Prompts Divergence (Part 1a)

A door opened, a humanoid shape entering into the dimly lit room within; a large mass shuffled in after them, passing the first as it made its way towards the bed and deposited something it had apparently been carrying. As that occurred, a "click" sounded and the overhead light fixture brightened significantly, revealing all within the less-than-spacious abode.

On the bed lay a youthful human male who appeared no older than seventeen, his form lean but otherwise healthy. His pale skin (that which was uncovered by his attire) was mostly unblemished, save for the presence of several minor scars and a few bruises. Medium-length raven hair adorned his head, slightly unkempt in that it had been allowed to grow freely without proper styling. The tattered clothes he wore were simply a grey t-shirt bearing an intricately designed symbol reminiscent of an avian, and a pair of sage-colored cargo pants. He was without shoes or socks, leaving his bare, soft feet exposed.

The boy was unconscious, chest lightly rising and falling with his every breath as a hand moved to touch his forehead. Staring down at him was a beautiful face belonging to a woman, furrowed eyebrows and a concerned expression splayed upon her features. Unlike the sleeping male beneath her watchful gaze, she had some traits no human possessed, her head alone sporting an intimidating pair of ram’s horns that crowned short, dirty-blonde hair possessing a few platinum-blonde highlights; it all framed a face of flawless complexion, and pigmentation that was mildly tanned.

“Hmmn...” the inhuman woman hummed to herself as her studious, golden eyes scanned the young man’s features; with a gentle hand she slipped her fingers under his shirt and, catching the end of it with her thumb, slid the fabric upwards so as to expose his chest. Her eyes swept over the many scars that marked his otherwise smooth skin. “He seems to have finally recovered from his injuries. Although...” she drew a single finger along one of the more prominent scars, tracing its length. “It is a shame these will be permanent. Human biology, I guess.”

“From what I understand about them,” a moderately feminine, yet also strangely masculine voice replied, “human tissue, despite its underwhelming endurance, will develop scars that will strengthen the previously damaged epidermis... like most other races’. While the resulting scarring is still quite pitiful in terms of density, it is a adaptive quality of regeneration nonetheless.”

“‘Adaptive quality’...” the woman echoed as she lowered the young man’s shirt and began to gaze upon his sleeping face, “as expected of a human. They are all about that, aren’t they? Adaptability?”

“Adaptation, ingenuity, ambition... among other things. Survival as well, surprisingly, despite their notorious frailty. I assume you have learned as such first hand with this particular specimen?”

The woman nodded, stroking a pair of fingers down the human male’s cheek, careful not to disturb him; he was so soft and fragile, it was a marvel that he of all creatures survived what injuries his weaker body had sustained. She had been one of the half-dozen members summoned to treat the human, but despite her fervent efforts she was at first convinced she was handling a lifeless corpse. This was her first experience tending to a human, yet in the span of the past few hours she had learned that these creatures had impressive natural survivability.

“This one, this... boy,” she answered her comrade, drawing her gentle fingers downward along the human’s jawline towards his chin, “should be dead. When I arrived at his side, I was shown a mangled body torn asunder in every which way. Lacerations, broken limbs, ruptured organs... had I not mended his arteries and other blood vessels, and administered enough SBS, the blood loss alone would have probably killed him. Otherwise... it seemed his body was able to function no matter how much exposure his internal structure endured. For a time, a lung and even his beating heart were laid bare.”

“...Fascinating,” the only other occupant in the room responded after a mild pause. “I was not aware of such details. Would it be safe to assume that, from your perspective, these creatures’ survivability stems from their regenerative properties as compensation for their unimpressive endurance?”

“I... would think not, actually,” said the horned woman, a bit of uncertainty in her tone. “While it is true that his undamaged and repaired internal organs performed admirably while exposed, there was very little natural regeneration involved. I had to apply a considerable amount of my essence to merely subside the bleeding, let alone close and seal the open wounds... it is to my shame that I had to resort to artificial methods to mend the majority of these injuries.”

Another brief silence followed this revelation before the woman’s acquaintance spoke again.

“Flesh that is simple to rend, a brittle skeletal structure, and hardly any presence of moderate regenerative properties,” they recounted, obviously unimpressed as they mulled over the human’s anatomy aloud. “Yet they have a collection of organs that can operate unabated upon exposure to the elements? It is as if the species evolved in such a way that was meant, or at least expected to have their internal structure revealed. Quite a rare, and dare I say bizarre, evolutionary trait indeed.”

“As strange as that is,” the inhuman woman commented, moving her hand now to comb through the youth’s hair, “I think it makes humans that much more interesting. I mean, they look just like any other race, barring a few obvious exceptions of course, yet they are still so much different than most of us once you understand how their bodies work.”

“Nonetheless, regardless of how conflicting their biology is to most other species, they are still capable of inbreeding with just as many foreign races.”

“Exactly!” The woman exclaimed with a hushed voice, restraining her growing excitement for the sake of the human sleeping beside her. Her eyes were gleaming with fascination as she beamed down at him. “They are so different, but just the same as us in so many different ways! It’s a shame we don’t have much information on humans in Migen’s records, else things would be much simpler... oh, wait!”

She suddenly turned her head to look at her companion, finally tearing her gaze from the human and casting it towards the individual standing a fair distance away. “Do we have any other humans around here?”

“...To my knowledge,” her associate answered after a thoughtful murmur, “I would have to say no. Sadly, I do not have any recollection of there being any humans here in Migen, or anywhere in Garitsaleh for that matter... Of course, I have not actively pursued such information as of my residence here, but considering I have not come across any presence of their kind nor much of any reference of them in such time, I would highly doubt there are any.”

The prolonged statement was met with an exasperated sigh.

“I understand... still, at least we have him,” the woman gestured to the unconscious male beside her, once again scanning his features with her golden eyes. “I do hope he wakes up soon! There is so much I need to ask of him...”

“Do take care to keep in mind that they will be rousing from a very recent surgery, Reulambeau,” her companion reminded her, addressing the woman by name. “I may not be familiar with the field of medical recovery, but perhaps it would be wise to allow the human ample time to adjust before you proceed with interrogations.”

Reulambeau gave a sigh of feint hurt. “You make it sound as though I’m going to treat him like some sort of prisoner with that wording,” she grumbled. “He is my patient, and a rarity at that. From what I gather, he may not even be an adult!”

Her delicate fingers ran along a particularly nasty, crooked scar that trailed down his neck. “He will receive only the most precious of care that I can give. After what he went through, he deserves that much.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less. But do also keep their species’ nature in mind, for they can be quite unpredictable.”

“Individualism,” Reulambeau stated with a slight nod, another gleam in her eyes. “You never know what kind of person a human will be before you meet them, and every one can be different. So amazing!”

“I... sincerely hope you refrain from allowing your enthusiasm to interfere with your discernment. Might I remind you that unpredictability can also be a negative trait.”

Reulambeau simply waved the comment off without moving her eyes from the sleeping human. “I highly doubt he’ll want to voluntarily harm me out of spite. If anything, he might strike out in a state of delirium... should worse comes to worst I will subdue him.” Upon saying this, a distinct sound of mysterious shuffling could be heard from the floor alongside the bed. “He is harmless.”

“...If you insist.”



Prompts Divergence
Genesis



Some time later...

Erik was slow to awaken, a heavy exhaustion greeting him as he sluggishly returned to consciousness. A pained groan escaped him as he tried to adapt to a throbbing headache, his other senses having yet to come to the young man. He made to raise himself from lying on his back, an effort which revealed the intense aches of his sore body. With shaky limbs, he failed to rise and slumped back down with an uneasy grunt.

“Ow...”

Bleary eyes blinked into focus to observe the area around him. It was a bedroom of sorts, but certainly not his... firstly, the one he was familiar with had much more clutter. In his sluggish state of mind, he could only determine that whoever belonged this place either had very little opportunity to decorate or had recently moved in. The abode was exceedingly plain and deprived of much furniture, a single wardrobe and dresser accompanying the bed itself upon which Erik found himself.

An inkling of paranoia began to swell into the forefront of his thoughts. This was not where he was supposed to be, wherever this was, and the sooner he left the better; he could always figure out the hows and whys concerning his being here once he got back home.

Fighting against the pain to sit up once again, Erik could barely contain the small shout of agony that escaped from between his clenched teeth before falling back down upon his pillow once more. He had now become light headed, his arms and back convulsing slightly in response to a brief wave of soreness.

Erik craned his neck, the simple act by itself enough to rouse a ripple of dull pain down his spine. Eyes bearing the beginnings of tears gazed down at his arm, adopting a bewildered look of horror at the marred flesh riddled with scars; last time he checked, he didn’t have any of the sort. Confusion slowly formed into dread as he examined the rest of his aching body, shaky arms pulling the front of his shirt up to reveal even more gruesome signs of healed injuries.

First impulse suggested a dream or odd prank at play, but the former couldn’t be true with the presence of pain while the latter felt... somehow wrong. Had he gotten into some sort of accident? While Erik couldn’t recall if he had been driving just before this, he still felt that wasn’t the case. Did that mean he could have had a break-in at his home, or even mugged? He had no memory of such a thing... so why did it look like he had been thrown into a man-sized blender?

Questions upon questions assaulted his brain, another morphing into existence for every one left unanswered. Was he in some hospital or infirmary? Erik was honestly without a clue, although the walls were certainly white enough. What length of time long had he been out? How was he supposed to know? It must have been some time, what with him having all these scars... wait, how long would it even take for these to heal up after receiving them? The young man thought himself fairly adept at a few things, but medical knowledge was not one of those.

Realizing that he was getting nowhere Erik momentarily suppressed his mental inquiries and made one more attempt to sit up. By now he seemed used to the pain (although still intense), and as such he was able to soldier through it. A throaty, muffled outcry was made from behind sealed lips as an especially sharp pain formed inside his chest once he was finally upright, but it quickly became dull. Without delay, he swiveled a leg to hang off the bedside, aiming to leave the bed.

Just as his bare foot touched upon the smooth yet unpolished wooden floor, the single door at the other end of the small room swung open. Entering in from beyond the newly opened doorframe was a feminine... creature, who took only half a second to notice him.

“...Oh my!” The woman exclaimed excitedly after a brief, startled pause. “You’re finally awake!”

Beaming at him was a tall, very fine-looking woman. The initial glance of her features revealed a curvaceous form having lightly tanned skin, most of it enveloped in an article of clothing that seemed to be a strange cross between a nurse’s outfit and maid’s apparel; a plain apron (with small frills seamed along the edges and sides) prominently showcased the woman’s ample bust as it clung to her form, the piece as a whole layered over a traditional, form-fitting nurse’s dress that was pretty tight around the waist and hips. Taking note that the lower end of the apron nearly exceeded the length of the dress itself, Erik was suddenly confronted by a dire realization...

“Hm? Is... everything alright?” Inquired the supposed nurse or maid as Erik developed an apprehensive demeanor.

Where there should have been legs attached to her body, he saw none... instead, Erik found himself staring at a giant, serpentine tail that was mustard-yellow with black specks. His perception now in overdrive, he looked back up to her face, now noticing something he probably shouldn’t have missed, yet had all the same: she had horns, a single pair with each one sprouting along either side of her head, curling up and around on themselves like those of a ram.

“...W-who... What...” Erik fumbled with his speech, struggling to spit out the obvious question as he tried to shuffle backwards; as inhuman as this womanly being was, her posture and mannerism were telling him that she wasn’t hostile... at least for the moment. Failing to mouth the words, he instead pointed towards her coiling tail, wincing slightly as he raised an arm and aimed a finger at it.

The horned snake-lady blinked with mild confusion before casting her gaze downward to look over her the extensive limb. “My... tail?” She asked after a delay, golden eyes perusing the scaled surface nervously; she then shot Erik a skeptical look, shyly coiling the limb a ways back out of the room and closing the door a tad so as to hide some of it from view. “Um... I didn’t see dirt or anything. What about it?”

There was an awkward silence before Erik managed to speak. “Wh-why do you... have... one? A tail?”

“...Because I’m a goumiveute?” She stated quizzically, as if her answer should be common sense.

Yet another momentary delay occurred between them, neither moving from their prospective spots.

“...What?”

“I’m a goumiveute,” the woman repeated in a matter-of-factly way, gesturing a hand up to her horns as if to clarify something; the end of her yellow tail snuck back into the room, and she gestured towards it as well while it waggled a little.

‘Was this actually happening?’ Erik thought to himself, taking into account that this scenario, his wounds, this monster person, all of it might indeed be real. As daunting as this realization was, it also seemed... intriguing, if only by a minimal margin.

“So...” said Erik, deciding to take things in stride while the reality of all this began to sink in, “what’s a... ‘gowmeevyoot’?”

“You... sorry. Are you telling me you don’t know about my kind?” She questioned, visible doubt transforming into deep surprise as a previously arched eyebrow switched to the widening of eyes; her golden orbs revealed a vibrant brilliance as they were opened to their limits. “Because that... oh, no.”

The snake woman fully reentered the room, making a beeline for Erik with a face expressing concern; the young man was too engrossed in trying to discern what she was suddenly worried about to react, at least until she made contact. He flinched with surprise as a soft hand touched upon his left temple and he in turn made to pull away, but his retreat was cut short when the nurse (or maid?) grabbed his shoulder using her free hand. Sharp eyes of gold left Erik feeling increasingly self-conscious as they bore a prolonged stare of examination into his returned gaze; a slight blush formed in his cheeks upon noticing that, from this close, she was actually truly beautiful.

“Per chance,” she asked with a newfound seriousness in her tone as she looked him over, “have you lost your memories, young one?”

“My... what?” Was Erik’s reply as he instantly began to mull the inquiry over in his head, at which he began to feel unsure. “I don’t think so?”

“...What is your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Erik. Erik Pierce.”

The woman gave a soft smile at him. “A pleasure to meet you, Erik,” she told him, gently pulling his hair up from his forehead and backwards as her hand combed through it; delicate fingers traced down behind his ear and back around to stop near his jaw, before she pulled it away. “You can call me Reulambeau.”

“R... what?”

She giggled, placing the ends of her fingertips over her lips. “Would Reula be easier for you?”

“Ah! N-no, I didn’t mean...!“ Erik began frantically, growing worried he may have offended her.

“No need to be so flustered,” Reulambeau said kindly, petting his head again. “If it means it’ll be easier to remember, you may call me Reula. Okay?”

“S-sure thing...” Erik muttered, slightly ashamed and... feeling strangely childish. Why did she keep petting him?

“Now then,” the (apparent) goumiveute continued, moving the discussion along. Sure enough, her hand returned to his head, resuming its caresses. “Where exactly are you from, Erik?”

“Just outside of Springfield.” He made to scratch an itch at the base of his neck as he answered, growing mildly surprised when the expected pain which had been accompanying such movements never came. Had he recovered? He could of sworn his whole body was sore a minute ago...

“...And where is that?”

He stared at her, the friendly smile still on her face as she awaited an answer. She couldn’t be that sheltered, could she? Well... to be fair, she wasn’t exactly human so... wait. Would that even matter?

“Could you say it’s near Migen?” Reulambeau inquired further, her expression unchanging. “Or at least close to any of the neighboring districts from here?”

There was a pause before his response. “I... where’s Migen?”

She stopped petting him.

“...It’s one of the Core districts,” the snake woman explained, her demeanor becoming visibly baffled. “Opposite of Artala? ...You aren’t even local to Garitsaleh, are you?”

Uh oh.

“I’ve never heard of those places before,” Erik admitted, an uneasy feeling rising in his gut. “Where am I?”

Reulambeau let out a sigh as she gave the young man an apologetic smile; she placed both hands upon the sides of his shoulders, pulling him gently towards her. “Um... About that...”

“What?” He was not liking this, deciding to resist her.

“Please don’t pull away,” the woman asked, her tone much sharper than the young man would have expected; her golden eyes were sternly looking down into his own, an intimidating sight that her horns only magnified. Erik in addition only now realized how much taller she was than himself... although, her height was probably able to be manipulated with that tail of hers. Speaking of which...

His leg instinctively kicked once he felt the prehensile appendage in question begin coiling around his ankle, the act futile as the woman’s serpentine limb held on.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she claimed, leaning into the smaller human as she continued to pull him towards her, “so please, just relax and let me restrain you.”

“Wh-what!?” Erik yelped in a sudden flurry of emotion, making an attempt to crawl away but failing due to the girl’s hold on his shoulders; despite his leg being now enveloped up to his knee in yellow snake’s tail, he was much more concerned about the pretty face approaching his. “Restrain me!? What for???”

“The conversation we are having might lead into uncomfortable territory,” she explained simply, not halting in her advancement, snaking her arms behind his back with one reaching upwards, hand sliding behind his head. “That said, I need to make certain you won’t do anything rash should you become stressed.”

“What do you m-mean stressed???” That tail was halfway up his thigh, and with the hand pushing into the back of his skull, her face was now... wait, no. That’s her neck, and... hold on, was she was trying to pull him into her chest!?

“Please stop this, Erik,” Reulambeau pleaded him, this time in a meeker, more convincing voice. “You’re going to hurt yourself, and undo some of the damage I worked so hard to mend! I don’t want to force you.”

Erik in his state of embarrassment refused to yield, but her words did catch his attention. So it had been her to treat the injuries he had? Did that mean she also knew how he got them in the first place? Wait, did that also mean she was a nurse, not a maid, after all? Or was she a doctor? What-

“OOMF!”

He was caught off guard by an abrupt show of strength when Reulambeau suddenly overpowered him with a single yank, sending him headlong into the crook of her neck... and while it was less embarrassing than receiving a face-full of her cleavage (which he had previously assumed to be her initial goal), being this close to a pretty woman like her was nerve wracking... except that it wasn’t.

As odd as it seemed, the moment he made physical contact Erik felt strangely at ease; even with the goumiveute’s tail slithering around his upper pelvis, an unusual sense of composure enveloped his being. He took notice of her scent, a near undetectable, sweet smelling fragrance that tickled his nose. Her skin was so soft and smooth, flawless by standard definition. On top of experiencing all these sensations, hearing the woman breath a content sigh above his head managed to conjure a rather instinctive reaction from a certain part of his body... and it didn’t help that the girl’s coils were slithering over it.

Yet even so, he was calm and collected, his fears and embarrassments extinguished while he remained held closely in her embrace. Her tail finally stopped its ascent at his midsection.

“Feel better, young one?” Reulambeau smiled warmly down at him, to which in response the captive human nodded without returning her gaze.

“...Yeah,” he muffled admittedly into her neck, a bit hesitant at first due to his lack of proper emotion. “I... don’t know why though.”

She merely gave him a knowing chuckle.

“Then let us continue where we left off,” the goumiveute stated, the hand on his head starting to comb though his hair. “You... said you haven’t heard of Garitsaleh before, correct? Well... I’m afraid you may not be in a place you’d be familiar with, putting it lightly. Um... what is the name of your world of origin?”

Oh for fuck’s sake no.

“...Are you telling me I’m not on Earth?”