Aliara

Aliara, the half-elven rogue, was limping through a field of stalagmites up ahead. Her head was bandaged, and her armor shredded, but she seemed alive and in no immediate danger. She carried a torch in one hand and her other was on the pommel of her short sword. Teysa's heart soared. At least one of her companions had made it out of the drider's lair alive! Aliara was a knowledgeable and well-traveled half-elf, too. She might know someone who could reverse this horrible transformation.

Teysa wondered how best to reveal herself to her erstwhile friend. Calling out from the shadows seemed best-- they could have a bit of a conversation before Teysa revealed her form.

"Aliara! Aliara, it's me! Teysa!" she called. Aliara spun around instantly, raising the torch ahead of her. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Aliara, it's me! You don't remember me? Teysa? The paladin? Miss Do-Right, you used to call me!"

Aliara squinted. "Teysa? Is that you? What's wrong with your voice?"

Teysa was confused. She thought she sounded the same as ever. "My voice? Noth-" she cut off. Listening to herself, really listening to what she was saying, she could hear it. Her formerly melodious voice had a burbling undertone now. Her slimy body was like her old one, but it wasn't a perfect reproduction. "Something's happened to me, Aliara. You have to promise not to be scared."

Aliara suddenly sounded a lot less sure of herself. "Scared? Teysa, what are you talking about? What happened? And where are you, anyways? Come out!" She hadn't drawn her sword yet, but from her tone of voice it was clearly an option. Teysa grimaced inwardly. It had to happen sooner or later.

She slithered forward into the light and reared up on her tentacle-limbs, approximating as best she could her posture when she was alive. Aliara's inquisitive stare became a horrified gape as Teysa came into the light. She stumbled backward, raising her torch protectively and instinctively making the holy sign of Quz with her other hand. Teysa's spirits fell at her comrade's reaction-- but she couldn't help noticing that Aliara's gaze was drawn downward to her huge, gooey breasts. Some things didn't change.

"Aliara, it's still me. I need your help. We can fix... whatever this is. I know we can." Aliara didn't seem to hear her. Her terror and shock had temporarily overpowered her faculties. Teysa surged forward, closing the distance between them in seconds.

"Please! I need your help, Aliara. Please help me."

It was all too much for the poor half-elf. Sighing, she collapsed in a dead faint. Charitably, Teysa thought that blood loss from her head wound must be a factor-- her friend wouldn't pass out so easily otherwise. Still what was to be done with her? She couldn't just leave her here. Obviously, these caverns were full of predators. Teysa gingerly wrapped a tentacle around Aliara's ankle and began to drag her off. That wouldn't do, either, unless she wanted to bang Aliara's head on every rock from here to the exit.

A brainwave struck her. She dropped herself to the ground and slithered over to Aliara. Yes, it looked like this might work... slowly, gently, she oozed over her friend. Her gooey body stretched like taffy, and she willed herself to spread out, to get wider and thinner like a pane of glass. She gently draped herself over her friend and then concentrated. Teysa had found that changing her consistency was simply a matter of mental effort, like flexing a muscle. She felt herself growing more fluid and flowed around her friend, trickling to the floor. In a few seconds Aliara was almost fully encapsulated by Teysa's goo. Using her tentacles, Teysa poked and arranged Aliara so that her body was fully inside Teysa's, riding like a passenger in a bubble of goo. She had to stretch out her body a bit, assuming an awkwardly round shape, but she managed it. At the last moment she remembered that she wasn't sure if Aliara could breathe in there, so she flowed around her so that Aliara's head and neck protruded from her body. With a smile at her own cleverness, Teysa positioned Aliara's head so that it would nestle between her rubbery breasts. That way she'd be cushioned but still be able to breathe.

With that done, Teysa surveyed her handiwork. She imagined she must look like a giant blueberry, with her formerly slim body swollen to form a goo-bubble. Inside her, Aliara's body floated gently. This would be the best way to carry her around until she came to. Teysa felt filled up in a way she never had before-- she had never borne a child, as her order prohibited the keeping of families, but it had always been a forlorn hope for her. With a twinge of sadness she realized this might be the closest she could ever come now. Still, her friend was safe, and that was what mattered.

A hissing noise snapped Teysa out of her reverie. Alarmed, she looked down. The frayed edges of Aliara's twill shirt were smoldering! Teysa's slime must be lightly acidic! She panicked at first-- she had injured her friend without meaning to-- but then calmed down, thinking rationally. Aliara's skin was perfectly visible inside her and it wasn't blistering or peeling at all. No wisps of smoke rose from where her face and neck lay against Teysa's slimy skin. Whatever the acid was, it must affect cloth but not skin.

Aliara showed no signs of waking up, so Teysa decided to set off. She wasn't sure if she should head directly for the cave mouth, or try to find someplace inside to lair up and wait for her friend to regain consciousness.