- Shari -

Well, I’m in the forest.

The deep part.

Gloomy as I remember it and too disturbing to calm down.

It’s not like I’m afraid, but I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t get what anyone would find in constantly being on edge.

For me, it only feeds my resolve to quicken my pace and bring this soon to an end.

However, I still am thinking about this discussion.

Seriously?

A girl made of slime?

Are they insane?

The only people who were there are two runaways.

Isn’t this a completely biased testimony?

Anything could have happened there.

And they come up with such a story to explain why only they made it back from there.

Are people really going to buy this?

Now it’s not like I’m affected, yet it bothers me what stories people tell to conceal their deeds.

And might actually get through with!

At least those thoughts distract me a bit from the tense atmosphere.

On the other hand, maybe I shouldn’t be distracted from life-threatening danger.

"Grooaar"

Okay, that didn't help me to calm down.

This was easy to recognize as a direwolf.

Though; it’s not so easy to recognize the direction with this kind of echo.

Looking for those cooking ingredients might not be a task worth dying for.

Hah; but I’m already here so I should just get this done!

Grabbing one of my smellbags tighter, I walk deeper into the forest and manage to find some darkleaves.

They are not extremely uncommon, but with their tendency to grow around trees in dark places, you need to go to the displeasing areas, with higher risks.

However, some more are still needed.

As I continue my search, I detect a strange unknown smell.

I cautiously look around and subsequently find a corpse.

Well; no corpse, only bones, and the smell was no decay.

At a closer look, these are the bones of a direwolf, yet they are completely clean if a bit damaged, and without the merest hint of flesh.

Like this, I realize what this smell is.

It seems that this direwolf got killed by a slime and the smell was something like digestion gas.

That’s not too surprising as they sometimes just charge into them, considering how hostile they are to trespassers.

It doesn’t happen too often nowadays, as even these creatures are learning over time.

Still, for me, this might be a good opportunity because commonly slimes tend to dissolve everything.

This one was apparently full and decided against bothering further.

Still, for me those bones and the teeth, if any survived, could be quite valuable.

Like this I kneel down to the remains and look if any parts are intact enough, after the acid, to be worth my attention.

"Splotch"

While I'm scavenging, suddenly I hear something beside me.

I follow the sound and find a batch of slime close to my position.

How strange!

The sound came from this place so this shouldn’t have been here before.

But if it's like this, where is the source?

Immediately a feeling overcomes me.

I turn around and…

Look in the eyes of a girl.

Well, this wouldn’t be a problem on its own, if not for the translucent green color of her body.

The curious mouth of the girl gradually forms a smile and before I can even contemplate the occurrence, she grabs both of my wrists with her hands.

The moment they touch me I realize:

"She is a slime!" (Shari)

Finally understanding the situation I’m in, I try to jump backward and rip my hands free.

Yet, the moment I start moving the creature takes the movement with me and lunges forward.

Thus robbed of my balance, I fall on my back, and the creature directly over me.

There's no chance.

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In a blink, my bottom half is completely enveloped by the liquid mass.

This thing is going to eat me!

I don’t want to get devoured and try to scramble away, but the liquid is absolutely tenacious.

Before I can do anything else the upper half of the slime which has still the shape of a girl, awkwardly protruding out of the mass, is over me.

She fixes my shoulders with her hands while her mass seemingly grows.

Does it want to devour me at once?

I manage to pull a smellbag out of my pouch and throw it at her face.

For a second she looks irritated due to the contents spreading inside her.

"Zsch"

Which then instantly vanish as if they never existed.

I’m out of options!

All I can do is struggle as much as I can against the overwhelming mass, leaving this thing completely unfazed.

The next moment, I feel how liquid is gathering below me, which then lifts me up.

During the whole ordeal, the borderless eyes of that thing are staring intensely at me, while tears start to well up in mine.

Being elevated by much more mass than there initially was, I still try to break free.

But as my hands can grab nothing but air and my legs are stuck in this tar-like substance there is nothing I can do.

It doesn’t take long and even my arms are enveloped.

While I can still move them, it is difficult to do so and I have no hold on anything.

Suddenly the creature starts to move, carrying me with it while still looking at me and sometimes nudging my shoulders.

After what happened to my bag I know that it needs just one thought of that thing for me to vanish.

Stricken with terror I start to panic and scream, despite knowing that no one should be there to hear.

"No, no, no!"

"Save me! Someone!"

"Help! Help!"

While still moving, the creature tilts her head at me.

Then she raises a "finger" in front of her mouth, making the respective gesture.

She wants me to stay quiet.

Hell no!

I intensify my wailing.

This leads the creature to look at me while dropping her shoulders or more dislocating them, emanating some discontent with the situation.

After that, she lifts her hand and reaches for my screaming mouth.

She lays her hand on it dampening my cries.

As she draws it back a substance remains over my mouth.

Like this, she successfully gagged me and prevents me from screaming, while carrying me further.

Because I struggle non-stop, after a while I grow exhausted.

I’m asking myself why I’m still alive.

Even if this is no positive thought, it is strange that it keeps me alive and for example, left my nose free to breathe.

The sole reason I can think of is that it's taking me to some kind of lair to devour me in peace.

After what felt like an eternity we reach the bottom of a cliff.

A short time later, I make out an entrance in the facade.

As expected it moves with me in there, who is too exhausted to do anything at this point.

Inside the cave, the walls are all covered with slimy liquid, which is astonishing considering that this place is rather spacious.

Also, this weird smell, which feels unnatural and devoid of life, lingers everywhere.

I think this is because the slime-liquid devours all living things, like this literally cleansing all they touch, creating this artificial smell.

She floats with me to the end of the cave and tugs me in a half-leaning position at the wall.

The surface behind me is covered in a way, which makes it soft to the touch despite the stone beneath.

Then she draws herself away from my body, together with the part that covered my mouth, and forms back to her initial appearance of a girl, setting me free.

She starts to look at me as if contemplating something.

I want to run, but I’m so exhausted that I can barely move.

Still, I need to get away!

However, the moment I try to move to make my escape, she grabs my arms and kneels into my legs.

I can see how those limbs of hers are bulging, enveloping my legs completely, along with my downcast lower arms in a sticky, much less fluid substance, which remains after she pulls away, binding me like this to the surface.

If I were less exhausted I could maybe break free, but as things are this is not possible.

Thus, I’m at that creature’s mercy.

Yet after she’s done she kneels in front of me, smiling in my direction.

It might even look nice, if not for the situation, and the fact that she is a murdering monster!

But as she is, it’s just extremely disturbing.

I am scared.

Again I start slowly to sob while looking anxiously at my captor.

She still appears to think about, what I assume is the time to eat me.

The moment she seems done with it, she crawls closer to me.

Then she points at me with her finger.

After that, she widely opens her mouth and points in it.

At this moment my face distorts in horror and the welling up tears gush all out.

I know I will die now.

I cry so much that I won’t even look at the monster anymore.

It wouldn’t change anything.

The next thing I feel is how a liquid hand grabs my head securing it in place.

After that, my nose gets pinched by the other one, a part of the slime unpleasantly flowing inside.

Because of this, I’m forced to suck the air through my mouth.

The moment I open it, she quickly forms two new appendages in addition to those which already hold me and pushes them at my unclosed jaw, forcing me to keep it like this with surprising strength, despite the liquid composition.

Then she draws closer and…

LAYS HER LIPS ON MINE?!!

No, no, no, no, no, no!

Not like this!

This shouldn’t be my first!

That is just not right!

And then it begins.

Suddenly some liquid is released out of her mouth and pours directly inside mine.

Restrained as I am I have no way to resist and the creature continues to relentlessly dump more and more of this fluid inside me.

As it gushes into my throat, lungs, and stomach, I try to cough and have the urge to vomit but to no avail, as only more keeps coming.

I can’t breathe!

Is it killing me like this?

Caused by the mental stress, my exhaustion, and the lack of air, I pass out.