The darkness of death was a grim cold thing, but the darkness of rebirth is a warm searing sensation. There's a stinging pain that flows through your whole body as your soul gets used to its new vessel, and every nerve feels as if its burning for a few minutes. Cain has experienced the sensations of rebirth twice now, and it didn't get any easier the second time.

"Fuck. Couldn't God make this easier?"

Cain's new form comes into focus as the pain fades, and strangely he can't feel much of anything. It's like his body has been blended up and smashed into a tiny speck of mucus. Actually that's exactly what he is now, a speck of membrane.

This body undulates as Cain moves, and he finds his miniscule form sliding along dirt and stone. He can't really see much of anything, but he can feel vibrations and textures with ease. Something in the back of Cain's mind is telling him he will grow, and change. If he didn't have that instinct reassuring him of his future he would likely be crying out in rage at his creator for giving him a defective body in his second life.

"What is that?!"

Cain feels immense movement a short distance away, and its approaching. The sensation is so much stronger than anything Cain experienced as a human, and it feels like the world is ending as something huge and slimy squishes against him. He's expecting death to take him for a second time, but instead he feels his mucus covered body latch onto the huge creature.

There's a brief sensation of vertigo, and then Cain adjusts to his new shape. His body violently absorbed the creature without hesitation, and it did that all on its own! Cain would be terrified if it hadn't saved his life.

"Wait a minute. Was that a worm?"

Cain's sense of scale has improved, and he can feel his body squish aside soil as he starts pushing through the earth. His body is shaped like a worm's, yet he knows he can switch back to his true amorphous form whenever he wishes.

There's suddenly no dirt above Cain's head, and he quickly ducks back inside when something huge tries to snap him up in its huge mouth. Instinctual hunger pushes Cain up out of the hole, and he feels a knot in his gut form.

"I can almost control it..."

Cain's body acts on its own once more, and he springs up to latch onto the winged mammal like a rabid squirrel. There's a squeaking, but it stops quickly as Cain's flesh absorbs the poor bat in seconds. The new body feels massive, yet Cain knows he's merely a bat.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Having eyes means he can finally gaze upon the cave, while having ears means he can listen to his surroundings. There's a few patches of glowing mushrooms, and the sound of flowing water tells him a stream flows close by.

Cain beats his small leathery wings, and takes to the air whilst squeaking in an attempt to use echolocation. Thankfully knowledge and instincts are bound to the bodies he becomes. There's a rustling in the mushrooms, and the hunt is on.

"Wow these ears are great!"

Quiet flapping sounds signal a centipedes death as a fleshy blob lands upon it, melting and sucking up the poor bug like some kind of delicious noodle. Cain's body warps into that of a lengthy centipede, and he scurries around the stack of a mushroom while processing the new instincts and abilities of the centipede.

There's venomous bites and a lot of flexibility, but nothing too amazing. Cain's body turns to pink putty for a moment before congealing into the shape of a bat. The totally not a shapeshifter bat flaps its wings, and flies up through the winding tunnels.

~

"Do you think God wants us to die?" Zain asks quietly.

Nobody says anything for a few moments, but the rising tension is broken when Vim smacks Zain on the back of the head like a father violently disciplining his child.

"Don't talk ill of our creator. He's testing our abilities, and intends to grant us a reward for our efforts." Vim says resolutely.

Lily rolls her eyes at Vim's reaction while turning to talk to Tir. Tir is chewing on a chunk of roasted mushroom, and hardly pays attention to Lily's subsequent ramblings.

"I don't think people should hit other people." Lily says quietly.

There's a silence, and a chewing sound to fill that brief silence.

"Do you think we'll just keep eating mushrooms? I want apples, or meat." Lily whines.

Tir doesn't really make eye contact as she eats, and the quiet munching is getting ever quieter as Lily talks about this and that.

"You're really quiet, you know that?" Lily says innocently.

Awkward silence ensues as Tir stares Lily hard in the eyes. There's meaning in that stare, but Lily is somehow oblivious to Tir's intentions. Thankfully this impromptu staring contest is interrupted when a squeaking bat flits its way up from one of the tunnels.

Most of the camp turns to watch the bat fly around, and are fascinated as it seems to jerk toward them before frantically flying the opposite direction. This strange spasming bat eventually flies up and out of the cavern.

"Well that was odd..." Tir says softly.

~

"Shit! I can't control myself at all!"

Cain's wings ache as he lands on the branches of an apple tree. The humans in that cave all looked unfamiliar to Cain, but they're people just like he once was. He'd rather not eat any humans, albeit he might eat an evil person.

Soft rustling noises alert Cain's sensitive ears, and he quickly jumps. There's a squelch as his body turns to a huge membrane, and a quiet sloshing as Cain consumes a snake. The craft serpent was going to ambush him!

New instincts course through Cain's mind as he transforms into a lengthy green reptile. The snake urges get pushed back out of his mind as he acclimates, and slithers along the forest floor.

"I'll need to get used to this body before I get near humans..."

With a goal in mind Cain begins his quest to catch them all. He'll be the very best, or at least that's what he hopes to become.