“Oh, you’re trembling.” The elf reaches a hand out to me cautiously. She touches my skin with the tip of her fingers, cooing in delight. “You’re so soft.” Unreserved, she grabs a handful of me. I can feel the pressure but it isn’t painful no matter how much she squeezes. The way I stretch especially seems to delight her.

“I’ve never seen anything like you in the forest before!” The elf scoops me up and hugs me to her chest, rubbing her cheek against me. “How about it, hmm? Do you want to come with me?”

Maybe. That depends on if you can feed me. Really, I’m so hungry I would eat dirt if it filled me up. I would. Feed me, kind elf lady. Please. I will follow you anywhere if you do.

Though, this hug is comfortable. The cloak she’s wearing hides her figure. Her chest is pretty large. It’s like being pressed against two pillows-

No, no. Food. Got to focus on food. I begin to squirm until the elf lets me go.

“What’s wrong? You don’t want to come with me?” Her mouth turns down in a pout. I’m just now noticing this but this woman is beautiful. Those big eyes are drilling holes into the heart I don’t have. Poor you. Your life must have been riddled with hardships. Such is the fate of those born blessed. But right now, could you help me with my hardship?

I raise my tentacle hands to where I think my face should be and mime eating. The elf frowns deeply but eventually, her eyes light with understanding. “Oh! Are you hungry?”

Yes! I throw my hands up and bounce excitedly. Feed me, kind elf!

She laughs at my display and pulls a pack out from under her cloak. “Well, I don’t know if you’ll like them but I have some berries here.” She reaches her hand into the pack and pulls out a handful of bright blue berries. They look tasty but, again, I still don’t know how to eat with this body.

I reach out a tentacle, separating it in two to grasp the berry and hold it up in front of me speculatively. If I can see I have eyes, right? And if I can hear, I have ears, right? Even though I don’t know how to use it, I should have a mouth, right? That makes sense. Let’s just try to…put this where my mouth should be. And…push it forward?

Oh. It went through. The small berry floats inside me for a moment. Then it dissolves. Taste explodes through my awareness.

Thank the saints, I won’t starve! I quickly grab the rest of the berries and push them inside me. They dissolve just as quickly and the sweet juices coat my taste buds. Wherever they are. Whatever. I can taste and these are great. Fresh.

…But they’re really small. I’m still hungry.

I hold out my hands pleadingly to the elf and she sets the pack on the ground. I quickly scoop out the berries but its still not enough. The pangs aren’t so bad but I’m nowhere near filled.

There has to be something. Anything else.

I turn around and my gaze settles on the corpses of the wolves. Could I? It’s meat. Uncooked meat but then again, I’m not human so maybe that’s no longer an issue.

I have to try. There’s nothing else around besides grass and trees. And the elf. Even if I could, I wouldn’t eat her. For one, that’s just disturbing and for two, she was nice to me.

I move toward the wolves, which is an experience of its own. Since I’m a blob, I don’t walk. It’s more of a slither but I’m moderately fast. I come to one of the corpses. It’s really big. I can’t just plop it inside me like a berry.

Oh, but wait. I can stretch, can’t I? Okay then. Here this goes. I wrap a tentacle over the wolf and use it as leverage to pull myself onto its side. Then I stretch as far as I can. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take much effort. In no time, I surround the wolf. Once it is fully inside me, it dissolves quickly. Thirty seconds to eat the entire thing. Wow. I’m a beast.

And I’m not full. The pangs have stopped but I know I can eat more. Though I was born a noble, my socializing among the servants and the commoners about the manor ensured I have a very good grasp on how scarce resources are for some. If there is food, I prefer not to let it go to waste.

In that spirit, I move to the next wolf corpse. It is even easier to swallow this one. I make quick work of the rest and settle down contentedly. I am still not full. Apparently, I have a huge stomach but I have a feeling that I won’t have to worry about food for a while.

“You all done?”

The elf lady comes over to me. Hmm? Did I get bigger? Instead of coming to her waist, I’m nearly at her shoulder. Ooo. That explains a lot. Instead of getting full, I get bigger?

That…could be troublesome.

I want to thank her but I still haven’t worked out how to talk. Instead, I do my little wiggle. She appears to like that as she hugs me again. Though this time, she leans into me rather than pulling me against her. I take the weight easily and she giggles as her body goes horizontal.

“I’m glad you seem happy now but you could have given me some warning before you started eating. Those pelts could have been useful.”

Oh no. I didn’t mean to disappoint you. If only I could…hmm. This new body of mine is strange. Really. When I think about the wolves’ pelts, I can feel something. Like a menu inside my head. On it is a series of different number groups. I know instinctively that the first grouping is my human form and the second is the wolves I just consumed. Uwaa. I really am a shapeshifter.

I want to give the elf lady her pelts for helping me but turning to a wolf to get skinned just sounds awful. But maybe…

Focusing on the wolf’s structure, I can differentiate between its makeup. The elf lets go of me as fur erupts across my surface. Okay, I can do that. I’ve read that slimes can drop a smaller part of themselves to run away when threatened. I kind of look like them. Are we cousins? Maybe I can separate a part of myself like they do?

Yup. I can do that. With a shrugging type maneuver, I shed the skin and a perfect pelt is left on the ground. Yes! That is extremely weird but awesome at the same time. This body is growing on me. More importantly, I can thank the kind elf who saved me.

She hesitates seeing the pelt but I wiggle excitedly, waving at it with my stubby arms. Finally, she pinches it between two fingers and holds it up, amazed.

“Incredible.” She grins down at me and pets my head. “You’re the best skinner I’ve ever seen. That means a lot coming from an elf. You should be proud.”

I am. Elves are considered the best gamekeepers in the world. To be praised by one of them is quite an accomplishment.

“How about it? You want to come with me?”

Hmm. Let me see. Follow the beautiful elf who can most likely get me out of this forest and on my way back home or move through the woods by myself and get preyed on by wolves and whatever nasty creatures are in these trees?

I quickly move toward her, wrapping my arms about her waist. The elf laughs. “Okay.” She folds the pelt up and stuffs it into her pack. “Since we’re friends now, we should introduce ourselves. You seem to understand me clear enough. My name is Kierra D’Atainna. Do you have a name?”

I was anticipating this. If it is something as simple as telling her my name then I can circumvent my speech impediment.

Backing out of the hug, I turn my tentacle into a point and begin to draw on the ground. Kierra leans over curiously, her brows coming down as she reads the characters. “Lourianne?”

I bend in half trying to nod, then draw a line through the top half of my name.

“Lou? Is that what you’re called?”

Ah. Beautiful and smart. Doubly blessed, doubly cursed. You and I are the same, kind elf. One day, we should drink our sorrows away together.

“Okay, Lou. Nice to meet you. I don’t want to start our friendship off the wrong way, but why do you have a human name?”

Yes! What a perfect lead in to tell her I need to go home. I brush away my name and prepare myself to write out my story…

Then something strikes me. I have my old body’s template in my head. I can go back to being human.

I am an idiot. Why didn’t I do that ages ago? Thinking about my old form, the menu pops back into my head. I focus on the first grouping of numbers, willing myself to return to my original form. A ripple goes through my body and I can feel myself rearranging.

A second later, I stand up, blinking rapidly. I bring my hands up to my face. They’re back and I grin as I wiggle each finger, the ones bit off by the vicious little dog healed and whole. Looking down, I have normal legs and normal toes.

“YES!” I shout excitedly, dancing in place. I’m lost in my own emotions for several moments. Feeling an intense gaze on my back makes me turn around and I remember that I'm not alone.

Kierra is staring at me with an unreadable expression. Watching her eyes flick across my skin reminds me that I’m naked and my face heats up in embarrassment as I cross my hands over my chest. “Um…could you not stare at me so hard?”