The whole sheboygen

From Create Your Own Story

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS IS THE MAIN STORYLINE VERSON OF THE ADVENTURE

Many thousands of years ago, on the planet Junta in the system called Wolf 359, many stands of life evolved from a common ancestor. These life-forms spread out across the planet's lush, green landmasses and began building into tribal societies. Some gathered in the many rainforests that, thanks to the thick atmosphere, were humid environments that teemed with insects and animals. Others chose to settle on the arid plains that separated the great forests and became lithe of limb and quick to catch their prey. Others settled by the many lakes or by the oceans and learned to harvest the bounty of the water.

Alas, there were some who settled in less ideal environments due to space and competition. Muggy swamps and bogs become home to those hardy enough to survive there, as well as mountain crags acting as homes for small groups who would sally forth in order to gather resources. All of these peoples appeared mostly the same, humanoid farm, albeit with minor physical adaptions to their locales. This is the way they were for thousands of years, all the while their tribes growing and adapting the land to their needs, villages growing and towns, and the tribes themselves spreading out to become nations.

This is the way it always had been, until people started to disappear from the more rural communities. They would be spirited away during the night with no clue as to who had taken them, except that their rooms were uncared for, and they obviously did not prepare for any kind of journey. Panic started to spread as it was noticed that everyone who went missing was female. It was not long after these events had begun to be noticed that the first of the Wild Peoples appeared - strange, insular communities comprised of people who were half-animal, who seemed to have a lifestyle so in favor with those who went to them that they nearly always decided to stay. Some whisper that it is against their better will...

It is into this that a young woman called Jezzi comes, from one of the rural villages of the plains called Roaring Creek, in the region of Wild Heath. Like most from her village, she is of pale complexion with long black hair and lithe limbs that betray their strength. She has a shapely body that shows a young life of labor as well as her innate femininity. Life is by no means easy, but she is able to get by, working on the family farm, and her thin leather clothing protects her against the sun, while not trapping the day's heat against her skin.

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The mid-ear nights were getting hotter and stuffier than those of the past few days, and Jezzi had taken to sleeping on her simple linen bed without the thick, hide covers that provided ample warmth amid the freezing days of Year's End, and wearing very little other than garment designed to maintain her modesty, and cover very little else. Still, the thick cloying heat of the day just gone refused to shift in the still air of her room, causing her skin to be covered in a thin sheen of sweat as her body tried to cool off. Ordinarily, she would have opened her windows and let the night breeze rush through and make the nights more bearable, but this night was different to others.

The previous night, one of her neighbors went missing. A girl called Bella who worked as a farm hand on the same plot of land that she did. Bella had always been a bright and cheerful girl with reddish hair that she kept close cropped, and Jezzi couldn't think of any reason why she would run away. As such, her thoughts had turned to a different possibility - that she had been abducted. The thought didn't sit well with her, and meant that she couldn't get to sleep this night. With an exasperated sigh, she gave up trying to sleep for now and sat up on the bed, wiping the light build-up of sweat from her shapely face.

Climbing up from her bed, Jezzi took the three small steps required to stand before her wooden shuttered window. She felt slightly cooler just standing next to it as the cooler outside air competed with the stuffy inside air of dominance. The window itself was a simple affair - internal and external wooden shutters attached to the wall by hinges, with one lock on the inside for each. She knew instinctively where both latches were, which was a boon at times such as this, when moonlight couldn't stream through into the near-blackness of her room.

Deftly, her fingers sought out the first latch and, with a slight tug, it slid free, allowing her to open the internal shutters with a slight creak. A quick rush of trapped cooler air rushed to enter the room, brushing against her skin and causing a slight goosepimpling effect. She had to admit that the quick burst of cool air felt good.

Again her hands went forward and quickly undid the second latch, allowing her to throw open the outer shutters and be rewarded with the sweet kiss of cool might air on her flesh. Closing her eyes, she allowed the breeze to enter her room, instantly cooling her off and bringing a smile to her lips. Jezzi sighed again, this time in contentment as she took a deep breath of the outside air before opening her eyes and gazing out across the open landscape.

A short way ahead of her, she could see the crazing fields where the livestock would be allowed to roam during the daylight hours. It was currently fenced off, and the gate itself bolted shut as it always was at night. To the right of the stood one of the barns. This one was used to house the cows. They had two other barns on the farm, one for the woolen rams, and another smaller one for poultry. Trading had been poor for the rams of late, but the rest of their produce had been selling well. Away from the farm were the sparse trees that marked the boundary of Vampire's Run, a small patch of forested land that used to extend far beyond where it does now, but got its name from the rather dense clouds of blood-sucking insects that resided within, mostly due to it housing three small feoted swamps within its boundaries. The rest of the farm was obscured from view as the window faced away from the larger building.

Leaning forward on the windowsill, Jezzi rested her chin on her hands, letting her elbows rest of the warm wood and prop her up. Half-closing her eyes, she let herself enjoy the night air as it blew in through the window and over her exposed skin, cooling and bringing relief. 'Maybe it's not so dangerous outside' she thought to herself as she gazed out. But then, her eyes came across something out of the ordinary. With a gasp, Jezzi took a step back into her room, eyes wide and feeling a chill run down her spine that was not due to the night air - outside, at the edge of the grazing fields, there was a dark figure standing still, the most frightening aspect being the moonlight reflecting brilliantly in a pair of light eyes which were looking straight at her...

With her heart beating faster in her chest due to both surprise and alarm, Jezzi took another could of steps back inside her room, the figure outside still with its gaze locked on her window, causing her legs to bump against her bed and for her to tumble backwards onto it. With all her attention focused forward, she let out a little squeak of alarm at the unexpected movement of her own form, before springing back up to her feet.

Inside her mind, emotions warred for control in this unexpected event making her head spin, chief among them being fear of the figure outside, and curiosity as to who it was and what they wanted. After a few moments of staring out of the window, Jezzi saw the figure move, slowly and deliberately along the border of the farm and toward the cow sheds. This made the descision of hiding or confronting for her - she wasn't about to let some figure in the night break into the farm and go after their livestock!

Swiftly, Jezzi pulled on a pair of pants and her too-small top before climbing out of her window and vaulting onto the earth outside. Time was of the essence, and she didn’t have time to use the door as the figure could be inside the barn by the time she unbolted the heavy wooden doors. No, this was the swiftest way to get there. Quite handy then, she mused to herself, that her room was on the ground floor.

Her bare feet pressed into the soft earth and crushed fresh grass as she ran towards the bar. The night air was much cooler outside than it had felt through her window, and she thanked the Gods that it was more refreshing than sapping as she ran. She didn't thank her top, however, which was designed to go over the top of a blouse for style more than anything else, and didn't fasten up fully at the front. As such, she was getting more of the cooling breeze blowing through her pressed cleavage than she would have liked, making her flesh respond to the stimulus.

Reaching the wooden fence of the grazing field, Jezzi stopped to catch her breath, leaning against the wooden posts as her chest heaved in an attempt to suck in more air into her lungs. The run has been fairly short, but she had done it at such a pace that her legs had started to burn, and the adrenalin wasn't enough to dull it. "Blast!" she cured to herself as she looked around to locate the figure. With no light but that of the moon, it was hard enough to locate the shadowy figure, but now it had moved out of sight she had only her hearing as a guide, and her heart was beating so loudly now that she could feel it as a dull thud-thud-thud at the base of her jaw.

A gust of wind hit her from the front, disturbing her slightly sweat-matted hair, and causing her to shiver and wrap her arms around herself as she took a step back. Thinking about it now, rushing out to confront a stranger at night while only half-dressed and with no tool to defend herself with might not have been the smartest idea she'd ever had. The cold grip of panic started to creep up her spine at the thought. At least there weren’t many places that the figure could have gone.

The barn would be the best place to check, Jezzi reasoned, as whatever it was had been moving in that direction when she had last seen it. The small knot of fear in her stomach was still there at the prospect of facing something that she didn't know either what it was or what it could do. It was there when the thing had first seen here and, while it threatened to make her seize up or run away, she hadn't paid that much attention to it so far, so why should she start now?

Moving along the fence, her bare feet making very little sound as she moved, Jezzi crept along until she reached the gate to the grazing fields. The fields themselves connected to one side of the barn and a large door, while the barn itself had one other exit that lead out and onto the main road for when it was time to drive the cattle on toward market.

The gate itself opened quietly, being of completely wooden construction rather than using iron hinges, leading it to make a soft grinding sound rather than a loud creak as wood rubbed on wood. Stepping into the fields, she felt her feet sink into the muddy field, clumps of damp earth pushing up between her toes and making a stifled squelching sound as the air rushed in to the gap every time she raised her foot combined with a light tugging as the earth fought to hold on to her toes. She couldn't help but shiver at the feeling, and was silently glad that the field was not currently in use by their livestock.

Sneaking forward, she managed to get a better look as the side of the barn and, much to her delight and apprehension, the doors in were ajar! Whoever it was who had been out here had defiantly moved inside. Strangely, she couldn't hear the noise of disturbed animals from within which suggested that it wasn't a rustler in there, nor was it someone deliberately there to cause them distress which made Jezzi furrow her brow with confusion. If whatever it was wasn't there to do anything to the livestock, and wasn't part of the herd, then why were they in the barn?

As silently as she could, Jezzi crept forward through the soft mud, edging closer to the doors. Each step made her heart beat faster and louder once again as she approached the inevitable confrontation with the unknown intruder. Her mouth felt dry and she licked her lips before swallowing hard into order to return some moisture to them, as well as steady her nerves. The closer she went, the easier it was to notice small things - there was a soft light coming out of the barn which was not the faint blue that emanated from their mushrooms, nor the soft glow of a naked flame. It was very faintly yellow, but not nearly bright enough. What could it be? A few more steps. Her right foot ended up in a fresh depression. Stopping and bending down, she lightly ran her fingers around the shape, bringing even more confusion to her. It wasn't like a human foot, being more rounded and lacking toes, but it was far too long for it to be a cattle print.

Pushing forward, Jezzi made the last few steps to the ajar door of the barn, the cramping feeling in her gut getting even tighter, and her heart beating even louder, as she stood mere feet away from the intruder. After only a few moments of hesitation to gulp down huge breaths of the cool night air, she spun around and entered the barn. "Haaa!" she cried without a moment's thought as her eyes fixed on the intruder, causing it... no, causing [i]her[/i] to jump with surprise and turn on the spot and look back at Jezzi. What she way brought a chill to her being, far greater than that of the night winds.

Before her stood a figure that was all too familiar, and yet noticeably different to how she was remembered. The shapely woman stood there, feminine form accentuated just slightly beyond the normal in such a way that was both enticingly attractive, yet at the same time being enough to draw concern. Long, cloven hooves under powerful-looking thighs and shapely hips held the person upright, while her ample bust, concealed behind some crude hide skins heaved with the breath of one caught by surprise. A muscly neck came up from well-built shoulders to reveal a face that was all-too human but with large, floppy ears that hung down to frame the sides of her face, along with tiny bony nubs that seemed to be pushing out of her brow. To top it off, her hair was the most shocking red and cut short, although was showing signs of being unkempt for a short time. Also, all across her skin that was not covered by the primitive hides, there seemed to be small patches of ever so slight red so fine that at first glance it would be easy to miss. It was a sight that, given the expression on the other woman's face, neither of them were expecting. "B-Bella...?" Jezzi managed to stammer

The other woman took a step back as Jezzi said the name - her name. The look on her face was one of mixed confusion, fear and relief due to both being recognized and not outright attacked, and also that that she had been found out. Her new form was not what it once was, having grown extra muscle mass as well as the ears and feet. She was also keeping a very small tail hidden from view. "Jezzi.... I..." Bella started on the verge of explaining to her old friend why she looked so different and what was going on, but what difference would it have made? Jezzi wouldn't be able to undo the changes, and since they started Bella had felt her heart being tugged multiple ways. One part of her wanted to return to the life she knew, work the farm like she had done before and live once more in the village. But she was no longer normal in appearance and feared that people would ridicule her at best, chase her away at worst. She couldn't go back to those that had brought on the change, which had left sneaking into the barn at night. Besides, her nose had started to become extra sensitive to the faint, musky smell of the two bulls that they kept separate and kept on pulling at the corners of her mind, making her to want to get close to them and... "I'm sorry! she cried as she spun on her heel and dashed out of the bar using the roadside door far faster than she would have been able to before, taking the source of the warm glow that had been enveloping the barn with her.

"Bella! Wait!" Jezzi cried as she dashed after the other woman, emerging onto the road mere moments after Bella had left. The sound of the other woman's cloven hooves on the cobblestone echoed around in the chill night air, but clearly pointed that she was heading east and away from the farm before abruptly cutting off as she left the road and headed out across the fields. Jezzi stood there by the door, staring out forlornly in the direction that Bella had run off to and wrapped her arms around herself to ward off a chill that was not entirely down to the night breeze. Bella, the girl who had gone missing had returned, but not the same. What had happened to her? Why had she come back? With a heavy heart, Jezzi's gaze dropped to the floor as she felt a deep sadness welling up inside, threatening a chocking sensation as she took shuddering breaths.

There wasn’t anything more to be gained from standing outside in the cold air and staring off into the darkness. Just being there wasn’t going to bring Bella back, or help with discovering what had happened to her, how, or why, and Jezzi wasn’t prepared to blunder through the woods at this hour. The best she could hope for in that situation was to get completely lost and emerge somewhere that she didn’t recognise. The worst would be spraining an ankle on an exposed root, or falling in to one of the swamps and not be able to get out. Just the thought of that second fate brought a shiver to her body as she imagined slowly sinking, being sucked down into a bog until the swampy waters rose up above her head, and the rushing weight pushing all the air out of her lungs…

No. Finding out where Bella had gone would have to wait until the next day. She’d have to set off before the sun had reached its apex if she wanted to stand any chance of picking up the trail. Reluctantly, Jezzi turned on her heel and started the walk back toward her window. As she walked, eyes downcast, she mused to herself the idea of trying to track someone over open grand and, potentially, through the woods. After all, she was just a farm girl and not an explorer, scout or hunter. Yes, she could identify most kinds of domestic animal by their footprints, but she’s never had to track any down over potentially large distances.

Reaching her window, Jezzi turned round and placed her palms against the rough stone of the window ledge, quickly pushing off with her legs so that she ended up sitting on the ledge itsself, the rough stone feeling somewhat uncomfortable on her bare behind. The window provided a little shelter from the winds as they continued to pick up but she resisted the temptation just to dive into her room and under the covers, as her feet were still covered in the sticky mud from the field and would get absolutely everywhere! While some people from the towns considered farmers to be a muddy, dirty lot, she had no wish to validate the stereotype. Shifting slightly on the sill, Jezzi opened her thighs and bent one leg at the knee, bringing it up to rest upon the other. With a feeling of distaste for what she was about to do, she pressed the thumb of her hand against her heel and pushed forward, slowly pushing off large clumps of earth than then splattered to the floor.

Once one foot was dealt with, Jezzi moved on to the other one and repeated the process, making sure that she was getting as much mud out from between her toes as she could, before cleaning off her thumbs as best as possible. Satisfied that she had gotten as much mud off as she could, and now regretting in hindsight not pulling on some simple boots first so she could have avoided scraping the mud off her feet while sitting in her own window, along with all the associated… discomfort.

Satisfied that the job was done, Jezzi tucked up her legs, pressing them close to her chest and spun around so that she was facing inside. The heat of her room had mostly dissipated in the time that she had left her window open, and was now only marginally warmer than the outside. That situation would rectify itsself once she was inside and with that thought in mind, she dropped down onto the floor of her room and swiftly fastened the shutters behind her before crawling back into her bed.

Her dreams were confused that night as her subconscious tried to make sense of everything that she had seen. She saw Bella as she was remembered from before her disappearance, complete with locks of flame spilling over her face. She was standing in a field, cattle prod in one hand and looking away into the distance. Her clothes seemed to shift and melt before growing anew, never quite remaining the same except for one thread that hung loose the base of back and ran, glittering like a stream of liquid metal, down onto the ground and away to a barrel of… milk? Day cycled into night and back into day, but the hair continued to give off a brilliant radiance as the land shifted under her feet, trees quickly springing up and forming a barrier around them both, for now Jezzi was looking down at her own form as it stood behind Bella’s. A silver fox dashed out across their path and the world was thrown into confusion. Bella seemed to grow more wild, her hair licking out with tongues of fire and scorching the ground where it touched while trees well only to be replaced by new ones before the sky shattered and everything went dark….

Jezzi awoke from her dream feeling groggy and confused. Her eyes creaked open to confirm that she was still in her room, and that the shutters were still closed from the previous night. She remembered what happened, and how she had leapt out of her window and raced over to the barn, only to find the one person she didn’t expect to find there. She was certain that it wasn’t just a heat-induced waking dream, and scoured her memory for anything that might still be left outside, just to lend a small piece of physical proof to her memories.

The dream was kind of strange, and only half remembered. She remembered being in it, and Bella was there too, but beyond that everything just seemed to slip away like a wet eel as she tried to grasp the images in her mind the harder that she tried to bring them into focus. With an exasperated sight, she let the images linger for a moment longer before fading into a half-remembered grey mist and sat up in her bed while running her hands through her raven locks in the hope that doing so would smooth out the previous night’s influence on them. There wasn’t much hope for them, sadly, without partaking of a fresh stream bath first. Her belly was quick to remind her that food comes before such indulgences as washing her hair, and so Jezzi swung her legs round out on the bed and placed her feet on the warm rug.

Looking down at them, Jezzi could see evidence of heading out into the fields plastered onto them by the cracks of light breaking through the shutters and around her door frame. Mud from the fields formed a light coating across the soles and sides of her feet, as well as the gaps between her toes and under the nails. It wasn’t that bad though, considering that she had scraped the worst of it off outside, but it was just one more thing that made her really look forward to that bath. Her belly growled again. ‘No more avoiding it, I suppose’ she thought to herself as she climbed up to her feet and walked across the soft furs to a small recess where a selection of clothes were hanging.

Being a farm girl, she didn’t exactly have the greatest selection of outfits, nor the most fashionable clothes even for this corner of the nation. No, she had a selection of rugged, hard-wearing and reliable clothes, ones that were designed for day-to-day work, rather than swanning around and looking pretty in. Saying that, however, she did have a couple of outfits that could be passed off as being classier than the rest. With everything she had experienced last night, perhaps now was one of those times that she should pick some clothes that would lend her a sense of authority and respectability that a pair of muddy feet could not?

Yes. She was definately needing the boost that she’d feel from wearing one of her better clothing choices for today. Even if it did nothing outwardly, it would make her feel more confident within herself which she felt she needed right now. So she picked out a well-fitting leather blouse with fur-hide mini jacket, and a long leather skirt with simple patterning at its base. It wouldn’t wow anyone from the upper classes, but at least it was more respectable than breeches, leather chaps, and sleeveless top.

It didn’t take Jezzi very long to get changed into her new attire. First she swapped over her underwear for a clean pair, slightly regretting the loss of captured warmth that the old par had, but welcoming the sense of cleanliness that the new pair brought with them. Then the skirt was pulled on over her legs and hips, before fastening it up at the side with its sewn-on buttons. It felt secure against her skin around her hips, yet lent a feeling of airy freedom to her legs as the skirt billowed out slightly. Next came the blouse, fitting snugly across her body and accentuating her shapely form more than hiding it and lending to the overall feeling of uniformity when combined with the skirt and her own feelings of self-security. Finally, the mini jacket was pulled on, framing her arms, neck and bust with a tick brown fur.

Satisfied that she had pulled off the image that she was trying to portay, Jezzi grasped the cool and familiar iron of her door ring, gave it a twist, and headed out of her oaken door into the rest of the house.

Breakfast passed quickly for her, consisting of a pair of fresh boiled eggs and some bread from the local mill. While not being the most extravagant of meals, it did settle the growling in her belly and allow a sense of complete wakefulness and energy flow through her body. She decided that she needed a plan of action for today as her mind wandered back to her experiences of the previous night. Why had Bella reappeared after only one night back in the barn, and why did she look different? Jezzi had never heard of people actually physically changing before, but she couldn’t just ignore what she had seen with her own eyes. “Ugh. I need a bath…” she uttered to herself as she walked through the house and toward the front door. She’s had internal fuel with her breakfast to get her going, so maybe she needed a good external cleansing to set herself straight? It had always worked in the past when she needed to focus on something, her heading out to a certain brook that she knew of for a relaxing bathe and letting her mind unravel and reform in a way that made her path seem so much clearer than before, and she saw no reason why it would not work this time.

With her mind made up Jezzi pulled on a pair of her fur-lined boots – sturdy things designed more for walking that work, which was exactly what she needed. Her parents were already up and outside, looking after the chickens by the sounds of things, and so she pulled open the front door and stepped outside into the morning sun.

The bright rays were in a stark contrast to the dead of night as not only did they bathe everything with a slightly red tint through the thick clouds above, but also the heat of the day pushed through and warned from the very core. There was still a breeze in the air that stirred the warm air, but today it was not enough to detract from the glow of the sun. Of course it was still early so it promised to only get hotter and at night the heat would bleed away, but not nearly as quickly as it built up. ‘Hmm. Bad day for heavy furs then’ Jezzi mused to herself as she placed her foot on the road from her door. She wouldn’t be long, and so decided that she didn’t need to bring anything with her.

She set off at a reasonable pace heading due south. It was this way that, at first glance appeared to be open grassland with patches of trees, which Jezzi had first discovered the lagoon. ‘Towns can keep their public baths’ she thought as she walked at a brisk pace towards the promise of a cool and refreshing dip. ‘All those bodies crammed into the same space… Ugh! More likely to just spread your dirt than get clean’. Her pace quickened across the open fields as she walked where no path had yet been placed. Behind her, the farm was shrinking from view, and to the far west the very tops of the tallest town buildings of Roaring Creek began to peek out from the morning haze. Once she had walked a specific number of steps, keeping count in her mind, she turned slightly east without breaking her pace and made for a small copse of trees that were far enough away from the farm that no-one except herself ever wandered past. She walked for 10 more minutes, quickly approaching the treeline and the smell of fresh water was carried over to her on the breeze, making her inhale deeply and smile to herself.

Without stopping in her stride Jezzi passed by the treeline and, after only a few more steps, stopped at the edge of a fair-sized lagoon, glistening in the morning sun as the light breeze made ripples dance across its surface. It looked and smelled so fresh and inviting that a part of Jezzi’s mind was urging her just to jump right into the clear waters and wash off not only the dried-on mud from the previous day, but also the fine sweat that had started to build up against her skin because of the pace she had been keeping. She resisted, of course, as if she just jumped straight in, she wouldn’t have dry clothes to put on again when she pulled herself out.

With a quick glance around to make sure that no-one and no-thing was in the vicinity, Jezzi began to carefully peel off her clothes, and lay then on the soft grass at the water’s edge. First her mini jacket and blouse were removed, letting the light breeze play across her arms, chest and belly. Then off came to boots to reveal her darkened feet, swiftly followed by her skirt allowing the free-flow of air across her form. Finally her undergarments came off and were unceremoniously dropped by the side of her other clothes. Cautiously she made her way down the bank to the enticing water that lapped ever so slightly against the land. First her feet entered the cooling waters, the liquid sloshing up between her toes and over the top to completely envelop for feet as she continued forward. Two more steps and the water was up to her knees. Three more and it was at the top of her thighs. Here, she stopped.

Disturbed by her, large ripples lazily rode out across the surface of the lagoon, intersecting with those created by the light winds and forming new ones that did glide away at a different angle. She stood there, still in the waters and closed her eyes, concentrating on the feeling of the waters rippling around her legs, gently pulling this way and that as the wind direction changed slightly, or a particularly thick ripple hit the bank behind her and pushed back in a different direction. It felt good just to stand there in the cool waters, but it would feel even better to…

… dive in head first! With a slight flex of her knees, Jezzi launched herself forward and bringing her hands forward so that she cut her way into the water rather than just splash against the surface. She quickly disappeared under, head first, her glistening feet the last part to vanished out of sight, only a ring of ripples that radiated out from the impact point were there to tell that she had even been there. Seconds passed as the water grew stiller before, further down the lagoon; Jezzi erupted from the water, small droplets spraying in all directions as she gulped down a deep lungful of air. “Aaaah!” she cried with a feeling of utter contentment as she bobbed in the water, her arms keeping her head and shoulders above the surface while her legs waved back and forth underwater to keep her afloat.

Shifting her angle under the water, Jezzi brought her body much more horizontal than before and began to kick with her feet, slowly pushing herself backwards through the waters more for relaxation than as a serious swim. She considered herself fortunate that not only did she know how to swim, but that she knew of this place where she could glide through the cool waters below, and yet be warmed by the sun above at the same time. It was bliss.

After only a few kicks Jezzi reached a shallower area of the lagoon which allowed her to place her feet on the solid ground beneath her. The banks of the lagoon seemed to smoothly melt from a clay-like soil into small pebbles and, the further down they went, the larger they became. At this patch, her feet landed smoothly on fair sized pebbles that shifted ever so slightly under her weight as she settled on the. They were not slippery or slimy, and so her feet were able to find purchase quite easily. Jezzi marvelled to herself that the feeling was similar to their own cobblestone road, yet with the stones placed underwater, it also felt wildly different with the gentle currents of the pool pulling her this way and that.

With a stable foothold, Jezzi rose fully out of the water and stood there, gazing out over the lagoon, waist deep in its waters and with the sun slowly drying off the exposed skin. It truly felt like a small slice of paradise and she truly wished that no-one else would find it so that she could keep it all to herself. Letting her mind go where it pleased, she moved further up the bank until the waters covered her knees and below, using her feet to find a suitably large and stable ledge of stones that she knew existed in many places around the water’s edge. It took her a few moments, but eventually she located one such ledge a short distance from where she had entered the waters and sat down, leaning back against a protruding piece of embankment and allowing the water to come up to her shoulders, once again enjoying the feeling of the water below and the sun above combined, before reaching down and starting to slowly massage the skin of her feet, breaking off flakes of what had been dried-on mud. Slowly her hands worked their way up her body, working her muscles and washing off the accumulation of last night and this morning and adding to the feeling of total relaxation that she now felt permeating her entirety.

Time seemed to stretch out as she relaxed there, and all the troubles that had been tying her mind in knots just seemed to melt away, leaving one clear direction in her mind of what to do. Rising her hands from out of the water, she absently gazed at the liquid as it quickly went from all-encompassing to forming rivers that ran down her flesh, to just small droplets that seemed to cling on as it their very existence required it before dropping back into the lagoon and being subsumed once more into the whole. She began to count off on her fingers. “So. First thing is to head into the village and tell them what I saw” she said to herself. “Then, I can get a search party formed and we can fan out to track her, and finally find out what’s happened to her. A-HA!” she punched the air as if to emphasise her exclamation.

“First things first, though” she muttered to herself, knowing that to go through with her plan she would need to separate herself from the embrace of the relaxing pool. She wished that she could just stay here for a while longer but a glance up at the sun told her that it was already mid-day, and that she had lingered too long already. With a sigh, Jezzi pulled herself up and out of the lagoon, scrambling over the lip of the embankment, and back onto dry land. The light and heat of the day had already begun to work its magic on her as she slowly made her way over to where she had left her clothes, the droplets of water that still doggedly stuck to her either slowly evaporating or being absorbed by her skin. Her clothes still lay where she left them, which she expected, and so without a moment’s hesitation she swiftly got re-dressed while leaving her day-old undergarments off and instead pushed into a hidden pocket on her skirt. It was, after all, the skirt of a working girl, and what good would it be without somewhere to store things for moving from one location to another? Besides, after her bath she didn’t feel like putting them back on again.

With her path set before her, Jezzi set off from her secret retreat, heading back towards the farm where she could get fresh garments, before she would turn towards the village centre and tell them of what she had seen.

The village of Silent Meadows was quite sizeable in comparison to other villages in Wild Heath with a fair number of boutiques selling all kinds of things from farming supplies to the latest technological innovation to strange curios traded from Wild Ones lining its central thoroughfare. Houses of various sizes spread out seemingly placed at random and, dotted amongst them were the various small industries that the village had to offer – a smithy, bakery, inn and pole turner. In fact, it was such a large village that it was boarding on becoming the new town of Wild Heath, orbited as it was by several farms. The streets were wide, as befitted a rural community, so that people could bring their horses and cattle in to trade and not obstruct anyone else, and yet it seemed quite busy today as people moved to and fro, travelling merchants tried to haggle their items away, and the recently-appointed village watch members wandered around. ‘If this is a village, I’d hate to see what Roaring Creek is like’, Jezzi mused to herself as she made her way through the local population.

Her destination was the village centre, where people traditionally went to speak with the elders. Jezzi had heard rumblings of the elders being replaced with committees of locals in other places, and hoped that such a departure from the norm would not strike her own little corner of the land. After all, the elders had accumulated experience and wisdom, and would be able to advise far better on matters such as this than a group of unskilled people who could be doing the community far greater service by working the fields, mills, and other things vital to their continued existence.

The village centre was a wide open space that had, in times past, been the location of the Elder Lodge, but that building had fallen down many years ago after an accidental fire. Now, the cobblestone ground rose up slightly, and a small wooden shelter had been built on top where the three elders would sit and listen. Jezzi noticed even as she dodged in and out of a group of rather loud locals that signs of town life were creeping in to even this place – a pair of wrought-iron benches had appeared in the area, bright and gaudy signs had begun to be hung outside of shops and stalls to draw the eye and attract passers-by, and a sign declaring that “Silent Meadows’ Lending House” was due to open soon.

Taking a breath to steady her nerves, Jezzi found herself wringing her hands in anticipation of meeting with the elders as she stood in the centre, scant feet away from the raised section. All around her the rise and fall of general chatter and the chants of merchants had melted into an annoying continual buzz that she found quite at odds with the peace and quiet of the farm. ‘And to think that I used to with there was more noise out there to break up the silence’ she thought to herself with a shake of her head. ‘I don’t think I could ever be happy in a place like this’. As she thought this, a man bumped into her from behind and Jezzi felt herself jump and stagger forward a step as the man’s body pressed all-too firmly against her own. She spun around with an angry glare, balling her fist and preparing to give the man an earful as the though she felt his hand glide across her thigh and rump through her skirt, but he was already off, moving deeper into the growing crowds without an apology or backward glance. “Creep” she uttered under her breath.

Finally having steeled her nerves, Jezzi stepped up the shelter containing the three elders. Surprisingly, no-one was in front of her, and there didn’t seem to be a queue forming behind to see them. Perhaps it was just a slow day? Stepping up, she could feel her heart beating faster in her chest at the thought of letting someone know what she had seen, the excitement of what was to come, and abject fear of opening up to three people who she didn’t even know, out in the open. She put on a brave smile and bowed before them, noting that two were old men, one of whom appeared to just be staring into the distance, and the other was an old woman. All three were dressed almost the same with long, comfortable clothes spun from wool and hair, and all were of the same shade of white. The staring man had a rough spun tunic top, while the other had a silken shirt that barely covered his paunch. The woman had a long dress with a simple, yet elegant design weaved into the hem and up the sides in a green cloth that looked far too bolt to have come from whipvines like she used to sewing.

“Welcome young woman” the elder lady asked. “Have you come seeking our advice in matters of the heart? I see no binding band on your fingers; does this mean that you have no betrothed?” Jezzi’s face flushed with embarrassment. Yes it was true that she was not betrothed to anyone, but that was because of not having the time to pursue a romantic relationship, rather than there being no-one with whom she was interested. “Ah, I see that is the case. Well then, let me give you some advice…” the woman began. Jezzi, clearing her throat, held up a plaintive hand to halt the woman’s words, while also letting the flush of heat to her cheeks dissipate somewhat. “Please, honoured elder, that is not why I am here” she began. “I had an experience last night, and I need guidance on the next steps – who to involve, how many… that sort of thing”

“Don’t worry young lady. It’s perfectly natural for women of your age to have ‘experiences’. The main point is that you are happy in yourself. If you want to include others and make these ‘experiences’ happen between multiple people, well, it’s your body to do with as you like” the paunchy man said with his wheezy voice, a glint of implied innuendo showing on his chubby expression which made Jezzi go beet red once more, this time not only due to embarrassment about having such things said out in the open, but also with frustration that they just weren’t understanding what she was saying.

“Wha…? No! No that’s not what I meant!” she stammered while waving her hands as if to ward off the suggestion. “No, what I mean is that my friend, Bella, who works with me out on our farm, went missing two nights ago. Last night, I saw her-“. Jezzi was cut off by the elderly woman in a most rude manner. “Of course you saw her” she said derisively with an overly exaggerated nod. “You saw her because you wanted to, yes? When you close your eyes, you can see her there, so she’s not really gone”

This was getting frustrating. Who were these elders, and why did they not understand what she was trying to tell them? Jezzi could feel her stomach tying itsself in knots in annoyance, and she had to forcibly stop herself from grinding her teeth in frustration. “No, you’re not listening!” she almost shouted at them. “I did see her! She was standing across from where I sleep on the farm! I saw her walk into our cattle shed and, when I went to take a closer look, she was changed. She… she still looked like herself, but it was like parts of her had… shifted. Like.. like she was slowly turning into a Wild One!” The words came tumbling out of her yet, when they stopped and she looked at the elders for some hint of recognition or acceptance, all she found was a stony gaze right back at her. The fat man spoke up first. “Look young lady. I suggest you go back to your farm and get that place checked out for mould. People don’t just turn into Wild Ones” he said, waving his hands for dramatic effect. “It’s just nonsense!” The woman agreed, nodding her head. “Yes. Those Wild Ones have been nothing but a boon for our societies. The more of them there are, the more exotic items we can trade for, and the better our lives become. I think you need to go home and find yourself a nice man to settle down with. This is obviously just your mind’s way of telling you that you need some carnality in your life”

How… how could they say that? Were they blind? Jezzi’s straight plan started to turn corners, double back on itsself and start to tie her brain up in knots again. If the village elders didn’t believe her, then what chance did she have of convincing anyone else? They’d all just think that she was some mad lonely farm girl making up stories! With a grunt of frustration, she got up and, without the usual courtesy of thanking the elders for their admittedly useless advice, turned on her heel and stomped away. She could feel a fire of anger building deep within her and she couldn’t help but keep her fists balled and face flushed with fury as she stormed off down the road – an almost mocking farewell from the old woman audible over the general noise of the village.

Having been shot down by the elders in such a way, Jezzi walked with a drawn look apon her face back to the farm. If they wouldn’t listen to her, then the general populace would probably laugh outright at her bringing such a motion before them which, she felt, would crush her more utterly emotionally, and even possibly get her taken away and tried as a mad woman. She shuddered at the thought as she carried on her way back to the farm. In fact, her mind was so focussed on that, that she failed no notice that she had begun to walk down a path that was similar, yet led to a totally different place.

Jezzi only snapped out of her reverie when something dark and red dashed out across her path, throwing her with the unexpected occurrence. Stopping dead in her trachs, she found herself to be standing ona thin dirt path that would its way through a field of tall grasses. These were no ordinary grasses either, being that the densest patches of them appeared to be able to easily reach her shoulder, if not higher! Inwardly she cursed herself for being so distracted, and turned to take the path back out. Then, it happened again! Another flash of red and the faint impression of white out of the corner of her eye moving through the grasses with such stealth and speed that they barely moved at all

Her heart started to beat faster in her chest as her mind started to work overtime on what it could be moving around in there, allowing a feeling of panic to slowly start to creep over her and chill the blood in her veins. With a growing sense of desperation, she looked again from the left to the right, searching for who or what was there. “Show yourself!” she shouted with a greater sense of courage than she was feeling right now. “Come out this instant!” There was a rustling as grasses moved behind her, causing Jezzi to spin on her heel and face down… nothing. There was nothing there. No figure, no hint of red or white in the grasses, just calm and stillness. Letting out a sigh of relief and putting it all down to a trick of the mind, she turned back to head back the way she had came.

Standing in her path, blocking her from advancing, was a tall, muscular and quite hirstute Wild One standing perfectly still and staring straight at her. Unlike others she had seen, this one had the features of a meadox fox, with canine ears the pointed straight up and wer angled toward her. His face was long and pointed into a snout with red fur running across it’s top, and white along the sides, and his eyes were the deepest brown – so deep that Jezzi felt that she could almost loose herself in them if she stared back for too long into the rich darkness…

Of course, this was enough to generate an alarmed shriek from Jezzi, who’se heart started to hammer so heard at the sudden appearance that it felt like it was trying to break out of her chest! Taking a step back, she put a hand over her chest and tried to calm herself by sucking in lungfuls of air. The fox-man just stood there and watched, the only movement being the little twitches of his nose from time to time. “W-who are you?” she stammered once she felt that her heart was no longer trying to kill her with it’s exhertions. “What do you want from me?” The Wild One made an ever-so slight tilt of his head to one side, his bushy tail starting to wag lazily from side to side as if trying to understand. “Look, just… just get out of my way, will you? I’m just trying to get home” she explained, hoping a little more force in her voice would stir the man to action

And stir him it did. His lips parted in an approximation of a smile, his tail wagged more vigerously, and he let out a very vulpine yip at her before darting off at an amazing speed back into the grasses with barely a hint of disturbance to them. Jezzi could only blink at the strange behaviour for a good few seconds before shaking her head at it’s antics and carrying on her way back the way she had came.

She didn’t get far. Once again, the Wild One appeared down the route that she was taking and have a couple more yips at her. Feeling fed up as it was, Jezzi decided not to indulge the Wild One, and simply changed her route to push through the tall grasses in the direction the she believed her home to be. Nothing stirred and she didn’t hear it follow her in, so she allowed herself a moment to relax. “Stupid Wild Ones” she muttered as she continued to walk, clearly feeling irritated by it. Then, it happened again! Emergine into a clearing, the same Wild One was standing there, looking at her in the same way, still with his tail wagging. Again Jezzi changed direction and again after a short few strides it would appear. On and on this went, with the Wild One apparently playing a game of misdirection with Jezzi, which gave her an ever increasing level of anger and frustration at it’s antics, boiling like a barely supressed volcano within her. Didn’t it know that it was using up valuable time? Time that she could have spend on the farm grounds looking for clues, or pushing into Vampire’s Run? Again, he appeared and again she changed direction until, at last, feeling mentally drained and conpleatly lost, Jezzi just had enough.

She burst through a patch of the long grass on her latest detour and, sure enough, there he stood. This time however, instead of taking a different path, Jezzi screwed up all that anger and irritation that she had been gathering all the while and bodily threw herself forward, taking a wild swing at his vulpine face with a shout of utter rage. It took the Wild One completely off guard, and he only just managed to sidestep to avoid the fist, but not enough to avoid her body colliding with his and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

With the flash rage subsiding and the wind temporarily knocked out of her, Jezzi lay there is a semi-stunned state sucking in breaths to calm the beating in her chest and stop her head spinning. She recalled seeing the strange expression on the Wild One’s face, balling up her fists, and then… a red mist. She must have taken a swipe at him, and now she was like this. ‘Things didn’t go so well’ she thought to herself as she let her gaze settle on what was beneath her. Somehow she had ended up straddling the fox-man as he lay on his back, her hands pressing against the firm muscles of his chest beyond the thick and corse hair that covered his body. Again, he had a funny expression on his face, one that seemed a mix of both enjoyment and confusion

He let out a little yip, and Jezzi could hear something swishing back and forth behind her. With a growl that rumbled around her chest, she pushed herself off of the Wild One and took a step to the side, crossing her arms over to present a metaphorical barrier between them. “Listen you” she said, glaring down at him. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but I’ve had enough of your games! All I want to do is to get back home, and you are not helping”. She worked to keep the irritation that she felt from her voice, and present a calm front to the man. After all, it seemed to have been enjoying being a neusance.

The expression faded from the face of the Wild One as he listened to her words, and his tail stopped wagging from side to side. Propping himself up on his elbows, the volpinous male took a glance around at the tall grasses around them both and took some experimental sniffs of the air. Him pointed ears twitched and he cocked his head to one side, looking up as Jezzi with those same deep dark eyes, before suddently pointing off in one direction. Straining to see into the distance, Jezzi couldn’t make out anything of note over the giant grasses so gave an exhasperated sigh and looked back down at the the Wild One still on the ground and gazing back up at her. “That way home?” she asked him. The Wild One nodded in response. “Well, I hope you’re right. Otherwise I’m coming back here, and won’t stop with just a small tumble on the ground” she called back to him as she set off in the suggested direction feeling none of the sense of urgency or enthusiasm that she had when she had set off earlier that day.

The sun was already starting to set behind the thick clouds of the horizon by the time Jezzi saw the farm coming into view. “Well now. The little fox-guy was telling the truth. I guess he’s not all bad…” she said to herself, sure that no-one else was within earshot. Her legs were starting to ache from all the walking that she had been doing all day, and her belly growled up at her. After everything that had happened, the most she had eaten after breakfast were a few wild berries that she had found on her way which, she had noted, were juicy enough to stem the tide of her hunger for a while and yet had made her sclap itch something rotten for a while. She guessed that they were slightly poisonous, but not nearly enough to be dangerous to anything bigger than a small bird.

The closer that Jezzi trudged toward the farm, which even now seemed to almost glow with the angle of the sunlight bouncing off it, the more she was longing for her bed. A growing part of her mind was telling her to just not bother with going that far, and to just curl up in the grass for an hour or two, but it was a part that she was able to keep repressed for now. After all, who knows what would happen if she just lay down right here, right now?

With eyes getting heavy from the long day of tracking back and forth, Jezzi approached the marn farm building and slumped against the wall. . Her legs were tired from constantly walking all day, and her feet ached badly. Yes, the boots she had on were comfortable, but not designed for long journeys. As she leaned against the wall she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear out the gathering feeling of sleep gathering behind them and stifled a yawn, causing it to come out of her nose instead in a forceful exhale. Getting some sleep now would be a good thing, considering she was seeing a soft glow coming out from the barn right now.

Jezzi shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. A soft glow? Slightly yellow? Wasn’t that… “Bella?” she sleepily gurgled to herself as she pushed her tired frame off of the wall and staggered toward the cattle barn. Tired feet dragged across cool cobblestones as she fought with her body’s impulse of sleep in order to plant just a few more steps and get to the barn. That light promised to change everything!

Jezzi willed herself on the closer she got the barn, fighting the waves of tiredness that washed over her min and made everything feel sluggish. ‘Just a few more steps’ she thought to herself as she pushed forward, reaching out ahead of herself to grasp the edge of the barn door and haul herself inside. The barn itsself was empty, and Jezzi figured that the cows must be out in the fields. It didn’t matter to her mind that she hadn’t seen them on the way up, nor heard any sounds coming from them, all that mattered was that she was inside and it didn’t take long to locate the source of the glow.

Barely registering on her mind, sitting on the floor and kicked to one side was a tiny vial containing a very large insect inside. The beast of a bug was at least as long as her hand was wide with a hard yellow carapace across it’s entire body. Its small head had a pair or large multi-faceted eyes that seemed to be looking everywhere and nowhere at the same time while a single antennae sprouted out ahead, constantly giving experimental probes of it’s surroundings. It had no wings to speak of so must be a ground-dweller, and yet it appeared to be giving a soft and lightly pulsating glow from a network of patches down it’s abdomen and thorax. Also, strangely for such a creature, it had no mouth to speak of.

Waddling over to the sealed vial, Jezzi dropped to her knees and reached out, picking the thing up gingerly in both hands to get a closer look at the thing, all the while her mind fought a tug of war between curiosity and exhaustion. She was also hungry too, but not nearly hungry enough to eat this thing – the very though of putting something so foreign into her mouth was repellent and even now she could imagine how it would feel, such a large thing sliding slowly down her throat as it’s legs kicked and pushed from the inside before plopping into her stomach to be slowly digested.

She fought back a rising wave of nausea at the notion and took a closer look at the vial. It appeared that curiosity was winning in her head over the desire to curl up in a bundle of hey, as she tried to figure the thing out. It hadn’t been there for more than a day and, looking at it, was the same light she saw the previous night when she found Bella in the barn. It stood to reason that she had brought it in with her and placed it down, then forgotten about it in the mad scurry out again. If that were true, then it stood to reason that the insect would know what way to go to get back to where it had come from, and that would put her one step closer to her friend

A tingle of excitement crawled up from the base of her spine, and she pulled on all of her resolve – she would not just lay down here and doze while her friend could be out there, who knows what happening to her! She needed to act, and her bed be damned for promising to be warm, relaxing, comforting, restful…..

She shook her head again. There was no time to be thinking about such luxuries now. Jezzi briefly considered taking the bug back to the village and have the elders examine it, but given their complete dismissal of her case earlier, she doubted that they would do anything more than look at the thing, other than either kill it or sell it. No, she had to do this alone even though the rational part of her mind railed against the idea as she was the only one she could trust not to just either dismiss it, or completely over-react.

Taking another look at the vial, Jezzi found the cap which was cleverly constructed to blend in with the rest of it, and gave a tug. The thing popped open far easier than she would have expected causing her to nearly loose her grip on the vial and send the flying out of her hand. As it was, she held on to it just tightly enough so that it didn’t go flying across the barn, not not too tight that she accidently crushed it. A rather foul smell came out from the open tube that made her stomac turn and renewed feelings of nausea plague her once again. Thankfully it didn’t last long as it mingled with the fresh air of the barn and dissipated leaving only a lingering afterthought that stuck to the roof of her mouth.

The thing’s antennae twitched more vigerously as it sensed it’s freedom ahead, and no longer felt the cap barring it’s way. Pushing forward and up, it heaved it’s body out of the container that still hovered in mid air, and threw itsself out, rolling up in mid air and landing on the solid ground with a soft crunch. Jezzi, too paralized by the awful aroma, help on to the vial and watched as the bug launched itsself to freedom, a pang of shock and concern stabbing into her as she heard the noise of it’s impact with the ground. Concern soon gave way to relief as the bug unfurled itsself, giving off a brighter glow than before and unhurriedly scampered towards the barn doors the led out onto the fields.