic grunts, fingering herself with fervor, her nails digging deep into soft flesh, faint smell of blood mixing with her own fluids that dripped down her legs into the cold floor. “Shinji...”. She stopped, her masturbation gradually turning into an access of rage. Knees dropping and body going limp, Asuka fell static to the floor, her limbs spread as small convulsions rushed through her lower torso, as if her own body continue to masturbate even though she no longer touched it. “I want you…always wanted you…”. There she remained for several minutes, looking at the emptiness of the white ceiling, small particles of sweat forming over her, eyes fixated, hair undone and spread, collecting dust and crumbs from whatever she had eaten recently. She was a mess, her fall from grace made reality. Curling into a ball, Asuka sobbed while cursing all starts for her fate, a twisted smile of sadness and vile, the kind only a broken person can have. More time passes and she slowly regains control over her body, thumbling her way back up. “But it’s okay, I’ve got a plan to fix everything. I’ll make everything as it should be, as it should always have been…”. Asuka decisively walked up to the fridge, taking a large, glassy bottle filled with a strange red liquid. As she removed the lid made of same material as the bottle, a virulent smell filled the room, nauseating and powerful. Asuka didn’t mind it, bringing the putrid stuff to her lips, parting them as the disgusting ambrosia descended into her mouth, entering her esophagus until finally reaching her stomach. As soon as the bottle became empty, Asuka threw it against the wall, shattering into thousands of pieces. “Shinji… I do this for you, for us. I won’t let you go away. You’ll be mine and no one else. I’ll own you…protect you…I’m your ANGEL” “Urhg…my head…”. Shinji complained, feeling a skull cracking pain his vision blurry. He didn’t recognize where he was, or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was going on about his business, like any ordinary day. It was late at night and he was making his way back home when suddenly he heard a voice behind him and everything went black. Looking around, Shinji distinguished he was in a room but not HIS room. Laying in a doubled sized bed, he tried to get up, but was held in place by shackles locking his arms to the bed frame. He still had his clothes on, so at least he hadn’t been violated…yet. The room had very dim light, and discerning the furniture only made his headache worse. Before he could cry for help, a shady figure emerged from the dark corner of the room. Shinji sunk into the bed, fear taking over him. Asuka stood in front of him, naked, slowly reaching her hands towards his legs. He always knew she was kind of crazy, just not enough to kidnap someone. He thought about screaming but somehow Shinji knew it would only make things worse, allowing her to silently get closer, removing his shoes and socks, climbing on top of him. While Asuka matured and blossomed, Shinji barely gained any muscle or height, standing slightly lower than his captor. He looked deep into Asuka’s eyes, an aura of madness emanating from her gaze. Her breasts had developed a lot in the last 4 years, covering the distance between them. “Like what you see?” She teased, gently pressing her tits against his torso. “Do you want to taste them?”. Asuka got closer, whispering into his ears. “Are you hungry, Shinji? Because I am. Would you let me eat you?”. She licked his face, caressing his hair. “It doesn’t matter what you want though…I’m taking control now…just be a good boy and do as your told”. She got off of him, unlocking the shackles. “Now undress” “Like hell I will, you crazy bitch!!”. Shinji leaped off bed, getting close to Asuka before he threw a punch at her. He wouldn’t hit a woman, but this situation was way out of the ordinary. His effort was futile, Asuka easily catching his fist midair, throwing him back to where he came. She bolted towards him, hitting him in the stomach with one hand, then quickly lifting him off the ground with the other, holding the injured man by the throat. “Now THAT is how you throw a punch, pipsqueak!” She said, her voice strangely distorted, grinning in satisfaction. She punched him one more time, completely removing the air inside his lungs before slamming him face first into the floor. “Now, will you be a good boy, and do as you are told, or should I punish you more?” “Stop… I’ll do as you say, just don’t hurt me…” “Then get naked already!!!” Shinji obeyed, taking off his clothes before Asuka gave him another beating with that inhumane force she somehow had. “Looking like a whole fucking meal now! Hands behind your back, NOW!”. She ordered, and he obeyed. “We can chat later, I’ll eat my food now, baby dick”. Asuka grabbed his head, shoving it into her mouth, jaws opening apart so Shinji’s skull would fit. Everything happened so fast, Shinji didn’t have time to think, Asuka tilted her head back, lifting Shinji’s whole body. Now helped by gravity, Shinji descended quickly down Asuka’s throat, his shoulders getting stuck at her lips, but those would soon stretch even further to allow the food to pass. Not believing what had just happened, Shinji tried to fight, kicking and screaming desperately attempting to fight the immense force pushing him downwards, but each movement he made only caused his body to fall further and further. A final muffled scream escaped Asuka’s mouth when Shinji’s entire torso got swallowed up, his legs sticking out, but their fight weakening. Deep inside Asuka’s body, Shinji had entered her stomach, his naked body bathed in saliva and mucus. Blinking frenetically, Shinji couldn’t believe this was real, repeating to himself that it could only be a bad dream. Asuka laid in her bed, savoring Shinji’s crotch before the inevitable. She took special care to suck his dick off just enough to cause some precum to come out, before swallowing everything that was left of him in one swift and strong GULP. Her belly was now huge with Shinji trashing around still trying to put up a fight. His puny punches and quicks tickled her at best. Once her jaw was back in place, Asuka used her powers to command her stomach to close around Shinji, forcing him to curl into a ball so he would not be crushed, the stomach walls now sturdy as steel. “If I had known Angel blood allowed people to do this, I would have tried it years ago. Oh well, at least we both get to enjoy it, right scrub?” She teased, slapping enlarged belly with gusto, tiny waves rippling through her skin. “What the fuck is this?!? Get me out of here!! What’s wrong with you?!!?” Shinji screamed, his voice barely audible, muffled by the walls of flesh surrounding him. Suddenly, the little air he had was sucked out, and the walls around him caved in just enough to make it painful to stay in the fetal position. “Shut up, limp dick. Food doesn’t have the right to talk, plus I didn’t hear you complain about the blowjob I’d given you just now.” She joked, crackling a distorted laugh.” It doesn’t need to be bad though. If you behave, I can make it a pleasurable experience, my little doll”. Asuka tenderly caressed her belly, as if calming a child. “But if you want to play rough, I’m happy to teach you a lesson about respecting your mistress. You might have noticed I can tighten your little cage whenever I want… and breathable air is a privilege”. She taunted, knowing Shinji was struggling to remain conscious. “But since this is just the beginning of our bonding, I’ll give you a vote of confidence”. With a devious smile Asuka relaxed her belly, easing the pressure on Shinji as well as allowing airflow to return. “There, there. Much better now, right?” “Asuka…am I going to die?” “Not if you behave. I’ll let you out when I believe we’re truly bonded. Until then, get used to your new room, hope you don’t mind the warmth”. She laughed. “By the way, I want to practice my dance do you want to tag along?”. A low pitched gurgled emanated from the bulge that was Shinji. “I’ll take that as a yes” Asuka stood up, a slight difficulty to rebalance her movements to the new mass that constantly pulled her forwards. She got dressed, using the same red jumpsuit she’d use all those years ago, the front zipper barely making it through the large bump on her gullet. Technology had advanced in the last years and now pilots could simulate fighting Angels from the comfort of their homes, the idea being that a friendly environment would improve their performance in battle. Putting on a VR set, that was comprised of head gear, special gloves and motion sensors, Asuka was ready to give her best. “Shinji”. Asuka spoke softly, laying both her hands over the elongated belly. “This is important to me…to us. I know everything is happening so fast, but please do your best. The sooner we sync, the sooner you’ll get to see sunlight. So be a good doll and dance with me”. Asuka closed her eyes, a simulation of an Angel attack playing for only her to see. Controlling her old mech, Asuka began her performance Shinji’s mind connected from within her belly. At first their movements were jagged and rough, Shinji fough her at every moment out of spite but Asuka wouldn’t allow that. Her first instinct was to compress him until he submitted, but maybe another approach would be more productive. Taking a deep breath, Asuka let loose her muscle mass increasing the space available for Shinji. He could now more comfortably move around, brushing his sore body, drenched in strange juices that oozed from the fleshy walls. Shinji thought about making a run for it forcing his way up to Asuka’s mouth then breaking free, but a distinct aroma started to fill the enclosed space. His body started to tingle, and he noticed the pain he was feeling began to subside, substituted by an intense arousal. Shinji covered his mouth with both hands, but it was too late, his dick twitching between his legs, the temptation too great to resist any longer. Slowly lowering his hands, Shinji began to masturbate, each stroke making ripples through wetness surrounding him. Asuka could feel it with each pump of Shinji’s cock he lost control over himself, a slow but steady increase in the “dance” performance. She abruptly shifted her wight to allow better movement, rocking the stuffed gut hard enough to cause Shinji to do a complete 360, a bath of stomach fluids washing over him, the intoxicating air filling his lungs. Their shared minds made it possible for Asuka to experience what Shinji was feeling her own legs dripping, clear lines starting from her snatch and ending on the floor, staining the red suit with her love. She wanted to get off, but that’s what being the master meant, sometimes you need to make sacrifices in order to properly train your dolls. In the simulation her movements became fruit as clear water, they were almost perfectly connected. Shinji had completely submitted, he no longer fought Asuka, letting her use his brain as she chooses. His masturbation became ferocious, leaning into the walls, his face sticking to them, coyly licking off whatever dripped down. It was warm and wet, his legs extended towards the inside of Asuka’s body. What if he kicked her by accident? Would it hurt her organs? Will she know when he ejaculated? Those questions barely registered as Shinji came to a climax, his whole body becoming stiff, forcing his face against flesh, to the point where Asuka could see his silhouette forming on the outside skin. He moaned her name, caving in to her control as a string of cum splashed in front of him, his legs giving up losing balance and rolling around the dark cavity, his own load mixing with the liquids, bathing his naked body. He was still rock hard, and the hormones in the air gave him extreme vigor, stroking his dick once again with even more fervor, breathing becoming erratic as Shinji tried to inhale as much as he could. “YES!”. Asuka shouted, their sync complete. With incredible skill she easily dodge all incoming attacks from the simulated Angel, taking her time to dismember it limb by limb before lopping off it’s head. She removed the VR gear, tossing it aside before literally ripping off her suit, crashing with her back against the ground. “You don’t get to enjoy yourself alone…” Asuka purred, her belly wabbling as Shinji stroke his rod inside, a stronger shake happening whenever he came. Fingering her own sex, tears of joy ran down Asuka’s face, a sinfully smiling to herself. “Tell me Shinji, what are you?” She told on a metallic voice, contracting her stomach, making it too cramped for him to masturbate. “No, please…I…I need to…” Shinji whimpered, his hands stuck on his sides, his cock centimeters out of his reach. “What are you, little man?” She asked again, this time her voice had a dominant tone to it. “I’m yours…I’m your…DOLL” “And what should I do with my doll? Will you be good?” “YES! PLEASE, LET ME WORKSHIP YOU! I’VE NEVER FELT LIKE THIS!!LET ME MASTURBATE TO YOU! I’M SORRY FOR BENG RUDE TO YOU, OR TO LEAVING YOU BEHIND”. Shinji was in tears, his boner was starting to hurt, and he felt as if he didn’t cum soon his balls would literally explode. “Apology accepted” Asuka relaxed, dilatating her stomach, Shinji quickly getting back toa action. Unlike her toy, Asuka knew how to hide her eagerness, her pussy gushing out as she rammed in all her 4 fingers into it, her breathing hurting as she tried to hide her own pleasure, electricity running down her spine with each thrust. It doesn’t befit a mistress to show weakness to a servant. And that’s what Shinji was, a servant, a slave to her body, her little doll. She would use and abuse him, and all his melted brain could do would be to submit. And if he ever tried to fight her, she could easily deck him. “I had planned to let you out in a day or to, that is if you were a good boy. Otherwise, I would have to digest you, can’t leave loose ends…” She chuckled.” But now I’m not sure th you ever want to live. What number are you now? 5, maybe it’s the 6 time you busted a load inside me? How pathetic!” She laughed, but Shinji didn’t care, covered in cum and bile all he could think was the next time his body would become stiff and his cock would feel relive.” At this rate I’ll have to let you out soon, otherwise you’ll masturbate yourself to death! And v can’t allow that, not when I have so many things in mind”. Asuka didn’t care to clean the mess she’d made, simply wiping her pussy with a piece of her suit before going back to bed. As she laid there, Shinji was still active and that started to annoy her.” Play time’s over”. At her command, the walls around Shinji closed in, and the hair returned to normal. He tried to protest, but as soon as he was curled into a fetus exhaustion came. So much masturbation had left him with no energy to move, and with no alternative all he could do was close his eyes and await whatever Asuka had in store. “Sleep well, doll. You’re gonna need a lot of energy to satisfy me tomorrow”. Asuka looked over her breasts, the large lump that was Shinji was still a strange sight, but she would need to get used to it from now on. She wanted to explore more of her new abilities but for now having Shinji as food would need to suffice. With a satisfied breath, Asuka fell asleep, the occasional movement coming from her stomach made for a delightful reminder of what she was capable off. “Guess It’s time I let you out, been two days now”. Her legs spread, Asuka stood on the bathroom shower, warm water pouring down her head and back, her hands pulling apart her buttcheecks.” Damn it, why is it so hard to get you out...the way in was much easier”. She groaned, making force as if to push a massive dump. Shinji had been moved through the intestines and was soon to be shat out. “I guess you’re soon to be a piece of shit…how fitting”. Breathing heavily, she pushed him further, feeling his head entering her rectum. “Fuck, this is tough! I’m glad you have short shoulders”. She could feel him poking on the inside of her ass. “One…final…PUSH!!”. She struggled to force him out, at first all it came was his head, sticking out of her ass like a tail. She’d have laughed or taken a photo if her legs weren’t shaking so much, but as soon as his shoulders made through the rest of him launched out easily enough. A yellow slime covered Shinji head to toe, entering every orifice, a strong stench emanating. His cock had gone flaccid, and his eyes were dazed, avoiding the bathroom lights after so much time in the dark”. Asuka turned around, letting the water calm her legs and wash away any residues of her “birthing”. “Can you speak, or did your brains turn to shit too?” “I…yes mistress.” “Good, cause I’m not touching you. You smell like a sewer rat, and look like one took”. She steeped out of the shower, grabbing a towel to dry herself. “You have two minutes to take a bath and fix yourself, then drag that skinny ass to the kitchen, I don’t want you starving. Then I’ll see what to do with you, god knows I’ll need some time to mentally prepare before v try shitting you out…” She took her leave without taking another look at Shinji”. He sat there, legs spread on the shower floor, water running through him, its warmth reminding him of the place he just had been, literally shit out of. It was a strange feeling but somehow, he felt like he belonged to her, as if she was his rightful master, sort of a divine intervention. Building up strength, Shinji stood up and began to wash away the stench and grime attached to his skin, the refreshing sensation of running water breathing new life on his tired form. As he stepped out the shower, Shinji silently waved goodbye to his old, normal life, and embraced the weird depravities that awaited his as Asuka’s doll.

It was sunset and Sayori and Monika went back home with Yuri and Natsuki being left behind. Yuri was sitting on a chair and Natsuki was about to leave. "Wait, Natsuki!" Yuri calls out "Huh? What is it?" Natsuki looks back "There's something I wanna talk about." Yuri replied, but for some reason she was blushing, which resulted Natsuki to blush with her. "W-What? Say it already." Natsuki says "You see, I decided to take a peek at your manga collection to see what you have and one of them stood out to me... it was about a girl. A girl who can swallow people whole." Yuri responds Natsuki was in shock. She didn't expect one of her fellow club members to find out about what Natsuki's into. You see, Natsuki likes vore. The concept of eating people whole and digesting them seemed too cute for Natsuki. But of course, she didn't wanna admit that out loud. Instead, she blurted out: "Huh!? D-Don't get the wrong idea! I'm not into that!" The classroom was filled with silence and Natsuki expected Yuri to just forget about it and leave. However, what Yuri said completely threw her away. "Do you think you can... eat me?" Did... did Yuri just say that? Did she really want Natsuki, someone who's shorter than her, to eat her? Alive? And possibly digest her? "S-Say that again?" Natsuki asks "Natsuki, can you eat me?" No, she didn't imagine it. She DID say that! "W-W-What!? Yuri, what's gotten into you!? Don't say stuff like that! Jeez..." Natsuki says out of embarrassment As if to try and reassure her, Yuri stands up and puts a hand on her shoulder "Listen, I know it's weird but... I also like the idea of being eaten alive and digested. I wasn't sure if I'll ever find someone who likes vore until I read your manga." "B-But I can't... I can't eat you. You're a good f-friend..." Natsuki says while blushing harder Natsuki didn't wanna go through this, until Yuri said: "You do realize that if you digest me your boobs will get bigger, right?" Natsuki blushed even more and was about to blurt out how stupid Yuri is, but she took a minute to think. Natsuki always complained about her cup size and wanted her boobs to be bigger just like everyone else. And so if she digests Yuri, she might be able to actually have the boobs she dreamt of! "Yuri, are you sure you wanna do this? I don't think I can let you out, let alone eat you." Natsuki says "Don't worry, I'm sure you can do it. I'll try to help as well." Yuri reassures They both sit on the floor and Natsuki grabs hold of Yuri's hands and brings them close to her mouth. She looks at Yuri. "Do it, Natsuki. Eat me, swallow me up." And with her signal, it started. Natsuki opened her mouth as wide as she possibly could and stuffed Yuri's hands inside. Curious, she licked her hand to see how she tastes and surprisingly, Yuri tasted pretty good. But now comes the question... Can she swallow? And so she prepared her throat muscles and took a hard gulp, sending Yuri's hands down her throat. Natsuki didn't know what to say; Yuri's hands were in her throat! She then took another hard gulp and her arms went down her throat as she reached Yuri's face. She stared at Yuri's beautiful eyes and Yuri opened her mouth to speak. "I'll see you on the other side." And with that, Yuri leaned her head down and tried to stuff her head inside Natsuki's mouth. It seemed to be a bit difficult, until she widened her maw even more and Yuri's head rested inside her mouth. Both of them couldn't believe it. it was working... somehow! She took another hard gulp to send Yuri's head down her esophagus and the first obstacle came: Yuri's big breasts. Natsuki's nemesis. She tried to stuff them in but it seemed to not work. She then tried to press her boobs to "shrink" them and that somehow seemed to have worked and with another hard gulp, Yuri's chest was in Natsuki's throat. Inside, Yuri's head entered an open space that could only be Natsuki's stomach as more and more of Yuri was slowly being curled up inside. Natsuki on the other hand seemed determined to finish off Yuri for some reason. Another hard gulp can be heard and only Yuri's legs remained outside her maw. She observed Yuri's thighs. She wondered if she'll have the same thighs as Yuri. She took another gulp once again and let Yuri's legs slide down her throat. Once Natsuki reached Yuri's feet, she took a light gulp to let Yuri's feet rest inside her mouth as she closed her lips. This is it. The last gulp. The last swallow to seal Yuri inside Natsuki completely. Yuri's now hers. Literally. Her body wanted to let Yuri out, but Natsuki's mind had one thing to say: Swallow. And swallow she did as she gulped as hard as she could and felt Yuri's feet slide down her gullet and into her stomach. She did it. She actually did it. She ate Yuri. Her belly was massive, simply because Yuri was bigger than her. Natsuki didn't want to admit it, but it felt... nice. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone speak. It was Yuri. "Hey, can you hear me?" Yuri asks inside Natsuki "Yeah... yeah, I can hear you." Natsuki responds. As if her body was acting on its own, she lifted her hands and started caressing her big gut. "Glad to hear it. I can't believe you actually did it." Yuri says "H-How is it in there?" Even Natsuki knows that was a stupid question to ask since she's about to digest her but she at least had to know how her stomach feels like. "It's... actually not that bad. It's a bit tight but it's managable." Yuri responds That seemed to make Natsuki blush even more. She thought that it'd be really painful inside but hearing what Yuri just said... Was she really gonna do this? Is she actually gonna digest Yuri until she's nothing but fat on Natsuki's undeveloped body? Once again, her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Yuri ask her something: "By the way, can you move while I'm inside you?" Natsuki didn't really think about that. Nor did Yuri. Well, she had to try at least. "I-I can try..." Natsuki responded as she very slowly lifted herself up, but it was painfully obvious that there's no way she can move with someone inside her. Natsuki fell back to the floor and her big belly started vibrating. "W-What's happening?" Natsuki asks, a bit concerned She got her response when she felt something coming up her throat. And what came out? "BWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUURRRRRRPPP!!" A monstrous, loud and not very lady-like belch escaped Natsuki's lips and her cheeks were red as a rose. "W-W-What was that just now!?" Natsuki says confusingly "I don't really know. That sure was a massive belch. It could mean that I was filling or something." Yuri theorises inside. "Dammit, I can't move. What am I gonna do?" Natsuki mumbles to herself "You can sleep in this classroom." Yuri answers her "...I have no choice now, don't I?" "Yes, I'm sorry." Natsuki lies back and puts her right arm behind her head. It wasn't comfortable, but at least she could have some sleep. Devouring Yuri surely took a lot of energy from her as she slowly closed her eyes. "Goodnight, Yuri." Natsuki says while patting her big tummy "Goodnight, Natsuki." Yuri responds back Inside Natsuki's belly, Yuri's clothes are slowly dissolving thanks to Natsuki's stomach acids. This was the end. She's slowly becoming a part of Natsuki. She closes her eyes and goes to sleep. A sleep that she will never wake up from as she says her last words: "Thank you, Natsuki..." "Natsuki? Natsuki? Are you okay?" Natsuki hears someone as she slowly opened her eyes to find Sayori infront of her. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay. Come on, lemme help you up." Sayori says while offering Natsuki a hand. Natsuki grabs it and is pulled up by Sayori. She then looks down to find a fascinating sight... Her boobs! They grew! They were so big in fact that her outfit was about to tear because of it. And her thighs also grew, almost as if she got Yuri's thighs!... wait a minute. Yuri! That's right, she remembers eating Yuri but that big belly that she remembers had shrunken down to a small potbelly. So she did do it. Yuri's been digested. "Hello, Natsuki? Are you there?" Sayori says waving her arms left and right close to Natsuki's face. Natsuki was about to respond before feeling something coming up. "BWWAAAAAUUUUURRP!" Another loud belch escapes her lips, but this time something else escaped her lips and landed on the floor. Both of them look down and recognise it. It was a school uniform. Well, at least some fabric from a school uniform. "Eww, that's so gross! What did you eat, Natsuki?" Sayori asks How in the world is she gonna explain this?

"BWWAAAAAAAAUUUUUURRP!!" Sayori surely didn't expect to wake up with a loud and unlady-like belch as she rubbed her eyes. Sayori was sleeping with MC since MC wanted to take care of his best friend and decided to sleep with her. "Sorry about that, MC." Sayori says before realizing something; where's MC? He was sleeping next to her in bed. She tried to get up but something seemed... odd. All of a sudden, Sayori felt something heavy push her down. Confused, she looks down and... "Oh my gosh! What the...?" Sayori exclaims confusingly. Her stomach... it was huge! So big in fact that it was heavy. Just what did she eat? She thankfully managed to lean up and wrap her arms around her big gut. "Did I eat a lot of cupcakes before going to bed? But that can't be right... there's no pancakes here, or at least a plate that had pancakes." She asks herself. But then, all of a sudden... "Sayori? Did you wake up?" She heard a voice. At first she thought that someone was outside her window but that voice seemed really near. As if someone was right next to her. "W-Who's there?" She asks while looking around. "It's me, Sayori. Had a good sleep?" The voice says. Sayori found the voice to resemble someone she knows. And after analyzing the voice, she figured it out. "M-MC!? Where are you!? I don't see you!" Sayori exclaims while looking around to try and find him. But then, Sayori heard something that shocked her. "I'm inside your stomach. Are you okay?" Was... was she dreaming? MC? Inside her stomach? Was that really true? She didn't believe it at first before looking at her belly and watching it slosh around. No, this was no dream. This was reality. "M-MC!? But how!? Why are you inside me?" Sayori asks as she was starting to panic "Relax, it's okay. I fed myself to you while you were asleep." MC responds "B-But... I don't know how to let you out! I don't wanna digest you, MC!" Sayori says while tearing up "Y-You're the best person I've ever met in my life! I don't wanna lose you!" She continues while crying more. However, what MC said next shocked Sayori even more. In a good way. "Sayori, I want to be digested. You see, I might not be near you after that but I'll always be there for you, watching over you and seeing you grow up. The truth is, Sayori... I love you." All of a sudden, she stopped crying. Right after MC's final words, she felt as if those rainclouds that are always above her went away. She didn't know how to respond, the only thing she can do... is smile. Smile about the fact that she finally found someone that truly cares for her. Smile about the fact that she can finally be free. Smile about the fact that she's no longer depressed all the time. "M-MC... thank you! Thank you so much! I love you too!" She squealed in happiness before hugging her big belly. She truly never felt this happy before in her entire life. "Hehe, glad to help you out, Sayori." MC responds as a smile formed on his face "You were the warmth I needed, MC. You were my light in the darkness. I'll never, ever forget you~" She happily said before kissing her tummy. Sayori then felt something come up her throat and she didn't care. She was too happy to even hold back. "BWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUURRRRPP~!!" Another loud belch escapes her lips. She wasn't even embarrassed. Instead, she just patted her gut. As much as she wanted to go to school with MC inside her, she couldn't. He was too heavy for her to even get up from bed. She had no choice but to sleep again. "Thank you, so much, MC. Goodnight~" She kisses her tummy goodnight and goes back to sleep. "Goodnight, Sayori. I'll see you tomorrow." Were MC's last words as he closed his eyes and let her stomach acids do the work. The next day, Sayori rubbed her eyes and got up. She noticed how easy it was to get up and looked down to find her MC-filled belly shrunk down into a small potbelly. Not only that, but she also gained some weight. Her boobs seemed bigger than before and her thighs thickened. MC was now inside her, watching over her and protecting her from any negative thoughts she might get. She truly is the happiest person on earth.

"So, why did you ask me on a fight?" Noire asks while holding a sword. "I was curious if I ever got stronger as a CPU and so decided to train with you." Neptune replies while also holding a sword. "Well, even if we're training, I won't go easy on you!" Noire says while taking a stance. "Aww, you're not gonna go easy on your girlfriend~?" Neptune teases. "Sh-Shut up! You're not my girlfriend!" Noire blurts out. "Anyway, let's d-d-d-d-d-d-duel!" Neptune exclaims while dashing towards Noire. The fight went on for minutes as the two CPUs trained together. Neptune definitely grew stronger, and the same can be said for Noire. However, Neptune had a different idea in mind; she had a new skill to try. She just had to wait for the right moment... "Got ya!" Neptune exclaims while swaying her sword in a way that made Noire fly above her. Noire aimed her sword at Neptune and came falling down. "I don't think... so?" Noire shouts before realizing something. Why was Neptune opening her maw wide? And why was she falling directly above her mouth? At this point, she might... "W-Wait, what are you-MMPH!?" Noire exclaims before getting muffled by Neptune's throat. She was speechless. Neptune on the other hand decided to tease Noire and started lightly spanking her ass as Noire moaned inside. "S-Stop! What do you think you're doing!?" Neptune giggled and went to squish her cheeks, which resulted Noire to moan again. After that, Neptune took a gulp to send Noire down her throat and into her stomach. Noire couldn't believe it... She was being eaten! By Neptune, of all people! Noire felt herself enter an open space and soon realized that it was Neptune's stomach. More of Noire's body was slowly being curled up inside until Neptune closed her lips and took the last gulp, sealing Noire inside her. "BUUUUUUUUURRP! Ahhh, what a meal~ I'm stuuuuuffed~!" Neptune says while rubbing her big belly. "Neptune, what is the meaning of this!? This is so gross!" Noire screams inside Neptune's stomach. "I just used the 'Devour' skill on you, heard it's pretty effective with tsunderes~" She teases "Just please let me out! I don't wanna be here anymore!" "Only if you call me your girlfriend~" "W-What!? You're not my g-girlfriend, Neptune!" "Then you lose~ I'm going back to my room, can't stay here like this." Neptune says while grabbing her big gut from below and walking back home, albeit slowly. Inside, Noire wasn't exactly having a great time. It was pretty gross in there and with Neptune walking back home along with some occasional loud burps, it just made the experience worse. She's helpless inside. Neptune reached her room and went inside, sitting on her bed and patting her tsun-filled gut. Sure, her big belly raised some eyebrows but that didn't matter to her. "Ready to become a part of me, Noire~?" Neptune teases once again. "P-Part of you!? What do you mean?" Noire asks, confused. "You know what's gonna happen next, right~?" Neptune teases while caressing her gut as gurgles can be heard. "N-No... You don't plan on digesting me in here, right!?" Noire says while panicking. "Come on, don't act as if you don't want to. You're telling me you didn't read NepNowa vore stories? I know you want this, Noire~" Neptune teases again However, Neptune was right. Noire did read some vore stories about the two of them and had dreams about being inside Neptune. At this point, she couldn't hold it in anymore. "F-Fine, okay!? I want to be digested! I want to become a part of you and make you fat! I want to be gurgled up until I'm nothing but yours!" Noire finally gave in. Her dream was about to become a reality. "I knew it~ That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Neptune asks but she got no response, except for the loud gurgles. She laid back and closed her eyes, caressing her gut and going to sleep. The next day, Neptune woke up and quickly checked her belly, only to find it shrunken down into a potbelly as Neptune gained some weight thanks to Noire's delicious sacrifice. She had the same cup size as Noire as she touched her boobs. "Thank you so much, Noire~"

How in the world is she gonna explain this? ...Actually, wait a sec. What if she didn't need to explain it? What if there was a way to solve this situation that she's in right now? She panicked, trying to think of something. "Natsuki, are you okay? Is something wrong?" Sayori says, concerned about her friend. She had one option... at least, that's what she thought. "I'm sorry..." Natsuki quietly said before jumping on Sayori. engulfing her head. Sayori flailed her arms around to try and pull herself out but it was futile as Natsuki took the first gulp to send Sayori's shoulders down her throat. "N-Natsuki, What are you doing!?" Sayori shouts inside her throat Somehow, eating Yuri made this whole experience easier. In fact, Natsuki had no trouble so far with eating Sayori, aside from her struggles of course. In a few hard gulps, only Sayori's legs remained outside Natsuki's hungry maw as they flailed about as a last attempt to escape. But unfortunately, all hope was lost as Natsuki sent Sayori's legs down her throat, reaching her feet. "Noooo, I'm not food Natsuki! Let me out!" Sayori sobs inside. Natsuki didn't hear what she said as she took the final gulp to seal Sayori inside her. She did it again. She ate Sayori. "Natsuki, this is so gross! Please let me out!" Sayori screams inside. "J-Just shut up, okay!?" Natsuki blurts out. "B-But Natsuki... I'm scared." Sayori sobs. Natsuki was about to speak when she heard the classroom door open. Monika entered the classroom and just stared at Natsuki. More specifically, her big gut. "Uh, mind telling me what happened?" Monika says. "You do realize that if you digest me your boobs will get bigger, right?" Those words echoed inside Natsuki's head. If she can digest Sayori AND Monika, her boobs might grow even more! There's no backing up now. She needs to finish this. "I-I accidentally ate Sayori! Please help me!" Natsuki says. She knows she ate Sayori with good intentions. "How did you even do that?" Monika says while getting close. "I-I don't know! I sorta bumped into her and we both fell to the floor, after that she was inside me!" Natsuki explains. She then felt something come up her throat and what came out was a loud-"BWWAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUURRP!!"-on Monika's face. It smelt awful and Monika was coughing loudly. "S-Sorry..." Natsuki apologises. "Can you get her out at least?" Monika asks. "Maybe you can... pull her out?" Natsuki offers. "I guess I have no choice. Open your mouth." Natsuki did as told and opened her maw wide. Monika just stared down Natsuki's deep throat and after a few seconds she lifted her hand and pushed it down Natsuki's throat. Monika's whole arm was inside Natsuki's gullet and she unfortunately couldn't reach Sayori. "Darn, looks like I can't reach her. Now what?" Monika says before noticing something odd. "Um, why can't I pull my arm out?" She looked at Natsuki and thought of the worst outcome. "Natsuki, don't you da-MMPH!?" Monika's words were muffled as Natsuki pulled her head into her hungry mouth and took a gulp, sending Monika's head down her throat. "Natsuki, what are you doing!? Don't eat me too!" Monika shouts while trying to struggle. Monika went down Natsuki's throat until she arrived at her stomach, meeting Sayori. "M-Monika!? She ate you too!?" Sayori exclaims. Natsuki gulped down Monika's feet as both of them curled up inside her stomach. She actually managed to eat two people. "Jeez, I can't believe I managed to eat Monika as well." Natsuki said while breathing as she rubbed her massive belly. "Natsuki, this isn't funny! Let us out! "Yeah, please Natsuki! I don't wanna be here anymore!" They both scream inside. Natsuki had other plans. "J-Just shut up and digest! I always complained about my chest size and wanted them to be big like everyone else! Once you two digest, nobody will call me flat anymore!" Natsuki said with a grin on her face and imagined herself with big breasts. Sayori was crying inside Natsuki's stomach while Monika was focusing on something else. "Dammit, why can't I access the console!?" Monika shouts. "M-Monika, I'm scared... I don't wanna die here..." Sayori sobs loudly. Feeling helpless, Monika went close to Sayori and hugged her tightly. "It's gonna be okay, Sayori. I'm here for you." Monika says. That seemed to help as Sayori calmed down a bit. "I wonder how big my boobs will get after I'm done with them. Maybe that idiot MC would actually notice me." Natsuki thought to herself before- "BWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRPP!!!" This had to be Natsuki's biggest belch, ever. It was so monstrous in fact that the whole classroom started shaking. She poked her stomach and realized that both of them are softening up inside her massive gut. Natsuki was pretty tired after eating them and closed her eyes while resting her head on her gut. The next day, Natsuki woke up to an incredible sight. Her boobs were massive! Way bigger than Yuri. Her outfit was torn thanks to the sudden weight gain and Natsuki giggled to herself. "I did it. I finally have the body I always wanted." Natsuki said with a smirk while touching her big boobs. MC then entered the scene and froze in place, observing Natsuki's new body. She looked at him and was shocked for a few seconds before forming a grin on her face. "What, are you gonna leave me here? Come here, MC~" She teased while licking her lips.

"I appreciate you inviting me over, Blanc. It's nice to relax with other CPUs." Vert said while drinking her tea that Blanc prepared for her. "Yeah, I agree." Blanc replied. "Although, I'm more interested in why you invited me. Did you need to look at these again~?" Vert teased while bouncing her big breasts. Those breasts... they're Blanc's biggest nemesis. If those breasts didn't exist, she would be happy. However... Blanc had a way to not only get rid of them, but for her flat chest to grow as well. Holding back her inner rage, she replied calmly: "Actually, I need a favour from you." "Huh? From me? What is it?" Vert asks, putting her teasing aside. "Can you... lay on my bed?" Blanc asks, while blushing a bit. Even though she knows what she's doing, it's still kinda embarrassing for her. "Oh my, what're you gonna do with me on bed~?" Blanc expected Vert to tease her, which is why she didn't react. Vert then went to bed and laid on her back, relaxing. "I wonder what you're up to~" She teases once again, this time with a wink. Blanc walked and sat on her knees as she stared at Vert for a few seconds. "What? Is there something on my face?" Vert asks. Blanc grabbed hold of Vert's feet and licked them as Vert was the one to blush this time. "Blanc, do you have a foot fetish or something? I never thought the CPU of Lowee would be into feet~" Even while blushing from embarrassment, she couldn't stop teasing Blanc. What Blanc did next was shocking to her... She opened her maw wide and stuffed Vert's feet inside. "B-Blanc, what're you doing?" Vert asks, worried for Blanc's next move. Blanc didn't care, she needed Vert inside her. To be hers, and hers alone. And so she gulped to send those feet down her throat. Vert started panicking. "Blanc, this isn't funny! Stop!" Vert shouts as she tried to hold onto the bed to resist becoming Blanc's food. However, that did nothing as Blanc stood up and took another hard gulp as she reached her waist. "I-I apologise for teasing you, okay? I won't do it again." Vert offers. While that does sound nice, she still needed those breasts of hers. And so another gulp made Blanc reach Vert's chest. Her main goal for eating Vert. She decided to be the one to tease and started gropping them, leaving Vert to moan lightly. "N-No, I won't give in... I'm not gonna become your food!" Vert moans. Blanc had had enough. It was time to finish this. A hard swallow was more than enough to send those breasts into her mouth as Vert spoke up one last time: "B-Blanc, don't do this... please. I promise not to tease you again." Blanc couldn't care less. Another hard gulp sealed Vert inside her completely. "BUUUUUUUUUUURRP! Now I'll be the one to have Thunder Tits!" Blanc exclaimed out of excitement. Vert, on the other hand, wasn't having too much fun. "Blanc, what is the meaning of this!?" Vert shouted inside while struggling. "Can't you see, Thunder Tits? Now that you're inside me, I'll digest you and get those massive breasts of yours!" Blanc said while smacking her gut, which resulted in her letting out a small belch. "You can't be serious! Let me out!" Vert screams while struggling for dear life. Blanc didn't think much of it until her stomach started to hurt. "H-Hey, stop struggling! Food doesn't struggle!" Blanc says, worried about her stomach. "I'm not food! I'm Vert, the goddess of Leanbox!" Vert responds. "No, you're not! You're no longer the goddess of Leanbox, now you're just food! My food!" Blanc says while hugging her stomach tightly to try and stop Vert from struggling. Thankfully that managed to slow Vert down. "I can't believe you! Are you seriously gonna kill me just because of your flat chest?" "It's your fault for always jiggling them infront of me!" "Grr, let me outta here!" Vert struggles yet again, only this time Blanc's stomach started vibrating and what came out was a loud- "BWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUURRRRPP!!" That had to have been Blanc's biggest belch so far, but it also managed to slow Vert down. However, Blanc had enough of her bullshit. Time to end this. "You wanna get out, Vert? I'll show you how to get out..." Blanc says with a grin on her face. "Yes, please. I don't wanna be here anymore..." Vert replies, before noticing that Blanc's stomach became tight all of a sudden. She couldn't move a muscle. "B-Blanc!? What's happening? I can't move!" Vert screams inside, worried for her life. "You wanted to come out, didn't you? I'll let you out once you turn into shit!" Blanc says with a smirk. Blanc had laid on her big belly which resulted in Vert curling up into a tight position. "N-No, I beg you! Don't do this!" Vert screamed inside as Blanc's stomach acids dissolved all of Vert's clothing, leaving her naked. "Goodbye, Vert. Have fun becoming my new tits~" Blanc says while rubbing her gut. Inside, it was getting hard for Vert to focus as her consciousness was slowly drifting away. The stomach acids were rising as they were working on turning Vert into mush. She was helpless. This was the end for her. She'll die becoming nothing but Blanc's new tits. "D-Damn it..." Were Vert's last words as she lost consciousness. Blanc put an ear on her stomach, listening to the gurgling sounds it made. They were like music to her ears. "BWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRPP!!" Another loud and unlady-like belch escaped her lips as she patted her big gut. Vert was gone. The goddess of Leanbox is now slowly being turned into mush. Feeling satisfied, she laid back on her bed and rubbed her belly before closing her eyes from exhaustion. Blanc woke up from a small burp as she rubbed her eyes and looked down, but she didn't see her big belly. In fact, she couldn't even see her tummy. All she saw was boobs. Big boobs. "Oh, fuck yeah! I got boobs now!" Blanc exclaimed while touching her new big breasts. She was now the person with Thunder Tits. She touched her belly and noticed that it has shrunken down into a small potbelly. She gave it a light pat and went to the mirror, observing her new figure. "Well, at least you were useful for something~"

 It was sunset and they both looked at the amazing view ahead of them. "What an incredible view, huh?" Neptune asked. "Yeah, definitely. It's quite nice." Noire replied. You see, the reason why Noire invited Neptune on a date was because she wanted her... in a different way. She just had to find the right timing. "Say, isn't this the perfect time to kiss~?" Neptune teased with a wink. Noire hesitated, but realised this was the perfect time to do it. She had to agree. And so she leaned close to Neptune and touched lips, both of them closing their eyes and enjoying their moment. Neptune was blushing, but Noire was red as a tomato. But now, she's ready to commit the act... And with that, she widened her mouth to nom Neptune's head and surprisingly, she faced no resistance. In fact, it seemed like Neptune liked it. Still, she had to continue. A gulp sent Neptune's head down the tsundere's throat and Noire can hear Neptune giggling inside. Is she into this? Another gulp sent Neppy's flat chest into her mouth and down her throat. Noire had to admit, Neptune's body tasted quite good. That motivated her to continue sending her down and so with another gulp, she reached Neptune's legs. She tilted her head back to allow gravity to help her and with a couple more gulps, only the protag's cute feet remained outside. One final gulp and Neptune was sealed shut inside her girlfriend. Noire looked down at her big belly and rubbed it, enjoying Neptune's squirms. "You okay, Neptune?" Noire asked. "I'm more than okay! This is perfect!" Neptune replied in excitement. "P-Perfect? What do you mean?" "I'm gonna become a part of my girlfriend~ Ooo, this is like a dream come true!" Neptune giggled. Noire didn't really expect this. She thought that Neptune would be confused as to why she ate her, but no. She's more than happy to become Noire's fat. Noire giggled to herself. "If that's what you want, I'm more than happy to oblige." Noire said while patting her gut. "Hey hey, do you think after I digest your boobs would be bigger than Vert's?" Neptune asked. "Hmm, maybe. I don't really know." Noire replied. "Then I'll make sure you have the biggest boobies!" Neptune laughed inside. Noire was about to respond before- *BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUURRRPP!!* -she belched loudly which caused her cheeks to redden. She caressed her gut and stayed at the beach a bit longer, talking to Neptune. This really was the perfect date.

 "Why did you call me, Uni? You said it was something important." Nepgear asked, staring at Uni. Uni blushed and replied back. "W-Well, there's something I gotta tell you, Nepgear..." She said while looking down, blushing harder. "Well, what is it?" Nepgear asked. Uni then looked at her and put her hands on Nepgear's shoulders. The Planeptune CPU Candidate was confused, and was confused even more when Uni leaned close and locked lips together! Nepgear was about to push her away, but her body said otherwise. After a couple of seconds she gave into the kiss and closed her eyes, the two lovers enjoying their moment. After a couple more minutes, which felt like hours, the two parted lips as a string of saliva was formed. "I love you." Uni confessed. Nepgear didn't even hold back her response. "I love you too, Uni." Nepgear confessed back. That made Uni kiss Nepgear once again, and both of them had no complaints. Another intense make out session later and the two were panting heavily as Uni licked her lips. "Nepgear, you taste delicious~" Uni whispered seductively. "I need you, Nepgear. I need you inside my tummy~" "Mmm, take me~ I'm all yours~" Nepgear replied. Her mind was thinking about Uni, and only Uni. She didn't care about anything else in the world other than her lover. After Nepgear's approval, Uni leaned down and grabbed Ge-Ge's feet, giving them a couple licks. Nepgear closed her eyes and laid back, leaving Uni to do the rest of the work. She then opened her maw as wide as she could and stuffed those cute feet inside, taking a gulp to send them down. Nepgear couldn't believe that her lover is currently devouring her whole. She was about to become even closer towards Uni. She then looked down to find Uni devouring her waist as she bit her lip. "Don't stop, Uni. Keep going~" She said out of excitement. Uni was more than happy to oblige as she took another gulp to reach her chest. They then stared at each other's beautiful eyes. They were so happy that this day finally happend and after a couple more gulps, Nepgear closed her eyes as she was sliding down Uni's gullet. The Lastation CPU Candidate slurped Ge-Ge's hair like noodles before gulping it down as Nepgear curled up inside her lover's stomach. "Mmm~ You were soooooo tasty, Nepgear~!" Uni said while caressing her gut. "I feel so safe right now. Your stomach is like a warm hug from all sides. I love it here." Nepgear said with a smile on her face. Uni then felt something big come up and she didn't mind letting it out. *BWWAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUURRPP!!* "Hehe, excuse me~" Uni said while wiping her mouth. She then laid back on her bed, patting her Nepgear-filled stomach. "I love you so much, Uni! Thank you so much for this!" "Ehehe, no problem~!" A couple minutes go by and Uni's stomach starts making noises. Both of them knew what that meant. "I'm slowly becoming a part of you, aren't I?" Nepgear asked. "That's right. You'll be mine, and mine alone~" Uni replied back with a seductive smirk on her face. "Hehe, I'm more than happy to become a part of you, Uni. Like I said, I'm all yours~" Ge-Ge giggled. "Glad to hear it, love. Now go to sleep and let me take over~" "See you soon, Uni~" Nepgear closed her eyes, leaving Uni's stomach to work on turning her into her lover's fat. Uni patted her gut one last time before going to sleep, a smile can be seen on her face as she released one last belch: *BUUUUUURRP~!*

It was another normal day at the Literature Club. Natsuki was reading her manga, Yuri was sipping some tea, while Sayori and Monika were talking to each other. MC on the other hand was sitting on his desk, looking at the window. He felt someone poking his shoulder and he looked to the right to find Yuri holding a cup of tea. "Drinking tea while reading a book is always a nice feeling. Wanna try it?" She asked calmly. To which the MC replied: "Uh, sure. Why not." Yuri rested the cup of tea on his desk and gave him a book to read. Yuri sat next to him as she was also reading a book. MC opened the book to start reading and occasionally took a sip of hot tea. He had to admit, the feeling was quite nice. Just like Yuri said. By the time MC finished reading his book, it was sunset and everyone was packing up to leave. "Remember to finish writing your poems, everyone!" Monika cheerfully said and everyone replied with a "Yes!". Yuri rested her book on her desk, although she didn't realize that a pencil was dropped to the floor. "Take care everyone!" Sayori said with a smile before leaving, with Monika doing the same. MC packed his things and waved Natsuki and Yuri goodbye before leaving as well. Yuri looked at Natsuki, who was still absorbed in her manga, and tried to get her attention by waving at her. Natsuki noticed her after a few seconds and looked at her confusingly. "Did you need something?" Natsuki asked, still holding the manga she was reading. "Yes. I have some tea leftover and I was wondering if you needed some." Yuri answered her. Natsuki hesitated, but eventually got up and headed for Yuri's desk. Yuri handed over the tea and Natsuki started doing the sip. Natsuki finished the cup and handed it over to Yuri. "Th-Thanks for the tea." Natsuki said with a blush. "No problem. Glad you liked it." Yuri replied with a smile. She got up from her desk and when she started walking towards the door, she slipped on a pencil she dropped on the floor and fell on Natsuki. "Whooooaaa-MMPH!?" Both Yuri and Natsuki were on the floor, clearly in pain. But that wasn't what they were worried about. Natsuki's head and shoulders were... inside Yuri's throat. Natsuki can be heard screaming inside Yuri's throat, begging for her to let her out. Panicked, she grabbed the petite girl's waist and tried to pull her out, but it was futile. She was stuck. Yuri started to panic even more when she started coughing loudly. Because of Natsuki being inside Yuri's throat, she couldn't breathe in any oxygen and was starting to feel lightheaded. Feeling defeated, she let her instincts take over and swallowed... Natsuki was panicking even more when she felt herself descending down Yuri's throat. "Y-Yuri!? What do you think you're doing, get me out!" Natsuki screamed on the inside, but only came out muffled on the outside thanks to Yuri's throat muscles. Yuri was about to pass out, she needed Natsuki inside her stomach quickly. She lifted her body to let gravity aid her. Natsuki's head popped into an open space that could only be Yuri's stomach. The poor girl could smell the tea that Yuri's been drinking and considering how much Yuri had, it wasn't pleasant. Only Natsuki's cute feet remained outside Yuri's maw and took a gulp to send those feet into her mouth before sealing her lips, taking one last hard gulp to send those feet down her throat and into her stomach. Yuri's stomach grew exponentially to make space for Natsuki, the bloated orb of flesh being visible to the entire world. Yuri breathed heavily to catch her breath as she could finally get some O2 in her body. She looked down to find her belly swollen, with what's inside it clearly wanting out. And Yuri knew who was inside her. "Y-Yuri!? What's the meaning of this!? WHY DID YOU EAT ME!?!" Natsuki screamed in fear, pushing out the stomach walls to try and escape. Yuri on the other hand only looked at her belly with curiosity, raising her hand and gently rubbing it over her bloated tummy. The feeling was... unlike any other. Perhaps she could stay like this for a whi- "YUUURIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!" The bookworm jumped at hearing such a scream. It sent her back to reality and she finally regained her senses. "N-Natsuki, are you okay!? A-Are you hurt!?" Yuri asked in a panicked voice. "Are you really asking me that!? Get me outta here!" Natsuki replied while kicking her clubmate's stomach walls. All that kicking and struggling caused Yuri's stomach to grrooooaaaan in response. "W-What the hell was that!?" Natsuki asked inside. "I d-don't kno-" But then Yuri felt something coming up her throat. She tried to hold it in but it was way stronger than her and what came out was a- "BWWAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUURRRRPP!!" Yuri let out the most obnoxious, loudest and grossest belch in her entire life. She covered her mouth, her cheeks red as a rose before realizing how silent it got all of a sudden. But then- Grrrrrrrrrr...! Her stomach rumbled loudly, causing Natsuki to panic and revert back to struggling. "Y-Yuri!? What's going on!? What's this weird liquid that's coming out!?" Natsuki asked, fearing for her life. But then Yuri pieced everything together. She couldn't believe what was happening... Yuri's stomach started the process of digesting Natsuki. "A-Am I being digested!?" Although unfortunately it seems like Natsuki also pieced everything together. "N-Natsuki, I don't know what to-URP!-do!" "What the fuck are you talking about!? Just get me out! Please!" Natsuki screamed as the acids started slowly rising. Yuri tried inserting her hand inside her throat to gag, but it didn't work. She tried coughing loudly, but that did nothing too. She was helpless. Both of them. "Y-Yuri, please! I beg you, don't digest me!" Natsuki cried out, tears sliding down her cheeks. "I-It's not like I-OOUUAARRP!-wanna digest you or anything! I can't let you out!" "TRY HARDER!" Natsuki cried out loud. Yuri didn't even know how to respond, only putting her face on her hands and crying alongside Natsuki. "I'm so sorry, Natsuki! I'm so sorry!" Yuri sobbed, feeling guilty about killing her clubmate. Natsuki's body started burning thanks to Yuri's stomach acids as said acids reached her waist. She couldn't hold it in. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!! It hurts! It fucking hurts!" Poor Natsuki let out a bloodcurdling scream, which resulted in Yuri to cry even harder. At this point, she just wanted this to be over. Natsuki's screaming and struggling were too much for the bookworm to handle. "I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU, YURI!" Natsuki cursed at her clubmate, feeling so angry that her life is about to be ended because of an accident. "I'M SORRY, NATSUKI!" Yuri shouted in her tears. She felt so bad for the poor girl. The acids rose to Natsuki's chest as she couldn't even feel her legs, nor anything in her lower body. "Y-YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS, YOU BITCH! YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING PA-" BOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRPPP!! Yuri let out another loud and gross belch, only this time a fabric of clothing landed on the floor with a splat. Yuri looked over and realized it belonged to a school uniform. But that's not the part that terrified her; her tummy stopped moving entirely. She put an ear against her bloated orb and heard Natsuki lightly sobbing to herself. This continued for a while before eventually, nothing can be heard. Only Yuri's terrified whimpers and the gurglings of her stomach. It's been done. Natsuki's been fully digested, never to be seen again. Yuri got up from the floor and grabbed some tissues, rubbing her eyes from crying so much. This entire situation terrified her, to the point her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. She took a couple deep breaths to calm herself down and after a couple minutes, she was calm enough to go back home. Yuri's tummy was round, simply from Natsuki softening up as a result. The dome was still gurgling and rumbling loudly to process whatever was left of Natsuki. Although with the weight of another person inside her, she'd have to walk back home instead of running. Yuri didn't want others to see her like this, but she had no choice. She packed herself up and looked at the pencil on the ground, the one responsible for making all this happen. GRRROOAAAANNN!! When Yuri's stomach groaned loudly, she leaned down and grabbed the pencil before breaking it and throwing it to the bin. She was about to leave, but then stopped as she remembered the saliva-filled fabric of clothing on the floor. With hesitance, Yuri leaned down and grabbed it before stuffing it in her pocket. Finally, she closed the door and started heading out. It was nighttime, which was perfect for Yuri as she didn't wanna be seen with a belly this big. Not a lot of people were outside, but she was careful and took alleyways when needed. Eventually, she finally came home and quickly rushed inside and locking the door behind her. She went into her room and closed the door, putting her backpack on the floor sitting on her bed in silence. Her large orb of flesh was still rumbling as it was not done with Natsuki. She then remembered the fabric of clothing she grabbed and pulled it out, simply staring at it before starting to cry. "I'm so sorry..." She sobbed quietly before putting it inside one of her drawers, in a safe place where nobody could find it. She wanted to change into her indoor clothes, but considering the circumstances she had to sleep with her school uniform. And so, she lied down, wrapped herself with a blanket before rubbing her large gut one last time, closing her eyes and going to sleep. ----------------------------------------------- Morning came, and Yuri rubbed her eyes and slowly got up. But she could feel something was off. She looked down and found her breasts seemingly grew another cup size, with her thighs becoming more thicc than before. Her belly on the other hand had shrunken into a small potbelly. Natsuki became fat on Yuri's body. She didn't even cry or say anything, just grabbing her backpack and heading to the literature club. "Good morning, everyone! I hope everyone finished writing their poems!" Monika announced with a smile. "Hehehe, we sure did!" Sayori replied back. MC only nodded in response. The clubmates then felt the door open and were greeted with Yuri. "Hello, Yuri!" Sayori said, waving at her. Yuri sheepishly waved back at Sayori, before sitting on her desk. Sayori felt something looked... off about Yuri, but decided to leave it. "We're only missing Natsuki." Monika said. Yuri only looked down with guilt.

“Heeeeeeeyyy!!” MC sees an annoying girl running towards him from the distance, waving her arms in the air like she’s totally oblivious to any attention she might draw to herself.That girl is Sayori, MC’s neighbor and good friend since they were children.You know, the kind of friend you’d never see yourself making today, but it just kind of works out because you’ve known each other for so long?They used to walk to school together on days like this, but starting around high school she would oversleep more and more frequently, and MC would get tired of waiting up.But if she’s going to chase after MC like this, he almost feels better off running away.However, he just sighs and idles in front of the crosswalk and lets Sayori catch up to him. “Haaahhh...haaahhh...I overslept again! But I caught you this time!” We hear a tired Sayori say to the MC. “Maybe, but only because I decided to stop and wait for you.” MC replies with a sigh. “Eeehhhhh, you say that like you were thinking about ignoring me! That's mean, MC!” Sayori pouts cutely at MC. “Well, if people stare at you for acting weird then I don't want them to think we're a couple or something.” MC replied before- rrrruuuuummmmbbllleee! Sayori's stomach rumbled loudly. So loud in fact that it looked like she was really hungry, and hadn't eaten anything in a while. Sayori just blushes. “Ehehe, looks like I forgot to eat.” She says with a visible sweat on her cheek. “How could you forget something like that?” MC asked before realizing something: Sayori looked at MC with a smirk while licking her lips. Since MC's been mean to her, she thought she might as well teach him a lesson~ “Hey, MC~? Could you... close your eyes?” Sayori asks with a grin on her face. MC wanted to ask why, but hesitated and closed his eyes, waiting for... whatever Sayori wanted to do. He could hear Sayori getting close to him, putting her hands on his shoulders. Was she... was she about to...? “Mmwwaaaaahhhhhhh~” He could feel Sayori exhaling into his face. Just what was she doing? Then all of a sudden, he starts feeling something... wet touch his face. No, his entire head. “Sayori? What are you doing?” MC asks, curious about what she was doing. But then Sayori grabbed his waist and- Gulp! Heard an audible gulp. Not wanting to play anymore games with her, he opens his eyes to find himself surrounded in darkness. A wet and gross tube was all around him as he could feel his shoulders getting wet... wait, his shoulders? That's when MC pieced everything together. “S-Sayori!? Are you eating me!?” MC asks in a shocked voice. Why was she eating him? More importantly, HOW was she eating him!? Ulp! Gulp! He only got gulps as a response and feeling his body being lifted. Not wanting to become food for his best friend, he began flailing his legs which seemed to cause some discomfort for Sayori, before feeling something touch his ass. He stopped flailing on instinct, and Sayori used that to her advantage as she took another loud gulp! to send him down further. MC felt himself entering an open area, which he knew was Sayori's empty stomach. He could tell that Sayori was really hungry as there's nothing inside her stomach. Well, up until now at least. On the outside, Sayori took a light gulp to send MC's feet inside her mouth before taking the final gulp. GUUULP! MC's feet slid down her gullet, which created a noticeable bulge before disappearing. Sayori licked her lips before looking down and noticing her bloated, MC-filled belly. “Pwah! That was harder than I expected~” Sayori said with a big smile on her face. She observed how MC was struggling inside her to get out of his fleshy prison.“Sayori!? W-Why did you eat me!?” MC shouted inside Sayori’s abdomen. “I refuse to be your food and I do not want to be digested!”“Jeez, calm down, MC. I’m just keeping you as my temporary food source. Consider it a punishment for being mean to me. Besides, why would I digest you?” Sayori said, somewhat disappointed that her friend didn’t like it inside.“S-So… you’re just gonna keep me in here?” MC asked, somewhat calming down.“Yeah, of course. Now relax, you’ll be in there for some time~” Sayori patted her gut before feeling something come up her throat. Sayori knew what was about to happen. “BWWAAAAAAAUUUUUURRRRRRPPP!!” Sayori let out one big burp, which resulted in MC to shake around inside her stomach. Her cheeks were now red and she gave her gut a light smack, giggling to herself.“You better not make me gassy, MC~” Sayori teased while rubbing her gut before heading to school.“…That was gross, Sayori.” She heard him say inside which resulted in a cute pout to form on her face.“By the way, MC… have you decided on a club to join yet?” Sayori asked her belly.“A club? I told you already, I’m really not interested in joining any clubs.” MC replied. “I haven’t been looking, either.”“Aww, are you at least interested in checking out my club?” Sayori pouted once more.“Why do you want me to join anyway?”“Well… I kind of told the club yesterday I would bring in a new member…and Natsuki made cupcakes and everything… ehehe~” Sayori answered as sweat ran down her left cheek.“Don’t make promises you can’t keep!”“OOUUAARRP! Ehehe, sorry~” MC couldn’t tell if Sayori is really that much of an airhead, or if she’s so cunning as to have planned all this out. He lets out a loud sigh.“Fine... I’ll stop by for a cupcake, okay?”“Yes! Let’s go~!” Just hearing that made Sayori jump with joy, which resulted in MC to jump with her.“Oi, knock it off!” MC called out, to which she stopped jumping. She let out another small belch before giggling to herself and going to school. MC got comfortable inside and relaxed, his fate resting on Sayori’s shoulders… or in this case, her tummy.“Sayori, just… how? How did you eat me?” MC asked, curious about how his human friend ate another human friend whole.“Honestly, I don’t even know myself. I just saw you looking really taste and wanted to have a bite~” She replied to him with a lick of her lips.Honestly, that had to have been the weirdest compliment MC received in his life.“Wait, if you say this is your first time eating somebody, then how could you keep me safe in here? I could be digested.”“Well, I don’t think my-URP!-tummy hates you so you should be safe.” Sayori replied. MC wondered if that was true or not, but he had to trust his best friend since he knows she doesn’t wanna let him out right now. Sayori patted her gut like a drum to have some fun with MC, to which his only response was a sigh. The school day is as ordinary as ever, and it’s over before MC knew it.…At least, that’s what he thought. This time, he was inside his best friend for the entire class. People didn’t even question Sayori, it’s as if this is normal for them. Once the bell rings, Sayori gets up from her desk, letting out another small belch. She started heading towards her club, the Literature Club.“Just how long do you intent on keeping me here?” MC asked inside her.“Like I said, you’ll be my food source for the day, which means you’ll stay in there until the day’s over~” Sayori grinned while rubbing her gut.“Y-You can’t be serious! I don’t like being in here, Sayori!” MC shouted.“You’ll like it soon enough. Now calm down, I’m almost at the club.” Sayori reassured. At this point, MC gave up and just relaxed once more. But then it hit him. Sayori’s insides were… strangely soothing. Hearing his best friend’s heartbeat, the stomach walls around him that look as if they’re hugging him from all sides. MC didn’t want to admit it, but Sayori’s stomach is actually… kind of comfy, in a bizarre way. Sayori opens the door to the Literature club. “Everyone! The new member is here~!” The vice president cheerfully said to the other members inside.“Huh? Where are they?” A purple-haired girl said while getting close to Sayori. She then looked at Sayori’s bloated tummy.A “…Hi.” could be heard inside as the girl looked at Sayori.“You… ate the new member?”“Yeah, his name is MC. I’m just keeping him inside for a while. We’re best friends and he agreed on joining the literature-BELCH!-club!” The member was confused at first, but after Sayori’s explanation she leaned down and got close to her stomach.“Well, welcome to the Literature Club. It’s a pleasure meeting you.” She calmly said to Sayori’s bloated orb. “Sayori always says nice things about you.”“Seriously? You brought a boy AND you ate him? Way to kill the atmosphere.” A petite pink-haired girl said.“Ah, MC! That’s one way to say hello!” A brown-haired girl said while getting close to Sayori. “Welcome to the club!”…All words escaped MC in this situation.This club… is full of incredibly cute girls!... at least, from what he can hear inside. “Do you think you can let him out, Sayori?” The purple-haired girl asked.“Sorry Yuri, but you’ll get to see MC tomorrow. Right now, just enjoy how he looks like~” Sayori teased while patting her gut.“Come on, Sayori, let me out! I wanna see the rest of the club members!” MC shouted.“BOOUUAAARRRP!! Stop being mean to me, MC!” But then Monika stepped in. “It’s okay, MC. We’ll get to actually see you tomorrow.” MC noticed that the girl’s voice sounded familiar and that’s when he figured it out.“M-Monika!?” He said out loud.“Hehe, that’s me! Just enjoy being inside Sayori’s tummy, we don’t mind.” Monika said with a smile and Sayori smiled back.“…Jeez, what is even going on?” MC said while putting a hand on his forehead.“You heard her, MC~” Sayori teased once more. She was having way too much fun with this.

100/100 HP100/100 STRoom 160 I’m still going through this mansion. I don’t even know how long I’ve been here, I forgot about the existence of time entirely. This mansion is not only full of jumpscares, where cute cardboard cutouts come out, but is crawling with monsters. Or as this mansion calls them… Specimens. I keep going through the long hallways, always looking at my back in case a specimen appears and listening closely for any music changes. I soon reached room 164 and when I was about to enter the next room, a cardboard cutout of a ghost came and jumpscared me. It was only a slight flinch since I’ve seen them already, but I head on into the next room. 100/100 HP100/100 STRoom 165 Then all of a sudden, I wasn’t walking through a long hallway anymore. But rather… inside a school. I could see a few doors that lead into different classrooms, but then I realized that I had a flashlight in my hand. How neat.Of course, I couldn’t just stay here and keep looking. I had to keep moving forward until the end… that is, if there even is an end. I went inside a few classrooms and found a few notes. Feeling curious, I decided to read them all. One of the notes read: Matsuri never came to class today,I hope she made it home ok. I think one of the classmates here wrote this. What happened to this “Matsuri”?And after reading another note, I think I got my answer: Could it really be true?I thought the fairy tales about the ghost that eatschildren who sneak in after class was just to keep usfrom disobeying. But Matsuri is still missing. A ghost that eats children? What the fuck? My body then froze when I saw a few ghosts sitting in their desks. They were barely visible. What in the world happened here?Not wanting to stay in classrooms anymore, I headed outside and kept walking through the hallway, trying to escape this school. I didn’t wanna stay in this place a minute longer. And when I reached the end of the hallway, I heard a scream coming from behind me. Almost as if I awakened someone. I turned behind me and saw her… A female ghost with long black hair and pure white skin. Her eyes were black and her mouth was ridiculously wide with her lips being colored black. And those hands… they were coated in blood, and they looked like claws. And what is this music that’s playing in the background? It’s… weirdly calm.So this was Specimen 4. And if I recall CAT-DOS, her method is consumption so she has to be that ghost who eats children- SLASH!55/100 HP100/100 STRoom 166 I was too focused on checking her out that I didn’t even realize how close she was. I immediately booked it to the nearest door and finally exited the school as those classic hallways returned, although that specimen is still chasing me! I kept running through the hallways, trying to get to the door as fast as I can. I could hear her talking and saying stuff like “Come here…” but I wanted none of that. However, while I was running towards the door she phased through the wall and attacked me once again. SLASH!25/100 HP54/100 STRoom 174 This was looking bad… one more hit and I’m done for! I couldn’t let that happen, no matter what. I kept running towards the doors, while occasionally looking at her to tell where she would go. This seemed to work as I went through the rest of the rooms with no issues. I thought I managed to win, but then… something weird happened. Really weird. “Stop.” Once the specimen said that, my body just… froze into place. I couldn’t run, nor walk. I couldn’t do anything. My body slowly turned around to look at the ghost, who was slowly coming towards me. What the fuck… what the fuck is going on!? Why can’t I move!? Did she do something to me? And while I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, the specimen got close to me. The ghost looked at me for a few seconds before lifting me up and… nothing. She just kept staring at me, with those creepy black eyes of hers. And then after a couple seconds, she opened her mouth wide. Sorry, impossibly wide. Like wide enough to stuff my head in… wait a minute, stuff my head in- “Ommphh~” That’s when it happened. The specimen pulled me close to her mouth and just… swallowed my entire head with ease. The specimen didn’t even bother licking my head, just lifting my body even more and taking a gulp. Gulp! I couldn’t believe it. I’m being swallowed whole by a ghost, from a fairy tale. My journey came to an end, becoming nothing but food for the hungry specimen. My head entered her long, wet tube that was her throat and soon my shoulders followed. Gulp! Gulp! I felt myself entering an open space. I quickly figured out that it was her stomach. And I could feel my legs slowly sliding down her gullet thanks to her using gravity to her advantage. GUUULP! After that hard gulp, my whole body was now inside her stomach. I could hear her letting out a loud belch that was very unlady-like. But then I felt her hands rubbing her gut, while saying: "Hush now my child, you're safe now~" This made me feel… relaxed for some reason. I wasn’t even terrified, I was… calm. Everything about me is calm. I heard her singing a lullaby, probably to make me go sleep, and I quickly gave in as I felt my eyes slowly closing until I fell asleep. I didn’t even know if I was in any real danger or not. But there’s one thing I do know; I’m safe now.

“So, let that be the end to the matter.” Mr. Windibank said to Mrs. Lestrade and Mr. Benedict. Gina claimed that the coat belonged to her, however apparently it belonged to this weirdo named ‘Eggert Benedict’. I’m pretty sure that’s not his real name. “And thank you for your custom, Mr. Eggert Benedict, sir.” Mr. Benedict did a weird… dance before saying: “With such reasonable rates of interest… I may even decide to come back.”Something seemed off about him, but I couldn’t place my tongue om what… Gina, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly happy. “………Tsk! This is why I ‘ate grown-ups!” She said while lowering her hat. “Just cos I’m a diver, everyone thinks that makes me a liar.” “And the contents of the coat pockets, if you please, broker.” Eggert said to Mr. Windibank, to which he replied: “But of course, sir. Here is the disk for you.” Before handing said disk to him. However, he looked at the disk for a few seconds before his facial expression changed, frowning at the pawnbroker.“Just this one?” He asked. Pop looked at him confusingly.“Pardon, sir?” “I was expecting another. Er, that is… I deposited another.” Mr. Benedict said to Pop. Another disk? “Oh, um… oh dear.” Mr. Windibank said while sweating and rubbing his head with a cloth. “I regret to inform you, sir, that what was deposited with me was merely the overcoat. The disk happened to be in one of the pockets, but I was completely unaware of it until now.”Eggert glared at Gina, who was still lowering her hat to hide her face. “So, gutterling… You’re hiding more of what’s rightfully mine, are you?” He asked her. Gina just raised and lowered her arms, frowning at him.“Says who, eh? I don’t know nuffin’ about it!” She replied. The guy kept glaring at her before doing one more weird dance. Seriously, why does he keep doing that?“Very well. Then I shall bid you farewell… Say goodbye to style.” He said before turning around and started to leave. But then, Gina glared at him one more time.“Wait a minute! That disk… is mine!” She shouted before quickly tackling him to the floor. What happened next was both incredible… and terrifying. Gina Lestrade was above Eggert Benedict, only this time… his head was inside her mouth. Literally, his entire head. Then, a loud audible GULP! can be heard and Mr. Benedict’s head went down her throat. Is she… is she eating him alive!?We then heard the pawnbroker move and he immediately headed for his gun and pointed it at his head. On instinct, I quickly went to him. “W-Wait, please don’t do it, Mr. Windibank!” I said to him, but he wasn’t buying it.“If one of my customers dies because of her, then I’ll happily take my own life!” He exaggerated. “I don’t think that’s the answer! Please, drop the gun!” I tried to reassure him, which thankfully worked as he lowered his gun. “Oh well, I think you have a point. I suppose not yet when we can save hi-”GULP! GULP!We heard multiple gulps behind us and we turned to find a pair of flailing legs outside of Gina’s hungry mouth, and a shocked Susato-san who’s not moving, only staring at her. We then noticed Gina’s bulging belly as it made space to accommodate it’s new occupant. That being Mr. Benedict. The pickpocket closed her lips and took one last loud GUUUULP!, sealing Mr. Benedict inside her stomach. “BWWAAAAAAUUUURRRRP!! Phew, that’s what grown-ups like you deserve~” She said while licking her lips for any remaining flavor. Some handprints can be seen thanks to Eggert struggling inside. It was unbelievable at first, but now it’s clear… Gina Lestrade swallowed Eggert Benedict whole! “Sorry, but it appears my time is up!” Pop shouted while raising his gun and pointing it at his head. I knew I had to do something. Hold it! “Mr. Windibank, please calm down! We’ll find a way to fix this!” I shouted at him before all of a sudden saw my assistant Susato-san going towards him. “Naruhodo-san, go talk to Gina! I’ll try and get Mr. Windibank to calm down!” I heard her say to me. I then kneeled down to the floor and stared at Gina, who was only looking at her moving belly with a smug grin.“S-So, um… why did you eat Mr. Benedict?” I asked her, to which she looked at me with the same grin on her face. “Remember what I said earlier? I ‘ate grown-ups. They’re the worst.” She casually replied. “At least I ‘ave the disk now. My job ‘ere is done.” She said while trying to get up, but with a weight of a full person that was bigger than her she just ended up falling to the ground, letting out another loud belch in the process. “Oi, can you-UUUURRP!-‘elp me?” She asked while offering a hand. I didn’t wanna help her, but my body said otherwise as I grabbed her hand and lifted her off the floor. “Let’s get outta ‘ere.” She said as we quickly got out of the pawnbroker’s shop. Gina led me into a dark alleyway where she leaned against a wall while rubbing her big belly. “There, that should-OUARP!-do it. Thanks, ‘Oddo.” She said while lowering her hat so that only her smug grin was visible. What was I even doing here…?I heard movement behind me and was greeted with my assistant’s return, Susato-san. “I thankfully managed to get Mr. Windibank to calm down, but… now what?” She said while looking at Gina’s bloated middle. Gina just kept patting her gut before it starting gurgling loudly and she felt something come up her throat: “OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRPP!!” Another loud belch came out of her lips, but something else came out; a hat. A white hat that only belonged to one person. And the hat was covered in stomach acids and saliva. Both me and Susato-san were shocked for what was happening…“You’re… you’re digesting him!?” I said out of complete shock. I couldn’t believe it… she not only ate Mr. Benedict, but she’s now digesting him as well!?“Gina, let him out right now!” Susato-san said to her, to which she only got a small burp in response. “Nah, not happenin’. It’s ‘is fault for tryin’ to steal my disk. Now unless you wanna end up like ‘im, I recommend leaving.” She threatened while glaring at us. Out of options, we complied and left the alleyway, leaving Gina and Eggert alone. Last thing we heard from her was another loud burp. This entire ordeal was too much for me to handle.

A confused Natsuki enters the school. She had been told by Sayori that she left her a gift inside the Literature Club. What gift? Nobody knew, except the person behind the gift.Natsuki’s footsteps echoed inside the school since this was during the weekend and nobody was inside the school, except for her. It was kinda scary for her, but she kept going ahead.While she was walking towards the Literature Club, she kept asking herself the same question; what gift did Sayori have for Natsuki? Was it a cupcake? A new recipe for making cupcakes? Maybe even some manga? Her question would soon be answered as she entered the Literature Club and was met with a… fascinating sight. Right in the middle, a cupcake could be seen. But this was no normal cupcake. This cupcake was massive. It was taller than Natsuki herself. Not to mention, it smelled amazing. Was this the gift that Sayori left for her?Wanting to make sure this was a real cupcake she got close to it and laid a hand against it, of which she confirmed that this was a real massive cupcake.“Why did Sayori leave this for me? A normal-sized cupcake would’ve been fine.” Natsuki said to herself. Seeing such a gift from her clubmate made her blush like a tomato. This was the best gift she ever had in her life. And now… It was time to consume said gift. Natsuki sticks out her tongue and tastes the frosting and was overwhelmed by how good it tasted. Natsuki didn’t want to admit it, but this cupcake tasted way better than hers. She needed more. She needed this entire cupcake to be inside her. She couldn’t let go of how tasty this cupcake was.And so the petite girl opened her maw wider than ever before, with the sole mission of getting that entire cupcake in her mouth, down her throat and into her hungry stomach. She then grabbed the cupcake from below to move it inside her maw, but something odd hit her:She could feel… movement coming from inside? It was only for a moment, but she felt the cupcake move a bit. Of course, a mystery like that would not stop the hungry Natsuki from continuing to devour her new massive cupcake, that was sponsored by Sayori. After a few maneuvers, and with a close of her lips, the entire cupcake was inside Natsuki’s mouth. The flavor was unlike any other. She felt like she was in cupcake heaven. Natsuki didn’t even know Sayori was this good at making cupcakes. But now… it was time for the main act. GUUUUUUUUUUULLPP!!RIIIIIIIIP!! A large bulge could be seen forming outside of Natsuki’s gullet. So big in fact that her clothes ripped out and now her flat chest was bare for the world to see. But that bulge would soon go down her chest and into her stomach, of which it was quickly expanding to make space for the big cupcake until finally, the cupcake was inside her belly. Mission complete.Of course, the abdomen area also ripped out and Natsuki’s tummy laid on the floor. It was so big she couldn’t even see the floor infront of her. She licked her lips for any remaining flavor of the cupcake, patting her gut in the process. However, after a while the bloated orb started moving. Natsuki looked at her massive tummy with big question marks above her head, before hearing a voice. “Jeez, when did it get so tight all of a sudden?” The mysterious voice said. Natsuki looked around and found nobody inside. “W-Who’s there?” Natsuki asked, still looking around.“Natsuki? Is that you?” The voice asked, only this time Natsuki knew who that voice belonged to. She couldn’t believe it. ‘no way’ she thought. Was it… was it…“S-S-S-Sayori? I-Is that you?” Natsuki stuttered. Was Sayori inside the cupcake? If so, that would mean… “Yep, it’s me! I wanted to surprise you even more so I hid inside the cupcake. Although it’s more cramped in here now for some reason…” Sayori said inside, muffled by the walls of Natsuki’s stomach. Natsuki was shocked by the recent news. Not only did she eat a massive cupcake, but she ate Sayori alongside it! Sayori, her clubmate and the one behind the gift, is now inside her stomach, stewing away along with the cupcake. How was this even possible!?“S-Sayori, I’m afraid I-“ Her sentence was cut short after her stomach rumbled loudly. She then felt something big coming up her throat in such a quick pace that she couldn’t even hold it in.“BOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRPP!!” Natsuki belched loudly, causing her cheeks to redden even more. Drops of saliva landed on her bloated tummy, and Sayori can be heard giggling inside.“That sure was a big burp, hehehe~” Sayori giggled. Natsuki, on the other hand, wasn’t exactly having fun.“S-Sayori, you’re… you’re…” Natsuki said in a bit of a panicked voice. She never thought her stomach could house an entire human being inside, let alone a cupcake that big at once.“Natsuki, are you okay?” Sayori asked, worried for her clubmate. That’s when Natsuki shared the bad news.“You’re… inside my tummy.” Those words silenced all the fun and excitement Sayori had inside her. And those feelings were replaced with fear and desperation.“I’m… I’m inside your tummy?” Sayori asked in a shaky voice as she realized what was happening.“Y-Yeah…” Natsuki answered while closing her eyes and resting her head on her bloated orb. She could feel Sayori moving around inside her, which caused her to let out a small burp.“C-Can you let me out?” She asked the obvious question. And of course, was met with the obvious answer:“I-I don’t know how!” Natsuki was now starting to panic. Her stomach was letting out gurling noises, an indication that her tummy was treating Sayori like a cupcake; food ready to be digested.“Ma-Maybe try coughing me back out? Or maybe stick your hand inside your throat?” Natsuki tried to do the former and started coughing and hacking loudly to try and barf out her clubmate, even attempting to stick her hand down her throat to trigger a gag reflex, but it was all for naught. Sayori was stuck.“OOUUAARRP! I-I can’t let you out! It’s not working!”“Th-There has to be a way out!” Sayori shouted while struggling. Natsuki didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. And so to try and calm her down, she asked her a question. “H-Hey, Sayori… why did you make me a large cupcake?” Natsuki asked, which resulted in Sayori’s movements to come to a halt. She didn’t expect Sayori’s response however.“W-Well, I just love your cupcakes and after you taught me how to make some, I decided to try and create my own recipe to make you happy. I just wanted what’s best for everyone in the club. I don’t even care about myself most of the time. I just care more about you guys because… you all mean a lot to me.” This response touched Natsuki’s heart. No, it touched deep places inside her heart. Natsuki knew that Sayori can be an airhead sometimes, but this was different. The tsundere blushed even more, but she couldn’t exactly shut up about it. She had to say something. “Well, if it makes you any happier your large cupcake was delicious. In fact, it was way better than my cupcakes. I think your recipe was a success, Sayori. I truly mean that.” Natsuki didn’t believe she was saying this, but she had to.“Y-You really mean it?”“Yeah, I do.” This response caused Sayori to jump inside her chamber with joy, causing Natsuki to let out another loud burp.“BOOOOUUUUUAAAAARRRRP!!”“I’m so happy you liked it! I tried my best to make it as tasty as possible so I’m really glad you enjoyed it!” She squealed with happiness. “And you know what… maybe I was destined to be eaten as a cupcake.”“What do you mean?” Natsuki asked out of confusement.“Well, it’s just that I’m in love with your cupcakes and I made a large one for me to hide in and surprise you. But maybe fate decided to have me as a cupcake for you to enjoy~” Natsuki couldn’t help but giggle by her response.“You’re such an airhead as usual.” Sayori can be heard giggling as well.“I hope I was tasty along with the cupcake!”“Wait, so you really want to be digested?” Natsuki asked. To which Sayori responded with:“Yep! I’m all yours now~!” Natsuki thought she was hearing things, but that wasn’t the case. Her clubmate wanted to be digested and gurgled up along with the cupcake. Natsuki opened her mouth to say something, but unfortunately fell asleep as drool starting dripping outside her open mouth.“Natsuki? Natsukiiii?” Sayori called out, to which no response. “I guess she fell asleep. Oh well, I’ll see you soon, Natsuki! Hope I was filling for ya!” Those were Sayori’s last words as the acids started to very slowly rise up. GUUUUUUUURRGLLLLLLLEE!! RRUUUMMMMBBBLLLLEE!! Natsuki was awakened by such loud noises coming from her belly. She looked outside the window and found that it was nighttime. She looked at the clock to check the time: 11:25 PM Natsuki looked down at her massive tummy and poked at it.“Sayori? Sayori, can you hear me?” Of which she got no response, except for the gurglings of her stomach. So she really did do it. She really did digest Sayori. A full human being.“I’ll remember this, Sayori. Thanks for being a… delicious cupcake.” She said to herself before lifting her big tummy from below and slowly heading outside the club.Moving around with a belly this big was definitely a challenge. She had to walk slowly thanks to the weight of Sayori and whatever remained of the cupcake. After a while she finally managed to get out of the school, looking at the night sky above. Her belly let out another loud grumble and she continued walking back home, taking alleyways so not to arouse any more suspicion than she already has. She continued wobbling back home until finally she reached her house. She opened the door and found herself not able to enter thanks to the size of her tummy. She hugged it tightly from the sides until she finally entered her house. Feeling thirsty, she opened the fridge and picked up a bottle of water, turning the cap and glugging some water. She put the bottle back in and closed the fridge, letting out another obnoxious loud belch. She lifted her tummy once again to go upstairs into her room, opening and closing the door behind her. She tried to undress herself, but couldn’t because of how heavy and how big her belly was. And so she just fell on her back and laid on the bed, putting a hand on her tummy before going into a blissful sleep. She did let out some small burps occasionally in her sleep though. The sun comes out, and Natsuki slowly opens her eyes before giving them a rub. She lifts herself up and notices something odd about her body. She looks down and finds her belly shrunken down into a small potbelly and her flat chest now bigger than Yuri’s. Her thighs also gained some weight, looking even better than Yuri’s. She stands up and goes into a mirror, admiring her new body. “Thank you, Sayori… for giving me the best gift in my life~”

Two candidates can be seen in Virtua Forest, those being Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune, and Uni, the CPU Candidate of Lastation. A couple days ago, Uni asked Nepgear if they could practice together, to which Nepgear agreed. And now, it was time to see just who’s stronger than the other. “I don’t wanna hurt you, so I’ll go easy on you.” Nepgear said, to which Uni just giggled as a response.“Meanwhile I won’t go easy on you because I wanna show you how strong I am!” Uni said while taking a stance. Nepgear just sighed.“I-In that case, I’ll fight as hard as I can!” Nepgear took a stance as well. The two candidates just stared at each other, waiting for one of them to make their first move. However, while Nepgear was observing Uni, she could see her licking her lips. What did that mean? Oh well, it didn’t matter as Uni was the first to move as she fired a shot from her sniper, to which Nepgear easily dodged, and so the fight began. The fight continued with Uni firing the shots, and Nepgear trying to get close to get a hit on her with her sword. They were both strong and neither of them were tired, however that would soon change as Nepgear was the first to start breathing heavily.“What’s the matter? Tired already?” She taunted, to which Nepgear just took a deep breath.“That’s because you keep firing your sniper so that I could dodge more than you.” She remarked. Uni was surprised that she figured out her plan, but that wasn’t gonna stop her.“Oh yeah? Let’s see how you’ll handle this!” Uni then jumped into the air and aimed her sniper at her enemy. “BRAVE CANNON!” She fired and Nepgear tried to dodge, but it was too late as the shot hit her and dealt tons of damage. Once it was over, Nepgear could be seen lying on the ground, looking at the beautiful sky above her as Uni descends back down.“Well, you sure put up a good fight, but you’re not stronger than me~!” She remarked while giggling to herself. Nepgear could hear her approaching, but didn’t have the strength to look down as she was breathing heavily to regain her stamina. However, she soon felt her feet being lifted up. Confused, she slowly leans her head down and finds her feet being close to Uni’s mouth.“U-Uni? What are you doing?” She asked, with a visible sweat on her cheek. Uni just looked at her and licked her lips.“Taking my prize~” She said in a cheerful voice before opening her maw wider than ever before and stuffing Nepgear’s feet inside.“U-Uni!? What do you think you’re doing!? Let go!” Nepgear shouted while trying to struggle free, but with her stamina slowly recharging she couldn’t do anything. And so with a loud audible GULP!, Nepgear’s feet were inside her friend’s throat. She couldn’t believe what was happening… She was being eaten alive! Nepgear tried her best to struggle, but nothing was helping as another GULP! was taken and Uni reached Nepgear’s knees. She kept pulling more of Nepgear into her hungry maw, making sure to lick her sweet thighs in the process.“Uni, please stop! Don’t eat me!” Nepgear shouted in desperation, still trying to find a way to wriggle herself out, but then after another loud GULP! she felt the world around her shift until she was above Uni. Nepgear realized that she was descending even faster now thanks to gravity and had to figure out a way to escape fast. She lifted her hands and placed them on Uni’s face, trying to push herself out.“No! I refuse to be eaten!” She screamed. Nepgear started to feel hope as she felt herself being pushed out of Uni’s hungry maw, but that hope soon diminished as with an angry wince from Uni, she grabbed Nepgear’s hands and pushed them inside her mouth, taking another gulp. “No!”At this point, Nepgear couldn’t do anything. Her hands and feet were stuck and she was still being eaten by her friend. She only had one option left.“U-Uni, please… Please don’t eat me!” She sobbed, tearing sliding down her cheeks. She was scared. Scared at the idea of being digested alive. However, Uni just rolled her eyes in disappointment and took another GULP!, reaching Nepgear’s neck. Nepgear just cried more as a result and pleaded one more time.“No! Please, don’t eat me! UNIIII-MMPH!” Her last plea was muffled as her head entered Uni’s salivating mouth. Uni prepared her throat muscles and took the final GUUUUULP! as she felt Nepgear’s head slide down her throat and into her stomach. The deed was done. The abdomen area of Uni’s outfit ripped out and came a large bloated orb of flesh, that was clearly moving about thanks to the struggles of Nepgear. Uni felt something coming up her throat and she happily let out a-“BWWWAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPP!!!”-and drops of saliva landed on her tummy as a result. Feeling satisfied and full, she started patting her tummy like a drum, licking her lips for any remaining flavor.“Mm-mmm~! You sure hit the spot, Nepgear!” She complimented her belly. Nepgear kept struggling to find a way out of her gurgly chamber.“U-Uni! Why did you eat me!? I thought we were friends!” Nepgear shouted inside, but came out muffled thanks to Uni’s stomach walls. But it was clear enough for her to hear it.“Don’t worry, we’re still friends. Consider it a battle between you and my tummy~” She teased while smacking her gut. “If you can escape my tummy safely, you win. If not, well… let’s just say you’ll be stuck in there forever~”“B-But… but if I lose, I’ll be digested!” She shouted once more, clearly begging to be let out.“Then you better try and escape~” She teased once more with a lick of her lips. Nepgear was shocked. She didn’t expect her friend to be this cruel. Well no matter, she needs to quickly escape before she’s turned into mush!And so with a strong kick from Nepgear, Uni was sent back to the ground, lying on top of her belly and letting out another loud belch.”H-Hey! Quit being so rough!” She angrily said while smacking her gut, getting a gurgle in response.“You’re the one who told me to struggle!” Nepgear remarked loudly, not stopping until she’s finally free from her special prison.“Alright then, guess I’ll have to shut you up myself!” Uni wobbled herself up and glared at her belly. “You have five seconds to stop struggling, or else I’m gonna do it!”Nepgear wasn’t scared by that at all, not when her life’s on the line! And so she kept struggling, even increasing in intensity. Uni just sighed.“Fine then. You brought this on yourself… BELLY CRUSH!” She shouted loudly before jumping and landing on her tummy, causing the space inside her stomach to tighten around Nepgear quickly, and with the force of her hitting the ground, she was knocked unconscious.“Hmph. BAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRPPP!!! Jeez…” Uni pouted before standing up once more, observing her motionless tummy. “Well, looks like I win. Better luck next time~” And so she started heading towards the exit, lifting her tummy along the way that was gurgling and rumbling loudly to turn Nepgear into slop. She tried avoiding enemy encounters since with the weight of another person in her belly it would be tough to fight them. After a while she finally managed to leave the forest and found a nearby bench. Since she’s been lifting her big belly for some time now it was making her feel exhausted. She sat down on the bench and got comfortable, looking at her motionless belly once more. Since Nepgear wasn’t struggling, it kinda made her realize how boring it was starting to get.“Hey, Nepgear? Are you awake?” Uni poked her tummy, only getting a gurgle in response. Did she digest her? No, that can’t be right. Her stomach isn’t that fast. “Jeez, she’s still asleep. How boring…” She sighed, clearly disappointed that her friend isn’t strong enough to fight her tummy. She spent the next couple minutes sitting on the bench, rubbing her tummy until she regained enough stamina to go back to the basilicom. Of course, the guards wouldn’t question the CPU Candidate of Lastation for having such a large belly, but her sister definitely would. If her sister finds her like this, it would make her plan much harder to complete. And so she very gently opened the door to her room and found it empty.“Phew, that’s a relief. Noire must be out doing some quests.” She closed the door and headed towards her bed before sitting on it, patting her still-motionless tummy. “Well, Nepgear, looks like you lost once again. You didn’t make it out in time, and now I’m gonna digest you and absorb your body~ I’ll also get even stronger once I absorb your powers as well~” Uni taunted while rubbing her gut. She wraps the blanket around her and around her bloated abdomen, giving it one more pat.“Goodnight, Nepgear~ Sleep tight~” She teased one last time before closing her eyes, going into a blissful sleep. Nepgear finally regains her consciousness and slowly opens her eyes to find herself still in the gurgly chamber, only this time the acids have reached her chest. She wanted to struggle once again to try and escape, but she couldn’t. She was too tired to even move a muscle. Not only that, but she couldn’t even feel her lower body. Her fate’s already been sealed. She closes her eyes once again and goes back to sleep, never to awaken again… “Uni? Uniiiii?” The candidate heard a very familiar voice and opened her eyes to find her big sister, Noire, infront of her, clearly worried about something.“Hi, Noire.” Uni said with a smile on her face, causing the big sister to smile with her.“Glad to see you’re okay. You’ve been asleep for a long time. But that’s not what’s important… Look at your body!” Noire remarked, causing the candidate to look down and was met with her chest no longer being flat, but rather the same cup size as her big sister. Her thighs also got an increase in thickness, and her big belly that she clearly remembers is now nothing but a small potbelly. Noire could see a visible smirk forming on Uni’s face. “What did you eat, Uni?” “A delicious Ge-Ge~”

The Doki Doki Literature Club was a pretty peaceful place. We had the cheerful S̺̬͕̝̙̆̅͑̃̉ǎ̶̧̠̟̙͙̅̏̀͌̊̀̿y̸̧̛͇̭̞͓̲͊̉̉̆͌͟ͅo̡̻̗̘̤̪͉̩̓́̆͑̀̚ŗ̡̛̼͔̝̼͔̔̏̈̂͋̌͆̒͢͟͞ͅị̦̰͉̘͙̔̃͂́̃̐́͒͘, the tsundere Natsuki, the bookworm Yuri and the president Monika. Everyone was having fun, sharing their poems with one another and giving tips as well. …That was, until a couple days go by and MC realizes something about Yuri; she seems to be more… clinging towards him. Like how right now they’re drinking tea together, but she’s so close to him that he could feel her breasts. He didn’t even know if she was doing this intentionally or not, but something was definitely up with Yuri. His hunch turned out to be right as after they finished their tea, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek that resulted in MC to blush a deep red, with Yuri giggling at him.“Hey, come with me. There’s something I wanna show you.” She gently says before grabbing MC’s hand and moving towards the corner of the room, where an open closet can be seen. She looks behind her shoulder and observes the room; a calm Natsuki can be seen reading some manga, and Monika wasn’t here yet. And so she quickly pulls him inside the closet and gently shuts the door to not make any sound.MC opens his mouth to speak, but she put a finger on his lips to silence him. “MC… my heart… my heart won’t stop pounding…” She remarked, still in her calm and gentle voice. “I can’t calm down… I can’t focus on anything anymore…”Yuri lifts MC’s hand and presses it on her chest.“Can you feel it, MC?” She asks, to which MC just nods. What the fuck is going on?“I don’t even wanna read anymore… I just wanna… look… at you.” She stated while leaning close to him and staring at him with those eyes. MC couldn’t even turn away, he just kept staring back. This continued for several seconds, which felt like minutes or maybe even hours, until Yuri claimed his lips into a passionate kiss. She didn’t even hold back, inserting her tongue into his mouth and intertwining with his. The passionate make out session lasted for a couple seconds before pulling away, breathing heavily as MC could even feel her breath.“I need you, MC. More than anything in the world. Which is why I… I…” She said between deep breathes before Yuri opened her maw as wide as he’s ever seen before. He could see several strands of saliva and drool that clung to the roof ripping apart, and her deep throat as well. Yuri had a strong grip on MC so he couldn’t even struggle or squirm. She kept leaning closer and closer until… CRRREEEAAAK!“U-Um… It’s time to share poems.” Stated a confused Monika as she opens the closet door. Both MC and Yuri stare at her before Yuri makes the first move and pulls him up, leaving the closet. Monika turns around and leaves them alone, with Yuri giving MC a seductive wink. “We’ll continue where we left off later~” And so everyone in the club was now chatting about the poems they’ve written, with Yuri and MC acting as if nothing weird had happened before. The members continue to have fun talking to each other until it starts to sunset. Everyone in the club started to pack their stuff and ready to leave, with Natsuki and Monika being the first to leave the club. Once Yuri realized that she was alone with MC, she walks close to him and pulls him into her embrace.“Now that nobody can interrupt us… let’s continue where we left off~” She says in a seductive voice this time before grabbing his uniform and ripping it apart, revealing his bare chest. She pushes him to the floor with her landing on top of him as she sticks her tongue out and licked his chest, coating it with her warm saliva. Once she was done, she got closer to him and licked his face, with MC feeling every breath the crazy bookworm exhaled. This continued until she finally stopped and pulled away. His chest and face were full of saliva, and he could see Yuri licking her lips for any remaining flavor in her mouth.“You taste so good!” She moaned while licking her lips. She leaned close to him again and MC could see hearts forming on her pupils. “I can’t hold back anymore… I need you inside me, MC!”After those words left her mouth, she opened her maw wide and quickly stuffed MC’s head inside, making sure to lick every corner of his face. Once his entire head was coated in her saliva, she took the first GULP! and sent his head down her deep throat. Yuri kept licking his chest, making sure to taste every single spot on MC’s body. She found his taste to be divine. More delicious than anything she ever ate in her life. And of course, this gave her more determination to get MC into her stomach as with another GULP! his chest starting sliding down Yuri’s throat.MC’s legs were flailing about as he tried to escape, but his fate was sealed as Yuri gripped his legs tight and pulled them into her hungry maw, taking consecutive gulps in the process until only his feet remained outside. She gave her bloating belly a couple pats before taking MC’s shoes off and licking his feet, eliciting a few laughs from MC. Then finally, she closed her lips and took the final GUUUULLP!, lifting a hand and placing it on her gullet as she felt his feet sliding down her chest before plummeting into her stomach.Inside, the smell of tea was almost unbearable. Yuri must’ve drank a lot of tea for her stomach to smell like this. Yuri looked down at her bloated tummy and caressed it, before feeling something coming up her throat.“BWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUURRPP!! Ahahaha… hahahaha… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” She laughed maniacally before giving her belly a smack. “I did it! Now I have MC all to myself!”Yuri stood up and started walking towards the door, opening it up and looking down at her tummy once more. “Don’t think about Natsuki or Monika anymore. You belong to me now. AND ONLY ME.” She stated as she then dashed towards the stairs and started descending, however she felt as if she was being watched from behind… well it probably was her imagination. She left the school building after a few minutes and continued dashing towards her house. MC was shuffled about inside, as if he was inside a washing machine. It wasn’t exactly pleasant and it was making him sick.Finally after a while, Yuri entered her house and ran upstairs into her room, closing the door and looking down at her bloated middle once more, leaving MC’s shoes near the door.“Now nobody can interrupt us. It’s just you and me now~” She says while sitting on her bed. “I can feel you slowly becoming a part of me, MC… can you feel it too?”Yuri’s right. The acids have risen to his waist level and he could feel stinging pain coming from them. MC was slowly becoming one with the yandere.“OOOOOOUUUUUAAAAAAARRRRPP!!” With that loud belch, a school uniform flew out of her lips and into the ground, landing with a splat. Yuri quickly realized that uniform belonged to MC, which means he was only wearing his boxers inside. The uniform was coated in stomach acids and saliva, causing Yuri to let out a cute giggle.“I don’t think you’ll be needing these anymore~” She teased with a lick of her lips. The acids inside have risen to his chest level, and Yuri’s stomach was gurling and rumbling loudly as the organ was slowly turning MC into mush.“I love you so much, MC…” She whispered before giving her bloated tummy a warm kiss. She then lied down on her bed and wrapped the blanket around her, giving her belly one last rub. “Goodnight, MC~” And with that, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. MC did the same as he couldn’t exactly change his fate. And so both of them fell asleep, with one of them never waking up again… The sun rises and Yuri lets out a yawn, rubbing her eyes before looking down, admiring her new breasts and thick thighs. Her large MC-filled belly was now reduced into a small potbelly, giving it a light pat.“Now we’ll be together forever~” She cooes.

“………” “………….” “…………….” Silence filled the dark, empty room that Komaru was in. It wasn’t just a normal room; it was a prison cell. Haiji decided to lock them in a room because she and Toko were the one who caused an ambush to happen in this underground hideout… when in reality, all she did was try to help everyone. It just wasn’t fair. She was trying to help everyone fight despair and now she’s being punished for helping out. It just… wasn’t fair. “*Sigh*…” A sigh came out of Komaru’s lips. Just then, flashbacks of how the monokumas ambushed the base, the loud screams of everyone who got sliced and blood… too much blood. Haiji told her that the kids must’ve honed in on her and followed her to the base, blaming her for the attack. “It’s all… my fault. Everyone got hurt because of me…” Komaru thought to herself. “…He’s right… if I didn’t insist on coming back here… if I had just tried harder, if I were a better person, I could have protected them… but I couldn’t, because I’m weak… *sob*” Tears started sliding down Komaru’s cheeks. She couldn’t save everyone. She always depended on others to help her out, but now… she can’t do anything. It’s all her fau- “Sneak sneak ♪ Sneakity ♪ Sneak ♪ !” A voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Komaru wiped her eyes and looked at the cell door… “Tra la la! Why, hellooo there!” A pink-haired little girl suddenly appeared through the cell door window. “My name is Kotoko Utsugi. I’m the Fighter in the Warriors of Hope. Formerly known as Li’l Ultimate Drama! Well, not like it matters at all…” Komaru just kept staring at the girl, before suddenly she said: “Ooopen sesaaame!” *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!**Ugggh…* And the door just… opened. She managed to break down the door as it fell to the floor. She cheerfully walked towards Komaru. “Woohoo! Sorry for the intrusion, tank you veddy much! Phew, I reached waaay back for that reference!”” She says with a happy smile. “I had to deal with baby boomers all the time, so my gags are kinda dated.” Komaru just… kept staring. Why was she here? What is Kotoko, a member of the Warriors of Hope, doing here in Komaru’s cell? Her thoughts were interrupted as Kotoko suddenly spoke again: “And speaking of old… aw, I can’t think of any follow-up! I must be nervous!” She continues. “*sigh* My heart is racing faster than 16 shots a second! Master Takahashi would be proud!” “U-Um…” Were the words that left Komaru’s mouth. And honestly, nobody can blame her. Kotoko then tilts her head a bit to the left. “Yeah, yeah, I already know what you wanna say. You were gonna tell me a Fighter should be a boy.” She says. “And speaking of boys, I’ve heard some people say that slugs don’t have a gender… but actually, slugs have both male and female bodies at once!” After she said this, she suddenly pointed at Komaru in a scolding manner. “People who go around spreading half-assed lies about slugs deserve swift punishment! Fighter kick! Fighter Punch! Chakaw! Hatcha!” She starts moving her arms around until she suddenly falls on her back. Silence fills the room for a couple seconds before she, once again, continued speaking. “That’s what I told them… that I didn’t want to be Fighter because I’m not good at P.E. I mean, I am reaaally good at “physical education” though…” She says before she gets back up on her feet, looking at Komaru in a curious pose. “…How ‘bout you? You good at health and physical education?” Komaru takes a quick, nervous gulp before finally saying something: “Is that… is that even a subject you can be good at?” Komaru says before Kotoko scolds her. “There are no girls who dislike health and physical education… that’s my theory, anyway.” She says before staring at Komaru. Literally. “…Staaare.” A ”Wh-What?” escapes Komaru’s lips before Kotoko opens her mouth to say something.“Truth is, I’m actually here to hunt you down… buuut, I changed my mind. I’ll let you escape.” Komaru was… confused to say the least. A member of the Warriors of Hope is now letting her escape? Is… is this really happening, or is she dreaming? “It’s not like my feelings about Demons have changed any. I still hate them deeply.” She remarks. “I still wanna kill them all in the most painful, cruel way possible. But anywhooo, despite my hatred, the reason I let you escape was because… you are suuuper adorbs!” She says in a gleeful manner. “…Huh?” Was all that Komaru said. Was she really letting Komaru go because she’s super adorable?“I looove adorable things! I collect everything adorbs, from faucets to toilet seats! So, I’m gonna let an adorable girl like you go.” “R-Really?” Komaru asks before Kotoko turns around. “There is one catch. You’re the only one allowed to leave. Four-eyes over there is not cute at all. But shhh! Keep it a secret, especially from the Sage, Nagisa. He’s super strict with rules!” She pouts cutely. “Nagisa says I can’t even drink soda during meals!” “Ah… um…” Komaru looks just as confused as ever, but Kotoko insists for her to leave the cell. “Anyway, let’s go! Go on, get out before those chumps notice!” “B-But I can’t be the only one to go… I can’t just abandon all the people here…” Komaru’s got a point. She couldn’t exactly leave everyone after what happened, especially Toko.“Oh? Something wrong? Is your red flower blooming?” She says with a grin. “Or maybe you just like locked rooms? Like, you’re a murder mystery enthusiast?”“I can’t… just leave Toko behind…” Komaru says. She couldn’t exactly leave her best friend behind now, could she?“Well, I can understand a little hesitation… why don’t you just leave the cell for now?” She says with a big smile. “C’mon, just step on out. Girls are more adorable if they’re a teensy bit selfish.” Komaru looks down for a while, before nervously gulping and slowly walking towards the exit. Then, just as she gets close to leaving… “And nooow… haiyah!” Kotoko, out of nowhere, pulls a sort of “teeth gun” and a pair of teeth shoots out towards Komaru’s neck. “Ah!?” Just as it bit her neck, Komaru falls to the ground, seemingly limp and not moving. “This is a Denture Launcher! So how ‘bout it? Pretty sweet machine, right?” She says with a big smile on her face. “The smooth shaft! The fresh pink color! The brutal yet hypnotizing shine! Kyaha, it’s so adorbs I just can’t stand it!” “Wh-What is this? I… can’t move!” Komaru says while trying to move her body, but nothing seemed to work. “Oooh! Your sleepy face is suuuper adorbs! I bet your face is cute even halfway through a little girl’s gullet!” She says before leaning down at Komaru’s face. “However, being adorbs isn’t always a good thing. Cute girls go through terrible things… and if you’re adorable too, you have to protect yourself. On your own. If you can’t, you have to take whatever they give you.” She says while leaning closer to Komaru’s face. “It’s a shitty rule, but I didn’t make it. Adults did… so be prepared for that life~” “Toko…” Were Komaru’s last words as she fell unconscious, with the last thing she saw being Kotoko licking her lips. Just then, Kotoko opens her maw wide. Like, wide enough to engulf Komaru’s head. And she did just that. “Ahhh-OOMPH~!” She gives Komaru’s face a good lick before gulping it down her gullet. Komaru tasted… adorable to say the least, with a hint of strawberry. That motived her to take another hard gulp to send Komaru’s delicious rack down her throat. She put a hand on Komaru’s butt and pulled it towards her, sending more of her prey down her throat and into her stomach. She couldn’t help but give her butt a cute squish before tilting her head back and allowing those legs to slide down her throat thanks to gravity. Then, after one last gulp, the last of Komaru went down Kotoko’s gullet and into her big, swollen belly. “Bwwoooooouuuuuurrrp!! Ooooh, little girls burping loudly is sooo adorbs!” She says in glee, patting and rubbing her Komaru-filled tummy. “Sure it probably smells gross, but it’s so cute!” Kotoko grabs her big belly from below to try and lift it up. “Jeez, you’re heavier than I thought… well, no matter, you’ll never be able to escape~” She says with a grin before slowly wobbling outside the cell.“I bet four-eyes over there is jealous because you’re stewing inside my guts! Ooooouuuuurrrp! I’ll make sure to reunite you two when the time comes~” She licks her lips before wobbling away from the scene,her big tummy making loud gurgling and churning noises to digest it’s new meal. That was the last time Komaru was seen ever again.

 It was a warm, wasteland day as a small buidling, on the edge of a city, would become noisy with the calling out of a certain Stable suit clad Unicorn, looking for his friend who decided it would be funny to hide from him. Damnit mare.. "Duuuuuuuusty? Duuuuuuuuuuustttttyyyyyyyy?" Eissen would call out, trotting around the small building that him and the earth pony named Dusty Shelfs currently resided in. The mare had disappeared while he was out scavanging, and currently his saddlebags resided over by the door as he peaked into a room, his expression going blank as he sees a certain tail disappear into a cardboard box, a pretty large one...could've held a pre-war bot, or something. Didn't matter, Eissen trotted up to it, and opened a flap, looking down to the cute, curled up chubby mare inside, giving Eissen a playful look as she flicked her tail. "Dusty, what in Luna's Full moon are you doing?" "I'm in a box!" Dusty would call out happily, sticking her tounge out at Eissen as he raised an eyebrow. "Why?" The mango unicorn would question back, giving her a more annoyed look now. "I dunno! I was just lookin' at it, and then I wanted to get inside! So I diiiiiiid, Eisssseeeeeeeen." She would call out playfully, popping out a hoof and booping then unicorn as he sighs, still looking down at her. "Dusty, why are you acting so buckin' weird?" Eissen would deadpan out, leaning in to look her in the eye better. "You should come inside the box! You'll be happieeeeeeer." She'd let out, leaning up to Eissen with her tounge sticking out, giving him a lick. "What? No, Dusty I don't want to get inside th-wait, Dusty?!" He would cry out as the mare suddenly grabbed him, and pulled him into the box, and into her gullet as she started to swallow him whole. To anypony outside, they would just see a kicking pair of hindlegs sliding into the box, with the sounds of gulping and slurping, and within a few minutes, the hind legs disappeared with a few more gulps, a burp, and a scrap of a stable suit flying out, and a happy sigh from the mare inside as she layed back and promply started to snooze, her gut noisy and active with the squirming unicorn inside. Eissen tried his best, struggling, pushing, and squirming, but she never let him out, and soon enough he ran out of air, passing out and starting the hours long process of digestion. It would take the better half of the day to digest Eissen, adding him to her flank, another layer of fat ontop of the last one given to her by a certain pegasus, and she would yawn, smiling at her gurlging, pudgy gut as she got up, and out of the box. She would postion her ponut over the enterance to it, and grunt as she started to squeeze out a few logs, one after another they came, a mixture of gas with them as she strained, a skull slowly sliding out, with a pair of goggles around the eyes as she let out a sigh of pleasure when it finally came loose. She'd lean in, plucking the dirty goggles off the skull and cleaning then in a nearby irradiated sink (Think Celestia the water worked...somehow) She'd make her way out of the building, leaving the box filled with what was left of her Stable pony friend for the next pony to find.

This is a lightly edited adaptation of an RP I did with a few of my partners. If you like what you read and want to ply with any or all of us you can shoot me a PM. More info in the description. Annabelle was nervous. Her master had just acquired a new meatslut for his harem and he had told them that one of them was going to be digested tonight while he fucked the other. Annabelle didn’t mind the idea of getting digested, in fact it made her incredibly wet. She was a very jealous slut though and the idea that her master might like his new slut more made her seethe. Soon the new girl would return, and their fate would be decided. Out of the blue, Jacob spoke up. “Hmm... I'm getting impatient. And hungry.” “W-what do you mean?” “Annabelle, since you're here, I'm going to make a meal out of you.” Annabelle swallowed nervously and backed up until she was against a wall. “C-can’t you wait?” Jacob moved over to Annabelle and pressed her into the wall. “I don't want to. I want Lara to get back from work to find me with a big, writhing belly and a rock-hard cock.” Annabelle tried to pull away but couldn’t, blushing deeply as her master described a scene that she would be jealous of. “You're a good little meatslut, aren't you, Annabelle? You wouldn't try to deny your master if he wants to send you through his digestive tract, would you?” Annabelle watched her master’s lips, transfixed, before slowly shaking her head. “N-no master… of course not.” “Good. Let me take you to bed.” Jacob took Annabelle’s hand and lead her over to his bed. He lay down on his back and let her straddle him. Her voluptuous ass pressed on his crotch and she felt his cock harden. “I want to eat you hands first. Why don't you feed them to me?” Annabelle looked down at her master and slowly offered her hands to his lips. Jacob slowly parted his lips and let Annabelle’s hands slide in. She tasted good. It's a taste he was familiar with. She had been his meatslut for a long time after all, and he’d had a lot of chances to sample her. He swallowed and brought her hands into his throat. With a few swallows he reached her head and had to open his mouth wide to accommodate it. Annabelle slowly huffed and leaned forwards, putting her head in her master’s maw. Jacob felt Annabelle’s head press against his throat for a moment and swallowed again. Her chest entered his mouth. This was one of his favorite parts. Her tits were big and soft and he chewed gently on them while his tongue explored them. He licked sweat out of her armpits and teased her nipples with his tongue. Annabelle shuddered as she was now on her knees, pussy teasing her master’s tip as she moaned from her nipples being teased. Jacob swallowed again and with some effort he got Annabelle’s soft, round belly into his mouth. He chewed gently and teased her navel. He like thinking about how soon all her nice, tender guts would be churning and digesting with the rest of her in his stomach. Annabelle whined as her dripping pussy was pulled away from any stimulation and her fat belly was licked and chewed. She started to push, trying to speed up her descent so she could play with her aching pussy. Jacob swallowed again and now he had Annabelle’s hips and ass. He decided to give himself a nice little treat and slid his tongue between her legs. He liked to taste a girl's cum before he finished her off. He carefully found her clitoris with just the tip of his tongue and started to gently prod it. Thanks to Annabelle’s prey disposition, the simple prods as her master’s drool coated her ass was enough. On the outside her legs tensed a little, whilst on the inside she moaned wildly as she gushed cum into his mouth. Annabelle’s juices were delicious. Jacob grinned through the mouthful of her ass and swallowed her sweet cum, coating her upper body with it. He swallowed again and now she started to slip down his throat even faster. Tight rings of muscle undulated around her whole body, forcefully working her down into his stomach. When he felt the last of her enter his belly he let out a large belch and patted his swollen gut appreciatively. He swallowed some air to replace what he had belched out. He didn’t want her to suffocate before he had a chance to fuck her to pieces. Annabelle squirmed inside to try and get comfortable until she was lewdly bulging out, through the gut it was obvious that she had settled into a comfortable position to get off. Jacob settled in to wait for his other toy to arrive. As her master settled Annabelle moaned lewdly and eagerly got off inside, more than happy with her fate. Lara arrived back tired from work and still in her waitress uniform of a white button up blouse, a black tie, black pants that had a slim fit to show of the curve of her ass to her thighs, black socks, and black heeled polishable leather shoes. Her face was still made up with some blusher, mascara, and light lipstick. And her hair was tied back in a high sitting ponytail. Annabelle was still alive and masturbating lewdly in her master’s gut, her figure clear on his belly. Lara saw her master resting with a massive belly. However the belly was moving and twitching with the clear outline of Annabelle in there and it seemed like she was enjoying it. That made Lara smirk. “I see you made the right choice of who to eat.” When Annabelle heard Lara’s voice through her master’s gut, she whined and fingered herself more. Her ass was bulging out toward Lara, the bulge of her hand under it making it obvious what she was doing. Jacob beckoned Lara over to the bed. “Now I want you to show me that I made the right choice of who to fuck.” Lara nodded and walked over to the bed, smiling at her master. “Oh, trust me, you made the right choice babe.” Lara spread her legs over her master’s and bent over his body to kiss him softly. Annabelle squirmed inside, feeling her body against Lara’s through her master’s stomach wall. Jacob sucked on Lara’s lower lip for a moment before he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She felt his hard cock press against her pussy. Lara kissed back and played with her master’s tongue as it entered her mouth. She twisted around it as she ground on his cock through her pants. “Hey babe I would love to pleasure you but your guts moving too much. How about you prove your choice and finish her off.” Annabelle was too busy playing with herself to care about the muffled sounds. She simply moaned inside, writhing in the pleasure of it all. “Take off your pants. I'm going to fuck the slut into paste.” Lara smiled widely and turned before pulling down her pants slowly, showing off her bare ass cheeks and thighs before she tossed them aside, only my black seni lace panties still on as she slipped off her shoes and socks. “You better fuck me nice and well to make sure that she completely digests in your bulging gut. Lara rubbed up against her master’s belly as she swayed her hips. Annabelle moaned loudly as she writhed inside, hitting a loud and lewd orgasm as she felt Lara grinding on her tomb. “Oh, she'll probably be gone in a few minutes, then it'll just be you and me and a belly full of slut mush. Now get on my cock.” Lara crawled up her master’s body and sat back down as she pulled her panties off and slid down his cock. “Ohh yea that sounds great baby fuck me hard and good as you turn her to mush.” Jacob grabbed Lara’s hips and pumped her up and down his cock. Digestive juices poured into his gut as he got worked up. He slipped his hand between Lara’s legs and found her clitoris. He made small circles with his thumb while she bounced up and down on him. Waves of pleasure washed over him as he felt her wrapped around his cock and Annabelle writhing in his stomach. Annabelle’s writhes of afterglow turned to panicked struggles and sloshing as digestion started around her. She begged for freedom but the shaking made the sloshing juices louder than her pathetic voice. “Ohh yea fuck me baby do it hard yea just like that.” Lara moaned out as her master fucked her and bounced harder, slapping her ass cheeks down on his legs and hugging his stomach to help him digest Annabelle. Jacob pulled Lara flat against his belly, putting a huge amount of pressure on Annabelle and he kissed Lara. His cock almost slid out of her pussy. Annabelle was pinned as she felt the tight hug squeezing her air towards her master’s gullet as she writhed uncomfortably within. Lara smiled and kissed back as she pushed on her master’s stomach with her body, grinding and hugging him tight as she rocked her hips on his cock. Annabelle whined loudly, too squished to struggle, the acids filling around her, the air was ready to be emptied. Lara leaned back and looked at her master’s stomach as she slid back down on his cock and rocked her hips and ground his balls. “You enjoying digesting her even as she struggles to try and get back out? Because if so you better churn her up good.” Jacob belched loudly and air rushed out of his stomach. Both of the sluts felt it compress tightly around Annabelle. “Of course I'm enjoying her. I'm a pred, this is what I live for. And it's what sluts like you and her die for.” Annabelle’s air was gone. She writhed and thrashed as she felt the walls easily clench and start their real work as she drowned in the pooled acids. “Well what she dies for anyway hehe.” Lara laughed nervously. Lara smiled and tossed her hair. She started to ride her master’s cock again hard, bouncing against his belly as it attempted to digest its meat slut. “Oh? Aren't you my meatslut too? Wouldn't you churn in my gut if I demanded it of you?” Jacob lifted Lara off his cock and held her there for a moment before guiding her back down so her asshole lined up with the tip of his cock. “Your pussy isn't tight enough. Just seconds in your asshole will probably kill her.” Annabelle writhed around, slowly coming towards an end as she bulged the gut but seemed less clearly visible on the outside. There were a few final moans from inside as she twitched, relaxing into the acids after she managed to get one more orgasm out of her melting, fat body. Lara moaned out loudly gasping as her master thrust into her ass with his already hard cock and rocked her hips like a cowgirl making sure to help him digest Annabelle down. She swallowed, slightly nervous about being food like Annabelle after escaping once from a woman who almost tricked Lara into her. “Umm wouldn’t you much prefer me as your sex toy? After all there are more meaty girls like Anabelle to eat while you fuck my tight young holes.” The only sounds from inside Jacob’s gut were gurgling and groaning, the fat girl softening with ease. Lara’s ass was tight around Jacob’s cock and the irregular expansions and contractions of her sphincter felt amazing. He had to slow down almost to a stop to keep himself from cumming right away. “It seems like Annabelle is almost gone, and I think I'm still hungry.” Lara rubbed the soft belly with both hands, feeling the liquid mush as she rode her master’s cock with her tight ass stretching her wide and making her moan out. “Really?! I thought she was big enough to fill you up! She certainly made a big bulge!” Jacob grabbed Lara’s hips and slammed his cock into her up to the balls. He ground her ass against his hips until it was too much and he came, blasting his load into her. “Ohhh yeaa baby! That’s amazing! You came so much for me! Wow, it looks like she's starting to give you energy!” Lara panted as she felt her master cum hard into her ass and stayed sitting on his cock, resting on the belly which was once alive and moving. “Unfortunately I don't have any more sluts for you to help me with, so you're on the menu.” Lara looked up, nervous and surprised. “Wait, please, you just ate! How could you want to eat me too? I'm a good slut and fuck toy!” “Oh please, you know you're just meat. If you don't believe that now my stomach will prove it to you soon. Soon you're going to be nothing but churning mush in my gut, just like Annabelle.” Lara looked into her master’s eyes but saw no reason to doubt what he was telling her, and that he was going to make her food just like the other slut. “Well at least I beat her and didn't become part of her fat slut ass.” Jacob took Lara’s hands and guided them to his mouth. He slipped her fingers between his lips and she felt them press against his throat. Lara wriggled my fingers, feeling them become wet with her master’s saliva as he started to put them in his mouth and near his throat, his cock still in her ass. Jacob swallowed Lara’s hands and pulled her arms into his throat. He opened his mouth wide to take in her head. Lara couldn’t help but whimper slightly as her master pulled her arms into his throat, restricting the amount of movement she could do with them as his mouth spread wider over the top of her head, her hair covering her slightly scared and nervous face as she realized that even if she did struggle and resist she wasn’t in a strong enough position that she would escape being his next meal. Jacob swallowed again and Lara’s head entered his throat. He brought her chest into his mouth and took a minute to enjoy it. He ran his tongue between her breasts and over her armpits. He teased her nipples with the tip and enjoyed how hard they were. Lara shut her eyes as her master swallowed her head, partially from fear and partially to limit the amount of saliva getting in her eyes as it dripped onto and coated her face and matted her hair. She felt Him lick in her breast valley and over her perky nipples, flicking them as her tummy started to be moistened with his saliva and wet lips. Jacob swallowed again, and now her belly was in his mouth. It tasted so good. Her meat was so warm and tender. He teased her navel with his tongue. Lara squirmed slightly as her body was squeezed and constricted in her master’s throat as she got pushed further down into his body while her belly was tasted by him, including her small belly button being licked at as her pussy started to tingle, knowing it too will soon be in his mouth along with her hips and ass. Jacob swallowed and brought Lara’s pelvis into his mouth. Her hands entered his stomach and were dipped in the warm soup that was all that was left of Annabelle. His tongue slid between her legs and found her clit. He wanted his treat. The tip of his tongue started making tiny circles around the tight bundle of nerves. Lara grimaced and her hands and body twitched on instinct as she felt her hands touch the stomach acid soup of Anabelle that was warm and strange to the touch but there was no going back now as her body started the first stage of joining Annabelle as her master’s nutrients. Her pussy reacted to his wet tongue, still moist from being fucked not long earlier, and shivered at the stimulation as he began licking circles around her clit, teasing her more and making her more wet. Jacob gently pushed his tongue inside Lara. He loved feeling her squirm in his throat. His esophagus was wrapped tightly around every inch of her torso, and he could feel her slightest movement. He could even feel her breasts and belly move as she breathed. His tongue flicked in and out of her snatch. Lara couldn’t help but moan out as her master licked at her wet pussy even as her hands rested in the soup of Annabelle, a once busty and living woman. She felt his throat and top the of his stomach squeeze on her as he licked her out, and thought about everything that was happening and the sensory overload and couldn't stop her hips from rocking until she finally climaxed hard, a gush of her juices spraying out like a hose and into his waiting mouth as he licked her. Jacob savored Lara’s juices for a long moment before he swallowed her down. Tight rings of muscle in his throat forced her down into his stomach, and soon his stomach had distended an almost ridiculous amount with Lara and Annabelle's remains in it. He let out a belch and then swallowed some extra air for Lara. He reached down and took hold of his cock. Getting off would help digest Lara and mix her in with Annabelle. Lara fell down into her master’s stomach, her face splashing into Annabelle’s remains before she was forced into a ball inside of him as the stomach squeezed her and the soup surrounded her naked body and started to work on it, making her body hot and sweaty as it was coated in Annabelle’s remains. Jacob stroked his cock to the rhythm of Lara’s squirms as she slowly started to turn to mush inside him. “Feel free to try to get yourself off one last time before you die. Annabelle seemed to like it.” Lara could feel that that the stomach acids wanted to break her down quickly, so rather than fight it she just accepted it as she leaned back and groped her breast with her left hand, kneading it while also rubbing her crotch with her right. Even as the acids started to enter her holes and work on all her areas, causing me to moan loudly with the heat and pain as it did. Jacob stroked harder. “That's it, enjoy your last moments. You were always destined to die in someone's gut, you might as well have fun with it.” Waves of pleasure washed over Jacob as he started to feel bits of Annabelle entering his intestines. Lara slipped two of her fingers in, trying hard to pleasure herself even as her body started to become soft with the acids trying to break her down as she groped her breast more, twisting her nipple to help as she felt herself start to get wet once more. Jacob slowed down. He wanted her to be able to finish herself off before he finished her off. He carefully kept himself just on the edge of orgasm. If he were to finish it would definitely do her in. Lara moaned out again as the acids coated her body, making her feel like she was sitting in a boiling pool. She felt a slight texture change in her ass and thighs and remembered that the bath she was sitting in was Anabelle, which was enough to push her over the edge. She moaned loudly as she climaxed, squirting over her wet fingers and onto the stomach wall and into the remains of the sexy and dead Anabelle. Jacob felt Lara spasm inside him and grinned. “Well, if you're done it's time to send you on your way, Lara. Get ready to die. I'm going to cum you into ground meat.” Jacob tightened his grip on his cock and used long firm strokes. It didn't take much. The thought of killing Lara off made him so horny that he blew his load almost right away. His whole body spasmed and his stomach contracted, crushing Lara. Cum blasted out over his now soft belly like confetti to mark her demise. Lara had just started to calm down from my orgasm when she felt her master’s stomach start to tighten around her and she screamed out as it constricted and crushed her until she broke down, her body no longer moving and now just soft meat and nutrients to join his body with Annabelle while what’s left of them is discarded like the trash they were. The next morning Jacob emerged from the bathroom after his morning routine with a much improved gut. It was going to take him a few weeks to work the girls off. That is if he didn’t find any more tempting sluts before then. He looked in the mirror and thought about the fat, horny bitch and the sluty little sadomasochist that his new pounds were made of. “Totally worth it.”

Jacob sat across a too-large wooden table from his best friend Seth the night before the vore festival. “So we're definitely planning on going to Lucrecia's again this year?” Seth asked. “Oh, definitely.” Jacob replied. “I think it's my best shot at breaking my record.” Jacob had set a personal best for most people eaten during the festival last year with four. This year he was hoping to bring it up to five. “You remember that hot little goth slut I ate there last year?” “Oh, yeah!” Seth responded, his eyes brightening. “She really wanted to be dominated, so we took turns plowing her against the bathroom wall before you gurgled her.” “Here's to a club full of gurgling goth sluts tomorrow night.” A new voice came from the doorway. “Wow. Hearing you talk like that almost makes me wish I had said yes when my friends asked me if I wanted to to go out and try to get eaten with them.” Seth's little sister Jenny sauntered into the room and sat down at the table. Jacob's eyes scanned her body instinctually. She was small. A bit shorter than average and petite, with a thin frame. She had shoulder-length black hair and blue eyes. Her round face was peppered with just a few freckles. “Well, I'm glad you decided to stay in,” said Seth, “what would I do if you left me all alone in this huge apartment?” Seth and Jenny were recent orphans thanks to their family’s prey-ish tendencies. That wasn't really a problem. Seth was 21 and Jenny was 19, so it wasn't like they needed anyone to take care of them, especially with the money their parents left them. Jenny giggled. “You would probably just go get yourself eaten too. You don't have to worry though. I'm just too shy to approach a stranger and ask him to eat me. I'll probably live to a ripe old age, missing out on all the fun.” It was really a tragedy for the men of the city that Jenny was so shy. She was exactly the kind of tasty little package that a lot of guys, including Jacob, liked to have as an appetizer for the festival. She would probably end up gurgling away in the gut of one of her gaggle of girlfriends who didn't have money for lunch or something. There was no way she would manage to proposition someone she didn't know. Actually, that put Jacob in an interesting position. He had been planning to find a nice, small, easy to digest girl to start with in the morning anyway. “Hey, Jenny, I know you decided not to go out with your friends, but are all your affairs in order in case someone were to eat you tomorrow?” “Of course! I keep hoping for a good chance to get gurgled, I just chicken out when the time comes to go find a predator.” “In that case, why don't you come home with me tonight and I'll eat you of breakfast in the morning.” Jenny gasped. “I… What about Seth?” She turned to look at him and see his wide eyes and slack jaw. “Is it okay with you if Jacob eats me?” Seth looked at Jacob for a long moment before responding. “Yeah. Jacob is good to his food. You make sure she enjoys herself, Jake.” Jacob licked his lips. “I'll make sure she enjoys herself at least as much as I enjoy her. If we don't have anything else to plan I think I'll head back home now.” Seth shook his head. “No, nothing else to discuss. I'll see you 9:30 tomorrow night at Lucrecia's.” Jacob stood and beckoned to Jenny. “Bye, Seth. Thanks for being so cool about me snacking on Jenny. I'll see you tomorrow night.” “See you, Jacob. Goodbye Jenny. I'm glad you get to be eaten by someone you're comfortable with.” Jenny walked over to Seth and sat down in his lap. Without giving him a chance to respond she leaned in and gave him a very unsisterly kiss. When she pulled away Seth was blushing a deep red. “Goodbye, Seth. I'm sure you'll be fine without me. Thanks for being such a great big brother.” Seth mumbled something indistinct as Jenny got up and went to hook her arm into Jacob's. Jacob and Jenny made their way out to the street and walked in silence for a minute before Jenny spoke up. “So, I know you have a big day tomorrow, and I totally understand if you want to get right to sleep, but I was wondering if maybe you were planning to… or, like, I want to ask you if… well… are you going to play with your food?” “Yeah, if you don't mind. I've always thought you're really cute, and since I'm going to eat you in the morning this is the perfect opportunity to fuck you with no strings attached.” “Of course I don't mind. I think you're really cute too. And I guess I'm just food now, so you should do whatever you want to me.” She leaned against him and they walked a while longer without talking. “Are you… are you going to be rough with me like you were with the goth girl last year?” They had almost made it to Jacob's house at this point. Jacob pulled her closer to him. “I promised your brother I would show you a good time. So I guess the question is would you like to be treated like meat?” Despite the warm summer night a chill ran down Jenny's spine. “Yes. Please use me like you would use any of the other girls you eat.” “Alright then. Let's get you up to my room so I can tenderize you.” Jacob lead Jenny up through his house and into his room, where she would spend the rest of her life. The sun began to seep through Jacob's window on the day of the festival, and he opened his eyes to the pleasant sight of the tender, young girl sleeping next to him. He was excited to have her gurgling away in his stomach soon. He ran his hand over her belly and breasts, enjoying the softness of the meat. Her eyes flitted open at his touch. She rolled into her side and wrapped her arms around him. “Good morning, Jacob. Thank you for last night.” “Good morning, Jenny. I had fun with you last night too, but I think I'm ready to finish you off now. Are you ready to finally end up in someone's gut?” “I’m ready. I bet you're happy that it's going to be your gut I end up in, huh?” “Of course I am. I wouldn't want some random guy off the street eating my best friend's little sister.” She pouted. “We're friends too, right?” “Of course we are. We've been friends for years, and now you're going to be my food.” “Mmm…” she moaned. “It turns me on so much that you're treating me like plate of bacon. You don't mind if I get myself off in your stomach, do you?” “Why would I? It's not like you'll be making more of a mess than my stomach is going to make out of you.” “Oh my God, I need to be inside you. Do you want to take me downstairs to eat me, or just have me for breakfast in bed?” “I think I'll eat you right here. I need to digest you down into mush pretty fast so that I can head out to the festival.” Jacob pulled Jenny into a deep kiss and let his mouth slowly widen over her head. Jenny gasped in surprise when Jacob actually started eating her and hurriedly maneuvered her hand between her legs. Jacob didn't mind too much. Her arm kind of got in the way of him being able to taste her breasts and belly, but he thought it was cute how turned on she was by her impending demise. Jacob swallowed her head and started working her down into his stomach. She was just breakfast, so he didn't take too much time to savor her. She was a small girl, with pert breasts and a tight little ass, so he didn't have much trouble quickly scarfing her down. Jacob lay back and rubbed his belly full of Jenny. He could feel her rocking back and forth, fingering herself furiously as his digestive juices soaked into her body. He reached down and wrapped his hand around his cock. He would digest Jenny faster if he invigorated his metabolism with a good orgasm. He took it slowly at first, to give her a chance to get off, but once she came he started stroking hard and fast. Jenny groaned in pain as her body was reduced to mush in Jacob’s gut, and he came to the sound of her death. He let his body process her a bit more so that his belly shrunk to a manageable pudge, then he got out of bed and got dressed. It wasn’t technically required to wear clothes to the festival, but going naked was usually a way for prey to show off their meat to potential predators, and he didn’t want any confusion. Today, he was here to eat.

Jacob stepped out of his house and into the bright light of the festival morning. Things were quiet on his street, but just two blocks over, on main street, things were already in full swing. A sort of strange, informal market had formed along the sides of the street. Naked men and women of all shapes and sizes stood alone, or in groups, sometimes with a “salesperson” trying to market them, all hoping that some hungry and attractive predator would come up and offer to have them for lunch. This was a festival tradition, and anyone who had been around for the festival before understood how it was supposed to work. Predators didn’t eat their prey right there in the street, instead taking them somewhere more private and out of the way to consume them. If preds or prey did happen to be exhibitionist types it wasn’t too difficult to find some other people to share a meal with. Jacob's eye was drawn to a large stall full of succulent, full-bodied women. He made his way into the stall, and was greeted by a huge man, bulging with muscles, and sporting an impressive mustache, who was wearing nothing but a too small for him butcher's apron. “Hello, friend! What can I help you with today?” “Would you mind telling me a little bit about how these girls end up here?” “Not at all! I own a butcher's shop out on the east side of town, and every year I put out a call for some girls who would like to be my product at the festival. I examine and interview them all to make sure they reflect my brand and quality, and the ones I chose get tagged,” he reached over and tugged gently on a paper tag affixed to a girl's ear, “and stored in my back room with the dried meats for a month before the festival. They get to live out their fantasies of being a cut of meat, and I get good publicity for the shop.” “That's an interesting arrangement. You've been treating these girls as nothing but meat at your shop for a whole month?” The big man grinned. “Oh, they are nothing but meat. They sign a waiver when I choose them, giving me complete ownership of their bodies. Every few days I have one of them for lunch just to remind them that this isn't a game. If they don't get taken by customers today I'll finish them off eventually. All these girls are getting eaten within the month.” “Wow. I think I have to get one of them for lunch now. I've eaten people who want to be eaten before, but I don't think I've ever eaten someone who was so committed to the full experience of being meat.” “Wonderful! Can I recommend a nice busty blonde? I have one in mind that I think you'll enjoy quite a lot. She's a little more talkative than some of the other meat, so you can get to know what makes one of these meat girls tick if you want.” “That sounds great.” “Right this way then.” The butcher lead Jacob to the corner of the stand where the blondes were. There was a small woman with light brown hair groping and pinching one of the blondes already. “Hmm… it seems another customer might already have taken a liking to the morsel I mentioned.” said the butcher. The brown-haired woman jumped a bit at the sound of his voice and turned to see them standing behind her. She was just a bit shorter than Jacob and rather ordinary. She was wearing simple clothes, just a white tank top and jeans, that made it clear how unimpressive her figure was compared to the meat around her. “Oh. Um… yes. I think I'll take this one if you don't mind.” “Of course not.” Said the butcher. “She's an excellent choice. I'll just have to make a new recommendation to my friend here. Hmm… actually I've got this girl's cousin over in the redheads if you're interested in similar meat.” “That sounds good.” Jacob said. He turned to the brown-haired woman. “I hope you enjoy your lunch.” Jacob and the butcher started to move towards the redheads. “Um, actually,” came the woman's voice from behind them, “if you would like to, you're welcome to join me for lunch.” Jacob turned and grinned. “I would be delighted.” The butcher checked out the two cousins by scanning the tags on their ears and attached a leash to each of them, so they could be easily led around. “I'm Anna, by the way,” said the brown-haired girl as she and Jacob led their lunches out of the stall, “what's your name?” “I'm Jacob. It's nice to meet you. Where do you want to go for lunch?” “Well, there's a nice hill a couple miles from here where we could picnic if you want to. Hardly anyone ever goes there from the festival because of the distance, but I have my car, so that won't be a problem.” “That sounds lovely. Lead the way.” Jacob and Anna made their way to a nice sunny hill away from the hustle and bustle of the festival and laid down a picnic blanket from Anna's car. They sat down with their meals sitting in their laps and started talking while they both idly groped and grinded on their food. “So, what made you decide to shop at the butcher stall?” Asked Jacob. “Oh, I really like eating curvy girls.” Said Anna. “they’re so soft and filling.” She tweaked her meal's nipples. “This girl's tits alone make her worth the effort of digesting her. How about you?” “Well, I had a nice petite girl for breakfast this morning, so I thought I'd switch it up for lunch. And the idea of eating someone who's been living with the inevitability of being someone's lunch for a whole month is kind of exciting. The butcher actually recommended your meal to me as someone to talk to about that.” “Oh?” A sly grin crept across Anna's face. “In that case, I have a proposition for you. I kind of like the idea of this big blonde bimbo being degraded before I eat her. Why don't you go ahead and have a nice little chat with her while you fill her with cum? I'll have your food get me off so it's even.” Jacob eyed the beautiful blonde bombshell in Anna's lap. “Seems like there's no downside.” Both Jacob and Anna pushed their meals out of their laps and stripped naked. Jacob's gaze wandered over Anna's body. “You know, you're really pretty cute. If I had seen you on display in one of those market stalls I might not have gone for a big busty lunch after all.” “Aw, that's sweet. I wish I could be as well-endowed as this meat, but any additions my food makes to me are usually burned off in a couple days.” Anna made her way over to the redhead and pushed her onto her back. Then she straddled the girl's face and commanded her to start licking. Jacob moved over to the blonde girl and sat down in front of her. “I know people don't usually talk to their food, but I think it's fascinating to talk to a cut of meat and have it talk back, so I hope this won't mess up getting eaten for you.” The blonde smiled at him. “Not at all. You're not treating me too much like a person, so I don't mind talking to you. It doesn't really matter anyway though since soon I'm going to be digesting in Anna's stomach.” “I guess that's true. Um. Anna wants me to fill you with cum. How would you like me to fuck you?” “Well she said it should be degrading, didn't she?” “Hmm… in that case I think I know how I want to take you.” Jacob grabbed her and turned her around. He pushed her face down onto the blanket, then straddled her and placed the tip of his cock against her asshole. “Can you take me without screaming?” He asked. “I can try.” She said. Jacob slowly pushed his length into her ass. She whimpered a bit but impressively didn't scream. “So you really don't want to be treated like a person?” Jacob asked as he pumped his hips up and down against her plush ass. “No. I really like to be treated like an object. I sometimes fantasize about what it would be like if I was born as a cow. A farmer would bring bulls to fuck me so that I would make milk and babies, and when I stopped being useful for those things, he would turn me into ground beef.” Jacob felt the blonde's muscles clench in pleasure. It was all he could do to stop thrusting and hold back from climax for a little longer. “So, am I your bull?” The blonde quivered in ecstasy underneath him, giving him all the answer he needed. “And I guess Anna is kind of going to grind you up once I'm done with you. Although it won't be in a meat grinder.” The blonde came forcefully, and this time Jacob couldn't hold back either. He blasted his load all over her insides and slowly pulled out of her. He turned back to see Anna making out with his lunch. “I'm a bit hungry, Anna. Would you mind if I took my lunch back now?” Anna giggled and pulled herself away from the busty redhead. “You made a nice cream filled slut for me then?” “Yes ma’am. All ready to gurgle.” Anna crawled over to her meal and started to eat. Jacob sat down next to the redhead and slid his hand between her legs, inspecting her. “Did Anna get you off?” “No sir. She used me to get herself off. I would love it if you would use me too. If you want to, that is.” “No thank you. I just got my rocks off in that blonde girl's ass and I'm getting pretty hungry. I'm just going to eat you now.” The redhead moaned. “Oh, I can't wait. Would you like to eat me head or feet first?” “Actually, if you would sit up and put your hands down my throat that would be lovely.” The redhead obligingly sat up and slid her hands into my open mouth and down my throat. Jacob swallowed, and her arms slipped down his throat. Her head pressed against his lips. He opened wide and made her cute red hair disappear forever. Now he was getting to the exciting parts. The redhead’s tits were large but firm in a way that was rare and felt amazing going down. Jacob pulled the luscious orbs of fat into his mouth savored them thoroughly. He sucked on her and swept his tongue all over her chest. He traced her ribs with the tip of his tongue, he lapped the sweat out of her cleavage and armpits, and he teased her nipples until she moaned audibly inside him. He swallowed again and got to her belly. She had a soft stomach, and he chewed gently on her midsection, enjoying how his teeth sank into her just a little without breaking her skin. He swallowed again and brought her pelvis into his mouth. Jacob decided he wasn’t going to let such a nice meal make it to his stomach without being given at least one good orgasm. The tip of his tongue found her clit without too much trouble and he felt her squirm incessantly in his throat and stomach as he got to work on her. He took his time with her, bringing her to the edge several times before finally letting her finish. Her sweet juices flowed into his mouth and down his throat, coating her body. He swallowed down her meaty thighs. She would have been a good fuck if he hadn't been so hungry. Oh well. Part of the fun of eating people was the destruction of all their potential on the altar of the predator’s appetite. Jacob finished swallowing the redhead and felt her curl tightly into his stomach. He turned around slowly on all fours and saw Anna laid out on her back with her stomach writhing on top of her. The blonde must already be starting to feel the digestion process kick in in earnest. That was impressive. Anna must really have a powerful metabolism to be churning the blonde up that fast just lying on her back like that. Jacob shuffled over to her and kneeled over her face and tits so that his belly cast a shadow over her. She opened her eyes and grinned up at him. “Your cum tasted pretty good out of her asshole.” “Thanks. On kind of a related note, would you mind lifting my belly for me. I need to jack off to catch up to you on the digestion front.” “It would be my pleasure.” Anna reached up and took hold of Jacob’s belly. She pushed hard to lift it. She wasn’t really taking all the redhead's weight because the girl was so tightly squeezed by Jacob’s stomach, but it was still heavy. Jacob reached down and grabbed his cock. It was already rock hard again after eating such a gorgeous woman, and Anna’s hands on his stomach helped too. Jacob stroked his cock vigorously. He wanted to cum quickly so that Anna didn’t have to hold up his belly too long. His stomach started churning hard, and the girl inside him started squirming and moaning. Anna started rubbing and squeezing his belly, fondling the redhead’s ass through his flesh. She giggled as muffled cries of pain started emanating from both Jacob’s gut and her own. After another minute she grinned mischievously and shoved as hard as she could against Jacob’s gut. There was a satisfying crunch as the redhead’s body collapsed inside him and her struggling ceased. Jacob gasped in pleasure and blew his load all over Anna’s tits and face. Anna waited for Jacob to finish pumping his load out over her body before she let go of his stomach. She idly wiped his cum into her mouth and swallowed it down to join the still weakly struggling blonde. “There,” she said, “now you’re ahead of me.” Jacob placed his hands on her stomach and gently rubbed for a minute before asking, “do you mind if I do the honors?” “Please do.” Jacob leaned down, putting all his weight on Anna’s stomach. The blonde girl inside burst apart almost immediately. Her whole body gave way and almost completely liquified under his hands. “There. Now we’re just about even.” Jacob lay back next to Anna and closed his eyes. Over the next ten minutes he felt his stomach shrink considerably as he worked the redhead through his system. He opened his eyes and sat up to see Anna standing with her back to him, fondling her breasts. Her ass had filled out nicely. Apparently her metabolism wasted no time adding the blonde girl to Anna’s body in all the most flattering places. Jacob licked his lips. He was suddenly seeing this horny, dominating pred girl in a new light. She turned and saw him watching her, but continued to fondle her tits, which were now pushing d-cups. “I love having big boobs like this. Unfortunately I can’t seem to hold on to them. I’ll probably end up working them off in just a couple of days.” “Actually,” Jacob said, making a decision, “I think I want to work them off of my gut if you don’t mind.” Anna’s eyes widened. “You… you want to eat me?” “Wouldn’t you? Digesting that blonde turned you into exactly the kind of busty bimbo that you like to gurgle.” Anna let go of her tits and stood still for a minute, thinking. “Well… since you asked so nicely. And since you did such a good job preparing my meal for me. I guess you can have me for dessert if you want. I’m actually kind of excited to know what my meals feel like.” Jacob beckoned Anna closer. “Would you like to fuck before I eat you? I really like you, and I don’t have anywhere to be for a while. If you’re not going to run I’d like to take my time and enjoy you.” Anna shivered as stepped up to Jacob. Without saying anything she straddled his pelvis and positioned the tip of his cock against the lips of her pussy. She slid down onto him easily, not because she was loose, but because she knew how to take a cock like a champ. She liked eating stacked girls and hung guys, so she had gotten to play with some truly massive members. “You’re a good pred, Jacob.” Anna said. “That’s why I don’t really mind you putting me on your menu. I’m still too much of a dom to lay back and let you fuck me like some run of the mill prey though, so I’m going to have some fun with you before you eat me. Just relax and enjoy it.” Jacob pointedly put his hands behind his head as Anna started rocking back and forth on his cock. Anna leaned forward over Jacob's still pudgy gut and placed her hands on his chest while she slid up and down his shaft. Jacob was gripped by the urge to grab her hips and pump her up and down himself, but he was going to stay strong and let her have her fun before he ate her. Anna mercifully started going faster. She reached down and grabbed Jacob's arm. She pulled his hand out from behind his head and guided it to her pussy. “Why don't you help a girl out? You don't eat until I cum.” Jacob found her clit with his thumb and steadied the rest of his hand against her belly. He had to work hard to pleasure her while also keeping up with her bouncing on his cock. She must have felt him getting close to orgasm, because she slowed down almost to a stop. After that it was only about thirty seconds before Jacob was able to make her cum. Her pussy spasmed hard around his cock, and they both moaned in pleasure. Anna leaned forward and set her hands on the ground next to Jacob's shoulders. She started slowly grinding on him again. “You can squeeze my tits if you want to, Jacob. The tits that made you want to gurgle me up like we did to those two gut sluts from the market.” She didn't need to offer twice. Jacob reached up and grabbed the succulent orbs of meat that she was hanging in front of his face. He felt her hard nipples press into his palms. She arched her back and moaned, pushing her tits even harder into his hands. Unexpectedly, he felt himself pushed past the edge. He exploded into her, covering her insides in hot, sticky cum. “There,” she said, “now I'm all ready to eat.” Jacob pushed her off of his cock and down onto her back. He lay on top of her, grabbing her hands and pinning them above her head. He kissed her deeply, tasting her sweet mouth. “I'm glad I met you Anna. I usually like to play with my food, but it's rare to find food that really likes to play with me.” “Maybe you should try seducing dominant pred girls into your stomach more often.” “Hmm… maybe I will, but let's start by getting you in there, why don't we?” Jacob arched his back to give himself some more room to maneuver, then, still keeping his left hand planted on the ground, he used his right hand to guide her hands into his mouth. He pushed his head forward and took in her arms. He stopped right before he came to her head and she looked him in the eyes. “You had better enjoy eating and digesting this hot body as much as I did making it.” Jacob opened his mouth wide and took in her head, then he pushed himself up onto his knees so that he could eat Anna more easily. He swallowed hard and pulled Anna’s tits into his mouth. They were absolutely delicious. Jacob moaned in appreciation. Anna had in just a few short minutes turned a living, breathing woman into just two deposits of soft, succulent fat on her chest. It was impressive, and Jacob was very glad that Anna had willingly let him eat her on the spot so that her new tits wouldn't go to waste. Jacob swallowed, and Anna's tits were smashed down his throat. Her belly was still a little pudgy and as he licked and chewed on it he could feel the last little bit of the blonde woman sloshing around inside. He swallowed again and came to her newly plump ass. He chewed delicately on the plush cheeks and snaked his tongue as far up between her legs as he could to lick them. He tasted his own cum dripping out of her pussy, but he didn't mind; if you're going to fuck your food you kind of have to be a messy eater. Jacob took one long gulp and sent the rest of Anna down to join the last soupy remains of Jenny and the redhead. He rocked forward onto his gut, pressing Anna into the ground. “Oh my God, Anna, you were delicious. I hope you don't mind if I digest you slowly. I'm not really very horny right now thanks to that ride you took, so it would be a bit of effort to masturbate you to death. I’m meeting my friend at 9:30, so I think I'll just lay on you for the rest of the afternoon and evening while you melt.” There was a muffled sound of agreement from Jacob's gut. “Good. I would feel a little bit bad if you were having second thoughts about being food at this point. Not that I don't like digesting panickers, you've just been such a good sport about me moving you down a link on the food chain.” He paused for a minute. “You know what Anna? This might be selfish and mean to say to a new friend who I shared a lovely morning with, but you're going to be digested soon no matter what, so I hope you don't mind or think less of me. I hope getting digested really hurts. I hope that even though you've accepted your role as food that it hurts so much that you thrash and struggle until you pull every muscle in your body and your tender meat starts to turn to mush. I don't want you to feel bad if you think you're just going to pass out and go quietly, but I think it'll be really fun for me if you die in agony.” Jacob felt the familiar rhythmic motion in his gut that he knew meant his dessert had started pleasuring herself. Well, at least she liked the idea of a hard end before the process really kicked in. Jacob closed his eyes and let the rays of sun on his back and Anna's last pleasant experience lull him into a light sleep. Jacob became alert again about an hour later when the nature of Anna's squirms changed. With a slow digestion like this the kind of twisting and adjusting that Anna was doing told Jacob that his food's skin was really starting to itch. After that digestion accelerated a bit. Muffled groans of pain began to emanate from Jacob's stomach after about another hour. Soon after that Jacob knew his wish was going to come true. Anna yelped, and her leg kicked involuntarily. If she wasn't passed out from the pain by that point she would survive and stay awake for a good long time. About three hours into digestion the screaming started. Anna struggled and thrashed, her vocal folds producing an involuntary, primal cry. The tender flesh of Jacob's belly tingled with pleasure as he smashed her into the ground. Jacob moaned, “Oh my God, Anna! Die slow for me! You feel amazing! My stomach is stripping all the meat from your bones and adding it to my body. Just hold on as long as you can. Soon you'll just be a part of me. Make yourself last as long as possible!” Soon Anna's movements subsided as her nerves died. She became totally still soon after, and about four hours into digestion Jacob's gut flattened out a bit with a crunch as Anna's body started to break apart. Over the next four hours Anna's remains turned completely to mush and moved through Jacob's system. She ended up as just a little extra pudge on his belly. Jacob got dressed and found Anna's keys. He really was lucky to run into her. He took her car and headed off to meet Seth at the club.

The club was already packed when Jacob arrived. Despite that, they continued to let people in without pause. The club knew that many of their patrons tonight would be leaving as nothing more than some added mass on one of the gluttonous preds there. Jacob managed to find Seth over by the wall on the left as he came in. Seth was scanning the room, taking in tonight's potential. He spoke over the music as Jacob pushed through to him. “How many are you up to?” “Three so far. I definitely think I'll be able to crack my record here though. How about you?” “I just had one. One of my sister’s friends showed up looking for her and I had her for lunch. How was Jenny, by the way?” “She was lovely, and I think she loved every second of it.” “That’s good. I’m glad you were able to help her get what she wanted.” Through this conversation Jacob and Seth’s eyes had been scanning the room. Now Jacob decided on their first quarry. “There’s a pair of cute girls over by the bar. Tall goth girl and a short girl in a red dress. Ready to swoop in and see if they’re prey?” Seth followed Jacob’s gaze and spotted the people he was talking about. “Yeah, let’s go for it.” They made their way across the crowded dance floor to the bar and the girls they had targeted. Jacob sauntered up next to the girl in red and slipped his arm around her waist. “Hey there, tasty. How would you like it if I took you off to a nice quiet corner and sent you on a one-way trip to my rumbly tummy?” The girl blushed almost as bright as her dress. She seemed like she was about to say something, but her friend cut her off. “If you want to eat my friend you have to go through me.” “Oh?” Jacob let go of the girl in red and moved between her and the goth girl. Seth moved in behind him to take his place. “You want to get gurgled first?” “Actually, I do the gurgling. You think you’re hot shit, don’t you? I bet you’ve eaten so many women that you’ve forgotten you can’t have anything you want.” Jacob shrugged. “Yeah, kinda. I understand if you’re here to find your own dinner, but I’d really like to add your friend to my menu if she’s into it.” The imposing goth girl’s eyes narrowed, then flicked back to Seth and her friend. “Alright,” she said, “you can have her on two conditions. You have to stay with me for the rest of the night because you’ll be taking my usual wing-woman, and you have to get me a meal in trade.” Jacob grinned. “Why didn’t you just say so? Since you don’t want to get added to my gut of course we wouldn’t mind adding you to our squad for the night. I’m Jacob and my wingman is Seth.” “I’m Lucy, my friend is Emma, and actually, I was thinking that it might just be the two of us.” She looked back at Seth and made a shockingly cute pouty puppy-dog face. “That is if Seth doesn't mind me taking him in trade.” “What? No.” Jacob replied. “We’ll find you someone else to eat. Seth is here to get his pred on.” “Actually,” said Seth, letting go of Emma and moving to stand next to Jacob, “I’d love to be eaten by you if you want me, Lucy.” He turned to Jacob. “I was going to end up as prey eventually, and the thought of living in that huge apartment by myself without my family is kinda depressing.” He pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it to Jacob. “Jenny and I agreed it should go to you when we’re gone. The legal stuff will start to go through when my lawyer finds out that Lucy turned me into sewer filler, but you can stay there tonight.” He looked back at Lucy. “You can stay there too. It’s a nice place to digest, and by the pound you and Jacob will be the most of my family that’s left soon.” Lucy grabbed Seth and pulled him close. She bent her knees a little to give him a deep kiss. “Oh, thank you Seth! You’re such a sweet guy!” She leaned forward a little more and licked his neck. “And sweet meat too, if you don’t mind my saying so.” Seth pulled away. “It’s all yours in just a minute, just let me say goodbye to my friend first.” He turned and hugged Jacob. “You’re sure you want this?” Jacob asked. “Are you seeing the same girl I am? Of course I want to end up in her gut. And I don’t have to worry about you, ‘cause you seem to have made a new friend.” “She’s not a replacement for you.” “Thanks, but in a very literal way, she’s going to be all that’s left of me in a bit.” He let go of the hug. “Also, she’s a sexy, dominant pred girl. If anything she’s an upgrade. Goodbye Jacob.” “Goodbye Seth.” Seth turned back to Lucy and started stripping off his clothes. Jacob turned his attention to Emma for the first time in a while. He moved in and pushed her up against the bar. He leaned against her and savored the feeling of her warm body pressed to his, especially knowing that she would be in his stomach soon. “Hello again Emma. You’re my dinner now.” He reached behind her and fondled her ass. “Would you like to be my sex toy too?” Emma lifted her dress so that it slid out from under Jacob’s hands and they now rested against her bare ass. She wasn’t wearing any panties. “Yes please. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to fuck me over a bar stool while Lucy eats your friend.” Jacob grabbed Emma and spun her around. He pushed her down onto a barstool facing Lucy and Seth. Lucy and Seth had both finished stripping naked and Seth was also lying face down on a barstool. He looked somewhat less comfortable though, because his legs were in the air and his feet were in Lucy’s mouth. Jacob pulled his shirt off over his head, kicked off his shoes and pushed his pants and underwear to the floor. Between the sexy girl eating his friend and the inviting ass in front of him his cock was already rock hard. He set the tip against Emma’s slit and slowly pushed himself inside her. Meanwhile Seth was moving farther inside of Lucy. She was up to his knees now. Jacob put his hands on Emma’s hips and started thrusting in and out of her. “Oh, yes!” She moaned. “I hope you enjoy busting a nut in me, because it’s the most expensive orgasm you’ll ever have. Watching your friend get eaten so that you can have me is so hot.” “Mmm…” Jacob slid his right hand under Emma and grabbed her tit. “I’m sure Lucy and I will really bond while we’re digesting you and Seth. We can listen to you die together. I bet you’re more of a screamer than he is.” Emma’s pussy was incredibly tight, and her teasing was making him really horny and hungry. He needed to destroy this girl. He pulled his cock out of her pussy and pushed it abruptly into her anus. Emma yelped, and then cried out louder in pain as Jacob’s thick member stretched her virgin butthole. Seth was squirming in pleasure now. He was upright, sliding down into Lucy’s gut, with his pelvis in her mouth. It was clear she was giving him a good time with her tongue. Perhaps she liked her prey’s cum as much Jacob did. Seth’s eyes suddenly went wide and his mouth went slack. Lucy swallowed and his belly, which had ground up so many girls over the years, disappeared into her mouth. Jacob fell over the edge and came hard into Emma’s tight ass. He grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it off of her as he blasted the last few sticky ropes of cum into her. Lucy was taking her last gulp of Seth as Jacob grabbed Emma’s shoulders and pulled her upright. Without pulling out of her he opened his mouth and lowered it over her head. Lucy walked up with her gut squirming slightly and pushed the bar stool away. Her belly pressed against Emma’s and she reached out to grope Emma’s boobs one last time before Jacob ate them. Jacob worked his way down past Emma’s shoulders and then over her breasts and ribs. He lifted her into the air so that her lower half dangled out of his mouth. Lucy leaned forward and locked her lips around Emma’s pussy. Emma squirmed pleasurably in Jacob’s throat and Jacob stopped swallowing for a minute to let Lucy have her fun. Emma writhed in Jacob’s throat as Lucy ate her out and Jacob moaned in pleasure at the feeling of her soft flesh bracing against the muscles of his esophagus. He sensed Emma getting close to the edge and pulled her pelvis into his mouth just as she came. He loved the feeling of her warm cum running down his throat and coating her body. He chewed on her firm, round ass for a while before swallowing again. He finished off her legs relatively quickly. As soon as he finished her Lucy grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss. Their bellies squirmed and bucked against each other as they locked lips. Jacob felt something rising in him, but couldn’t pull back fast enough. Air was forced up out of his stomach and he belched into Lucy’s mouth. Lucy broke away and licked her lips. “Mmm… if I knew Emma was that tasty I might have eaten her myself.” “I’m glad you don’t mind my sharing.” “Of course not. We’re both going to turn people into mush soon, there’s not much that could gross me out.” “Speaking of turning them to mush, why don’t we find a good place to sit down and digest.” “That sounds good. I’m planning to masturbate to work Seth off quicker, which will be easier sitting.” “Actually,” said Jacob, “I was going to work of Emma that way. If you don’t mind I could fuck you and we could get off together.” “You think you have the stamina to make me cum before you do?” “I have pretty good control, and I just blasted one into Emma’s ass, so I’ll probably take a while to rev all the way up.” “Well, alright then.” Lucy turned her back to him and got down on her hands and knees. “Stick it in me. Let’s fuck these gut sluts into paste.” Jacob kneeled down and lifted his gut onto Lucy’s back. He pushed forward slowly and guided his cock into her tight pussy. Digestive juices began to flow freely in both his and Lucy’s bellies as they became aroused. Jacob was stimulated by the writhing in his gut without even having to move. He ground his hips gently against Lucy’s ass for about a minute before the screaming started. Emma’s muffled cries from his gut and Seth’s pained sobs from Lucy’s bowels made his eyes roll back in his head in ecstasy. It didn’t take long before the thrashing in their guts reached a fever pitch. Jacob felt Lucy’s pussy tighten as she got close and he leaned forward onto her. He smashed his gut into her back and her gut into the floor. A cacophony of crunching bones and bursting organs sounded as both Jacob and Lucy came. Seth and Emma died together at the moment of climax and their sound and movement ceased abruptly. Jacob took a long moment to recover before he was able to take in his surroundings. A small crowd had gathered to watch the grizzly double digestion. And now some of the were standing and openly masturbating. A petite, naked girl approached Jacob hesitantly and spoke. “Will you please do that to me?” Jacob didn’t need any more prompting. He pulled himself out of Lucy and stood. He grabbed the girl by the shoulders and quickly gulped her down, adding her to the churning soup of Emma meat. Another girl quickly stepped up and propositioned him. “Do you think you can handle two at once? She was kinda cute and I think it would be fun to make her eat me out while you digest us.” With some difficulty Jacob managed to work the second girl into his belly. Lucy was also continuing to binge at this point. Jacob sat down on the floor and leaned back against the bar the girls inside him were definitely having a good time, but he thought  might be forced to suffocate them so that he didn’t get indigestion. Suddenly he felt something warm and wet slip around his cock. He opened his eyes to see a cute little ass sticking up from under his belly. Someone had taken it upon herself to suck him off. Well, that would help with digestion at least. Jacob closed his eyes and just enjoyed the experience. At some point Lucy joined him sitting against the bar and he wrapped his arm around her. It took the whole night to work their bellies down to a point where they could really move again, and the two of them were some of the last people to leave the bar. The girl who had sucked him off stayed with them until they left and Jacob brought her home for a late night snack. Jacob and Lucy slept together through the night at their new apartment and when they woke Jacob was satisfied with the result of the festival. He had more than beaten his record, and he had made a new friend and partner. He reached over and rubbed Lucy’s gurgling belly. The two of them might have to make a trip to a certain butcher shop to start training for next year.

Jacob was surprised to find the door locked when he got home from work. Usually his girlfriend got home before home and left the door open. He looked around the apartment and confirmed that she wasn't there, then started cooking up a couple of chicken breasts to have for dinner when she got home. Struck by a sudden inspiration he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and poured it over the chicken. That would cook down nicely. He seasoned it with some paprika, garlic and onions. It was a somewhat involved process, but it was almost done by the time he heard the door open. "Just set your bag down there." He heard Lucy's voice say. Jacob walked out into the living room and saw Lucy and another girl taking off their shoes. They were both wearing the uniform of the coffee shop where Lucy worked as a manager. “Welcome home, Lu. Who is this?” Lucy smiled. “This is Charlotte, she’s one of my baristas at the shop.” “It’s nice to meet you, Charlotte. What brings you here today?” Jacob extended his hand for her to shake. She was a cute blonde, with nice round features, a bit shorter than him, and with a soft alto voice. “Well, I just turned eighteen today, and I was talking to Lucy about how I was thinking about going out to a vore club. I, um… I kinda want to be eaten. Lucy offered to bring me home and talk about it with you two because you have so much experience. She said you’d be willing to take me out tonight so I’m not alone. Or um… keep me in. If that’s what I decide I want.” It took Jacob a moment to process what Charlotte had said, then he smiled at her and waved her over toward the couch. “Of course we can help you decide what to do. Have you had dinner? I just made some nice chicken, and I don’t want to fill up too much right now in case we end up going to the club later.” "Oh, I’d love some dinner, if you don’t mind." She smiled shyly and followed his gesture to sit. The three of them sat down around the coffee table in the living room to eat. “How do you, um, how do you eat someone?” Charlotte asked. “I mean do you have some kind of routine?” “Well,” Lucy answered, “we both like to have sex with our food before we eat them. A lot of the things that make someone an appetizing meal also make them a good fuck, and most of them don’t mind having some fun before they die.” Charlotte blushed a deep red. “Would you like to have sex with me?” “Of course if I was going to eat you I would give you the time of your life if you wanted it.” Lucy winked and licked her lips. “Aside from having sex with my food, I sometimes like to get them drunk.” Said Jacob. “I especially like to have my food drink a lot of stouts and porters; those beers are rich enough that I can taste them on my food’s mouth when I kiss them, and when I digest them I get a little buzzed and my belches taste like meat and beer.” A shiver ran down Charlotte’s spine. “I’ve never gotten drunk before, but you could get me drunk if you wanted to eat me that way.” “Thanks,” Jacob said, “I’ll keep that in mind, but I’m not in a huge rush to eat you. Have you ever seen someone get eaten before, Charlotte?” “Not up close. On the internet and sometimes I see someone with a full stomach on the street.” “Would you like to watch me and Lu eat some people tonight.” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Yes, please.” She squeaked. “Alright. We’ll go out tonight and you can help us pick our prey.” After dinner they all climbed into the car Jacob had inherited from a previous meal and drove over to the club. It was less busy than it was for big festivals, and the speed at which people were getting eaten was much slower, but there were still plenty of options to explore. Lucy asked Charlotte if there were any people she was interested in talking to. Charlotte scanned the room until she saw someone at the bar and her eyes widened. “I know that girl and her boyfriend! Sky and Harper! They were seniors in highschool when I was a freshman. I always thought they were super cool.” “Ooh, Charlotte, I think it would be fun to digest your highschool heroes in front of you.” Said Jacob. “Why don’t we go ask if they’re on the menu?” About half an hour later, Jacob and Lucy had gotten the couple to agree to be food and had gotten some drinks into them. Then all five of them piled into Jacob’s car and made their way home. Once they were home Lucy led Charlotte and the food couple into the bedroom while Jacob grabbed a few more beers to fill Sky with. He wanted her nice and blackout drunk when he gulped her down. She had already told him that she thought it would be hot to surrender control totally and be digested while totally wasted, and he was certainly not going to disappoint her. When Jacob caught up Lucy had already pulled Harper’s shirt off and was running her hands over his rippling chest. Jacob walked up and placed his hand on Harper’s abs, then slid it down past his waistband into his pants. His cock was rock hard and throbbed in Jacob’s grip. “You like my girlfriend Harper?” He used his other hand to beckon Sky over to him. He took her hand and guided it down into his pants. Her hand was soft and warm around his cock and he sighed in relief at the stimulation. “I like your girlfriend too. You know what the difference is though? You’re just food. Lucy will fuck you, but you’re just a nice cock attached to a slab of meat to her. To your girlfriend I’m the whole world.” He felt Sky’s hand tighten involuntarily on his shaft. “Her whole life is going to end in my stomach tonight, and her whole purpose now is to please me. Would you like to watch her please me?” Jacob felt harper’s cock twitch and Jacob grinned. “That’s a good boy.” Jacob stroked up and down on Harper’s cock a few times. “You have a nice dick, Harper. I think Lucy is going to enjoy it a lot.” He pulled his hand out of Harper’s pants and started to strip Sky. “You can play with my cock a little, sweetie.” He said to her as he tore her shirt in half and dropped it to the floor. “I promise I won’t cum until I can put it inside you.” Sky made a small whining - almost begging - noise and started stroking Jacob’s cock. It was a nice enough handjob, but Jacob knew what he really wanted to do to the girl before he ate her. Her bra strap broke away easily, her pants and panties followed. Jacob took her by the shoulders and led her over to the bed, breaking off the handjob. Jacob grabbed the beers and quickly made his prey shotgun them. She was starting to look tantalizing in more ways than one and he didn’t want his meat to take too long drinking and possibly sober up in his belly. When she was done Jacob pushed the girl onto the bed and climbed up behind her. He took note of Charlotte moving closer to watch. She was a special one for sure. He was glad that he and Lu had decided to save her for later. Jacob moved right up behind Sky, who was kneeling on the bed. He reached around her and put his hands on her perky tits. Her nipples were hard in his palms. He pulled her body against his. Her shoulder blades pressed into his chest, his hips pressed into her ass. He pushed his cock between her tight asschecks and moaned. “You know, Sky, fucking you is going to feel so good knowing that I’m going to eat you afterwards. I wouldn’t usually bother with someone like you when I have a girlfriend as stunning and horny as Lucy.” He used his right hand to position his cock so that the tip pressed into her slit. “Knowing that my stomach is going to tear your body apart when I’m done with you though, that makes you so sweet.” He put his hand on her belly and pushed his cock into her sex. She gasped at the feeling of his cock sliding into her up to the balls and his hips pressing into her ass. He pushed her face down onto the bed and grabbed her hips with both hands. She was such a submissive slut; he was surprised she hadn’t been eaten sooner. And her pussy was so tight. He took it slow at first, just rocking against her. Her muscles involuntarily relaxed and contracted around his shaft in a way that drove him crazy. He loved playing with a girl’s body; he loved the fact that it reacted to him without any conscious desire on her part. Her body wanted to pleasure him, to feed him, to die for him, and there was nothing she could do about it. He needed release. He thrust into her faster and faster. She cried out as he hammered into her and he grabbed her hair and mashed her face into the bed to muffle her. That felt good. It must have been good for her too, because her pussy spasmed around his cock in a powerful orgasm. He unloaded into her as he felt her start to get short of breath against the mattress. His belly grumbled in hunger while he filled hers with cum. He let go of her head and pulled out as soon as he finished emptying into her. She gasped for breath and her body heaved. Her ass looked so succulent; he couldn’t make himself wait any longer. Jacob leaned forward and wrapped his mouth around her ass. He pushed his tongue between her legs and lapped at her pussy while bearing down on her. Her pussy tasted amazing, but he since her already got her off he didn’t feel any obligation to spend much time enjoying it. He shoved her ass into his throat and let his tongue slide up her belly. The girl moaned in bliss as she moved closer to her final destination. He lifted her off the bed and let gravity help him get her tits and calves into his mouth. He felt her hips buck inside his throat, rubbing her cunt on his esophagus, and she mewled in frustration at not being able to finger herself. He gave her hard nipples a little attention with his tongue before swallowing again and bringing her head into his mouth. The rest of her wasn’t very interesting to him and he finished gulping her down quickly. Jacob flopped back onto the bed and looked around. Lucy was in the corner with Harper’s legs kicking in the air and his pussy drenched but unfulfilled cock about to enter her mouth. Jacob grinned. He knew she wouldn’t let him die without cumming, but she would probably use her mouth so that all that tasty jizz to end up in her belly with him. Jacob then took notice of Charlotte for the first time in a while. She had stripped naked and was leaning against the wall, looking intently at his belly and slowly rubbing her clit. He beckoned her over. She climbed up onto the bed next to him. “Well? How was it watching?” He asked. “It was amazing. You really made Sky into just a piece of fuckable meat. Will that happen to me if you get me drunk?” Jacob pushed Charlotte’s hair aside and lay his hand on her neck. “Probably. And I would love to do that to you; but if you don’t want to lose yourself like that you’d be very fun to play with sober.” Lucy flopped down on the bed on the other side of Charlotte. “You can stay with us and try new things for as long as you want. You can drink and fuck and eat and watch us eat as much as you want before you decide if you want to die in a stomach. How does that sound?” Charlotte shivered at the offer of being chaperoned into the world of vore by this couple that could make a meal out of her at any moment. “That sounds amazing.” The five people in the bed spent a long, lazy night pleasuring each other until the gutsluts died and the others dozed off. Jacob woke up to a belly full of thick mush and gas. He gently shook Charlotte awake. “Can I share what’s left of Sky with you?” Charlotte nodded, with a cute and desperately horny expression on her face. Jacob turned onto his side and kissed her. She was a good kisser. He was glad they had decided to keep her for a while. He slowly rolled over on top of her so that his stomach pressed down on her, then he let the gas bubble up out of him and into her. Sky’s remains tasted like tender meat, guts, cum, and beer. Charlotte's eyes went wide at the flood of flavors. “Thank you.” She said when Jacob broke off the kiss. “I can see why you like filling girls up before you eat them.” She thought a moment before continuing. “Would you like to get lunch with me today? I’d like to find someone I can taste before and after you digest her.” Jacob grinned. “Of course. And of course you’re welcome to do whatever you want to her or…” he rubbed his cock gently against Charlotte’s pussy, “to me.”

 --------------------------------------------------- You land in your bed, and Elle collapses onto her back, panting. “That...was exhausting. I haven’t teleported that many times since” She doesn’t even finish that sentence, instead lying back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. “So we need to figure out a way to get DNA from it?” you ask, and she nods so you continue, “Is there no way to just scrape a bit off?” She shakes her head, “No, its skin is resistant to anything and everything penetrating it, since it toughens when something pokes it. It’s incredibly tough. That’s the reason I caught it. If we can get that tough skin, we’ll be able to do whatever we want.” You agree, but how are you going to manage that? You sit through the rest of the night, occasionally chatting with Elle, but you never get much of anywhere. The two of you are just...tired after all that. You’re tired in a way that’s more mental than anything. It’s hard to fall asleep, but you manage soon enough. The next day at work is pretty uneventful, and as time starts to pass again you start to have an idea form in your head. Maybe if you can make your device smaller, hand-held even, you can just use the nanobots to get some DNA directly. You’d actually be able to get a lot more than that if you can get this to work. It takes a bit over a week to get the new device up and running. You use an old cell phone as the base to make it smaller than the old device. Without a keyboard, it might be a little harder to deal with all of the data, but then again you’re using it mostly for gathering data and holding nanobots, not editing the data directly. You attach a launcher made from a nerf gun to shoot the nanobots a significant distance. This way, you won’t have to be right up on your target. You also add a holding compartment for them. Now you just need Elle. You remember her saying she was going over to the boys’ place for a while, so she’ll probably be there all night. Still, you remember her teleporting there so...maybe she’ll be back long before long? As if summoned, she appears with a flash in the other room and hops out. “Sydney!” you hear her squeal, sounding very happy to see you. As she comes out, she has a huge belly again. This time it looks different than before though, “Am I back on time? Wait, I’m supposed to go to the boys’ place, aren’t I?” You blink, “Uh, I think you said you were heading there tonight.” She asks you what day it is and you tell her. “Shit, I’m like...a week late, aren’t I?” You nod. “I really need to work on my timing I’ll see you later, alright?” She leans over and grabs your hand, patting it, but as a blue flash happens immediately, you’re quickly swept away yet again. “Damn it!” Elle squeaks as soon as the two of you land on solid ground, “I didn’t mean to pull you along with me. It’s been really hard controlling my teleports these past few days and-” she starts, being cut off as she disappears yet again. You blink. What just happened there? That obviously wasn’t the Elle from the...present? You’re having trouble keeping everything straight now as timelines wind around you. Not to mention, where are you? You look around, and to your delight you see your treehouse nearby! You’re in the world where Jessie is. Is Jessie still here though? Is it possible to change the timeline and save hir before ze gets nabbed? You look around and find a climbing tree you often used to goof around in the limbs of. It has a nice view into your treehouse, so you climb it in order to get a better look into your window. You don’t see Jessie in there though. Instead, you see yourself. It’s you from right after you got out of the starmine, crashed on the pile of bedding. The time of day is...maybe when you woke up truthfully. You blink as you gaze at yourself, nakedly sleeping like that...so vulnerable. Anything can just jump in that window and gobble you up. You glance at your nanobot shooter. Actually, you can probably get a good shot from here Maybe you can get some of your mermaid abilities back. You fiddle with it and take aim. Suddenly you realize you haven’t spent a lot of time firing this. You hadn’t been expecting to shoot anything other than that giant creature with the grey skin. Shooting yourself through a window from a tree is...frankly not as easy a task as you’d like. You load and fire a couple of times, missing each time. You get some DNA once, and you think it might be a small frog-like creature hanging out on the side of your treehouse. Thankfully, your third try does actually turn out to be a charm, and you hit yourself in the arm. Your hand immediately goes to the spot on your arm where you remember feeling a “bite” after waking up what feels so long ago. You see yourself start to stir. Is that what woke you up? You woke yourself up? Maybe...maybe you can talk to yourself. The thought flits through your head that maybe you can stop yourself from running straight to your own death. What happens if you change the timeline? You start to open your mouth, but even as you do something glomps down over your head and stops you from saying a word. You drop your tool and get pulled up into the trees by something large. Scrabbling against its grip is no use, and it flings its head up, tossing you into the air. You crane your head to see as you tumble through the air, spotting what looks like the head of a lizard poking through the treetops. Its mouth opens wide, snapping shut around you as you fall back in. The inside of its mouth is not soft, a stiff, leathery membrane gripping down tightly around both sides of you. It squeezes hard around your whole body, and one loud crunch later, the world goes black. You wake up, lying on a tree branch with your arms over the sides. You hear yourself running down below and consider trying to get your attention again, but another, somewhat softer crunch from nearby makes you freeze up. Nope. Not doing that again. You wait until it sounds like the lizard-thing leaves and climb down from the tree. You can run after yourself, but are you really going to catch up? What happens if you do? It should create a time paradox, right? You never saw yourself when you ran to get Jessie before. More crunching from far away dissuades any final thoughts of messing with the timeline. Yeah, all of this has to happen, doesn’t it? Like in Back to the Future or whatever, if you don’t run after and fail to get Jessie, you won’t be here right now to save yourself. You’ll stop existing as a future you. With the way that lizard-thing gobbled you up just as you were about to alert yourself as well, you think such things are somehow...enforced. Is there someone or something working behind the fabric of space-time to keep you in line? Eh, you decide not to think about it for now it’s not like there’s anything you can change if that is the case. You walk back to the treehouse and climb up and in. The place is a complete mess. There are items all over the place. You can’t believe that you didn’t see all of this when you came up that night to get some sleep. Thankfully, the treehouse itself is still in perfect working order. Apparently Jessie hadn’t locked the trapdoor that night, since the hinges and lock are still fine. Cleaning up doesn’t take too long. Once things are in order again, you lie down on that bed you’d been in just moments before and also what feels like weeks ago. This time travel ridiculousness is getting a bit out of hand. When is Elle going to come back and help you get back to Earth? You absentmindedly play with yourself while you look out that window nearby. It’s a normal day like any other. You decide to go for a walk. Jessie told you that there’s a pond off to the East, and you’re a little thirsty. Apparently that’s where ze had been getting all of your water before. Might as well get some now. You grab a makeshift bottle and head off into the woods. There aren’t too many spiders right in this area, and you have an easy time picking your way through to the pond. It’s larger than you imagined, perhaps even big enough to be called a lake. Whatever you’re calling it though, it has your fresh water. You fill up the bottle and glance out into the crystal clear water. It’s plenty deep enough to swim in, and the more you look at it the more inviting it is. Thankfully, you don’t have any clothes on, so it’s not like you even have to strip to head out into the water. It’s cool on your skin, which is nice in the warm tropics you’re living in. You never spend much time at the beach, to tell the truth, since there are so many starmines on the beach and predatory critters out in the water. For once, maybe you can spend some time swimming without having to worry about being nommed by anything. You can see long tubular plants coming up from the bottom like seaweed. They wave and sway slowly in the water below. Small fish dart to and fro around your legs. It’s actually pretty peaceful here. One nibbles on your toe and you giggle. It’s a good thing it’s not larger than this. You remember the giant catfish back on Earth that are about large enough to eat a person. Huge things, those catfish. You think they’re called Wels or something like that. None of those here though. You see some frogs swimming through the water as well. One of them looks a lot like the frog you saw earlier. Perhaps the same one? Then again, it does look a little bit bigger. Hold on. You realize that it must have been deeper a moment ago, since it seems to be getting larger as it swims upward...up toward you? Maybe it’s not THAT large though? As its tongue lashes out of its mouth, you squirm your body to the side, but only manage to move an inch before it wraps around your chest! What the hell? This thing is huge! You gasp, getting a deep breath before it pulls you under. You struggle, pulling against the frog tongue, but since it can just pull itself closer to you with its tongue, you’re unable to make any headway at all. You thrash and spin, and as you do your foot taps one of the long weeds growing up from the bottom of the pond. It opens and sucks the lower half of your body in, all the way up to your hips! The frog quickly closes in as well, pulling at you and attempting to free you from its grasp. The weed sucks your hips in as the frog closes its own mouth around your upper body. Almost as soon as it does, you get a breath of air from the frog’s mouth, but have to close your mouth a second later as it thrashes and attempts to yank you from the weed’s grip. You feel your hips pull back up and out of the weed as the frog works your breasts into its throat, starting to stuff you tightly down its gullet. The weed has other plans though, tugging you right back down. Your hips get sucked back up, nipples dragging back out of the frog’s throat. Like a dildo being passed back and forth between two lovers, you’re sucked into one, then the other, the frog occasionally thrashing to try and pull you completely out. Slowly your legs get pulled out of the weed, your belly starting its way down the frog’s throat. It seems the frog is slowly winning this battle. But then the weed sucks hard. It’s almost as if it’s been readying itself for this for a while now. You feel your legs get completely slurped down into its length, followed by your belly and your breasts as they pull out of the frog’s throat. In one fluid motion, the weed is up in the frog’s mouth, sucking you completely out...along with all of the frog’s air supply. You feel the blast of air fill the tube around you, coughing as you look up. The frog has finally given up, quickly escaping to the surface to get a breath. The walls of the weed-tube slowly work you down, having won a tasty morsel. You push against the walls, the air stale inside of that long tube, but you’re unable to do much but speed your own descent. It shoves you down, squeezing around you more by the second. You gasp at the air, but as it pulls you to the bottom of the pond you look around and see the lumps in the bottoms of several of the weeds around. Your legs curl up beneath you, and almost immediately it starts to shove your air out. You look up, face having weed pressed firmly into it as the bubbles exit the top of the stem. You hear the bubbles exiting, an underwater belch of sorts. You squirm, but the more you do, the more the walls around you harden until moments later you’re encased in a hard shell. The frog comes back down, resting near you and croaking, amazingly something you can hear underwater with your ears pressed up against the tight walls around you. Your lungs burn, and you feel your skin start to tingle as well. The frog doesn’t seem to want to give up and its tongue flicks out, slapping you on the ass. It pulls itself forward, and you feel it trying to swallow your rear end rather fruitlessly. Still, it keeps munching on you, thrashing to try and pull you away as you slowly feel your mind fade, blackness consuming your vision. You wake back up underwater, having to hold yourself back from trying to take a breath. Your lungs are already burning, and you begin to swim toward the surface. Something else has different plans though. You feel something slap your ass once again, sticking and pulling you downward. A glance behind you reveals it’s exactly what you expect. The frog isn’t done trying to get a meal, and now that you’re outside again, you’re a prime target. It pulls you down, despite your efforts to swim back up, and soon enough your ass is sitting in its mouth, the frog lunging to pull you into its gullet. Your head is starting to spin from the lack of air again, and instead of struggling you simply put your fingers between your legs and on your chest. No reason to fight this might as well enjoy it, right? You’re once again on the bottom of the food chain as the frog jerkily pulls you down, your legs forced to stretch up by your head as it swallows you down. Frog lips slide by your hips, up your torso to your chest. Your feet dangle out of its mouth with your head, your rear end already being firmly stuffed into its belly. It lunges forward and your head is stuffed into its mouth, toes the only thing outside. Something presses down on the top of your head, working you farther in. As blackness once again starts to consume you, a firm swallow is all that’s needed to stuff the rest of you down where you belong. You suddenly break into a pocket of air as you enter the stomach, gasping and feeling your mind snap back to attention. Your feet are finishing their trip down, curling up in front of you in the tight confines of the belly. The frog moves around outside, likely swimming through the water to find a more comfortable place to digest its meal. You’re a frog bulge now. Your nethers are wet, dripping from between your legs as you imagine the frog outside. To anyone else, they just see a well fed frog. As it hops out from the water and makes its way along the land, you feel each hop fling you up and slap your weight back on the ground, simply being hefted along. Your fingers dig into your breast and down between your legs as well. You gasp and push your body against the walls, which squish in around you and coat you in tingling juices. Pleasure flows through your body. You bite your lip as the heated moment helps work you up to a climax, your whole body shaking as it rolls through you. Your mouth opens wide, and you feel your head starting to blank once again from lack of air. Your movements slow. The tight sack contracts, air being shoved out in a burp that leaves you with nothing...and then suddenly a rush of fresh air hits your face. You gasp and blink. It’s...swallowing air? You move again and it sounds as if the frog makes some kind of satisfied croak when you do. It’s keeping you alive Your fingers immediately dig back in, and you shudder as you feel yourself working up to another orgasm. “No, no don’t d-digest me...” you mutter in mock protest, squirming against the walls uselessly. It goes through your mind again and again how you’re just a meal for this frog now, a meal it’s amusing itself with. The air rushes out, and your peak starts to come faster as you wonder if the frog is going to swallow more air. It doesn’t for several seconds, and the lack of air combined with the situation causes you to black out. Your mind blinks back into existence as another powerful orgasm rolls through you, your body shaking and shuddering within the frog’s air re-filled belly. You feel horny still, and apparently the frog is still amused, so as you masturbate the frog keeps you alive. Even as you start to run out of steam, you’re still not satisfied. Your fingers don’t want to move any longer. The acids are starting to take their toll and your whole body is sensitive to the slightest movement. You rest for a moment. Even as the frog swallows more air, you just lie there. Maybe if you can get enough rest you can keep going But your inaction is enough to seal your fate. When you don’t move for a little while and your air starts to get stale, the frog belches once again, louder than ever this time. Fluids squish up around your head, and as blackness washes over you, the air never comes You flop wetly into some mud on the edge of the pond. Behind you, you hear wet slapping sounds, but before you can even take the time to look back, something sticky wraps around your legs and starts dragging you along the ground. You try and grab on to anything you can, but in slippery mud you can find absolutely no purchase. You look back to see what’s going on behind you lies one frog, tongue currently reeling you in as it gets fucked by another frog from behind. The other frog eyes you, though it doesn’t pause in its thrusting. You notice the large bulge in its midsection. Is that you? You can’t help but imagine you’re currently feeding a couple of sorts. Your feet get pulled into this new frog’s mouth, and as soon as it has you there it starts to lunge and swallow you down. The tight, strong throat muscles force your legs down to its belly, hips soon following. Instead of continuing to struggle, you accept your fate once again. You don’t know how long you’re going to be at this, but you simply lose yourself in the moment, fingers sliding into your pussy as it’s swallowed down the frog’s gullet. The sex doesn’t stop even as you’re swallowed down, and as your chest slides across this new frog’s palate, the thrusting motion transferring down to you. Your view once again is of the inside of a frog as you’re stuffed deep inside. You press your tail end back into the thrusting, moving your fingers in time with their actions. It doesn’t last too much longer, but you manage to get at least one orgasm from it. Your head lies on the bottom of the frog’s stomach, and as it belches your air out the fluids completely cover your head. You struggle, and for several long seconds you wonder if it’s going to gulp more air. As your struggles start to cease, it swallows more, and you get right back to playing with yourself. Time begins to stretch on. You forget how many times you reach a peak in this frog’s stomach before you tire and it decides you’re no longer any fun. Appearing nearby in the mud once again, you don’t get the chance to look around your surroundings as once again a tongue slaps around you and pulls you backward. As you fly through the air, you see several frogs in the area. A few of them had their tongues extended, though they quickly pull them back as they see you get pulled away from them. Just one manages to keep ahold of your ankle as you slap back into the largest frog mouth you’ve seen in quite a while. The mouth covers you completely, and as it closes around your entire body at once, you realize you’re probably meeting like...the frog king or something. Its swallow has no trouble pushing you down with one smooth motion. This stomach is much larger than the others. A few of you could fit inside easily. Even as you slide in, that tongue stays attached to your ankle, like a ball and chain that just won’t go away. It tries to pull you back up and out of the stomach, but the throat muscles have another idea. You feel another frog being pulled into the stomach alongside you. It either doesn’t care for its life much, or it’s just hungry enough to follow you down just to get one last meal. As soon as its mouth reaches your leg, the frog still not out of the throat behind you, it clamps down and starts to swallow you. You try and pull away, but it yanks you in, causing you to fall on your side. One leg goes down, causing the other one to be forced away by that maw, which ends up leaving you in the splits. It’s far from comfortable, but the frog doesn’t seem to care what shape it’s bending you into as it pulls you down its throat. You thrash and squirm, finally managing to get your leg in a good position and slide it down after the first. It quickly works your chest in, and you slide your hands down to meet your crotch. Might as well enjoy your time again, right? It’s certainly enjoying you. You meet yet another belly, stuffed in once again. You lose yourself in the moment, hand between your legs. This frog doesn’t seem quite as concerned with keeping you alive, perhaps because its own air is limited. Pretty soon you’re out and plopping into the mud again. This time you just ball yourself up, hand between your legs as yet another frog grabs you and makes a quick snack of you. Time begins to pass. You lose track of how many times you’ve been eaten, how many times you’ve orgasmed. Every time you come out of a belly, it’s like your libido is back in full swing, hands between your legs as you get snatched up yet again. You’re the local snack, as it seems. The other frogs get bigger, and though for a time you manage to find short periods where you can simply spend time with the frogs around you, pretty soon their appetites leave you in their bellies for good. They get used to your reforming, and with their size you spend a maximum of 2 seconds outside of a belly every few hours. They even seem to get good enough to somehow predict your respawn point, or maybe they’re just lucky, as you respawn already inside of their bellies quite regularly. The constant sight of bellyflesh surrounding you and nothing to do but pleasure yourself makes you eventually accept this as your new home. You think from time to time about undoing your own reformation abilities so you can forever become one with them, but for now you’re having too much fun. You’re no longer Sydney. You’re just frog food.

 ----------------------------------------------- You can’t believe you’re going to do this again. It seems so dangerous, and yet the rush of all of it is just too much to pass up again. You can’t help but run your hands across your chest, grazing your nipple right before you open up the door and walk into the large building next to the lake. Several people mill about the room, a large shop with fishing gear from wall to wall. There’s a woman standing behind the desk reading a book and occasionally glancing up to see what’s going on. As you make your way into the room, she looks to you and smiles. “Welcome to the Locklier Fishing Hole. Need any help?” You glance off to the side, hesitating, and she looks a little annoyed, “Well, if you need something, just ask, alright?” She starts to go back to reading her book, but you walk up to her as she does. “Um, actually I was hoping to sign up for...for bait duty?” She glances up from her book again, eyes a little wide, though that fades soon enough, “Really? Fuck, I don’t know what it is with you thrill seekers. Do you really not care what happens with your life?” She looks underneath the desk, rummaging through papers as you wonder why she’s so damn dismissive of what you like to do. They have paperwork for this stuff, after all! It’s not like it’s that uncommon around here… She thumps the papers down in front of you, a large stack that’s bigger than any you’ve seen before when doing this. Usually they only have a single sheet you sign as a waver. “Alright, make sure you read over that. The last page is where you put your address and information as well as sign. When you’re done, just come back to me.” She returns to reading her book, as if it’s going to take you a long time to read all of this. Your heart is thundering in your chest. You’ve been fished with before. They let you float in the water until a fish comes and grabs you, reeling it in quickly. You’re imagining the shock of that moment the fish comes up and the hot, wet confines of its throat as it swallows you down. It’s unfortunate that they only let you stay in for a few minutes while they reel in the fish and cut it open though. Even with it getting a little tingly in there, at least they could let you stay for a bit to enjoy yourself… You flip to the last page and fill out all the information, thoughts of being eaten filling your mind. You’re curious as to why they want your social security number, address, and some other info, but you check the box and sign the form quickly enough. All of these things have long lists of legal mumbo-jumbo basically saying that they’re not liable if the line snaps or something it’s not really all that important to read it since you’ve done so a million times already. You push the papers back toward the person behind the desk. She looks up, confused as you push those papers to her. “What, did you come to your senses then and decide to-” she starts, looking at that last page and sighing, “I mean, you could at least read all of this. I know you’ve checked the box that says you know what you’re doing, but are you sure you want to go through with this?” You nod, and she shakes her head at you before adding, “Alright, just...go back through that door and disrobe. They’ll be back for you in a bit.” You nod and hurriedly walk to the door and through it. “Oh, right!” you hear from behind you, forcing you to peek your head back around the door in order to see her talking to you, “Don’t be fucking masturbating back there when they come either. We’ll throw you out if we see it, okay?” You blush and close the door quickly, not wanting to admit that masturbating is exactly what you were planning on doing. Still, you disrobe and sit down on the bench, nudging your chest with your hands as you wait for them to come back through the door. Hurry! You really don’t know how long you’ll be able to wait before you crack and start touching yourself a little more insistently. It seems like a lifetime, but someone eventually walks through another door and motions for you to stand up. You do, and you hold your hands up as is usually asked of you. They don’t say a word as they strap a harness to your chest, fitted with barbs to catch the fish when you get swallowed. Once you’re strapped in, they pull the line and you dangle in the air. “So it’s going to be a few minutes before the fisher gets in. Just hang in there for now,” They chuckle at their half-joke and walk out the door, leaving you swinging for several more minutes. You can’t help yourself this time. A flush need calling from down between your legs, and your hands slip between them, playing with yourself still, you’re ready to drop it at a moment’s notice. When the door opens again, you quickly pull your hands away, your eyes glazed over from the sensations as a very large being walks in. It looks something like a cross between a short legged giraffe and a snake, its long neck swiveling as it moves around you. “Yes, yes, I know. Can’t keep the catch and all,” they sigh, walking over and eyeing you. “Yes, this should...this should do just fine. I wonder how it tastes…” The being flips your hooks into the off position and slurps your toes up, quickly swallowing your legs down. You moan, but they don’t react, simply savoring you and swallowing you up. Their mouth reaches your privates, tongue slurping all along your sensitive bits for a moment before one long stretch of their neck pushes up and envelops your entire body. You feel them swallow, and your body slides effortlessly down their neck and into their waiting belly. “Mmmm, it’s too bad I don’t get to keep this one,” you hear the voice boom around you as their belly squishes in from all directions, “I could have some fun with it. So tasty~ Oh well...” They pull on the line and reel you back out, leaving your wet, saliva-soaked body hanging above them as they continue to get ready. “If I manage to catch The Teaser today, I’ll finally have caught them all, too. Oh, how I’m going to love shoving that in Remy’s face.” You wonder what all of this talk is about “The Teaser” and such, but they’re not talking to you. They’re actually acting like you’re just a piece of bait to be used here, and you’re happily playing into that whole fantasy. After all, once you’re done here, they’ll cut you out and you’ll be back to your life. Maybe you can ask them what they’re talking about then? Don’t want to break scene after all… They grab you and hoist you into the air, a long fishing pole dangling you from the end as they walk out the large side doors and onto the dock. Birds chirp and flit through the air around you, mountains off in the distance and the lake stretching far out to the forest on the other side. You take in the scenery, but your eyes dart back and forth between the surface of the lake and the one carrying you, pole held in place by their long neck, which twirls casually around it. They make their way out to the end of the dock and set the pole up, putting all of their other things down before grabbing some red slimy substance out of a bucket. They begin to slather it along your body, making sure to cover you in it before easily lifting the pole and you up into the air. “Alright. Here goes nothing I guess…” they say, and you feel the pole pitching backward before yanking you forward. You gasp as the harness digs in and you get catapulted through the air, getting one good deep breath before your naked form hits the water. You slip beneath the surface and have to swim upward to get another gasp of air. When you make it there, you can see the dock is probably a good 150 feet or more away from you. That was a looong throw. You glance down at the water and spin around, feeling the line pull slightly against you as you do. The water underneath your feet is dark, far deeper than the water close to the shore, and you have no idea what might be down there. All you know is that something the fisher was calling “The Teaser” is supposed to be here. You continue to tread water, looking down and around you as you wait for it to strike. Your privates flush warmly and tempt you, hands slipping down beneath the surface of the water to pleasure yourself as you wait. Might as well, right? Not like anyone can see what you’re doing out here anyway. That red stuff they slathered all over you is slowly floating away too, dispersing into the water around where you’re swimming. Then you see it. A fish swims up from the depths and...nibbles your toe. Okay, that’s probably not what you’re waiting for. You see it try and swallow your toe, getting the whole thing in its mouth before flopping around uselessly there. Yeah, that’s not going to work, little one. You’re way too big for this little thing to manage to scarf you down. It seems to realize this and eventually gives up and swims away, chomping at little clumps of red in the water. You see another fish start swimming up from the depths, and you wonder if it’s going to be the same thing. This one takes longer to come into focus though, and as soon as it does you realize that it’s much, much larger than the fish before. You wonder if it’s going to try and swallow your foot before you see it looming even larger in your vision. Wait, is this- It doesn’t give you any time to comprehend its massive size, opening its mouth. The massive amount of suction in its gulp pulls all the water and air around you in...along with you. You feel its hot interior squish around you, flopping as it splashes back down into the water below, having jumped out of the water when it swallowed you. You feel the harness pull, and as soon as you do you’re being pulled back up and out of the fish. It tries to hold onto you, but you’re yanked out and into open air again. “Fuck!” comes a shout from the edge of the water, and you’re quickly being reeled in. You feel your body skipping across the top of the water as the fish disappears back into the depths. Within seconds you’re being hauled back up and out of the water. “I forgot to set the hooks again. Fucking damn it. Alright, let’s see here…” the being sighs, fixing the hooks in place again and once again covering you in red gunk. They swing you back and quickly pitch you back out into the water a second time. You surface once again and wait. It takes a little longer for anything to come to you this time, since the fish seem a bit spooked. Another little one nibbles at your pinky toe though, and soon enough the big one lurches back into view. It’s swimming slowly this time, inching its way up toward your body suspiciously. Maybe it never had this happen before? After all, if they catch a fish they’re probably going to cook it up, right? You think of the times before where you’ve been cut out and the fishers allowed you a few bites of what swallowed you just an hour before. It nips at your toes questioningly, and you pull your feet back from its lips. Your heart is thundering, eyes locked on its body as your breaths come heavy. It slowly swims up toward your feet once again, nudging the bottom of them with its nose and then- Slorp~ Its mouth opens wide and sucks you and a bunch of air into its gut in one gulp. You once again feel the pull of that harness, and this time the barbs sink deep into the fish’s gullet. It twitches and shakes, starting to thrash and trying to pull you away, but you can feel the fisher quickly pulling back and reeling it in. You push your hands between your legs and play with yourself, moaning and working yourself up as quickly as you can. You only have maybe a minute or two before a knife slices you out of the tight, acidic confines and splats you back out onto the dock. As the fish thrashes and fights outside, you make quick work of yourself, shivering and shuddering from a climax as you feel it feebly twitch, having been hoisted into the air. Your eyes slowly roll back forward, having visited the back of your head, and you wait for the cutting to start. You hear voices outside. The fisher seems incredibly happy, and even sounds like they’re gloating, “You thought you could come and get this first, did you? Guess you need to respond to bait calls more quickly, huh?” There’s a lot of grumbling before you feel the harness start to loosen around you. “Yeah, it’s catch and release here, right? Can’t imagine why someone would sign up for something like this, but there you go.” Wait, catch and release? What do they mean by that? The barbs let go, and the harness unhooks on you before being tugged up and out of the fish’s mouth. You feel the fish hit the dock and then flop around before a large sploosh happens outside. Then you hear the sounds of water. Wait...wait, did they just- did they just let it go? Catch and release? You don’t think you signed up for that! Then it hits you. That’s why the forms you signed this time were a giant pile of paper and not just a simple waiver. They weren’t expecting you to come back from this one, and you signed the form that let them essentially feed you to this fish… Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. You start to thrash, but it’s far too late at this point. The fish swims out, and you can feel it lazily going about its business as the sounds of the fishing dock and everything around it are completely hidden from you. You’re really going to bite it this time. The panic mounts, but as you realize just how hopeless it is to try and get away from this thing, you start to play with yourself instead. Maybe you can just rub one more out before you pass out from lack of air in this fish’s belly. The stomach acids around you are already starting to burn, and your lungs are following suit from the lack of air. You grind your body against the walls, moaning and shaking in panicked pleasure. Your hands move frantically, and you quickly feel yourself pulling toward a peak as your vision starts to go dark. Just...just a bit more. The walls push in on you as you shudder, peaking and being pushed around in that belly. It’s impossible to tell what’s going on, though you feel the confusion distract you slightly from your orgasm as you’re shunted around in the belly. Then you get a breath of fresh air. Your eyes blink in the light as the fish sits above the water, your head peeking out of its throat. You can see the dock in the distance, though nobody is there any longer. None of them want anything more to do with you, since you’re just fish food at this point. You barely have the moment to get your bearings before you’re swallowed back down with a fresh gulp of air, and you blink in surprise as you’re unceremoniously stuffed back down. It’s...keeping you alive? You don’t think that it’s keeping you alive for your own benefit, but it still does so none the less. As your skin reddens, it belches your head up its throat occasionally, though sometimes the belches get the air out and back in without letting you stray from the tight confines of its gut. You play with yourself more, realizing that you have only what time the fish gives you. Still, there’s nothing to do but enjoy yourself as the minutes drag into hours and then you catch a glimpse of the grey dawn the next morning. More redness, more burning as your body is slowly melted from the outside. As it burps you up on the second morning, you’re feeling weak, your body losing almost all of its energy now. You see blood dripping down your face as you pop out, and then you’re back down into the digestion cycle, barely moving at this point. You’re pretty sure you were screaming in alternating pleasure and pain the last day, since your throat is sore, but you can’t remember it. You’re still horny, but you have no way to do anything with yourself, as tired as you are. Part of you hopes that the fish just stops swallowing air so you can pass out, but it seems like each time you move even slightly, wincing in pain as acids sizzle and bubble at your body, the fish squeezes down on you more. It’s enjoying this. Thinking back to the past day, you realize how energetic it’s been every time you’ve been pleasuring yourself, and you know that it’s keeping you alive just so it can feel you squirm inside of it. Then, the fish starts acting a little weird. It swims around outside more forcefully. Its movements are more calculated, something that you remember seeing before… Before you can register what the sudden undulations of its body are about, a large gulp of air joins you along with yet another body. A guy’s body is shoved down, feet first into the belly beside you. You feel his dick pressing up against you. “Holy fuck!” he says through half-lidded eyes as he sees your body up against him. You moan and try to speak, but you’re unable to get anything out as the fish thrashes around outside. “They said someone got eaten the other day, but I didn’t think they’d be...alive still?” He seems to question that, looking you over. “Eh, well, alive is maybe stretching it, but at least I could use you before they pull me back out.” You feel him lower himself and push his cock into you, quickly starting to use you for his own enjoyment. His hips slap against yours, or at least what’s left of them. You cringe as the soreness of two days of digesting is pounded into you with each thrust. He doesn’t take long at all to get himself off, and you’re pretty sure that you did as well, feeling loopy as he pulls himself out. “Yeah, alright then. I guess I’ll uh...leave you to digest?” You can feel them hanging the fish up outside, and you’re pretty sure that he’s going to end up stuck in here with you. How would they even take him out without you? The hooks slide into the harness and no longer cut into the sides of the fish. As the spikes disappear, you realize there was a stripe of barbs that was wedged under your clavicle as well. You wait for the harness to let him go and leave him stranded here with you. Instead of the harness loosening though, you see him simply get pulled up and out. Actually, he probably stays still. Rather the fish that has you lets him go and you plummet back into the water with a splash. Wait...how does he? Why does he? Your mind races, but the fish goes right back to its routine. You gurgle in its gut, occasionally getting a gasp of air until finally you feel yourself fading for good. You hear one last belch as the air exits from the chamber, and the world goes black.

This is a Venom fanfiction featuring Eddie Brock and Venom. Has weird, vore-ish qualities. Don’t like? Don’t read! Comments and critiques are always appreciated, along with any spelling errors/grammar errors that I might have missed. Thanks! ———————————————————————— “Sorry, Eddie.” That was the first thing he heard when he came to. Not a good sign. He groaned, moving to roll over onto his front only to be stopped by a sharp pain from his stomach. He hissed through clenched teeth, stopping dead in his tracks as he tried to wrap his head around the unfamiliar pain blooming in his midsection. “Eddie okay?” Venom’s head moved closer to his, studying him with a look of guilt. “What did you do?” Eddie asked, forcing an eye open to look at the symbiote. “Sorry.” Was its only response. He sighed, rolling onto his back with another hiss of pain and slowly, very slowly, began to lift himself into a sitting position. Venom, having caught on to what he was doing, moved to help him. He panted from exertion, sweat beading on his forehead. Holy shit, his stomach hurt. What the hell did Venom eat? He brought a hand to his abdomen, only to pull said hand away in utter shock. His sweatshirt was snug around his midsection, which was stretched much farther than it had any right to be. It looked like he swallowed a fucking watermelon! “Venom?!” “Lots of bad guys last night.” It said in the way of explanation. “Sorry.” “Holy shit.” He breathed, staring down at the expanse of flesh in a mixture of awe and mortification. He carefully lifted up his sweatshirt, watching his belly spill out and into his lap, heavy and warm. “Oh my god.” “Didn’t mean to hurt Eddie. Okay?” Venom said, butting its head against Eddie’s cheek in apology. Eddie didn’t respond for a long moment, gingerly placing a hand on his massive gut. It gurgled in response, a burp forcing its way up and out of Eddie’s mouth. “Eddie?” “Yeah, yeah. I’m alright, buddy. Just...” He didn’t know what to say. Humans weren’t even supposed to eat this much, were they? He’s pretty sure he should have exploded long before this point, yet here he is, defying the laws of nature. After stifling another burp, he placed his hands on either side of the bed and tried pushing himself up and out of the bed... only to find he couldn’t. His stomach was surprisingly heavy and it looked like Venom didn’t seem to want to help him up. He sighed, flopping back down and groaning as his belly jiggled and settled around him. Venom butted its head against Eddie’s face again like a cat and he sighed, lifting up a hand to rub at the slick, oily mass. “It’s alright, buddy... though I’d appreciate a little help here.” He said, gesturing towards the massive gut that was currently pinning his hips in place. Venom used a thick tendril to gently push him back into a laying position, his back hitting the pillows behind him as Venom coiled the rest of itself atop his mountainous tummy, giving slight vibrations or... maybe purring? Just another parallel between the symbiote and cats. “Rest, Eddie.” It insisted. “Must digest.” He huffed a laugh. “Yeah, no kidding.” He said, peering down at the large belly that seemed to be a part of him. “Is bad?” “Ah, no it’s just... humans aren’t really supposed to eat this much at once.” “Oh.” It said, sounding honestly surprised. “Stomach can expand larger. Didn’t know it would hurt.” It looked up at him with twin ovals of white, and he huffed a laugh, patting the pouting  symbiote. “Don’t worry about it, bud. Just... take it easy next time, alright?” After Venom gave some purring in agreeance, Eddie sighed, shifting into a more comfortable position before letting his eyes droop closed.