I dodge out of the way and into the hollow of a log as the shadow swoops down and grabs the clump of dirt I was sitting on. This was a good log to hide in. The hawk couldn't get me here and the other end was full of termite like larva that had a sweet musky taste from the decaying red wood. I could just snack for a while and leave when I was sure it was gone.
Things trying to eat me have certainly increased after becoming a frog. Birds, mammals, snakes, many things seem to want a piece of me. I don't think I'll ever get used to it, that moment fear of death shooting through me just before I can act, but I've learned not to let it paralyze me. I feel it and act, just like a few flies here and there who manage to dodge my tongue. That's the only way to survive in the wild. Even though it is scary it's still better than the human world. Sure, some creatures set traps like the inviting holes of a catfish, but they don't try to pretend their my friend and then bite me in the rear end.
I don't know how many times I've been attacked now. I've been in this world for enough seasons now to know that the animals here are not the same as the ones on my world, but that also my childhood of watching Saturday morning nature shows was not in vain. I've learned my territory well and know the signs of incoming attacks as well as where to avoid. And I've come to learn my body.
Did I mention how weird it was to be a bed slug one moment and a frog the next? Wiggling out of the mud had given me a big clue things were different. I could feel my toes flex and curl in on themselves unlike any human foot could. My legs had no strength for standing, so I was soon crawling on the ground to the lake's edge like a awkward new born teenager with lanky green arms, short pudgy torso, and long bow legs.
Looking in the water, I could never quite see all of me. I could feel something wiggle at my rear sometimes, but never see it. I felt heavy, but not fat. Flexing my legs, exhaling some air, and looking at my side I seemed streamlined for swimming. But, sitting back and puffing out I became a cute little ball of slime.
Nothing tried to eat me at first. I thought I might even be poisonous. While my body is mostly dark green with a few wavy white stripes down the back, my back is speckled with bright red bumps like the little red flowers that grow in sheets at the edge of the cooler springs. Vibrant colors mean poison, right?
I was definitely made to hide in those pools among the plants, but whether I was poisonous or am just mimicking something that is I couldn't be sure of. And I didn't want to test it. I certainly don't want to try letting something bite me to find out. They might mortally wound me in the process or gobble me up whole and then we both die. I tried licking myself, but I had no reaction. Let's just hope I never have to find out.
So, as long as I'm here I will have to be cautious, but it still is an all you can eat buffet with mud baths, so I won't really complain. Sometimes I nibble on plants pretending they are great, powerful and ancient herbs. Will I have the mana cultivating cucumber or the agility granting cat's tail. Ick! They never tasted good... I'm just a bored frog.
A few times I have even been treated to hot springs in the snow, but mostly I sleep during the cold times enjoying blissful dreams of far away places. I dream of the silver haired prince fighting his monsters, clothes torn and muscles sweaty and buldging with effort as he gracefully lands the killing blow. I dream of the golden haired princess sleeping in the garden with the light through the trees playing on her delicate neck. The days have passed in a blur of basking and eating, so I don't know if many seasons have past or just a few in my little temperate paradise.
The ground vibrates.
There is something big nearby.
"Croak!" I jump back as a black and red snoot push in through the entrance. It sniffs about with lips quivering over long pointy teeth. "Not another one so soon."
The snoot retreats and a hand darts in grabbing at the air. It's claws scrape close to my skin as I press myself against the maggots. The log is only partially hallowed with the maggot termites still working their way through the rest of it and no other way out for me. "Please go. Please go. Please don't eat this little froggy today."
The hand retreats and I let out a breath--that is sucked right in as the log begins to bounce and shake. I hear cracking as the dark flees from patches of light flooding in. No time to huddle afraid. Must act.
I hop towards the entrance in a bound and with a second I am clear of the log. I land on the muddy patch near one of the temperate pools, at the edge of a small glacial lake. I say lake because I am small and it is big, but it probably was more like a pond to the giant beasty attacking the log.
I glimps its black eyes shift towards me. It's red furry mass towered taller than a two story building (if I was still a human) standing on two legs with the log held high in its black hands. Two little pokey horns with three tips each sit above it's brow that is not quite like a red panda but also not quite like a raccoon. Maybe more canine? Definitely not as cute as either as a long, hungry tongue licks over its lips at the sight of me.
I dash towards the deeper water.
Thunk!
It drops the log and bounds in pursuit.
A paw swipes at me.
Splash!
I dive into the water of a shallow pool. The warm spring water washes the wood dust off of my skin so I can breath easy. I don't take in a breath through my mouth or nose! I've made that mistake. The air speeps in through my skin as I dodge another paw.
Splash, splash, this is not a happy bath.
I dive a little deeper to get out of its reach. The deeper I go, the colder the water. This area is full of pockets, wells, and tunnels created by large roots where the hot spring water mixes with the cold glacier water so often the pools are warm to hot on top but the deeper they go the more frigid the water becomes. In some of the deepest pools the water is so cold my body shuts down and sleep threatens to take me under.
Before I get that deep, I find a tunnel connecting this pool to the next and dart inside. I can still feel the vibrations of the creature's paws splashing around trying to grasp a little froggy that is no longer there. The sharp claws cutting the water grate my nerves like if they were scraping a chalkboard. But then they stop and the pool grows silent. "Haha, no meal for you ya red godzilla wannabe."
I can't stay down here forever though. Some of these paths go right to fish dens or the fish will move through here to get to the next pool. If I explore, I risk finding myself at a toothy dead end. If I stay, I risk that toothy end finding me as it passes through the small tunnel.
Cautiously moving forward, I find a bright opening that should lead into the next pool. I can feel the slight ripples of tasy bugs swimming in the water. Nothing large like that of the red demon or a fish. Taking in the taste of the water, the balance of spring minerals and glacier run off seems perfect for a little frog like me. I kick off a root and glide into a shady group of flowers.
Cla-plash!
I feel something cut through the water and grab me. The wet fur prickles my skin as I squirm in its grasp. It's fingers squeeze the air out of my lungs as it brings me up to its face: Redzilla-san is back!