Weakly Tara opened her eyes. Her body was too drained to feel anything and could only stare up lazily. All she saw was Vern looking down at her with a disappointed expression. Tired, she just lay there. She saw him dip out of view and her vision turned as she was pushed off the table and onto a cart. Slowly, she was wheeled out of the lab room, her weariness already catching up to her. The last thing she noticed was that the room that was previously filled with creatures suspended in vats now only had empty ones.
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When the rain finally passed, the blood that was caking Tara's skin was washed away, the bones mended into place and the patchwork skin types reformed to more seamlessly blend together. Tara's 2 eyelids fluttered open and she finally felt at peace resting gently on the cool, damp forest floor. The sunlight, filtering through the canopy of the leaves.
The nightmarish experience she had felt like a distant dream. Unsteadily she rose to her feet, her body feeling strangely unfamiliar as if she had been sleeping for a long time. Staggering slightly, she leaned against a tree to steady herself.
What's wrong with me? She thought. I don't feel dizzy or lightheaded yet my body feels so unsteady. She moved her hand absentmindedly to scratch her hand and felt something prick her palm. Startled, she retracted back and looked at her palm. A large fine needle was sticking out of it. Removing the needle, she shifted her gaze to the injury and she was shocked by what she saw.
Tough, leathery skin covered her palm and the inner part of her arms, the outer part was scaled and she had claws instead of nails. Immediately she tried to shake the foreign arm away but to no avail and in her flailing, she squeezed the other hand, which easily crushed the bark, her new claws digging deeply into the wood. As she tried to escape from the foreign left arm. Her other arm tethered her to the tree, causing her to fall towards the ground.
Before she could fully fall something caught her and she remained suspended mid-fall. Trying to calm down she slowly got up and turned around to see a flexible tail hanging behind her.
Unsure of what was happening she was desperate to see herself. Smelling lake water nearby, she ran off towards it at a frightening pace. Looking down she saw what should've been her feet, were instead a feline's rear paws. Her legs bent in a similar fashion, white fur sprouting out below the waist. This only spurred her to run faster to the water she smelled in the distance, stumbling a few times over trees now that she was trying to control her run. Wait. She thought stopping in her tracks. Smelled? This is way too far to be smelling the water. She reached for her nose and was surprised to find a few holes with a rough texture, her probing touches causing an unfocused black and white image to pop into her head.
Confused and worried she removed her hand and kept going, slowing down significantly. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, she didn't even realize she was at the lake until she stumbled into it. With water soaking her fur she backed out to the shore and sat down for a moment to catch her breath.
As the water settled and she stared at the reflective surface from afar, afraid of what she might see. Steeling her resolve she looked into the water and found a completely foreign face staring back at her. Strange and conflicting features took up her face now. Turning around hesitantly she looked around her body and saw more strange features that no longer resembled a human. After spending an inordinate amount of time looking over at the strange creature mimicking her motions, she noticed something. She recognized some of the features from the dream she had. Some of the monsters in the vats shared something similar. Like the 4 sets of eyes she now had, one of them was bulbous like that insect creature she saw.
Now that she was looking for it, many of the strange parts she had were part of the creatures she saw before. She didn't remember much at first, but now that she was focusing many of her memories were returning, and with them the realization that her experience with Vern was not a dream.
While she wasn't sure where she was or why he just let her go she knew that she had to go home to make sure her family was alright. With no recognizable landmarks to go off of, she decided to set west, moving alongside the setting sun.
She ran as fast as her new legs could carry her, racing against the setting sun to find some type of sign of civilization. Gradually tripping less she navigated the forest with increasing ease. If she wasn't so worried about her family or disturbed with how she got here she may have been able to enjoy the speed and freedom of the run.
Suddenly, a large Mud Bear stepped out from behind a tree blocking her path, stopping short she managed to keep 20 meters between her and the bear.
Not sure what to do next she stayed still as she remembered that a person had no chance at outrunning a bear and retreating may cause the bear to charge.
The Mud Bear stared back at her, its brown fur caked in its namesake and hairs standing on end. After a minute of staring at one another, the bear stood up on its hind legs to a staggering 5 meters tall and roared. Two earthen walls erected themselves to the sides as the bear's forelegs hit the ground again, creating a runway from him to her. Starting to run, the bear's claws scratched against the ground each time its paws touched the ground.
Tara, previously frightened by the bear's display, knew if she didn't move from the path the bear would trample her but her feet felt like they were stuck in place. Struggling, she quickly looked down and saw the mud holding her down.
The bear now 10 meters away roared again, bunching itself up ready to collide with Tara.
Tara struggled frantically against the mud. Trying to avoid the bear's charge.
5 meters away the bear's teeth could be seen. Long and ready to tear through her flesh.
Just managing to struggle out of the bear's charge Tara was thinking about attempting to climb the walls before it could charge at her again when suddenly, the bear veered in her direction in the last meter. A small slope caked in mud turned it in her direction.
Unable to dodge any further the bear slammed right into her. Pinning her against the wall. Coming right up to her chest, the bear tried to sink its teeth right into her flank but her scaled sides prevented the teeth from digging into her.
Distressed and unable to do anything else with the bear pushing against her she placed her hands against it and tried to shove it off of her. Surprisingly, the bear was thrown back, its paws scraping against the ground trying to gain purchase finally stopped when it hit the opposing wall. Astonished at her own strength she looked back and forth at the bear and the strange new arms she had and realized again that she wasn't the same as she was before. Even more impressively she was strong enough to contend with the monster before her.
Her brief moment of confidence shattered though when the monster pulled itself from the wall and formed a full set of mud armor on itself. Donning its new armor, it snarled and came at her once more with fury in its eyes.