Their smoked fish was utterly ruined. Not only was it heavily soiled by the materials kicked up during the magical spell thingy, but what they did find crumbled into a disgusting paste on touch. In fact, the trees around them didn’t just look dead, their leaves having crumbled off and their bark splitting and cracking, revealing much too soft and weirdly soft wood underneath… but even a small effort was enough to cause a limb to tear off. A good shove caused a tree to topple into a similar pulpy mess to the fish.
The soil didn’t smell right. The feeling and smells and sights of life were just… gone. They found several of the small birds that often flitted through the trees well away from them. One was just a powdery blue and green mess where it had fallen. Another was perched motionlessly on a branch and Lucy’s breath was enough for its legs to silently separate, the motionless body falling and pulverizing into a little pile like the other on impact with the forest floor.
They left the whining ‘godling’ behind and explored as a group. The ‘godling’ eventually followed, walking awkwardly as if it didn’t have much practice at it, but keeping up with them even while constantly complaining about being ignored. They walked to the edge of the river bank and down below could see greenish brown cloudiness in the water. Across the river things were still alive and the cloudiness was already washing downstream from where it was emanating, mostly around the rocky shores, but combined with the trees and the birds it put a pit into all of their stomachs.
Elean wanted to see the grassland and they made the trip to that side of the forested strip, finding a large circular swatch of grass was crumpled and disintegrating in the occasional breeze. The once Talor looked out at the prairie for a long moment and nobody dared interrupt her, each of them lost in their own thoughts.
Whatever had happened, it had absorbed the very life from a large area around the camp. That they were alive and changed hammered home exactly what had done the deed. Elean was particularly affected. She seemed to feel a particular guilt about it. A quick and quiet conference amongst the friends at a respectful distance brought them to the same conclusion.
“She said something about freedom… some kind of magic had her trapped?”
“Mm. I don’t think she wanted this to happen though. Even the soil life is just dead. It’s kind of horrifying.”
“She said she wanted to repay a debt…”
“Also that her people were going to come and kill us.”
Everyone thought about that for a bit.
“I guess we stick with her? Even given what happened, she’s probably our best shot at survival.”
“You should all abase yourself bef—” Alan shoved the annoying ‘godling’ away from their huddle with hardly a second thought. Something about that woman just screamed irrelevant and unimportant but more significantly just demanding over and over that people ‘worshipped’ you was never going to fly.
“What about her worshipfulness?” Aaron asked.
“What about her?” Alan challenged. All three of them just looked at him with blank expressions. “What?”
“I mean… you guys look like you’re the same race now…”
“Plus you’re single…”
“She is a bit cute. Pretty flat chested and weird, but you’re flat chested and weird.” Now Lucy… man Lucy… this didn’t stop getting strange… got the weird looks. “What? She is!”
“I’m a man, being flat chested isn’t really a detractor. Besides, it’s not like she’s totally without assets, her face is pretty cu… what the hell are you suggesting anyways?” Lucy just looked back at him challenging.
“You should be open to the options. She was staring at you and fingering herself, clearly she’s interested.”
“What the fuck Lu, you sound like some asshole in the hypothetical locker room.” At least sh.. he had the presence of mind to look a bit embarrassed. Honestly, suggesting he would go for the crazy in a bad way girl that appeared out of nowhere and demanded they all worship her! “Gah! Plus John is just too damned cute now! Switch with me John, you be the skinny fox-eared guy, I’ll be the sexy chick.”
“Can we do that?”
“I have no idea.” John slugged him in the shoulder. It was well deserved. “Look on the bright side John, now you’re not too old to seriously consider children, plus you don’t have to find love as a woman after living your life as a man.” John frowned. Damnit, even her frowns were ridiculously cute. Didn’t John have a younger sister? If they ever went back home… he’d probably have no chance, plus all that shit with John’s parents…
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Huh, Lucy was looking at John in a funny way though now. It was made even weirder since John had been taller before and now was shorter. It was just so much to wrap your head around.
“Hmm, no periods or bras…”
“If you even so much as suggest we should stay this way, I’m going to introduce you to a man’s most painful experience!” Lucy looked confused until Aaron and Alan both stepped away and covered their nuts. Her… damnit, his face drained of blood and another set of jewels were quickly protected.
“Is it really that bad…”
“YES.” The three ‘men’ all answered.
“You’ll feel like you’re trying to shit and puke out all of your insides at once, while it both somehow hurts worse than anything and doesn’t hurt in the way you normally think of pain. You’ll involuntarily curl up and you will not be able to do anything until it mostly passes, except hunch over and suffer.” Sometimes Alan felt that a good description was better than just asserting something was bad. Aaron and John nodded, with vacant expressions. “Oh, and plus you can hurt for weeks afterwards.”
“Dude, shit, when did that ever happen to you?” John looked shocked.
“When I was a teenager. I rode my sister’s bike and missed the seat after hitting a hard bump, hit the bike frame…”
“Say no more. Please. It’s giving me flashbacks just thinking about it.” A hand grabbed his shoulder and Alan turned to see not Elean, but again the weird ‘godling’. She was much shorter than him and if not for her features being clearly into true, if early, adulthood, she could be mistaken for a child by her body shape and stature. Her figure wasn’t boom, boom, but she wasn’t completely without feminine shape. Very modest breasts, hidden almost completely by the baggy sweatshirt, but a solid and athletic body underneath.
A very boyish figure though, it didn’t seem like she had much variation in breast to waist to hip, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Wow, yeah, she had a very lightly defined six-pack that was kind of…
“Why are you taking off your clothes?”
“If you will not abase yourself before me, I require your assistance in achieving orgasm. Remove your clothing and pleasure me.” Lucy snickered, Alan’s brain started to stutter as the sweatshirt was lifted up in one hand and the pants pushed down with the other. A bushy tuft of pubic hair and the bottom of the somewhat subtle chest lumps started becoming visible…
John suddenly pushed between them, blocking his view and fighting the woman to pull her clothes back on.
“None of that! What the hell is wrong with you!” The godling looked shocked.
“I wish to experience this mortal orgasm thing! If it is even half as enjoyable as I experienced during the auto-translation sequence, I wish to experience it as frequently as possible. Will you assist me then? You seem to lack the necessary components for the ideal experience.”
“What? Of course I d… shit, I guess I don’t have that anymore, but a dick is hardly necessary for pleasing a woman.”
“Ah, I see. You are a female… a woman, yes? You will teach me then to achieve orgasm without a ‘dick’?” John turned cherry red and shook her head violently.
“No. No, no, no. First, I am not a woman, I am a man. Secondly, I already have a…”
“You are a man! You have a ‘dick’ then? Quickly disrobe and assist me!” The woman started wrestling John to the ground, attempting to pull off John’s sweatpants. Alan, Aaron and oddly Lucy just watched, nobody making a move to assist John despite his cursing and shouting. At least, not until John finally called explicitly for help. Aaron stepped forward and pinned the woman, face down in the dead soil.
Spitting in indignation and frustration, the woman struggled and almost managed to lift Aaron off the ground despite the awkward positioning.
“She’s really goddamned strong! Alan, fucking help!” Alan would like to say he sprang into action but it took several seconds to really click. Aaron was lifted off the ground, though Alan added his weight to the endeavor, kneeling with his knees in the backs of her knees while Aaron pulled her arms behind her back and twisted them up, pinning them painfully.
“This is most unpleasant! I do not wish to be mounted in this way! Do not your ‘American’ laws forbid this manner of copulation?”
“What the hell are you talking about lady?”
“You are attempting to copulate with me by force, yes?” She wiggled her ass and Alan realized just how he was… positioned. Boy, those sweatpants did not do much for spoiling the sensation of a firm butt getting ground into you. “I am requesting to copulate voluntarily. This is not necessary nor desired!”
“Y-yeah Alan… consent… and stuff…” Lucy was breathing really heavily and looking flushed.
“Damnit Lucy, that’s not what’s happening!” Fuck this. “Elean! Elean, we need help!” Elean came running within seconds, skidding to a stop near them.
“What is the matter? Owl-lan… are you asking me to assist you in raping this woman?”
“No, damnit! She’s crazy, she keeps trying to take off her clothes! She tried to strip John! Help us… do something… I dunno, we need to tie her up or something.” Elean, to her credit, did not hesitate to evaluate the situation. Her eyes flicked to John who was looking very upset and holding onto her pants with white knuckles, then at Aaron and Alan’s combined if awkward efforts to restrain the woman.
Elean reached behind her, the pack she had worn somehow still being present despite the change in clothing to the same grey sweats they all wore and pulled out a length of chording. Within a minute the ‘godling’ had her hands tied behind her back and to her ankles in a kneeling position that didn’t let her move too much. Or get too comfortable either, Alan noted with a bit of guilt.
What was he thinking? She was trying to force herself on them! She definitely needed to be restrained. Little Alan needs to stay out of this! He needed to think with his head… his brain! With his brain!