Chapter 20 - "Mother" Nature.
— Sam's P.O.V. —
After a full day of eating, the scene around me looks like a bloody carnage. My face and hands are stained with a mix of dark berry juice and hedgehog blood. It's barbaric, but my body needed it. Finally, I feel the strength returning to my limbs. I am back on my feet.
Red and I managed to fashion some makeshift loincloths out of large leaves and vines. I don't feel much better about my dignity, but at least I'm not flashing the wildlife anymore.
I decide it's time to move. I start to walk toward the north, but Red shakes his head. He shifts back into his original giant wolf form, adjusting his size until he is just big enough for me to ride comfortably without a saddle.
We don't even make it a single kilometer before the forest begins to change.
Leaves and insects start swirling around us in a unnatural, rhythmic dance. Even the animals gather and rotate around our path, like they were obediently waiting for this specific moment.
I look around in awe. A lot of them are creatures I never even saw before, or even thought could exist outside of a fever dream. It's a chaotic mix of elements and biology. There are humanoids with tiger lower bodies—centaurs but feline. There are beings that are half-plant, half-human. Birds with feathers made of shimmering fire or dripping water. Lizards with scales that reflect the sky.
(This is just a small part of this world! The biodiversity here is insane.)
I feel no threat from them, which is strange given my usual luck. Most seem curious, though I catch a few challenging gazes from the alpha predators. They keep their distance, however.
Then, the foliage parts, and she appears.
A green, Great M.I.I.L.F.
She stands there, radiating power. Her skin is a vibrant, healthy green, and her clothes—if you can call them that—are made of living spider silk. The fabric is translucent in places, hugging curves that defy engineering.
(I mean, did she want to seduce me, or is she just a slut? I see everythinggggg! Focus, Sam, focus! Don't get a boner in front of the plant lady!)
She frowns, tilting her head slightly.
"Why do I feel like you are thinking something rude about me?" she asks, her voice like wind chimes.
"Nonono, it's just... Cough... Ermm, I can see your body," I stammer, trying to look anywhere but at her chest. "And I mean everything, you know... Why put anything on at all if it's going to be transparent? Very beautiful, by the way..."
I put on my best 'natural' smile and try to force myself to look her in the eyes.
"Hahahaha! You're funny," she laughs, the sound echoing through the trees. "Is that how you greet your mother?"
My smile vanishes instantly. My lewd thoughts are put on indefinite hold.
"HeeeeIN!?" I screech, my voice cracking. "A mother! I don't see any motherly figure around here! Where? What kind of mother dumps her child in the middle of the woods, naked! You might like to show off that body, but not me! I almost died of hypothermia!"
"Hahaha, I will forgive you because you are cute," she says, stepping closer. "But you don't know the price that I had to pay for you, so be grateful. As for why you were alone, have you ever felt any actual danger, except the one that you put yourself into? Look around. These creatures around me... Did you ever cross paths with any of them while you were growing up?"
I look at the army of hybrid monsters waiting patiently behind her. Now that she mentions it, the woods around my old cave were surprisingly empty of apex predators.
"Fine... sorry," I mutter, scratching the back of my head. "But you have to understand, in my old life, mothers cuddle their babies and such. They don't leave them in the mud."
We both look at each other awkwardly. The silence stretches.
"Sigh..." She breaks the tension. "Truth is, I'm usually sleeping unless a major event happens. Living a long life can be boring, and sleep is the best comfort. After I used a lot of energy to fuse your soul with this body, I went to sleep. You were not supposed to evolve for a few more years. Actually, a hundred years would not even have been too much."
"Fine, I forgive you..." I sigh, resigned to the craziness of this world. "I was just shocked... Am I human, or something else?"
"Human? Yes!" she nods enthusiastically. "But a special human. Look, there is a lot I want to explain, but you need to go see someone first. It's a promise that I made to them a while back. She is a good girl and won't hurt you, but you need to be nice to her."
"Promised what?" I ask suspiciously. "Not a wedding or something, right!?"
"Hahahaha! No, far from that..." she waves her hand dismissively. "Those things don't exist here, in these parts of the world. Only rituals in certain other races resemble that."
She gestures for us to follow, and we start walking among the animals. The tiger-centaurs bow as she passes. As we walk, she seems to resolve herself to teach me a lesson.
"But, Sam, those things are not like in your memories," she says seriously. "Mostly, that stuff is due to physical limitations, like blood partners to ensure lineage. Here, in this world, there is only one absolute law: The strongest is right. A long time ago, when the Father God still existed, concepts like justice and politics also existed. Now... might makes right."
I stay silent for a while as we walk deeper into the grove. Eventually, the animals peel away, and there are only the three of us remaining—Red, the Green Lady, and me. The tension is awkwardly high again.
I sigh and ask, "What's your name?"
"My name is Elnora," she says with a bright smile. "But you can call me Mother!"
"Mmm... Elnora," I correct her. "I'm just not ready... yet... Maybe you will win me over time, but this is our first meeting and I'm lost. I was dumped in the woods, lonely, almost killed, realized I'm in a new world, built a small bit of life, almost died again, and this time, it was super crazy. Not one bit of my home is left. Yeah, it's hard just to say, 'Hi, Mother!' Besides, you did not tell me my true race, right? You said 'special human.'"
Elnora stops walking. She looks up at the canopy, her expression melancholic.
"It's complex... Sigh... I used to be a dryad, a very long time ago. I evolved thanks to the parasitic bugs invading my body, forming a symbiotic network to keep me alive. I was the first of my race and am still alive after eons. I have not found one like me that evolved naturally, not connected to me like my daughters... Don't get mad at what I'm about to say."
She sighs again, deeper this time.
"You saw how things work here. We used a human child to put your soul in."
I freeze. "You... stole a body?"
"Besides that," she continues, ignoring my shock, "you... You were just a soul, wandering in my forest for thousands of years. I thought one day you would reincarnate like the rest of the souls here, but you never did. Then, on closer inspection, I heard you sing..."
She looks at me with soft eyes.
"I could not understand the language, but you had a beautiful voice. Not many play music in this world, and never like this. You were like a spirit in a sleepwalking state. So I went to my friend, the one you are going to meet now, and asked if she could lend me a treasure so I could read your past."
I shiver violently.
(Damn, she saw everything. My browser history... my thoughts... I want to cry.)
"Hahaha, don't worry!" Elnora laughs, poking my forehead. "Even the worst you did or thought is nothing in this world. By our standards, you are very pure. Besides, you were good back there, too. I spent a hundred years watching your memories, and I could still learn new stuff. So, consider that I spent a hundred years with you and decided to bring you back to life myself."
"And the child?" I ask quietly.
"We sent the boy's soul to reincarnate with good karma," she assures me. "He did a great good by giving up his vessel, and he will have a blessed next life, unless you turned out very evil. I placed your new body in one of my main three bodies—a giant tree. You spent 4,740 days fusing with this body. You lived through nutrients from nature and my own body."
She places a hand on my chest.
"You were a human as a base. But now, you are one-third human, one-third dryad, and one-third insectoid. Now, I can tell your whole body changed to something new. They all became one, but many other races and laws are present in you, just not expressing themselves physically yet."
I process this information. It's... a lot. Close to thirty years in my own time perception, mostly spent watching my life like a movie, and then growing in a tree womb. It just feels creepy now.
Still. I am alive.
I bow to her deeply. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Elnora smiles, though her eyes look serious. "But sorry, you will have to do something for us in exchange."
She seems genuinely bothered by having to ask.
"Well, I'm not a slave," I say, straightening up. "But I don't mind helping you, Mom."
"Giggle! That's why I chose you," she beams. "You will fit right in this world once you get used to it, I promise."
We finally arrive at the destination. It is a giant tree, easily the size of a skyscraper, with a massive cave opening between the sprawling roots.
"Red, stay with me while Sam goes in," Elnora commands gently. "We'll wait for you here."
She reaches into her silk dress and pulls out a small pot with a delicate little sprout growing in it. She hands it to me.
"Give this to her," she instructs. "And remember to forgive her. She is a good girl, okay?"
"Urg, fine," I grumble, taking the pot. "See ya!"
I step into the darkness of the root cave.
I start walking down the tunnel. The air is cool and smells of earth and ozone. After five minutes, the darkness is still absolute, and I pick up the pace as I don't see the end yet.
Fifteen minutes later, the tunnel begins to change. I finally see a soft glow ahead.
Once I get closer, I realize it's not the exit of the tunnel leading outside. It's glowing crystals embedded in the walls. They pulse with a soft blue light. These crystals would be worth a fortune on Earth; here, they are probably used for lighting and nothing else.
As I go further, I notice something strange. My steps feel lighter.
The gravity is a bit weaker here.
I start to run ahead, emboldened by the light gravity. It's very fun. I can go super fast, and a little leap keeps me gliding through the air for seconds at a time. It feels like being on the moon, or in a dream.
After ten more minutes of bounding through the crystal-lit dark, I see it.
The end of the tunnel.