The Cave (closed)

[BubbleBelly321]

The forest itself seemed very quiet, the only sound that could be heard was a wind blowing through the rustling leaves of the trees. Despite this, the sky itself was a clear shade of blue, and the day seemed unseasonably warm. Walking through the idyllic scene, Alexander couldn't help but smile a bit. Though he was a bit nervous all things considered, he was also a bit excited. 

Over the past few months, Alexander had been exchanging texts, emails, and messages online with another young man roughly his age. They had never met in person, but shared a few common interests, and had been chatting whenever they had a free moment. On this particular day, they planned on finally meeting face to face. Not only that, they planned on exploring a local cave in the woods outside the nearest cities, as both of them seemed to like exploring such sites. 

After finally arriving at the intended destination, Alexander checked his watch and realized he was early. So after removing his backpack from his shoulders, and reaching for a drink from his water bottle, he merely sat on a nearby stone, wondering and hoping that his friend would also soon arrive. 

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi enjoyed exploring quite a bit, especially caves and abandoned buildings. They just held so much mystery, he couldn't resist. He always made sure to be careful, bringing any equipment he would need with him. 

Today was different, however. He was meeting a friend he'd met online to go explore a local cave. He was nervous yet excited, finally a chance to explore with someone else. 

The trail to the cave was bumpy, but he'd ridden it many times on his bike. Though, never with so much equipment in his bag. He was taking it easy, not waning to ruin things by crashing. But that meant he was running later than expected. He planned on getting there early, but was running over an hour later than planned. And since he had no cell reception, he couldn't call or even text anyone. But he pressed on, hoping his friend would still be waiting for him when he got there.

He would be heard before being seen, rolling up the worn path on his mountain bike. A wide grin crossing his pierced lips when he spotted his friend waiting for him. "Hey!" He called, huffing and puffing as he pedalled quicker. he was out of breath by the time he stopped, having to take a moment to catch his breath before getting off his bike and walking over to Alex. 

"So sorry I'm late." He said, still panting slightly. "I had to pack a few extra things. Didn't realize the weight would slow me down." He laughed.

(Your link seems broken)

[BubbleBelly321]

Alex looked up from the rock he was sitting on once he heard an unfamiliar voice calling to him. Suddenly, he jumped off the stone landing on his feet with a smile. Though he had been a little worried that Hitsugi was running late, he'd assumed that something was up, and decided to wait patiently until his friend arrived.

"It's no problem." He continued to beam as he extended a hand to shake. "Hitsugi, right? I'm Alexander...but obviously you knew that. Um...just call me Alex." The young man laughed a bit awkwardly. "Sorry. it's just...I've been looking forward to this! It's nice to finally meet you."

(Yeah, sorry. I tried fixing it. I think it's working now.)

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi happily shook Alex's hand, laughing lightly and waving off the other's nervous behavior. "Yeah. I was a bit worried you'd left. I'm glad I was wrong." He said, letting go of his hand and going to get something off his bike. "Its great to finally meet you. I've been hoping to really explore this cave for so long, but too afraid to go alone." He said, returning to Alex with his bag. He rummaged through it and pulled out a pair of headlamps.

"I may be a bit over-prepared." He chuckled, offering one to Alex before putting his own on. "I guess we should get to it." He nodded, motioning to the mouth of the cave, a wide smile stuck on his face.

[BubbleBelly321]

Alex continued to chuckle, but placed the headlamp firmly on his own head before reaching for his own backpack from the nearby rock. "It's alright. I guess it's better to be over-prepared, than under-prepared." He called out to Hitsugi. Once he'd adjusted the straps on his shoulders, Alex gave a quick nod, and gestured towards the cave.

"Since you're all prepared and ready to go, maybe you should lead the way." He suggested after fixing his boots. "But I'd be careful. There are a lot of local legends about people going missing in these caves. Id hate to have our first meeting end so soon!"

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi clicked his headlamp on, glancing back to Alex before laughing again. "True. I think I've almost got enough stuff for a camping trip." He said, adjusting his bag on his shoulders. "Alright, away we go." he said, leading the way down a pretty clear path into the cave. "We won't be going too far. Some of the side caves are really narrow, so we'll just explore the main one for now." He said as they walked. Minding where he put his feet.

The cave was pretty well explored, but after some people went missing, a few of the caverns were blocked off with warning signs. But quite often, the signs themselves would go missing, or would mysteriously move to other locations within the cave. Nobody knew why. Some people think the cave was haunted, or even cursed. But Hitsugi didn't really believe in such nonsense.

[BubbleBelly321]

As the pair moved deeper and deeper into the dark cavern, Alex took a few photos of the area with the camera he'd packed. In between walking and looking around, the two continued to chat and occasionally point out interesting sites that they noticed in the cave itself. As they continued exploring however, it seemed as though the main path itself became a bit more difficult to navigate. It was still fairly easy to make out, even as the space itself grew even darker, but the trail had begun winding around, and contained much more uneven terrain.

"Maybe we should start heading back." Alex suggested after he and Hitsugi had decided to take a quick rest. "It's probably going to be dark outside soon, and as fun as this has been, these woods aren't too friendly at night."

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi was sure they were following the main path. He hadn't seen any signs to divert them, so they just kept going. he enjoyed chatting with Alex and took a few photos of his own. He also was very amused by how his voice echoed and spent a few minutes making funny noises into the darkness, only to laugh even harder at the sound that echoed back.

As the path became more difficult, he slowed their pace a little. Keeping his headlamp pointed down at his feet to make sure he wouldn't slip and gently taking each step. The rest was nice, considering he'd biked all the way to the cave, then hiked through it. He was a little exhausted. He sighed when Alex suggested going back, turning his lamp to look further up the path. "I'm sure there's an amazing cavern just ahead." He said, getting up and shouldering his bag again. "Let's go another fifteen minutes. If we don't find it, we'll head back." He said, nodding and leading the way again.

It wasn't much longer when they entered a somewhat larger space. Hitsugi paused to fish a small lantern from his bag, giving them more spread out light than their headlamps. "Woah...." He said, looking around. The walls seemed to be covered in some sort of crystals...and on closer inspection, he spotted what looked like animal bones. Partially covered in limestone and crystals. "Wow. These have been here a long time." He said, shining his light over the bones. They looked to be from smaller animals. Possibly having hidden in the cave and gotten lost. He spotted an odd skull among the crystals. It didn't look like any he'd ever seen and almost seemed to be made out of black stone.. Whatever it belonged to had to be bigger than a wolf...and had long sharp teeth. But the skull was alone. "Ooh...check this out." He said, reaching to touch the smooth surface of the skull

[BubbleBelly321]

Though the cavern that the two had entered was indeed rather spectacular to behold, Alex couldn't help but feel somewhat hesitant to approach it. Still, he looked on in a stunned silence as he too approached the crystallized space. At hearing Hitsugi pointing out the unusual skull in the space, and turning in time to see him touch it, Alex reached out to try and stop his companion.

"Hey, wait! Maybe you shouldn't..."

His last few words died in his throat, as the space was very suddenly filled with a bright white light. Every wall and crystal shone and shimmered, only making it brighter. Alex covered his eyes with his arms to try and block out the painful sudden flash. However the light seemed to just get brighter the more time passed, and all that the young man could do was call out to Hitsugi.

[Hyenadog]

When the light filled the room, Hitsugi was knocked to the ground. He had heard Alex try and stop him, but it had been just a little too late. He wrapped his arms around his head, trying to block out the light. He called to Alex, but with the light also came an intense ringing sound. As the light grew brighter, the ringing grew to a deafening level. But as suddenly as it happened, the light and sound vanished, leaving the two men disoriented.

Hitsugi managed to roll over and get up on his hands and knees. Blinking and squinting as he looked around the now dark room for Alex. He called out to him, fumbling around himself until he managed to find the lantern. "Alex...We...we gotta get out of here." he said, stumbling to his feet. He felt strange, a lingering buzzing filling his head. Whatever had caused the light had transferred directly to him...And when he found Alex's hand and grabbed it to help him up, that energy transferred between them.

"Come on...we gotta go." He said, trying to get himself and Alex up, only to double over and groan at an intense cramping feeling in his lower abdomen.

(Let it happen to hitsugi first. The effect is delayed for alex.)

[BubbleBelly321]

Alex's head was reeling from what had happened. His own head was filled with a buzzing sound, and though he was disoriented at first, soon things came into focus, as Hitsugi grabbed his hand. The young man swore he felt his hair stand on end, but was quickly distracted as his friend was soon groaning on the ground, hunched over in a pained position.

"Hitsugi? Hitsugi! What's going on? Are you alright? What...what on earth was that?" He approached the other man slowly, resting a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort his pained companion. "Hey, l-let's get out of here." Alex shook Hitsugi's shoulders gently as he looked around the cave nervously.

(Alright! Sounds good to me! ;3)

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi had never felt anything like he was right now. It was worse than a time he had bad food poisoning, except the pain was much lower. He groaned when he heard his name, wrapping his arms around himself. But the pain seemed to fade slightly, allowing him to grab onto Alex and get himself up. "let's go..." he gasped, stumbling back the way they came. He braced himself with one hand on the wall, the other holding up the lantern. He had dropped his headlamp and didn't even think to look for it. All he wanted was to get out of the cave.

The walk back up took longer than it should have. Hitsugi needed to take many breaks as that cramping kept coming back. And by the time they got to the main area just inside the mouth of the cave, he was hit with a new pain. "F-FUCK!" He gasped, dropping the lantern as both hands went right to his crotch. He doubled over and cursed loudly, feeling like someone had just stabbed him in the balls.

The plastic lantern rolled slightly, but stayed lit, illuminating Hitsugi as he dropped to his knees and curled into a fetal position, whimpering and cursing. Outside, it was dark out, so there was no use going any further. They would have to spend the night.

[BubbleBelly321]

At seeing how dark it was outside and checking to see that his phone definitely had no service, Alex sighed with worry and looked at Hitsugi. He moved to pick up the fallen lantern and slowly began to speak "Hitsugi. I'm sorry but we'll have to stay here until morning. It's too dangerous around here at night."

Recognizing how much pain Hitsugi was in, Alex quickly got to work. He pulled the first aid kit out of his own bag, and offered his water bottle to his friend alongside some painkillers. He then removed Hitsugi's backpack from his shoulders and dug through until he found a tent. In between setting up their shelter for the night Alex tried to reassure his companion, trying desperately to push aside the worry that the same thing might happen to him.

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi wasn't very responsive, though he did manage to take the painkillers and drink some water. he found moving made the pain worse, so he just stayed curled up on the ground while Alex worked around him. By the time he finished, Hitsugi had uncurled and was just laying on his side trying to calm himself down. He didn't want to think about what could have caused that pain, and of course he was afraid something horrible had happened to his junk.

He slowly sat up, wincing at how tender his whole pelvic region felt. "Sorry I'm not much help." He said, his voice small, clearly feeling bad that he wasn't any help to his new friend. "I feel really weird....I need to sleep." He mumbled. As his symptoms died down and he crawled into the tent, Alex's would just be beginning.

[BubbleBelly321]

Alex nodded his head in understanding at Hitsugi's words. "I understand. Just...try to get some rest and feel better, okay? If you need we can head out to the hospital first thing in the morning." He smiled to try and cheer Hitsugi up, though he was still worried about the strange proceedings that had taken place that night.

Almost the second Alex decided to enter the tent, he winced and shut his eyes tightly. His stomach instantly began to cramp, almost forcing the young man to cry out at the intense pain. Rather than do that though, he merely crawled into the tent and curled himself up into the fetal position on top of his sleeping bag. He didn't want to worry his new found friend, so he bit his lip to keep quiet and suppress his groans, all the while clutching his midsection tightly.

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi just nodded, looking a bit out of it. He just wanted to put this behind him. He felt horrible, and not just because of the pain he was in. It had been his idea to come here, and it turned out so badly. He was half expecting to never hear from Alex again after they parted ways...

He laid on his side on his sleeping-bag, staring vacantly ahead. His mind slowly coming back into focus until he noticed the way Alex was laying. "Hey....You...You alright?" He asked, slowly sitting up and moving a little closer. He hesitantly reached out, rubbing the other man's back to try and soothe his pain. "Hey...breathe." He said, keeping his voice quiet.

What he hadn't noticed was how his ears seemed to be more pointed and how his eyes had gone from deep brown-black to a dark blue...

(Gotta get to bed, I'll reply in the morning. G'night)

[BubbleBelly321]

Alex could only moan in response to Hitsugi's question. Thankfully the other young man's touch seemed to soothe him, but only slightly. Unable to handle the strange sensations coursing through his body, Alex instead opted to whimper as he was very quickly drenched in sweat. The pain itself seemed to slowly fade, only to come back feeling even more intense than before. Once he started feeling the pain move to his crotch, Alex couldn't hold it in anymore, and his whimpers soon turned to cries.

"Ow ow ow...OWWWW!" Alex's hand gripped his belly even tighter, and he felt his breathing grow heavy. Neither he or Hitsugi knew what was happening to them. But they wouldn't have to wait long to find out.

(Sounds good to me! Goodnight! :3)

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi kept rubbing slow circles on Alex's back, clearly deeply concerned for his new friend. He couldn't imagine what was happening to them, but whatever it was, that skull had caused it. "Just breathe." He muttered, using his free hand to push hair from Alex's face.

A new pain caught him off guard as a splitting headache spread across his forehead. He groaned and reached to cover it, freezing when he felt odd bumps just beneath the skin. One over each brow, and they were growing. "Wh-What the hell?" He yelped, fishing his phone out and using the front camera to look at himself. "What's happening to me?!" He exclaimed, feeling the hardened bumps.

Then he noticed his ears, pointed and growing longer, the tips drooping slightly. His eyes didn't catch his attention until his vision blurred and he took his glasses off...he found he didn't need them. "Oh jeez....oh god...." he muttered, looking at himself.

His attention shifted back to Alex, seeing the man's ears were becoming pointed as well. "Shit....I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched anything...god...what's happening to us?" he said, rubbing his back again.

[BubbleBelly321]

Alex turned slowly to face Hitsugi. His eyes went wide at seeing the new found changes to his friend's appearance, but they closed once more as the painful sensations continued to course throughout his body. Even with everything going on, Alex was at the very least somewhat grateful that he wasn't going through it all alone. Still that gratitude was somewhat overshadowed with the worry about what changes were taking place with them.

"Urgh...I-I guess the p-place really IS...c-cursed." Alex managed to mutter under his breath. His eyes flew open again, and the young man let out a gasp as his iris flashed a bright green, a very different shade from the pale blue they'd once been. Still, he turned and reached for Hitsugi hoping to reassure the other man as much as he'd been doing for him. "It's...not your...fault...c-could't have....known..." His voice trailed off, as Alex grew tired wanting desperately to rest and wishing that he could wake up to find that this had all been some kind of crazy nightmare.

[Hyenadog]

Hitsugi lowered his head, panting and shaking. His hand stopping on Alex's back before his fingers curled, gripping his shirt. He was trying to downplay his own pain, but it was clear he was in agony. "I'm sorry." He whimpered, closing his eyes tight.

The growths on his forehead were threatening to break through the skin, making him cry out as it finally gave way. Blood flowed from the split skin as dark colored horns grew through. Hands raised, wanting to grab the painful area, but unable to. Mouth open wide, showing bleeding gums as his canines were pushed out by sharper teeth.

"F-fuck....fuck!" He gasped, getting more and more worked up as the pain got so overwhelming that he suddenly passed out and collapsed on his side. His body jerked and arched, legs kicking out as his shoes came off, feet twisting and growing longer, claws growing from the tips of his toes and splitting his socks. They began to look more like bird feet, thick scales covering the skin from the knees down.

The transformation would continue, leaving him with claw tipped scaled hands and feet, feathers covering his parts of his arms...and a thick tail sprouting from his lower back. His horns were short and gently curved, but his face remained human...he would remain out cold for the rest of the night, twitching and groaning. Slowly waking around dawn.