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Turnabout is Fair Play
A Collaboration by Llyander and Anima
(Vore/Absorption, N/C)
Drifting up from the horizon, then rising paternally over the expanse
of green virgin forest, the golden orb of the sun studied its child
planet. Beams of its light splashed across North America, slowly reaching
the forests of the Mideast. Magnifying the scene further, the sprawling
forests snap nearer, until individual trees and hills can be seen. Closer
still. Now, beneath the tree tops, the underbrush and all its inhabitants
were visible. Birds, singing since dawn, picked up their chorus as the
sun strengthened. Squirrels uncurled from their nests, poking sleepy
heads from their knotholes. Owls, having reached their homes barely
an hour before, rustled in their sleep before stilling once more.
Something unknown to land, an unnatural, alien creature was also moving
that day, greeting the morning sun with a sluggish, lazy movement. It
uncurled slowly, carefully, as thin, twitching tendrils reached out
to touch and probe its surroundings, feelers tapping over grass, stone
and wood to assess the potential threats that might lie around it before
it ventured forth from the rotting log it had slept in that night.
Safety. Nothing moved, nothing stirred.
Another movement. The creature shifted, slowly oozing from its comfy
little hollow as it carefully made its way out and into the light. The
first rays of the sun slid over its rippling ebony skin, the light catching
the sheen of the creatures flesh, setting up an almost hypnotic cascade
of colour like oil on water. As it moved into the light it was fully
exposed to view for a brief instant. It looked like nothing so much
as a blob of translucent black jelly, roughly the size of a small football,
the edges of it ragged and uneven, rippling and shifting with each movement
the thing made. A feeler was slowly extruded, rising out of that central
mass and probing around at the entrance to the log, making sure there
was nothing waiting out there to surprise it. Again, it seemed to be
alone and so it rolled itself out of the log and plopped down onto the
ground. The moment it moved from the shadowy interior and out into the
light its colour changed, rippling rapidly from black through brown
and finally settling on a mottled green, blending in nicely with the
grass, gathering itself before it moved on again.
It wasn't really sure how it had come to this place but its simple mind
was certain that things were not always thus. Not so green and organic.
It had a vague recollection of white. Cold surfaces, flat surfaces that
were so much easier to roll over than this nasty, uneven brown stuff
that it was forced to tolerate now, filled with little bits of debris
that got stuck in annoying crevices. If it had lungs it would have sighed,
but such concepts were unknown to it. It understood little of where
it was, or why, and it didn't really care. One thing alone mattered
to it and that was a feeling that was making itself known quite acutely
as the moments passed.
Hunger.
It shivered and moved with more purpose now, tendrils rolling out to
drag itself along the ground, moving with surprising rapidity for such
an odd looking thing. As the feelers touched here and there it suddenly
came across an interesting taste that stopped it in its tracks. It knew
this taste, it had eaten these things before; Brown, furry things that
kicked in the most DELICIOUS way when they were caught. It didn't know
the name of this thing, only that it was soft plump and tasty and that
was ALL it needed to know to turn and follow this tantalising new trail,
trundling along towards a thick stand of privet hedges in pursuit of
a meal
* * *
Pineskimmer shook out his feathers, raising his wickedly hooked beak
towards the rising sun to welcome in the new day. His magnificent wings
unfurled and stretched to their full, six-foot extension before settling
to his sides once more. His head cocked to the side, gleaming yellow
eyes surveying all around him as a new sensation impinged on his awareness.
Hunger.
With a precise downsweep of his powerful wings coupled with a calculated
thrust from his taloned feet, the American Bald eagle launched himself
from the sturdy tree branch he'd settled on last night. Four wing beats
took him above the tree-tops, where Pineskimmer could survey his territory.
There'd be no prey here to catch; the forest was simply too difficult
to manoeuvre in! No, Pine made a token circle or two, then headed for
the scrubland ringing the woods where he knew the hunting would be better,
easier. A dull black snake of asphalt wound through a clearing, and
Pineskimmer made for it. Directly above the unnatural strip, a warm
updraft caught Pine's wings and buoyed him up. From there, the eagle
made straight for his favourite hunting grounds in a deceptively-lazy
looking glide.
A movement in the thick privets on the west side of the wide grassy
field attracted Pine's attention. Fixing his eyes on the spot, the eagle
easily located the rustling rabbit. He folded his wings back and descended
rapidly, making for a perch across the field from his target. It would
serve as a vantage point from which he could make his final approach,
after getting his bearings once more. Pineskimmer alighted on a likely
looking pine bough, bouncing it a bit. Rechecking the spot with his
magnificent eyes, Pine dropped from the tree and soared towards the
privets! The shadow of his proud flight flickered over the yellowed
grass and rusty shrubs, arrowing straight for the rabbit. Wickedly hooked
claws down like landing gear, Pine *stretched* down into the hedge...and
came up empty with nothing but some leaves and twigs in his feathers
to show for his powerful stoop. Screeching his outrage, the eagle pulled
up. After that display, he'd be lucky the fish in the neighbouring creek
hadn't spooked!
* * *
Deep within the privet hedge, the blob was aware of the abortive strike
of the eagle, 'watching' dispassionately as the claws slashed at the
air and then retreated, sensing more than hearing the screech of outrage
that followed... But it had other things to concern itself with. Like
breakfast. It had grown bigger now, bigger because it was stuffed full
of a nice, plump, still-twitching rabbit.
The doe had been sleeping when the creature had found her, unaware as
the blob nestled up alongside that soft, silky fur, remained oblivious
as it had begun to expand outwards, slowly sliding over her haunches,
surrounding her in a soft, rippling sheath of warm, translucent jelly
that moved swiftly to engulf the rest of her sweet, tender little body.
She had woken just as her hindquarters vanished within that clinging
sheath, feeling the blob moving over and around her, an unnatural warmth
surrounding her, sapping her strength. Her immediate reaction had been
to try and run, to escape this... Whatever it was.
Her muscles tensed, thrashing her legs about within the soft, yielding
gel that surrounded them. Something was wrong, she didn't seem to be
moving anywhere, and even more alarming to her primitive little mind
was that she suddenly couldn't seem to feel her hindpaws anymore! She
kept struggling gamely however, kept thrashing and pushing out within
her ever-growing jelly cocoon, bulging it out here and there, writhing
as it slipped inexorably up and over her body, tendrils first slipping
over and then engulfing her forepaws in a glistening sheath of gel,
her struggles reduced to mere twitches and spasms as she was held within
the cocoon of her predator. The creature slipped up over her rapidly,
covering her mouth, her wild, staring eyes and those long ears until
finally the doe was gone and laying there was a twitching, wriggling
blob of jelly. A kick from within... Another... One final, frantic spasm
and the doe went still and quiet, her little mind shutting down as her
body did, drifting off into darkness. Now there was nothing to do but
absorb.
The blob worked quickly with this meal; it needed the nutrition. Powerful
digestive enzymes went to work, rendering the flesh into the nutrients
the blob needed, drawing the rabbit into itself, absorbing it. As soon
as it could, it began moving again, not wasting any time in a leisurely
digestion. It could finish with the rabbit on the way. There was MORE
prey to find and that was more important than comfort right now. Tendrils
were extruded, gripping rocks and branches as it started to move once
more, slowly this time, weighed down by the slowly digesting rabbit
within it.
* * *
Pineskimmer circled the field, scanning the grass for any sign of
the rabbit, hoping perhaps that he might be able to relocate his target
before it got too far away. No sign, nothing. Moment followed moment,
with the chance of finding the rabbit fading ever faster. Wait. What
was that?
He turned in a little tighter as he spotted something new beside the
privet hedge. He would never have registered it but for its ponderous,
oozing movement away from the hedge... The thing was slow! It might
be good to eat... Pineskimmer made a low sound of pleasure in his feathery
throat, and found another perch from which he could skim low over the
grass towards this new prey. Repeating his prior routine, Pine launched
his eagerly-winging form out over the grass, and dipped low enough to
drag his talons through the slippery-looking mass hiding in the lee
of the bush. His claws met resistance and dug in swiftly to hold the
prey, thoughts of triumph sparking in the bird's mind! But those were
quickly followed by feelings of dismay, as that resistance caught and
*held* his legs, halting Pineskimmer's flight as thoroughly as a tree
trunk, the bird pitching forward with a startled, high-pitched cry.
The blob had registered the approach of the eagle moments before the
impact, the eagles claws raking over it as it swooped past, followed
almost instantly by the surge of what could only be described as *PAIN*
flashing through its body as the eagle's claws sank in. It reacted in
the only way it could, the only way its little mind knew how, by lashing
out and seizing the eagles legs in thick ropes of jelly, engulfing them
in moments, flowing over his claws and talons before sliding up his
legs as well, dragging him beak-first to the ground where the odds were
stacked more in its favour and where those huge wings would be a disadvantage,
tangling in the undergrowth and only aiding the blob in immobilising
it all the more quickly. Hunger awoke in it once more as it tasted the
eagle. So wild, so powerful... THIS was a real meal! Digestive juices
freely flowed almost immediately, going to work on those vicious claws,
trying to render the writhing, screaming meal helpless as quickly as
it could. It could already feel the first sweet nutrients flowing out
from the struggling prey, absorbed by the hungry little blob, giving
it the strength to continue fighting to subdue its prey.
PAIN! Thrashing his wings about in panic, Pineskimmer screeched in agony!
His legs were burning, a pain he'd never felt the like of before seared
his nerves raw before incinerating them as well, leaving only a cold
numbness that was as terrifying as the pain. The eagle thrust his beak
at the gooey mass enfolding his legs, snapping wildly! Wide open, his
beak caught at the soft sticky mass... and stuck. Pine tried back-pedalling,
tried to pull his head up and out of this not-prey that had seized him--his
mind still trying to come to terms with this sudden reversal of fortunes--but
his legs wouldn't respond and his beak was still stuck, no matter how
hard he pulled! Flapping frantically, he tried to get airborne. Both
wings struck the blob once, and came free reluctantly. The second downsweep
plastered his pinions to the blob's surface, and could not be stirred.
Pineskimmer jerked his neck, and every muscle still at his command,
willing with every feather and bone in his body to be FREE! Warm gelatin
slid down his throat and filled his crop, bringing a blessed numbing
with it. His entire body began to feel numb moments later. Seeing no
need to resist the urging of his tired body, the giant bird collapsed
bonelessly into unconsciousness.
* * *
The blob felt the prey go limp and it ceased the wild secretion of
digestive acids, returning to a more sedate and conservative mode of
feeding. It rippled under the eagle, the avian slowly sinking down into
the transparent mass with soft slurping, suckling sounds, engulfed a
little at a time as hungry tendrils slid over and around his form, binding
him deeper and tighter into the predator that had tricked him. Pineskimmer
twitched once, twice, an eye opening to gaze up at the sky that was
forever denied him now.... A shimmering layer of gel slide over that
staring orb and the bird went still and quiet, now surrounded in a cocoon
of jelly.
The blob remained where it was, slowly absorbing the prey into itself.
While it was not advanced enough to understand a concept like pleasure,
it understood that this prey made it feel sated, that the hunger was
gone, for the moment at least. But with the hunger leaving, new sensations
rushed in to take its place. There was a moment of disconnection, a
moment where the blob felt strange on the ground, it had the sudden
urge to spread its wings, soar up into the heavens and hunt as it was
born to! It rippled around itself, the slowly digesting eagle dwindling
within its liquid crystal coffin, trying to understand what was happening
to it as the moment passed and once again, it was safe and secure on
the earth that was its home, digesting its prey as was natural for it.
Another moment of disconnection, a desperate burning NEED to feel the
air washing over feathers that were slowly melting away within that
liquid cocoon, the urge to twitch talons that were already long dissolved.
There came a flash of clarity. It was not only absorbing the flesh of
the eagle, but the awareness as well, the very knowledge and instincts
that made the eagle what it was... This…This was not supposed to
happen! This could not be! It was predator... No... It was prey... It…
Was?
It roiled nervously around the melting body of the eagle, confused now
as the two psyches came together, the wild, feral nature of the eagle
all but overwhelming the more sedate and cautious identity of the blob
that had consumed him. Must stop this, must eject the digesting remains,
this toxin that threatened to destroy it from within! Shivering, the
blob tried to do so, tried to make itself move away from the melted
remains of the eagle... And failed. The creature went still, the digestion
all but forgotten as the needs and emotions washed over and through
it, paralysing it as it lost its certainty of who or what it was. An
eagle… Or a rabbit… Or perhaps one of the other creatures
that it had once devoured. Too many voices! Too many. Cohesion was breaking
down, confusion and chaos swirling like red flashes of lighting in the
flickering mind of the blob.
There followed the second moment of clarity. A meeting of minds between
predator and prey, between the creature and the eagle. An understanding
was reached without words, almost without thought. Slowly, slowly the
other voices died away, pushed back to where they belonged till there
were only the two… Pineskimmer and the one who had bested him.
The two voices merged even as the blob completed the absorption of the
eagle. One voice now, one mind… A blend of the little creature's
cunning and patience and Pineskimmer's feral joy and passion. Nothing
had perished... Something had been born.
Soon, it gathered itself, taking stock of its surroundings once more.
There was no trace of a blend, no division, only a single mind and set
of instincts driving the strange creature. On the cellular level, what
had been the blob's and bird's DNA were now a double helix of a single
creature, unrecognisable from that which had awoken that morning and
set out to hunt. The land would have recoiled from this contradiction
if it could, forsaking it, or perhaps tossing it into the sea to rid
itself of this creature that should not be.
In the green shadows beneath the bush, it turned its attention to its
soft, gelatinous hide. A little control exerted over it, and the blob's
surface stretched tight, forming a perfect dome. A dome that absorbed
any sound directed towards it, feeding the information into this new
mind. It listened... Senses tuned to the forest all around. Squirrels,
birds, a scrabbling in the leaves and needles of the floor that might
be a wolf or fox... Food?
It shook itself. It no longer needed food, couldn't process any even
if it caught something. The blob's reserves were full, and a full day
would elapse before food would be needed again. So now, the issue was
safety. An instinct, to locate a tree branch to roost on, floated to
the fore from the instincts of Skimmer. Flowing smoothly over the humps
and mounds of the forest floor, it made its way to the nearest tree.
Then, extending a pseudopod, touched the tree's trunk and clung. Pulling
itself up, the blob lifted from the earth and spread across the trunk.
From there, flowing vertically up the bark was a simple task, the sticky
mass oozing out onto a limb high above the earth. Safety.
There, it waited. Tomorrow was another day. Tomorrow was another meal,
and there was so much food to eat. Yes, so much... The prey would become
the predator now. Skimmer had learned this, soon other creatures would
learn as the blob grew in size and more knowledge was absorbed. They
would learn that turnabout is fair play.
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