#i wrote this while sitting beside some beautiful wetlands | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oceanvores · 5 years

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Hey y’all my friend (who wants to remain anonymous) wrote this great v.ore story and I thought I’d share!

Trigger warnings for a little bit of blood and some mentions of suicide. Nothing super graphic and everything does turn out okay.

Putting it under a read more since it’s kinda long.

This forest was their home. It was not their only home, nor could they necessarily call it their true home, but it was their home. Bordering a small village and a nice swath of grassy wetlands, they roamed the forest as they pleased, safe from the many creatures that lived within it, and the humans that lived in the village that didn’t dare enter the forest except when traversing the path that ran through it. Those animals that ran into them knew that they were not a thing to be trifled with, and would generally be on their way without causing problems. And the humans that were lucky enough to catch sight of them only ever caught glimpses of them before they disappeared further into the trees. To humans, they were considered a phantom, and a dangerous one at that. Their shimmering hide would attract them sometimes, causing them to leave the path behind in their attempt to catch up to them. Whether led on by greed or curiosity, the majority of them would never make it back to that path, and so it came to be that they were considered to be another of the dangerous beasts that called this forest home.

But this was not the case for one little human that strayed from the path. They were watching him as he wandered into the forest, beyond sight of the village. He was a sturdy, well-built looking thing, with a mop of short, disheveled brown hair, a plain tunic and trousers, and leather shoes. Unlike most humans that traveled this path, he bore neither goods nor weapons. He didn’t even bring any food with him for his journey. Suspicious and curious, they continued to watch him as he went along.

---

Edmund had his reasons for being here in the forest like this, with only his fists to protect himself. It was a good reason too. The many beasts that lived in this forest… Any one of them might provide him with a quick and easy death. And even if it wasn’t so quick, then maybe that would be fine too. Any of the bears or knuckers or forest trolls or even the rare and radiant Lords of the Forest would likely appreciate him more than anyone back in the village had. But even so, he still felt a twinge of fear and apprehension as he moved to venture off of the path.

The trees were thick here in this part of the forest, preventing him from seeing much more than a few feet away. Even the world around him seemed darker than it was in the village, even with the sun high in the sky right now. The canopy of trees was blocking out the light, and the forest only grew darker the further from the path he tried to look. Looking back the way he came, the path had winded along enough that the village was hidden from sight. The sounds of the forest played on around him. Birds were calling from the trees, little mammals were scratching and snuffling around for food. There was no sound of danger that his ears could pick up, but he knew it was there, waiting. So few people who entered this forest unprepared were ever seen again. Even those who did come prepared sometimes met with imposing beasts that proved to be too much for them to handle.

He could just turn back around… And go back home…

No, he couldn’t do that. He’d already made up his mind. Besides, what would they say if he returned? Those people who picked on him and harassed him all the time. What they’d said to him before he left… ‘You really want to be a real man? Then prove you are one. Go out into the forest and bring back one of the Lords of the Forest without it mauling you, and then maybe you can be a real man.’

He had no intention of doing something like that though. All of them knew that it would be futile to even try to catch one. No one ever had. Setting forth such an impossible task just so he could be treated how he wanted to be was just a joke to them. He used it as his excuse to come here. He had already been planning to anyway.

So here he stood, on the cusp of the end. Well, he figured there was no use turning back around now. At least most of the things that lived here wouldn’t leave him to suffer as he died. One foot stepped into the grassy brush, and soon he was moving along again, pushing thorny branches aside. He didn’t have any particular destination that he was headed for. He was just waiting for something to find him.

Little rodents scurried away from his feet as he trundled along, his legs and arms getting scratched up a bit. At least… If he pushed aside the terrifying feeling that he was being watched, and that he was surrounded by unseen things that had yet to pounce on him, this place seemed quite beautiful. The darkness of it led to a somewhat mystical feeling. Like the forest itself was alive. If there weren’t so many man-eating creatures here, he might have found it a nice place to live.

But at least it was also a nice place to die.

That still hadn’t happened yet though. He’d been wandering along for what felt like an hour already. The worst he’d gotten so far were scares from a few little animals that ran off when he got too close, and coming across a few pure white bones picked completely clean by something that was clearly done with them now. Was there nothing around here right now? There had to be something. He just needed to keep looking, that’s all.

But he’d already been looking for a while by now, and he had to have a rest. His chest in particular was sore right now. Luckily, he could hear the sound of a stream nearby, and he was able to follow the noise to it. The clear water bubbled as it moved past. If he wanted, he could even wade into the water. It didn’t seem that deep, and it wasn’t fast enough to carry him off. But right now, he just knelt down and cupped the water in his hands, bringing it to his lips and taking drink after drink of it. Maybe he should have brought something… But honestly, he thought it would have been easier to find something out here. He hoped he’d have some luck soon though. Getting water wouldn’t be any problem, as long as he could find more of these streams, but he couldn’t catch and kill for his food. He had no weapons and no experience. He was just a farm boy. His only experience with food animals was raising livestock for slaughter. And he didn’t know which of the plants here were safe for eating, so he wasn’t sure about just gathering his food either. As much as he wanted to die, he didn’t want to starve. Being eaten would be a much more preferable way for him to go. And much faster too.

He considered calling out, trying to attract something to him, but when he tried, he found he couldn’t raise his voice much at all. Was he just that scared, or was it a power of the forest that kept him silent? Whatever the case… That plan was out. He was just going to have to wait.

Before long, he resumed his wandering through the forest. As time went on, the songbirds and the squirrels and the like retired to their dens and nests, and everything began to grow even darker. He soon realized another problem with coming out here with nothing at all. He had no light to see with. His field of vision gradually shrank as the sun set. He began to gather what kindling he could find, thinking that he should stop and rest for the night, as he was growing tired and his chest was aching. How he would start his fire...

He didn’t get the chance to figure it out. Without him even noticing, a figure came rushing at him from behind, knocking him over on his front and raking his back with sharp claws, tearing through his clothes and into his flesh. Panicked, he scrambled to roll over before it could bowl into him again, shuddering and crying out as he felt blood oozing from his wounds, his chest heaving from a rush of adrenaline and a sudden relief of pressure. If he could at least see what it was that was finally giving him his wish…

His heart pounded as he looked on it. Standing before him was a towering bird with burning golden eyes. The clawed hands and feet, the feathered winglike arms, the ripping beak, and the piercing stare— It was no surprise that he didn’t realize it was there. The Owlman was a silent killer. He felt that he was probably lucky, in some fashion, to have survived the initial blow, and to not have already been carried off by it. It let out a hoot as it watched him to see what he would do. Maybe it wasn’t used to seeing a human.

His body screamed at him to run away, despite his wish to be killed being so close to being granted. He only laid there in pain as it approached him with clear intent. It had singled him out for a meal, and it would get him.

“You… You want me…? Then come and— come and have me. I’m all yours.”

Noticing that he wasn’t trying to get away, it did come closer. He flinched and shut his eyes tight when it stepped on him and reached a grasping hand out to grab him by the neck, not wanting to see it. But there was no sharp pain with it. The talons didn’t even find their way to his flesh. The Owlman gave another hoot, and he slowly realized that there was light shining beyond his eyelids. Something responded to the Owlman with a sound like a grunt or a snort from a cow, and he felt the pressure of its feet lift away from him. When he finally opened his eyes, sitting up straight, the Owlman was gone. What was there was instead something that he hadn’t expected to come across at all.

It was definitely the shape of a deer. The dainty legs, the well-rounded body, the soft eyes, but that was where the similarities seemed to end. Its tawny brown coat faintly glowed with an ethereal light, and the two dark, asymmetrical horns atop its head (yes, horns, not antlers) curled inward, nearly forming a circle where the two seemed to intersect, and a faint mist seemed to flow around or from them. Looking into its eyes, it was far more intelligent than any deer as well. This was one of the creatures most feared and respected in their village. It was also an almost guaranteed death sentence to find one.

“Lord of the Forest...”

It lowered its head, as though affirming his words. The mist seemed to grow thicker, for just a moment.

This deer… Even the monsters in the forest seemed to respect it. Or fear it.

<“And you are the human boy named Edmund.”>

The creature before him spoke to him, which startled him so much that he jolted back, further igniting the pain in his back. To think that it could talk as well— He stuttered, “That’s not my— I mean, no, it is my name, but— How did you know that? And how can you tell that I’m—?”

<“We can see many things. We already know who you are.”>

“H-How do you know that? What else do you know about me?” His voice wavered, but it didn’t seem to take notice, speaking with the same soft but certain tone that it started with.

<“We know that which we wish to know, and just that. Those are the only things we wanted to know about you right now. The rest is for you to decide to share or not.”>

This creature was… A lot gentler than he ever thought it would be. Was it because it looked like a deer? Or were they all like that? But he also still recalled the legends about it. “So are you… Are you going to kill me now?”

It didn’t act at all surprised with his words. Like it knew the stories about them too.

<“No, we don’t harm humans.”>

“What about all those humans that came into the forest, chasing after you and your kind?”

<“They took their risks. We didn’t kill them. It was the other animals who live in this forest.”>

“None of your kind have ever stepped in to stop them before.”

<“We don’t interfere in the affairs of mortals.”>

“You stepped in to save me though.”

<“…..”>

It had nothing to say to that. But to look in its eyes, it seemed to have just the faintest twinkle, as though it was pleased with how its conversation was going, rather than upset at being caught in a lie.

This was all so strange. Here he was, just laying in the dirt, with gouges in his back that he couldn’t even see, talking to one of the Lords of the Forest, of all things. And yet, out here, it felt normal.

<“Why did you come here? You’re clearly not a hunter, and you’re not here looking for herbs. You don’t even have any weapons or armor to use to defend yourself. You are aware of the dangerous nature of this forest, and yet you entered anyway. Why is that?”>

“Because—” Was he really going to share his reasons with it? He thought of keeping his mouth shut. There was no reason he had to say anything. But did it matter at this point? He was injured and bleeding, and would probably end up dying sooner or later. But it seemed like the Lord of the Forest was going to keep any other creatures from bothering him…

“I can’t stand living like this anymore. Every time I try to go anywhere or do anything, these guys always show up to make my life hell. I just don’t want to deal with it anymore. And I figured— If anything would appreciate having me around, it would be something living here, that could at least make use of me.”

Without meaning to, he had started ranting, tears threatening to leak from the corners of his eyes. He bitterly wiped them away with a sleeve. He ought to apologize for this, shouldn’t he? It didn’t come here to see him cry about his problems. True, he didn’t know yet just why it was here, but It certainly couldn’t be here to see that.

<“So you would throw away your precious life because of this...”>

Its words weren’t condescending. They didn’t seem to have any emotion to them at all. They were just a statement. But he still bitterly responded, “I don’t see what’s so precious about mine. But yes, after all that, I would. It would be much more satisfying to be eaten by some monster than have to go back to them.”

<“……”>

It seemed to not have much to say now. It just stood there, watching him. Contemplating him. Was that pity in its eyes? He didn’t want pity…

<“If that’s the case...”>

Wait, where is this going now?

<“We would oblige your wish, with your permission.”>

The shock must have been clear on his face. After all this, it was— Just offering to kill him? Just like that? Was he delirious from blood loss, or was this really happening? “You mean you’d…”

<”We don’t mean in this form, unless that’s what you’d like. We will take a form that you would find more desirable to be eaten by. So tell us. What creature would you like for us to be?”>

This… This wasn’t really happening, was it? It couldn’t be…

“I uh… I never really thought much about it. I just… Wanted to find something that would kill me quickly, I guess. Maybe something exciting…?”

Although, it had said that it didn’t kill humans. Was this another lie? He opened his mouth to ask, before deciding otherwise. He was getting what he wanted. He had already been waiting so long for it. And, well… He guessed there really wasn’t much better than being killed and eaten by such a radiant creature, that even the monsters and beasts of this forest feared and respected. Being a part of something like that would be far better than he could ever achieve with his life. But he could still ask a different, much more harmless question.

“But you say you’ll take a different form… You can change your shape?”

<”Yes, we can.”>

And indeed, as the mist began to coalesce again around its horns, its shape began to change. It grew massive, its limbs growing thicker and shaggier, and its tail extended out. The fur covering its body began to change color, turning from brown to dusty yellows and oranges on the majority of its body and jet black running down its back and hind legs, and around its tail, the fur was replaced by small, pale green scales. A second goat’s head grew beside the lionlike first, and a third formed at the end of the tail, a huge snake with sharp eyes and a flicking tongue.

In the end, what stood proudly before him was something he had only ever heard tales of. A creature that terrorized the mountainous villages to the far northeast of his home— Rather, his former home.

A chimera.

The chimera approached him, all six of its eyes on him as the great horned lion’s head, almost as big as he is, bent down to smell him. He could see, poking out from its lip, the tips of two sharp fangs. Tentatively, he reached out a pale hand and placed it on the lion’s nose. To think, he was touching a-- well, as close to a chimera as he could ever be. They weren’t exactly native around here, nor were there many people capable of slaying one. Anyone who could would probably keep their pelts for themselves.

<”Would this form suffice for you?”>

“Oh, uh, yeah...”

It was the goat’s head, not the lion’s, that spoke to him. He hadn’t been expecting that. But with three heads and three mouths, he guessed it wasn’t like it couldn’t do something like that. But this creature was… Far stranger than any of the stories in the village had ever implied. Incredibly polite and willing to be helpful, despite its earlier claim to not interfere with humans. And yet, it was also still just about to kill him.

<”Then, if that’s all...”>

A massive paw snaked around him and kept him propped up, and the lion’s maw opened up before his eyes.

It was a spot of darkness amid the faintly glowing beast. Dangerously sharp teeth protruded from its pink gums, and its drooling tongue lolled for a moment at the bottom of its jaw, before sliding forward and coating his front with a thick layer of slime.

He felt himself stiffen, his heart racing. This was— This was really it. Once again, he felt the urge to run away, to try to survive, and once again he ignored it. He wanted this. He wanted it all over with. No more teasing and taunting, no more looking at his reflection and seeing exactly what he didn’t want to be, no more suffering.

He’d thought that this would be a quick death, its teeth burying deep into his flesh and ripping him apart, but that was apparently not what it had in mind. “H-Hey— Hey! What are you—!” he shouted and fought as it easily pushed him forward so he landed face-first on its soft, wet tongue, ignoring the pain that lanced up his back every time he jerked around and shoved against it to try to get out of this.

This didn’t seem to be deterring it at all though. Using its paw to push him forward, he slid further in, until he was up to his stomach in its mouth, which finally began to close around him.

Nothing he was doing was working. He tried propping open its mouth with his arm, squeezing and scratching its tongue, kicking it in the nose, but he didn’t make any progress.

“I don’t want to die like this!!”

That was the last thing he said as gravity shifted and its dark, slick throat latched on to him and began dragging him down. He could hardly breathe through his sobs as he was effortlessly squeezed and pulled deeper down, even despite his continued struggles. There were no handholds for him to grab on to. He couldn’t even fight it enough to pull his arms away from his sides. It was just too powerful, pressing in on every side, and devouring more and more of him, until he couldn’t move any part of himself anymore.

It felt like an eternity before the world opened back up around him. The suffocating darkness as well gave way to an ever-so-faint glow that let him see once again.

This was the Lord of the Forest’s stomach.

This would be his final resting place.

The liquid that had settled at the bottom stirred and sloshed around as he was unceremoniously dumped in, and its stomach groaned and began to knead him, soaking him further. There wasn’t that much room in here for him. It seemed to be just big enough for him. Just the perfect size, he thought bitterly as his struggles began anew. “Let me out! Didn’t you hear me!” he cried out, kicking and punching and shoving at the walls of its stomach, though just like before, it didn’t seem to be doing anything.

<”Of course we did. But we thought you’d be happy with this.”>

“You thought I’d be okay with this when I was crying?! What made you think that?!”

It didn’t say anything to that. Frustrated with it, he kept on kicking, hoping that he could manage to do something, at least.

“Please, just let me out. I don’t want to die this way.”

<”Who said we were going to kill you?”>

That managed to put a stop to his fight.

“But you…?”

<”We said we would give you what you wanted. What you wanted was to be eaten. We never made any promise to kill you.”>

He didn’t like the tone of its voice. Like it knew that he wouldn’t think things were happening this way that it apparently intended. Maybe it did. Was that what kind of thing it was? Feeding on misery and fear? Was this just a game to it?

“You— You tricked me.”

<”You didn’t ask for clarification. But yes, we did trick you. And now that you’re in there, you can relax. You’ll be safe with us.”>

“How do I know I can trust you?”

<”You don’t. But either way, you’re stuck there until such time that we decide to let you go. So you should relax.”>

Maybe it was true. He could— really only hope that it was. There wasn’t any sort of itching or searing in his body, and in fact his back had stopped hurting so much, even with his struggles. But that didn’t mean that it couldn’t start up at any minute. Could he really just get comfortable in here? Was there really no way to get out? Maybe he should have brought something with him. A knife, at least.

In the quiet, he could hear its body working around him. Past his feet, its heart was pumping rhythmically, and its lungs were taking in and blowing out air. Behind his head, its intestines groaned. And he could feel a soft bumping, like it was moving. Was it going somewhere? Maybe it had a den that it was returning to. Or maybe it was still just wandering the forest.

He tried to calm down, finally accepting that there was no way out of this for him until it let him go or killed him, but no matter how much he told himself that, he couldn’t do it. He was tired, but he wanted to keep struggling, keep fighting, find his freedom again. He kicked his legs and shoved his arms out, beginning to feel too squeezed in.

<”We sense you’re having some difficulty.”>

“Yeah, it’s kind of hard to relax when you could start getting digested at any minute.” he replied snappily, making it very clear to it that he was pissed off at having been tricked like this. But it still didn’t seem perturbed in the slightest.

<”Then perhaps a change of scenery will help.”>

He tried to ask what it was talking about now, but it completely ignored him.

<”Place a hand on our stomach and think of somewhere that you would like to be. Somewhere that would bring you the joy that you seem to be lacking.”>

“How is that going to help?”

<”It’s probably too much to ask that you trust us, so why not instead just because it can’t do you any harm to try it?”>

That… That was probably true. What harm could it do to just touch it? It wasn’t like he wasn’t already doing that anyway. So he did. He reached out and put the palm on his hand on its slimy, shifting stomach wall, grimacing a little at the weird feeling, and thought about where he would like to be now. Somewhere that would make him happy…

That wasn’t too hard at all. He thought back to the stories that adventurers who came to his village would tell. There weren’t ever that many of them, probably because it was pretty far away from the capital city, or the monsters around here were all too tough for most people to survive, or some other reason. But when they did come, they’d share stories in the tavern or around town sometimes. And he remembered a tale from one group that he’d loved in particular.

They spoke of vast stretches of snow, distant white-capped mountains, swaths of dark, snowy forests, coasts of cracked ice sheets, and lights that danced overhead at night. Snow wasn’t something he’d never seen before, but he was dazzled by the idea of so much of it, and sheets of ice on deep enough to be black water that were so thick they were white, and especially the streams of light that he had heard about.

In that moment, the world around him changed. No longer was he curled up in the stomach of something that looked like a chimera, soaked through with its spit. Now, he was seated in the snow, completely dry, as though nothing from earlier had happened. It stretched on forever, it seemed, framed at one end by distant white peaks, and another by lapping waves of water. The sky overhead was darkening, little by little.

But this couldn’t be real, could it? He tried to reach out, to find that slick wall again, but no matter how far he stretched his arms out, he was only met with air or snow. Slowly, he got to his feet, stumbling a little, while a bloodied length of tough fabric fell from his shirt and fluttered to his feet. The snow crunched under his shoes, and his breath was visible as little puffs of fog.

His mouth opened, trying to come up with words to say, but he was just so in awe of it all, he couldn’t manage it. No sound wanted to come out, and no question or sentence formed itself from his brain.

He didn’t feel much of a chill from it like he felt like he should though. The wind seemed to be blowing around him, but never quite reaching him. And there was some bite to the snow, but it was like sticking his hand in sun-warmed lake water during the summer. Nippy, not shockingly chilly.

<”How is that? Good, yes?”>

He didn’t hear the voice like before though. This time, it spoke directly into his mind.

“How… How did you do this? Where am I? Just— Just what kind of creature are you?”

It seemed amused by his confusion, chuckling deeply, causing the world around him to rumble, just a bit. Well, there wasn’t a surprise there. It seemed to like taking him by surprise. But he couldn’t be upset at this. This was… Probably done without ill-intent, right?

<”You’re still inside of our stomach. But we thought you might like it if it looked more like this. You can explore it as you see fit.”>

Was there no limit to this place? No, there had to be some kind of limit. He was still inside of it, if it was to be trusted. He wondered if he might have just passed out or something.

“You still didn’t answer the rest of it though. How am I here, if I’m still in your stomach? Is this even real?”

<”It is real, for the time being. We created it for you, because it was what you wished for.”>

“But how? You still haven’t answered how.”

<”…… As you likely suspect, we aren’t just some simple creature. We are a god. The god of chaos.”>

The nonchalant way it said that did nothing at all to stifle his shock, even after the nonchalant way it talked about other things before that. He felt a hard chill run up his spine. Of all the gods for him to run into— “Y-You’re— You— Th-That’s not true, is it?”

The god of chaos was supposed to be an indescribably evil creature. But this… Seemed more at home being just an inconvenience for him. But it could all be just a trap of sorts. Though, what purpose would it have for him of all people? Then again, would that be so strange, for something so evil to just be evil for no particular reason?

<”Yes, it is true. And we understand you being afraid. Your myths paint us in a very unflattering light. But we can explain things, if you’ll listen, and suspend your belief that we might be lying to you.”>

He wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, he’d been taught from such a young age that chaos and those tied to it were evil. But on the other… He had been labeled as one such being himself, or having been possessed by some agent of chaos. Just for what he was. If he had decided for himself that everyone was wrong for calling him evil just because of that, then shouldn’t he give the god of chaos themself a chance too?

"I— I guess it couldn't hurt to hear you out.” he decided, his heart pounding still as he tried to calm his fear. They had him trapped anyway. Trapped in this… Frozen world inside of their belly.

Another low rumble echoed around this vast white world. He couldn’t imagine what was going on outside, what they were doing now.

<”To humans like yourself, chaos is a facet of evil. The wicked and sinful are all chaotic. But in truth, chaos is the natural state of the world. It was your kind, and elves and dwarves and every other sapient race that created order and “birthed” the god now tied to it.”>

<”Though the natural state of the world is much less chaotic now than in the beginning. The wilds are more tame now than they were when life was first created. We are the representative of that time. When all of existence was filled with endless possibilities. It still is now, of course, but with order reigning as it does, it dictates more of what will happen than chaos does.”>

<”But that only explains in part just how you are where you are, in an entire biome within our stomach. You could say that we’re also a god of chances. Probabilities. What we will to be is done. It’s how we brought mortal life into this world, and how we changed the inside of our stomach from a fleshy organ into a vast expanse of snow.”>

The sky overhead suddenly burst into light. Those dazzling streams in all the colors of the rainbow that he had heard about before now played for him. For the first time since entering this forest, he smiled. It was strange, all of this going on for him. Coming to the forest to die, only to meet the god of chaos, who, as it turned out, wasn’t really so bad. No, it wasn’t completely out of his mind that they could be lying to him, but… He found himself wanting to trust them. Maybe it was that they had really not done any harm to him, only scaring him a few times, or maybe it was that he understood being called something so terrible just because no one understood him.

<”Does that answer your questions?”>

“Uh— Yeah, it does.” His mind buzzed with these new revelations as his feet began to carry him through the snowy environment. He didn’t have anywhere particular that he was headed to, and even then, what more could there be inside this god’s belly? Well, actually, it seemed that there could be anything. But there was nothing more that he knew that was here. Nothing particular for him to look for. Just like earlier in the forest. So he just walked aimlessly.

“So… What’s going to happen to me now? Are you going to bring me back to the village?”

<”No. We’ll allow you to stay with us for a while, and then we would ask that you leave the forest. Humans are meant to be with each other, and we rarely spend time among them. You may go wherever you wish after you leave our side.”>

He supposed that was fair. What would a god really want with a useless little mortal like him? Especially a god that apparently had so much power that they could create anything out of nothing. Though a little part of him kind of didn’t want to leave them. They had already done so much more to make him happy than most anyone else in the past few years.

“What if I decide I want to stay with you?”

<”… Humans are a communal species. Your kind thrives best together. And humans tend to fare poorly in the places we live.”>

They weren’t saying that he had to leave though. But it also sounded like they moved around a lot, and went places that were just as dangerous as this forest. Even though they could probably easily protect him, would he really like something like that? He was a sedentary kind of person. He didn’t really like moving much. Sure, he’d leave his old village in a heartbeat for somewhere better. But he didn’t really want to move from somewhere he liked. Whether he ever found somewhere he would like though…

His stomach growling interrupted his thoughts. Yeah, that’s right. He hadn’t eaten anything at all since he left his village. A little embarrassed, he asked, “Hey, I uh, don’t suppose you’d have any food, do you?”

<”What would you want?”>

“It doesn’t really matter. I’m just hungry.”

<”Then keep walking a little further. You’ll find something to eat.”>

Couldn’t they have just summoned something for him right here? But they weren’t going to do that, he guessed. He couldn’t expect to understand how gods worked. And this god seemed to like messing with him and making things harder for him. He didn’t think they would exactly do that here, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t make him wait. With a sigh, he did as he was told, and kept moving forward.

Eventually, he happened upon a burning fire and some kind of animal with its fur peeled off cooking above it. As he sat down beside it, a handful of wild mushrooms appeared too, speared on a long stick that he held up above the fire too.

<”Satisfied?”>

“Yeah, thanks.”

This whole thing… Wasn’t ever going to not be weird. He wasn’t sure he could ever get used to something like this, even if it happened every day. But it had stopped being a bad thing. He finally felt confident that he was safe here. He wasn’t going to die some painful, hideous death in this god’s belly. He figured… Probably the worst that would happen now is that they would scare him again. Which he wasn’t looking forward to, but it at least beats dying like that.

And it sure beats all the taunting and teasing and jeering he got in the village.

“So… Has it all just been you? All those different creatures that everyone saw in the forest. Or are there other gods here too?”

<”Those “Lords of the Forest”, as your kind calls us? Yes, they were just us. It isn’t to say that other gods won’t show up from time to time too though. But they’ll have their own ways of doing so.”>

That animal they gave to him was already starting to smell pretty good. He was so hungry… All the walking around and worrying he did earlier really wore him out. After he ate, maybe he’d sleep for a while too. It was still nighttime out, right? It looked like it here, he thought, but if they could really do anything, who knows how much time had passed.

Those lights were still dancing overhead when he began eating, This food could have done with some spices, and admittedly he wasn’t really much of a fan of mushrooms, but as hungry as he was, he didn’t care about it too much. Though couldn’t that god have seasoned them for him? But he thought better of criticizing them while they were taking care of him. He hadn’t asked, after all.

He just ate his meal in silence. He didn’t really know what else to say now. All of the excitement from earlier had worn off and now he was just completely exhausted. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was eating, he’d probably have just laid down and passed out right here. The snow was kind of comfy. But he also felt kind of exposed out here. There probably weren’t any wild animals around, but he still preferred the safety of being closed off from the outside.

He could probably ask for a place to rest here, but now that he wasn’t terrified for his life, he could appreciate that their stomach— how it was before— had actually been kind of nice. Weird, yes, but also very comfortable. The kind of place he wouldn’t mind curling up and going to sleep in.

Once he had finished his meal, he rubbed the back of his head and asked “Hey, how do I get out of here? It’s been nice, but I’d like to go back now.” Before he even finished asking, the snowy expanse around him vanished and was replaced by those slick red walls, groaning and churning and seeming to welcome him back warmly.

<”You only needed to ask.”>

Sighing, he sank back into the shifting folds of their stomach, not minding at all that he was getting soaked again. The bumps from earlier had ceased at some point. Perhaps they had stopped moving around, and were laying down too.

<”Would you like us to let you go now?”>

Those same noises from before of the god’s body working and living around him had returned too, and were quickly trying to lull him to sleep. It was becoming a little difficult for him to keep his eyes open. “Huh? Oh, no, no you don’t have to do that. I kind of like it in here, actually. You don’t mind me staying in here for the night, do you?” He reached out to touch the flesh in front of him, rubbing and scratching it with a smile. A rumble emanated around him as he did so, adding to the soothing melody.

<”Not at all.”>

He didn’t bother trying to suppress a yawn, and as he was rolling over on his side, he heard them give an amused huff. Was it funny to them? Well, he didn’t really care. Wrapped up in such a soothing bed, he was fading pretty fast. He thought he heard them saying more, but he couldn’t make any of it out.

“Thanks. For everything.” he mumbled, letting sleep take hold of him.

---

They were up to greet him when he woke the next day, yawning and stretching and rubbing at their insides. Things had certainly cooled between them since their encounter last night. He seemed much happier now.

“H-Hey, what— What did you do to me?”

<”You finally noticed it? Do you like it?”>

Maybe they might have left a surprise for him on a whim in the middle of the night. A very small, simple surprise, but now he certainly couldn’t say that they weren’t nice to him.

“I just woke up… Just— Let me out, alright?”

He was insistent, wasn’t he? Pushing his little limbs against their stomach while they laughed at his display. Fine, they could oblige for their funny little human.

They gagged and coughed him up into the dirt easily, leisurely crossing their talons and watching their handiwork rub his eyes and blink blearily in the dappled sunlight streaming through the trees. They really didn’t do very much to him, honestly. His build was roughly the same. But he was smiling all the while, despite his shivering, as he looked himself over (and completely ignoring that they had changed their form while he was sleeping too, which they found only a little surprising), now that his eyes had adjusted to the light. With a wave of their wing, he was cleaned of the acid and saliva coating him.

“Th-Thanks...”

There was no hesitation in him as he pulled off his shirt, exposing his chest. The wounds on his back were no more, but that wasn’t what had his attention. It was his breasts, flattened, rather than protruding like a female human’s. His dumbfounded fingers traced over them for a moment before shifting down to his trousers. Finding some of that shame in nakedness that all humans seemed to have, he only pulled them back to look, rather than removing them entirely. And when he looked back up at them, his eyes were misty, and his face was growing red.

“Why’d you do this?”

Such a small voice, but filled with such joy. They clicked their beak at him before answering.

<”We felt like it. That’s all.”>

They had already put so much effort into keeping him alive last night (well, not really all that much at all for them), so shouldn’t they have finished the job? And now look at him. He was weeping tears of joy.

They had a policy of sorts of not interfering with humans, preferring to let their creations thrive without their assistance and only observe their progress, but on occasions like these, sometimes they couldn’t help getting involved.

Little hands grabbed at their neck, and his face buried itself in their feathers, which only barely muffled his sobbing.

“Thank you… Thank you...”

They let him cry for as long as he wanted.

---

It was a few days later when he finally returned to his village, under cover of nightfall. He had no intentions of being seen or stopped by anyone now that he was finally leaving. They would only get in his way. Maybe even threaten him, since his body had changed so drastically, calling him a witch or worse.

On his way through, he passed by the house of one of his more prominent tormentors. Or rather, what was left of it. Given the charred wood, it seemed that a fire had ravaged it, though there were no black cloths draped over any part of it. No one had lost their lives here.

Moving on from there, it seemed another of them had received misfortune as well. There was a massive, gaping hole in their chicken coop, and bloodied feathers strewn about here and there. And that still wasn’t the end of it. Each house that he passed by where one of his old harassers lived had been devastated in one way or another He was well beyond suspicious by this point, but at the same time, he felt vindicated, seeing that they had finally gotten their comeuppance for his years of torment.

He was a little surprised to find, once he made it to his house and into his room, that his things had been, for the most part, untouched. He was definitely missing a few of his valuables though. But there wasn’t much here that held a lot of sentimental value to him. He wasn’t too upset by the loss. Besides, given how even this house had not been spared punishment (there were an awful lot of weeds overtaking the crops after only a few days, and he noticed that one of the windows of one of his housemates’ rooms was boarded up), something had probably been done about it. He just quietly gathered up what was left of his stuff and piled it into one of their carts.

Taking along one of their oxen to pull the cart, he left with it and his belongings, returning to the forest. This time, he did not stray from the path. His goal now was to reach the nearest town, and from there, he would figure out his next move.

He ran into very little resistance for a while. The ox was hardly happy to have to work at night, even on a bright, full moon night like this, but it went along with it anyway. They were stopped, eventually, by a dark shape emerging from the forest. He placed a hand on the ox’s flank to calm and reassure it before turning his attention to the giant spider that was closing the distance between them. Its eyes glittered and its fangs were already poised to deliver a venomous bite. But it gave pause when he raised his hand for it to see.

A glowing silver circle was marked on the back of his hand. Upon seeing this mark, the spider seemed to regard him for a moment before returning to the forest to look for prey elsewhere.

“Guess you saved me again...” he chuckled, urging the ox to keep going. He hoped it wouldn’t take too long to get out of this forest. Though it was very clear that he was safe around here from now on, so long as he was marked with their blessing, he wanted to find somewhere much more secure to rest. And of course, somewhere safe for him to keep his ox.

So on they walked through the night and into daybreak, pausing only now and then to ward off troublesome creatures looking for a meal. He was dead tired by the time the forest’s edge came into sight, and the sun’s rising had already begun to spill a bright blue across the sky. But he had a little more ways to go before he reached the nearest town.

One more creature, however, had decided to see to him before he left. But this one was different. A familiar horned deer watched him trundling along, and followed alongside him when he got closer. “Nice of you to see me off like this. This isn’t goodbye forever, is it? I’d like to see you again.”

The deer snuffled his hand when he put it on their nose, closing their eyes and seeming to smile.

<”Only time will tell.”>

“Well I’ll be looking out for you, in whatever form you take.”

<”Then we’ll have to be careful to not let it slip too soon when we’re around. We would hate to lose the chance to take you by surprise again.”>

Exhaustedly, he laughed. He didn’t doubt that it would happen a lot. This was a god that could do and be anything. He’d never really hope to catch on to them if they didn’t want to be discovered.

The forest’s border drew ever nearer, as did the end of their time together, until they met again. It was sad. And he couldn’t stop the tears that threatened to flow, but at the same time this was also the beginning of a new life for him. And whether he chose to stay in this forest or not, sooner or later, they would be leaving themself. It was better for him to leave now, and find a new life, and hope that they would come back to see him sometime.

“I wish it didn’t have to be like this.”

<”Humans are meant to be among their own kind. You will find happiness with them too.”>

Yeah, he knew that.

<”This is where we must part.”>

The trees were thinning out. He’d be out of the forest in just a few short feet. “Wait, before you go, there’s something I want to ask you.” He wanted clarification for just one thing before they left.

<”And what is that?”>

“Back in the village, there were a lot of places that had been damaged or destroyed, animals killed, and crops withering. Was that you?”

<”… We’ve told you before that we don’t harm humans.”>

As far as he was aware, there hadn’t been anyone that died due to all of this. But in that same moment, an image conjured itself up in his mind of a woman with a crow’s head and wings. The unmistakable visage of the goddess of retribution. He had a feeling he knew now what had happened.

<”Goodbye, Edmund. May our paths cross again someday.”>

The deer, after giving one parting nuzzle, turned and disappeared back into the forest. Sniffling and wiping the tears from his face, he continued on, exiting the forest and entering his new life, free of the pain of his old one.

#soft vore #safe vore #g/t vore #kind of?#unwilling vore #seriously they made such a neat pred and this story just made me ridiculously happy??#ravenous ramblings

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waikikimamua · 4 years

Text

Waikīkī, Ka Wahi Aloha: Once a Native Hawaiian Paradise

23 September 2020 | HWST 356

Waikīkī; the picturesque beachscape portrayed to be full of beautifully slim brown women, soft white sand, shady palm trees and the clear blue crashing waves in the distance. Truly a tourist’s dreamscape paradise. Countless movies, television shows, songs, and music videos were created with this very place in mind. But how did it come to be this “pristine” nirvana that has social media influencers raving over the sunsets? What stories lie buried beneath the white sandy beach at Waikīkī and what can be learned about its history and pilina (relationship) with the old Hawaiʻi? In the 1940s, Andy Cummings wrote a song telling of what he remembered as the beautiful Waikīkī, ending it with the following lines:

Waikīkī

My whole life is empty without you

I miss that magic about you

Magic beside the sea

Magic of Waikīkī

Within the last five decades, after the rebirth and renewed interest of Hawaiian culture and traditions that came as a cultural renaissance, the recognized value for native practices, such as voyaging, plant farming, and fishing has increased. For the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on loko iʻa fishing sites, and their ties to that magic of Waikīkī, the Waikīkī of the old Hawaiian days.

Moʻolelo and the Loko Iʻa of Waikīkī

The history of loko iʻa (Hawaiian fishpond systems) is both rich and extensive. With the help of both written and oral histories, Hinapukuiʻa, whose name translates to “Hina who gathers fish,” is an akua (spiritual entity) that guards fishermen. She is the wahine (wife) of Kūʻulakai and mother to ʻAiʻai. Kūʻulakai, is also an akua for fishermen, and is said to have built the first loko iʻa at Lehoʻula (Maui). In the moʻolelo of Kūʻulakai and Hinapukuiʻa, they were living at Lehoʻula on Maui. Kūʻulakai had devoted all his time to his fishing. His first project was to build a loko iʻa close to his house and near the aekai, where the surf breaks. When he found his spot, he stocked the pond with various kinds of fish. Upon a rocky platform, he also built a house, which he called by his own name, Kūʻula. There, he made it tradition to offer the first fish caught to the fish god. Because of his knowledge and skill, fish became obedient to him, and were plentiful during his life. His son ʻAiʻai had later picked up the practice, teaching people to find fish and how to utilize the loko iʻa system. It had since been a Hawaiian practice and cultural necessity for life in ancient Hawaiʻi.

More than a century ago, most of the Waikīkī shore was a narrow, thin ribbon of carbonate sand that lay between wetlands, mudflats, duck ponds, fishponds, and a gently sloping reef a few thousand feet wide. There wasn’t the long stretch of hot sand on the beach as you see now, nor the thin patches of sand on the reef. In fact, there were several small streams flowing into the sea from the mountains. This Waikīkī, with that old time magic, is not the Waikīkī photographed on vintage postcards. Nor is it the romantic landscape of an isolated paradise with spacious beaches and crashing crystal waves. Kānaka Maoli, Native Hawaiians, born and raised at Waikīkī are descendants of ancient Polynesians and Pacific Peoples who traveled across Oceania to the Hawaiian islands in waves. Those who had settled in Hawaiʻi brought with them ancient knowledge and items, creating working systems for food and water—the loko iʻa being one of the most innovative. Wakīkī’s waters not only made the the area a rich farming ground, but also a sacred place frequented for physical and spiritual renewal. Aliʻi Nui, divine rulers, favored Waikīkī not only because of its fruitful nature, but because it was an ideal dwelling site; Waikīkī had freshwater, bountiful agricultural and ocean harvests, as well its ready access to the culturally Pacific practice of sea transportation. It was truly a sacred Native Hawaiian paradise, infused with the mana (spiritual power) of these rulers who, in their relationships with their people and the ʻaina (land), watched over the different loʻi kalo (taro patched) and loko iʻa that were established in the area.

Unique to Hawaiʻi, the loko iʻa system is considered one of Hawaiʻi’s most significant traditional resources. They are biocultural articulations of Hawaiian innovation in the areas of engineering, education, hydrology, aquaculture and biology. Loko iʻa demonstrate traditional Hawaiʻi’s proficiency in not only sustainability, but in food security and sovereignty, and natural resource management. Research shows that more than 400 fishponds once functioned across Hawaiʻi, being an important and sustainable food source for the Hawaiian people, with a pre-contact population estimated to be nearly one million. Increasing immigration and western influences during the 19th and 20th centuries, along with increased industrialization, urbanization and overdevelopment would prove to have a devastating impact on the traditional Hawaiian resource management systems in Hawaiʻi. As a result, most Hawaiian fishponds fell into disrepair. The case today is that there are nowhere near as many loko iʻa in operation, and those that weren’t completely destroyed, are not fully functional.

Loko iʻa are considered sacred because of their spiritual power, and their inviting the presence of akua and ʻaumakua (ancestral spirits and guardians). They were things that beautified the land, and a land with many loko iʻa was called ʻāina momona, a fruitful land. Waikīkī is named to be reflective of it’s waters, wai being a general term for water, and for any type of water besides the saltwater of the ocean (kai). Kīkī means to spout or spray, so Waikīkī is named as a place of spouting water. When looking at the structure of loko iʻa systems (as well as loʻi irrigation systems), they connect from mauka (the mountains) to makai (the ocean), the physical place where freshwater and saltwater mix (muliwai). Utilizing that connected space dates back over half a millennium, as cultivation and propagation centered on many different fresh and saltwater plants and animals, with the primary species being the prized ‘ama‘ama (mullet) and ‘awa (milkfish). Waikīkī’s location was no exception to this optimal climate.

Development and Urbanization of Waikīkī

Many loko iʻa were created in the brackish waters of Wakīkī. Approaching the twentieth century, much of the Hawaiian lifestyle had begun to wane under the pressure of a perpetually growing tourism. In the late 1800s, the first developments began, solely with the purpose to bring forth visitors, hotels being some of the first constructed buildings. It is reported that the first marine structures—sea walls, groins, and piers—began appearing along the beach during this time. By 1906, the President of the Board of Health of the Territory of Hawaii, Lucius Pinkham, was endorsing full development of the Wakīkī district. Pinkham had declared the wetland of the Waikīkī "deleterious to public health...not drained at all and is incapable of effectual drainage and is in an unsanitary and dangerous condition". So, local loko iʻa were destroyed. Legacies of fishponds and cultivation, cultural places and practices were gone. With the intent to “improve” conditions, Pinkham had proposed to create a canal (ala wai) through the district that would drain and divert streams away from Waikīkī.

Aside from canal dredging, there’s spoken moʻolelo about the swamp areas that used to call Waikīkī home. There were mangrove trees, and with their removal came surpluses of makika (mosquitoes) which caused a lot of pilikia (problems) for those wanting to develop this space. With the coming of the 1910s, seawalls too became a problem for development and they were quickly done away with as the concern was “beach erosion”. Additionally, large quantities of sand were removed many years ago from Waikīkī. In 1910, the Pacific Commercial Advertiser reported on a meeting of the Hawaiʻi Promotion Committee—the article’s headline was: “Spoiling the Waikiki Beach. How Honolulu’s World-famous Bathing Resort is Being Ruined. Heavy Removal of Sand”.

Now, when you sit on a beach chair at Wakīkī, mai tai in hand, watching a slim brown woman gracefully dancing a hula to the strums of an ʻukulele, you smile at the beautiful scene as the sunsets behind her. It’s nearly impossible to imagine that water, power, life, magic, fulfillment and happiness that have been drained from the Wakīkī of old Hawaiʻi (a Hawaiian’s Hawaiʻi).

As the sun sets on the horizon, it tips billowing clouds with rose and golden light, and the ocean deepens to a majestic azure. Soft trade winds blow perfumed air across the faces of tourists and locals who smile warmly and chat as they glory in the perfect early evening and relish the gracious entertainment. It is a magical moment that seems to capture the essence of Wakīkī’s charm; its natural beauty, cultural richness, and warm hospitality.

But we, as Hawaiians, are familiar with the grim history upon which this paradise was built on. The stark contrast of loss and gain is especially powerful in this place of spouting waters, of Wakīkī. While her beauty, the magic of Wakīkī is still very much present, it is through research, listening, and learning of the past does one really get to learn of the fruitful ʻāina momona that Hawaiians had built as the historic Wakīkī.

There's a feeling deep in my heart

Stabbing at me just like a dart

It's a feeling heavenly

I see memories out of the past

Memories that always will last

Of the days that used to be (Of a place beside the sea)

Waikīkī

Sources

Cummings, Andy. Territorial Airwaves. Atlantic Music Corp. 73, 1947.

Feeser, Andrea, and Gaye Chan. Waikiki: A History of Forgetting and Remembering. University of Hawaii Press, 2006.

Honua Consulting, and Conservation International Hawaii Fish Trust. Loko-Ia-Final-EA1. PDF. Honolulu: Department of Land and Natural Resources, October 2013.

Kawaharada, Dennis., and Esther T. Mookini. Hawaiian Fishing Legends : with Notes on Ancient Fishing Implements and Practices Honolulu, Hawaii: Kalamaku Press, 1992.

Laymon, Julie Wooddell. "NA LEO 'ĀINA: LAND VOICES." PhD diss., UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, 2005.

Miller, Tara L. and Charles H. Fletcher. "Waikiki: Historical Analysis of an Engineered Shoreline." Journal of Coastal Research 19, no. 4 (2003): 1026-043.

Pualani Kauila (professor) on loko iʻa of Waikīkī, in discussion with the author, July 2018.

Wiegel, Robert L. "Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii: History of its Transformation From a Natural to an Urban Shore." Shore and Beach 76, no. 2 (2008): 3.

#pepa

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homaikaike · 4 years

Text

Waikīkī, Ka Wahi Aloha: Once a Native Hawaiian Paradise

HWST 356: Aloha Kanaloa | Fall 2020

taken from: Waikīkī, Ka Wahi Aloha: Once a Native Hawaiian Paradise (2020) unpublished by P-R, K.

Waikīkī

My whole life is empty without you

I miss that magic about you

Magic beside the sea

Magic of Waikīkī

Moʻolelo and the Loko Iʻa of Waikīkī

Development and Urbanization of Waikīkī

There's a feeling deep in my heart

Stabbing at me just like a dart

It's a feeling heavenly

I see memories out of the past

Memories that always will last

Of the days that used to be (Of a place beside the sea)

Waikīkī

[sources]