Slime at the Camera!

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Yanaike

Yanaike

Edgenoble
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. One post per day
  3. 1-3 posts per week
Writing Levels
  1. Elementary
  2. Intermediate
  3. Adept
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
Urban Fantasy, Low-Fantasy, Modern, Adventure, Quests, Modern-Fantasy, Post-apocalyptic, Romance, Drama
Heavy footsteps thumped to the ground as Yanaike ran over a muddy and overgrown path deeper and deeper into the forest. She still couldn't get used to her new hiking boots. They felt so heavy compared to her usual white boots and they made so much more noise when she was running. The saleswoman had convinced they were great for walking in the nearby mountains, which had been one of Yanaike's ideas for quite a long time. It seemed that 'running' was not one of the many purposes of her new boots. If only she could find a moment to change her footwear...

But no. If she would take a break now, the police would quickly catch up. Between the thumping of her hiking boots she could hear at least two more pairs of footsteps following closely behind. Yanaike had the upper hand though as she was a native in this type of terrain. While the trees formed obstacles for the agents to run in straight lines, Yanaike was constantly circling around the trees and using them now and then to push herself off. Slowly she was gaining more and more distance between her and the agents. She knew however that the agents would call reinforcements and Yanaike would never win if it came to larger numbers.

Her eyes quickly scouted the environment and she spotted a small slope to her left. She ran a couple of foot further, then she made a sharp left turn, jumped off from the ground and landed a few foot further in a shallow ditch. She heard how the footsteps of the agents continued and she felt relieved to have shaken off the agents.

Yanaike swept the sweat from her head. It was quite a warm day and running wasn't exactly a great way to cool down. After having recovered from the heat, she grabbed her backpack and opened it. Inside of her backpack was the reason the agents had been following her: an interesting mechanical artefact with a large round-shaped glass in the middle of it. Regulars called it a 'camera' or something and Yanaike had been told that it was used to 'capture memories'. She couldn't understand how it could do that without any apparent connector to the brain but it didn't really matter anyway. It wasn't about the camera. It was about the thrill Yanaike gained in escaping the police. Besides, she would have plenty of time to study the way the camera worked.

Soon the agents would realise that they were not following Yanaike any more and they would came back looking for her. Yanaike wasn't safe yet. She hang the camera around her neck, closed the backpack and continued through the forest in a completely different direction. She wasn't running this time in order to stay silent. Instead she focused on the sounds around her, trying to locate the policemen as soon as they would come close to her.
 
The forest was getting increasing wild and uncharted, untouched by human hands for quite some time as nature claimed its stake. How much further the police would opt to pursue the elusive thief was unknown, but with how thick the foliage was and how the towering trees blanketed the sky above, it seemed less than enticing.

The sounds of nature assumed its place. Instead of foosteps, cicadas and crickets combined for a dull hymn that pervaded the forest. Wind rustled the trees. The quiet and serenity of the place was unreal. The shade cast by the trees significantly chilled the air, and the daylight was choked. The atmosphere was spooky.

There were no footsteps around. But there was some kind of presence.

Further in the woods. It was faint, distant, but audible. It was the sound of... sobbing. Sounded like they belonged to a girl, too.

---

Deeper in the woods, there was a clearing. A campfire was burning, though it was getting weaker. A figure wrapped up in a cloak sat before it, trembling and sobbing. It was impossible to make out who the person was from sight alone.

It's was cold for her. She didn't want to look at herself. She had been mucking through the woods for hours now. She was exhausted and took some time to gather herself. Maybe she would calm down, she thought.

It done nothing to calm her down. In her presumed isolation, she was breaking down into tears.
 
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The forest grew thicker and thicker and Yanaike happily continued. The further she went into the forest the higher the chance she would leave the police officers behind. The sounds of their footsteps had long gone and Yanaike felt she was pretty safe. That was until suddenly she heard a new sound. The sound came from far away, but Yanaike could hear it clearly.

She stepped closer trying to identify the sound. It was like... sobbing? Yanaike kept following the direction of the sound. An odd smell penetrated deep into Yanaike's nose. Smoke? The smell of fire? Was there something burning? She became more and more curious. She pushed branches aside until finally she noticed a fire a couple of feet in front of her.

It was a campfire! And right beside it she spotted a dark figure, which was where the sobbing sound came from. Yanaike turned on all fours and crawled towards the clearing, trying to minimize the sound she made. Whoever was crying, Yanaike knew he or she wouldn't hurt her. Bad people didn't cry. On the other hand she preferred to be cautious.

A branch snapped below her feet. Shoot! This would never have happened if she wore her white boots. She looked up, hoping the person wouldn't have heard her.
 
She heard her.

Her shaking and crying ceased immediately, a gasp barely stifled. Underneath the musty brown cloak, her head raised; from behind, it was impossible to identify her figure, she was completely shrouded. She didn't look immediately. She hadn't moved an inch.

She didn't know who it was. But they were close. Was it... one of them? The figure seemed to turn slightly as if to scan what was behind her, but didn't fully look. Her breath was shaky. She shivered.

She had to run. The campfire was dying anyway. She had to escape whoever was hunting her.

She shot to her feet and attempted to spring... but her legs refused to cooperate.

"Ungh!"

The mysterious visage of the cloaked girl wobbled and moved awkwardly, hardly taking a step before she fell face forward, hitting the ground with a disgusting shlorp! The fabrc of the cloak sunk further to the ground, rising and falling with panicked gasps. It was draped over her entire body now.

"No! I'm not going back! I'm not going back now! PLEASE!"

She begged and cried out, the sad sack of the cloak rolling on the ground. She attempted to return to her feet and keep running, but seemed to slip with every attempt, wet and sloppy sounds coinciding with her desperate efforts. Nothing underneath the cloak could be seen.

She hadn't seen her hunter face to face, and only assumed the worst. Far as she was concerned, they were about to steal her back to the hell she escaped from.
 
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For a moment Yanaike stood paralyzed to the ground. She was confused. What was the figure doing? The way the person moved, and so down to the ground, was something Yanaike had never seen in her life. Was she trying to dig a tunnel? Like a mole?

And what was the figure talking about? She mentioned that she didn't want to go back. Back to where? To the city? Could it be that the figure was on the run for someone too? Maybe the figure misunderstood Yanaike for someone else? Unfortunately Yanaike's cover was blown away. The person knew she was here. It must have heard her.

Yanaike stepped out of her hiding place and slowly approached the figure from behind. She was still very cautious. For all she knew, this could still be a trap. Maybe the policemen tried luring her, abusing her curiosity and then finally capturing her with a giant butterfly net or something like that.

When she was only a few inches away from the figure, she pulled up her nose and sniffed, trying to familiarize herself with the mysterious figure's scent. Yanaike giggled shortly as it smelled rather odd. After that she quickly dodged away, anticipating a big net falling from the sky.

But there was no net.

"You're not going back to where?" Yanaike asked, slightly less cautious, as she realised this probably wasn't a trap. She still stayed on a safe distance though and tried identifying the person.
 
The smell might've been a surprise. She smelled... pretty nice. There were hints of vanilla and rosebud. The closer observation of the cloak would reveal dark, wet splotches along the fabric. Was she bleeding? It didn't... look quite like blood. It was an odd colour, mixed with the brown fabric.

There was hushed whimpering as she felt like she was being analyzed. As Yanaike spoke up, a soft gasp could be hear from underneath. Then silence.

She didn't recognize the voice from that hell she escaped from. Who was that? Who would be out here?

The cloak seemed to rustle a bit as the figure turned around. A flap of the cloak opened up, with a pair of bright, wide eyes with beautiful purple irises looking out from underneath. The rest of the figure remained draped in darkness and the cloak, so all that could be seen was the eyes.

"You... y-y-you aren't with th, them?" She asked in a hushed tone, the faintest dulcet. Who 'they' were was anyone's guess. She was a timid thing to be sure.
 
The question made the hairs on Yanaike's tail stand on end and she felt how her tail was itchy to get out of her shirt. A smile appeared on Yanaike's face and she giggled shortly. No! This wasn't a trap. This felt more like a challenge. A puzzle challenge! The figure was questioning her with riddles and if she would answer all questions right, the figure might unveil her identity.

'You aren't with them?' What did she meant with 'them'? A group of people? But what group? Yanaike dug deep into her memories. Could it be she was refering to 'the gang'? No, that seemed highly unlikely. But besides that, Yanaike had never really been part of any group of people. She travelled alone. She didn't live anywhere, so she wasn't really part of a group of inhabitants. And without any job, Yanaike wasn't part of a company either. In fact, Yanaike didn't even feel she was part of the 'human' population.

"No" she responded quickly. "Or... yes... I mean... Yes, I am not with them. I am not with any them-s." Her words came out a bit clumsy, but anyone could understand what she meant.

In a large arc she circled around the figure, staying at a large distance. Only a small flame was left of the campfire and it was clear that wood had to be added quickly or the fire would go out.

"Your fire is dying, by the way" Yanaike added.
 
The smile and giggle took the reclusive figure off guard, blinking in response. Her answer was satisfactory, though. Truthfully, the reclusive figure should've recognized her from before. But she'd never seen this stranger, nor heard her voice. She was nice. The figure wasn't sure if she could trust this stranger, but... it didn't seem as though she wanted to hurt her.

Yanaike circling the figure would yield startling results. Near the back, the cloak was failing to cover an odd puddle of purple goo seeping out from the underside. The figure's eyes tried to follow as best she could, noticing the puddle herself.

"...!" With a gasp and a grunt, she seemed to kick the cloak out to cover that up.

The mention of the fire got a reaction from the figure, her eyes widening. She paused, her eyes drifting downwards. She knew she had to act fast, but there were things she had to gather. She managed a bundle of dry leaves off to the side earlier, but... that wouldn't last long.

She also couldn't reach that far without... exposing herself. Her eyes anxiously drifted back to Yanaike. She gulped.

"I'm running from... from bad, evil people. Please don't scream if I lower this thing, it... they might find me." Her voice pleaded, chilled with fear and tension.
 
Yanaike gained more and more the feeling that this strange person would be friendly, and with that realisation happiness was building up in her. Her tail was itching inside of her shirt and Yanaike felt as if she had to wag her tail around to release her happiness.

Her reaction came as a little surprise though. Running from bad people? So, Yanaike's first intuition was right! She was running from someone as well. Police? Although Yanaike wouldn't really say the police were bad people. Well, technically they were on the opposite side, so they could be considered as bad people. But then, the whole running from the police scenario seemed quite unlikely and too coincidental for Yanaike to be true.

Please don't scream if I lower this thing. This made Yanaike even more curious. Was there something with her appearance? She tried preparing for the worst. Maybe she was wearing some sort of robot/metal-like helmet with a small cut-away piece around her eyes uncovering the purple irises that were staring at her. Or, maybe she was like a dinosaur with pointy scales on her back. Or, a time traveller from the past perhaps? Someone famous, like a Greek goddess?

The more fantasies that popped up into Yanaike's head, the more eager she became to actually find out the truth. While still staying at a safe distance from the figure, a few feet away from the campfire, Yanaike now stared into her direction with narrowed eyes as she constantly moved her head so that she could see the figure from multiple angles.

"Of course not!" she said without really realizing what she'd promised.
 
The figure paused, staring back, before they lowered. This stranger sounded so sure, but... the figure underneath the cloak was skeptical. She smiled softly, though it was unseen and obscured.

"O, okay... here I go..."

She rose to her feet shakily... at least, that's what it looked like, hard to tell with the cloak. Mushy, pulpy sounds coincided with the movement. She lowered the cloak down to her shoulders, letting it open like a robe. Yanaike would get a full look at the figure.

The figure looked humanoid from the waist up. She was garbed in what looked like a white hospital gown, flimsy and thin and shredding at the hems as leaves, mud and twigs clung to it. There were slender, human-like arms ending in five digits (crossing over her stomach a bit as if to protect herself), a torso, a head... but it wasn't recognizable as human. Purple slime took the place of skin, mixing in darker hues like a watercolour painting. Instead of hair, more ooze seemed to pile on. One globule of slime seemed to hang over her face, resembling bangs. She tried to push it aside, only for it to slide back.

From the waist down, her legs lost form and definition, kind of merging together into something like a tree trunk, except it was goopy. Where her feet were supposed to be was a pool of slime. That would explain her difficulties with moving about. Did she even have bones?

Her head raised. Even with the goop, she still had a pretty face. A pair of amethyst eyes looked forward, before darting away. Towards the bundle of leaves and sticks she had gathered as tinder, along with some thicker branches and logs that would be useful as fuel.

She moved, slowly, towards the firewood, raising her arms up as if she was... tiptoeing? Or maintaining her balance?

It didn't seem to help much. She moved a few inches, gross squelching sounds accompanying her movement (she winced), before her body tipped over and hit the ground with a wet flop. She seemed to sink a bit into the pool of slime accompanying her, pushing herself back up.

She reached an arm out towards the firewood. Still out of reach. She groaned, before lowering her head, sobbing weakly.

"Useless... why..." She repeated to herself, agonized. She was a wreck. She could use a hand here.
 
As the stranger unveiled her cloak Yanaike was becoming more and more anxious. But when she finally revealed her full body Yanaike was flabbergasted for a moment. She studied the stranger's body. She'd imagined a lot of possibilities why she would rather kept her identity hidden, but goo wasn't one of the things Yanaike had thought about.

"You're slimey!" Yanaike yelled, with the tone of her voice being a bit anxious but with a clearly more fascinated and enthusiastic undertone. As an adventurer Yanaike had seen a lot of things the world had to offer, but it was amazing how there were still things out there that could surprise her.

As the stranger approached the campfire, Yanaike cautiously took a few steps back. A crack could be heard from Yanaike's feet and Yanaike looked down to conclude that she'd accidentally stepped into the campfire, extinguishing the last little flame in the process.
She looked up again, trying to avoid direct eye contact with the stranger.

"I'm sorry" she stumbled. Her remark was initially intended to cover for her mistake of stepping into the campfire. However, at the same time it was also meant as an apology for her response to her gooeyness. The tail that stack out of Yanaike's back had always been the subject of a lot of bullying and Yanaike realised very well how the stranger could feel. It wasn't easy to be different, eyes looking at you, being left out.

Slowly Yanaike lowered her long brown haired tail from underneath her shirt and let it slip out between her pants and the shirt. She wagged the tail around a few times to mark its presence.
 
"..."

She grimaced a little as Yanaike plainly stated the reality of her situation. She nodded weakly. It took a few seconds for her to look up and witness the look Yanaike was giving her. This gave her some pause, as her eyes widened a bit. It wasn't a look of fear, just... bewilderment.

She flinched as Yanaike backed into the dying fire, killing it with a single move. The slimy figure leaned forward to observe the damage, raising herself into a kneeling position (though her legs from the knee downwards were little more than ridges in the pool of slime beneath her). Nothing could be done. She worked so hard to get it going too...

She didn't have long to dwell on that fact before she noticed some movement in the corner of her eye. She quickly raised her head, thinking it was a snake! But... it was wagging. And it was... attached to this stranger?

She stared, unknowing and uncomprehending. That was a tail? People grow tails?

"I... I don't understand." She wondered aloud. She suddenly realized she was staring. Her cheeks seemed to darken a bit. Her head lowered sharply.

"S-sorry, I was... I haven't, seen, anything like... I-I'm Celes!" She bashfully blurted her name as she rose her head again, desperate to change the subject and cease her backpedaling. She tried for a weak smile.

This stranger hadn't turned tail and run yet. She wasn't afraid, Celes thought. It was a comforting thought.
 
For the first time in the conversation with the stranger which appeared to be called 'Celes', Yanaike felt a bit more confident. She stepped a bit closer to her, if only to step out of the campfire.

"My name is Yanaike"

She felt the urge to shake hands and she extended her hand only to pull it back quickly again. Shaking hands was probably not a good idea. Yanaike didn't really mind getting slime on her clothes, she had a simple spell for that anyway. However it felt sort of inappropriate to shake hands. Was she even able to shake hands.

"I... I don't understand either" Yanaike mumbled, more to herself than to Celes. In a small arc Yanaike started circling around her. Her tail moved around slowly, moving with the wind. Her eyes tried to observe her from each and every angle, but she still tried to avoid eye contact. It almost seemed like the slime was flowing, but it could also be the mix of different shades of purple. What happened to her?

She extended her hand a second time, reaching for her hair. What was she made of?
 
The way Yanaike circled Celes got her to be a little nervous, her eyes following her movements. Her weak smile dropped to a look of mild trepidation. She supposed such curiosity was natural.

"N, nice to meet you... ah!?"

She gasped and winced as Yanaike reached out her hand, flinching... only it was to touch her hair. Her hair was slick, the ooze giving way to any sort of pressure applied. It was kind of like sticking your hand in a vat of thick oil. You could stick your hand in easily. The patterns on the surface mixed wherever Yanaike touched.

It was warm, and seemed to pulse like a heart would. Celes breathed deeply as Yanaike investigated, closing her eyes. She didn't hate this. Actually, it was nice she went for the hair, her touch was gentle, but... the silence was killing her.

She raised a hand to take Yanaike's wrist, trying to draw it away from the hair. Her grip would be gentle, deliberate.

"C-could you help me make another fire, Yanaike? I-if you're not busy, I mean..." She asked, hardly above a whisper. She tried to look into Yanaike's eyes this time, trying to be inviting.
 
She didn't feel human at all. The structure of her hair was like liquid, very thick liquid though. She wondered how far she could go. Would her body be this slimey too? Did she have any bones? And what about her organs? How did she eat? What would her brains be like? And how did she breath? Sunk in thought, Yanaike didn't hear what she said to her.

Suddenly she felt slime around her wrist.

"Eeeeek"

The hairs on her tail went straight up. Yanaike immediately pulled back her hand and did three quick steps back. She stayed there though. She didn't run further away, nor did she came back closer. Back at the safe distance. Yanaike hated it when people sneaked up to her, even though she was the one who started it. She looked into Celes' eyes. Yanaike wasn't afraid of her, she was just a bit shocked.

"W-Who... What are you?" Yanaike asked. She gulped for a moment. "What happened to you?"
 
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As Celes' grip slipped, she blinked, flinching as her hand extended for a moment. Her jaw dropped, as her hand lowered slowly.

Her mouth closed as Yanaike pelted her with questions. But her shrill shriek from before was still ringing in Celes' head. She withdrew her hand, her left hand clutching the wrist of the hand that reached for Yanaike's help. She examined it, an increasingly morose expression on her face.

"...I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to..."

She whispered, trembling a bit. She wasn't a 'who' anymore, just a 'what', a monster. She winced as her miserable thoughts compounded on one another.

"...I don't... I'm not..."

She didn't have the answers for Yanaike's most pressing questions.

She slumped to the ground, her legs making a squishing sound as she did. Her head hung in shame and misery for a few haunting seconds. She hugged herself.

"..."

After that time, she crawled over to the various piles of fire wood, a slick-sound accompanying her movements. The pool of slime followed her movements. She slowly set herself to work building the beginnings of a new fire.

She could use a hand making the fire, it seemed. She was working very slowly.
 
Yanaike watched how Celes painfully tried to gather wood for a new fire. With the slimey structure of her body she coudn't really be considered as being fast. It made her wonder. Didn't she tell she was running from bad people? But how could she run from them like this? Yanaike quickly shook off the police due to her speed. But this girl seemed slow as moleass.

Yanaike waited a little longer but there came no answers to Yanaike's questions and Yanaike was unsure if she didn't want to tell her, or she just didn't know the answer. She sighed, feeling a bit ignored. She shambled to the middle of the clearing, hang her camera over a tree trunk and started to gather firewood as well.

Thoughts haunted through Yanaike's head. Why didn't she answer her simple questions? What made her so slimey? What made her run from bad people? Who were those bad people? Why didn't she answer... Why? In her head Yanaike started formulating an explanation. Something similar that had happened to Yanaike? An experiment gone wrong perhaps? But... No! Yanaike didn't want to make something up, she wanted to know the truth!

Without any word Yanaike continued gathering wood.
 
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As Celes built the beginnings of a new fire, she heard clattering of wood, and looked up. Yanaike was helping her? Her eyes widened. Part of her wondered if she had ran off, but... she had decided to keep being Celes' company, it seemed.

Celes smiled. Maybe this would be okay after all.

Between the two of them, they quickly gathered a good supply of firewood, tinder and kindling.

"Thanks for helping me, Yanaike. I'm sorry, again, if I spooked you earlier. I-I'm still getting used to... this." Celes' arm drifted up. She turned it in front of her, examining it, it seemed. She lowered her arm after some uncomfortable looks.

"W-would you stay a little longer? My daddy taught me a trick to starting a fire with two people, a stick and some shoelace!" Her eyes lit up as she spoke of her father. Slimes had daddies?

"A, and you're the first person I've seen in... g-goddess, I don't know how long..." Her eyes diverted as a hand rose to anxiously fidget with one of her globules of hair.

"...I'd love to talk more, if we could." She rose her head with a weak smile.
 
The slimey girl started rattling to her as if the two had been friends forever. Yanaike would probably have liked where the conversation was going if she hadn't been so annoyed. Celes didn't seem to realize that Yanaike was this close to running away. Running away, not because she was scared of the 'slimey monster', running away because the slimey monster ignored her questions. Celes made it look like they were friends. But if they were friends, why didn't she respond to her questions, no matter how stupid or useless the answer would be. The only reason Yanaike could think of, why Celes wouldn't answer the questions, was if the two of them were not friends. But in that case, why was she acting so friendly?

Aaargh! None of this made sense to Yanaike.

Yanaike became curious when Celes started about the trick with the stick and the shoelace. For a moment her eyes started to sparkle as she felt delighted to hear her secret.

Just for a moment. Then Yanaike turned her head away from Celes. She shrugged.

"I'm not interested in your tricks. If you don't answer my questions, I'm not going to help you with your stupid fire!" she yelled with a raised voice.

Like a little child, Yanaike folded her arms and with an exaggerated grumpy face she stared away from Celes.
 
The indignant tone Yanaike assumed would've been cute in another time for Celes. But the hard rejection felt like a dagger to Celes' heart. Her eyes widened, staring at Yanaike's steadfast refusal. Her posture shifted to her behind, bringing her knees up to her chest.

Her head lowered into her knees. She had to dig deep to find the courage to talk about it. She swallowed.

"...There's a lab facility deeper in the woods. I... I don't know what they're planning. Awful things. That's where they took me. And then they... they put things into me. Injections, needles..." She hugged herself. Her voice was weak.

"I used to be like you, y'know? W-well, except for the... tail..." She laughed, a little glumly, barely choking it out. "I... I can't tell you what I am now. A monster, maybe. Maybe I belong out here, in the muck now. Maybe I'm just a failed experiment and they... they don't care about failures. Maybe they just... let me go. Maybe I am a failure... maybe, maybe, maybe..."

She repeated that miserable, uncertain word. Yanaike wanted answers she didn't have. Celeswas summoning all her courage just to speak, and her voice was cracking now. She was trembling.

"Please... you're the first person I've seen since I woke up like this, and... I-I don't know what I'm gonna do...!" She sobbed into her knees, opaque black streams of tears streaking down her cheeks. Her whole body shook.

Her attempts at friendliness was largely to hold back the despair gripping her. She could barely look up at Yanaike at this point.
 
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