Dar is stuck. It's hard to keep standing after the regular feeding, as it makes him weak in the knees, and this time he ended up on the floor afterwards. The sticky slime 'spinnerettes' then stuck him to the floor, at least until the other slime overflows and loosens things up.
Dartraum isn't sure he's ever going to quite get used to the 'feedings'. Being penetrated while on hands and knees is one thing, but the sheer amount pumped in until he looks extremely fat and starts leaking is quite uncomfortable. Given how much he seems to lose from the constant oozing, though, He probably needs far more nutrition than he used to (not to mention his severe infestation of hundreds those slime worms and what they need). So now he's struggling his his stiff limbs and limited range of motion in trying to get some of his slime underneath him to get things unstuck. Which means a lot of self-milking breast massage until hands are coated, then trying to transfer it lower.
Stiff is the word. They feel a lot stiffer than usual, and the joints themselves hurt and feel a bit swollen as well. Which is the sort of thing that usually affects the elderly!
Dar struggles for a bit, then moves to actually try to check and feel at his joints. Not easy given his fingers only half work at the best of time, and cannot straighten anymore.
Things wriggle in the hand and arm holes, but the pain is in the knuckles and wrist. It's hard to say if anything is actually swollen or just feels that way.
So Dar spends some times trying to roll and move his wrists to see how much movement he has, or if it's actually getting worse or not The shifting about also jostles his groin, which causes a huge surge of pain! That part of him is still swollen severely and bent. Hosheb hasn't gone more than four to six hours between 'repressuring' him through his backdoor. The split and broken skin is constantly oozing out the nasty chunky goo that keeps being replenished.
The maggots never seem to run out either, which means the 'dead' tissue must be renewing somehow. It all should have just fallen off by now, so magic must be at work. He can still move things, it just hurts the more he tries to find the limits.
And the lighting in here is bad; very little. And it doesn't help that his nose was flayed and stretched out wide, as it now obscures some of his forward vision, as well as making everything smell even odder. Not to mention his nose runs constantly with its own sort of slime. Small mercy there is no mirror in here to see himself, because he must look almost demonic himself. He's also realized he hasn't peed in ... well, since coming here. He's trying to not think about that or where things are going.
Given that things often back up into his bladder, any discharge is probably just making its way out with the the overflow dribble. His knees, ankles and toe joints are starting to hurt now too.
It takes some time, but Dar manages to work his butt free from the floor finally. It's then when he tries to stand again that the pain in his knees, ankles, and toes really become obvious. Standing has become impossible. Dar can only crawl around to move. Given the low ceiling, not exactly a bad thing, probably, but it makes things painfully aware of how limited and crippled his body is becoming. "What is happening to me, Hosheb?" he asks the room. His voice is quieter and kind of bubbly, like his throat is always full of globs of phlem.
"You are suffering," Gorphat's voice answers instead.
"I know," Dar burbles as everything seems to somehow hurt in some way. "I do not know why I am made to, or why I am a prisoner here. I serve you faithfully."
"Would you believe me if I said I were trying to make you into a good person?" Gorphat asks.
"Because you are my Goddess, yes," Dar admits, plainly, and rather truthfully.
"And do you understand what it means to be good?" Gorphat asks.
"No," Dar also admits as he shuffles and painfully crawls a bit on all fours.
"Perhaps I should start with explaining what it isn't," Gorphat says. It's not clear where her voice is coming from, if anywhere. "Good is not nice. Inala is nice, in that she expects to be praised for providing pleasure, or children. She gets quite cross if she isn't praised for it. Niceness is ultimately selfish. Transactional. It is not the same as being good or kind because of that. Goodness does not care about praise, or reward. It is selfless, born of empathy. To be good requires suffering. Empathy comes from suffering. One who has not suffered cannot easily empathize with the suffering of others. Those who survive my tests understand the suffering of others. They can feel the echoes of their own suffering when they see others suffer."
That gives Dar pause as he sits, sort of like a rhghrhat, on haunches and hands. He listens to this, and in truth cannot refute anything the goddess claims. She's ... not wrong. It's easier to understand someone in pain if you have also suffered that pain. "So, you intend to take this aspect of me and ensure I experience the worst possible others go through, so that I can better understand them, and ... relate," he finally burbles and then hocks up a huge glob of snot. "I ... can understand that. "Is it because of our closeness that your tests for me are harder than what you have done to others? That I could survive it, and thus I should strive to?"
"Well, partly," Gorphat says. "My Yodh are gone. I no longer have the means to spread suffering that I once did. But when an example is shown of extreme suffering, those who look upon it will feel sympathy well up. They will fear that it could happen to them. That fear is itself a form of suffering, a means by which suffering itself cannot be ignored."
"So, you intend me to be an example of pure and ultimate suffering?" Dar asks right before he hisses out in pain and shudders. His deformed 'breasts' pulsate, with the nipples undulating and swelling. An orb-like marble-sized shape seems to roll through them as they stretch until a rubbery ball pops out from the end of the nipples. The damn works in his chest periodically lay eggs and sometimes his body pushes them out through his replaced nipples. Hurts like hell every time it happens. And it's usually followed by some massive slime drainage, which drools out in streams from his nipples now.
"Not ultimate suffering, for only Sunala can grant that," Gorphat says. "And while you will suffer, it is for a purpose. Not just some whim of mine. When the time comes, all will see you, just as they will see the beauty of the High Priestess."
"When the time comes?" Dar asks through gritted teeth as the pain in his chest slowly ebbs. "I am ... not finished?"
"Oh no, there are still things that your body will do to itself," Gorphat explains. "Your immune system is in a state of turmoil right now. It has begun to attack your own tissues. First your joints. But then your skin, and ultimately your nerves, before it must be halted."
"Before? Why not now?" Dar whimpers, grateful the pain has ebbed, though his nipples continue to ooze. Well, they always ooze, this time it's more stream-ooze.
"Some fruit needs to ripen before it can be plucked," Gorphat says. "You need more ripening."
"I'm sorry, Mother Gorphat, but I already smell rather ... ripe," Dar sort of jokes; and he's not wrong; he smells of rancid meat, musk, and decay, mostly.
He's also rather rotund and bloated-torso at the moment since he was recently fed.
"You still have a sense of humor, which is a good sign," Gorphat notes. "Be careful laughing though. Something could tear." There are enough things under pressure and strain that is likely not a joke!
Dar snorts. "Is Hosheb now my caretaker? Will I be kept in this place forever?" he asks. "I have not seen the rats since the first day." He pokes at himself, which squelches since he's head to toe slimy and matted. "Not that I blame them."
"This is your home until you are ready to be seen," Gorphat says. "Is Hosheb not providing for your needs?"
"To the point it feels like we are married," Dar jokes. "I ... appreciate his company and his touch."
"For the next phase, I will see that the rats provide some of your feeding," Gorphat promises.
"It is not necessary to do that, I do not mind his feeding," Dar claims. He quickly realizes, though even if the rats replace some of the feedings, It'll likely always be the demon that keeps his groin in agony.
"Blood will be needed, and Hosheb cannot provide that," Gorphat explains.
"Ah," Dar nods, and looks worried. "Why would blood ..." he starts to ask, then decides that he probably doesn't want to know.
"I am very proud of you," Gorphat then says. "You are being a good Bargorphat."
"You did not give me much choice in the matter," Dar points out, though not unkindly. "But, it also allows me to serve you, and I do adore you greatly, Mother Gorphat. I ... do not wish for any that you have given me to be taken away. Even though it hurts, it is your touch and in truth, I crave your touch."
"Try not to let the public know that," Gorphat advises, and while it's just her voice, there's an implication of a wink.
Dar breathes out. "Are you there, Hosheb?" the broken Eeee asks. "The pain in my crotch has lessened, so it is time, I think." the Eeee whimpers, leaning forward and hiking his ruined backside up. Time is impossible to know here, so he has to just go by how he feels to judge.
"Of course," Hosheb's raspy voice responds, and soon there is the hard, familiar biting pain of penetration (at an equally uncomfortable angle) followed by the pressure.
It's more disturbing that the penetration pain is much deeper inside now, but unsurprising since his poor anus is beyond wrecked and is basically an open hole. The lancing of the severely scarred prostate burns, but nothing is quite like the intense, unrelenting pressure as things are re-filled with that vile, thick goo. It's utter agony, and builds and builds over minutes, until every tear and crack oozes, and his torn balls drop too, then followed by oozing out the back too. It's never 'done' until it's backup up all the way out the way it came in. And Dar is sobbing in agony.
The camp is further back than usual during Alptraum's night-hunt. It's been hard to get the free time for dealing with this necessity lately, due to the clingy rat. And then there's the whole making sure he doesn't catch her early in the morning covered in blood issue! It's tempting to just leave her clothes on a rock and hunt naked (mainly to keep from ruining the clothes though). She knows she heard tree-lizards chirping out this way during the day, so there should be at least one nest of them.
Hunting naked wasn't an issue when younger and, well, flat. But at this age and with a chest envied by just about every female Eeee and even some other species, it became harder. It's awkward when you have two swinging weights hanging down! But still, it protects the clothing, and she hasn't thought of binding her chest, so naked it is as she uses mostly hearing in the darkness to try and locate prey.
It's quiet enough that she can hear the distinctive sounds of lizards. They have very slow breathing and heart-rates at night during torpor that make them stand out from other critters. Just a few trees ahead, and midway up.
So, Alptraum actually goes higher and glides from tree to tree instead of from below. Easier to traverse quietly with simple wing gliding over going through underbrush afterall.
The nest is easy to find from that height, with two adult lizards in it, along with some eggs.
Alptraum hooks her feet around a branch nearby so she can swing down and grab one of the lizards. And lo, she even tries this!
The branch is sturdy enough, and the lizards won't be out of torpor until morning, so it doesn't do more than burp at been snatched.
Alptraum almost goes woo! She stares at it, grateful to have food! Then she looks at the eggs as she hangs upside down and starts feeling guilty. "Dagh," she mutters.
Her parents wouldn't mind getting the eggs though. Along with the drained lizards, as is her usual way of doing things. Is she having second thoughts now because she's more.. girly?
The mere thought of that makes her twitch and she bites the lizard out of abject refusal to be girly! While swinging upside down, with her breasts swinging out of time with her.
"You're a vampire?" a wispy voice asks from right next to her.
"Mlerp?!!" goes Alptraum and she almost loses grip and now hangs by one foot. She's panic-looking for the source of that voice.
There's an Eeee hanging next to her. Well, most of an Eeee, as it seems to fade out further around the hips, but it is upside down and mostly transparent, except for its bright blue eyes. No breasts, so probably male.
"Vho ar u?" Alptraum squeaks around the lizard in her mouth, also now wide-eyed.
"I'm.. uh.." the spectre says, but then pauses. "Hugo? Hugo, I think. It has been awhile.."
"Vhy r vu ere?" Alptraum continues to mutter, then hurriedly deals with that bit of meal to try and get her mouth clear.
"I think I'm always here, but more at night," the Eeee replies. "This is the most here I've been in a long time. However long that might be."
Alptraum ends up putting the drained lizard into the nest and wiping her mouth. "Vhy tho?" she asks nest, still peering at him. She even reaches out to poke.
It's like touching a bit of gauze. This also earns her a poke back, which sinks quite a ways into one of her breasts. "I don't remember," Hugo claims. "Why are you here?"
"Dinner, of course," Alptraum answers, "Duh." And then she goes for the other lizard.
The ghost's finger looks a bit more solid when it withdraws, although it leaves behind a cold spot. "You aren't dead," Hugo notes.
"Again, duh," Alptraum counters as she manages to get a grip on the other lizard. Nomf! She's also twitching from the cold, which has also made her nipple perk too.
Hugo notices the change in his finger, and pokes Alptraum again, this time dimpling her skin instead of going right through."
Alptraum merpl! She flails again! "Vhu u do?!?" she demands with a lizard hanging from her mouth.
Hugo tries with his other hand, getting the whole thing inside one of Alptraum's breasts before pulling it out.. and then using it to squeeze that breast, causing milk to bead on the nipple. "You have magic boobs," he claims.
Alptraum tries to whack the ghost with the dead lizard! "Oy, you don go round gropin' innocent girls!" she admonishes him.
The lizard goes right through Hugo's head. "What do you mean?" the spirit asks.
"Imma innocent girl!" Alptraum squeaks, girlishly.
"Maybe that's the key?" Hugo asks.. and promptly starts nursing on Alptraum. She can't feel anything at first, beyond the chill.
"Ack! Cooooold!" Alptraum whines! It's good at making stiff nipples, though, and nursing does always feel good, even if she won't ever admit that!
Hugo's head starts to look more solid once the milk starts flowing. He's not bad looking, for a dead guy.
Which makes Alptraum wonder when she even noticed if a guy was good looking or not. She's also feeling really weird about being nursed on by a dead guy. Don't zombies usually eat brains? Hers are not in her chest! Even if that is where guys stare.
Whether or not a milk-infused ghost counts is a zombie or not will need to be answered by professionals. After consuming more milk, Hugo's torso seems solid enough, and what is between his legs is also starting to look solid. His grip on her is certainly solid!
Alptraum isn't sure she should push him away or not. She's mostly wide-eyed and ears back. "Vou can stop anytime," she squeaks.
Anytime clearly also includes 'not now' to the ghost, if he heard Alptraum at all. He's already repositioning his feet (even though they pass through Alptraum's own still) and as soon as things are solid enough.. well, it's not that unusual a position for Eeee, but he's still cold inside of her.
Alptraum is too much in shock to stop him from slipping between her legs and then completely into her. Eeee are built for upside down copulation, so it's an easy position and insertion. It's the cold that sort of jars her back to awareness. Her ears shoot down and soon she's trying to pull away and get him out! Humping the dead? That might involve maggots! Ew!
Trying to pull away just causes Hugo to switch breasts. And he's an Eeee! Can Alptraum get pregnant from a ghost? If that were the case, wouldn't every woman be getting knocked up by ghosts?
Alptraum has no idea! She doesn't have much experience with such things! The weirdest thing she ever tried was when Hexen dared her to use a giant slug as sort of a toy. Sure, it felt good, but ... nono, she shakes her head. "Please don't?" Alptraum tries asking instead.
The suckling stops for a moment, as Hugo asks, "Why? Aren't you enjoying it?"
"I don wan kids," Alptraum says, wide-eyed.
"I don't think I can.. finish.. like that.." Hugo says. He certainly hasn't stopped bucking his hips.
"You don't know!" Alptraum squeaks! Still, she's not stopping him or pushing him away. It just feels ... cold, and weird.
"Hmmm," Hugo ponders, but only for a moment before going back to suckling. It makes him feel more substantial again, which makes things feel good despite the chill.
Soon Alptraum's rocking herself, and making it feel better in spite of her own worries. It's nicer than the slug was!
Eventually the chill part is forgotten, and Alptraum starts to get the pleasant shudders that foretell the coming of the big shudders.
And at this point Alptraum's being more driven by hormones that worries of being knocked up. She's even making squeaking moans.
The big one hits.. but instead of leading into a the rolling landslide she's used to with Scar (and even Hexen), things fade quickly. Possibly because she's run out of milk and Hugo is back to being insubstantial.
There was a burst and squeaking, then a fade off. She hangs there, blinking. "Uh, did vou squirt?" she asks.
If he did, it must have taking all he was to have made him fade away like that. There's nothing left to answer her by then.
Alptraum isn't even sure that happened now. So, she reaches between her fingers and pushes a finger in, well, deep. She draws it back out and, well, sniffs it.
It smells like her, and there's no ghostly residue.
Alptraum whews. Crisis averted? So, she collects the dead lizards and the nest. Time to find her clothes and get back home.
Even after finding her clothes, her nipples are still perked as if being sucked on.. but ghosts don't follow people, they haunt specific areas. At least, that's what she thinks she's heard. Maybe she should ask someone to be certain..
Alptraum quickly gets dressed, even if her nipples are standing at attention weirdly. "I dun wanna talk to dat cat again, but," she mutters grumpily. Still, it's the only real option. So, back to town to drop off the catch, then over to the creepy cat.