*boing*

  I bounce, gently floating through the air. I let gravity take hold, pulling me down.

  *boing*

  I bounce again, the movement a little fast for normal speed creatures but ponderously slow to my perception.

  *boi-boing*

  I bounce off a wall mid-jump that I couldn't see. Because it's pitch black down here. When I came down, I did not consider how I was going to navigate. I could've just waited outside for the creatures to come out, but n0o0o0o, I just had to explore the giant dark tunnel.

  Don't blame me! I mean, it was mostly me that wanted to come down here, so nearly all of the responsibility is mine, but don't blame me!

  *boing*

  This isn't even a sound my body naturally makes. I'm making this sound consciously, with my fake lungs. Took me a couple minutes to get it just right, but it lends realism to my form.

  *boing*

  I also gave myself bunny ears to up the 'cuteness' factor.

  *boing*

  I'm going to fall down a hole at some point. Just blindly bouncing through the dark. I hope I encounter the creatures. Speaking of which, I hope their sense of hearing isn't too good, or they'll notice things about my form I don't want them too.

  *boing*

  This doesn't feel like rock. What did I land on? I melt myself into it, exploring its wrinkles and cracks. Feels like a... a giant palm.

  Something starts pressing into my side. I deform around it, doing my best to mimic accurate stretchy physics. The object continues pressing into me, and I just keep deforming around it. It feels thin, yet long. Am I being stabbed? Well, I couldn't hear anything, so I'm guessing that they don't use echolocation, assuming I can hear pitches that high. You can stop stabbing me now.

  My deformation halts, leaving the knife a bit more than halfway into my body. The knife strains for a second, then stops. The knife retracts, (relatively) slowly, then slams down from above. I deform around it again, doing my best to emulate jelly, before stopping it at around the same point.

  Sounds begin echoing from somewhere higher up in front of me. It sounds distorted, but that's just because i'm too fast. I can speed it up later when I want to decipher it. More sounds echo from behind me, and then the thing holding me lifts their hand off of the ground. It heads over to the source of the other sounds, keeping me in the palm of its outstretched hand the whole time. I twitch my little bunny ears in anticipation.

  It reaches the source of the other voice, and they start having a conversation. Or maybe an argument? Can't really tell. One of them pokes at me, my body jiggling from the touch. I compress myself (stretching horizontally), as if I'm about to jump, and a giant hand presses down on me. I stay squished.

  Eventually, after a discussion that I'm unable to make heads or tails of, the one holding me puts me in their pocket and starts walking away. Pockets mean they have clothes, and clothes mean some level of technological prowess. I stick the tops of my ears out, relocating my eyes to them as I do so.

  Look, light! They brought us outside!

  They strike up a muffled dialogue with one another as they walk up the tunnel, exposing me to their language more and more. When we exit the cave I finally get a good look at the two of them, and they are not what I expect.

  They're goat minotaurs, with green coats of fur and light brown skin, resembling that of a tree. The biggest difference between them and normal minotaurs is their horns, which curve backwards and to the side, instead of forward. They wear sparse clothing, most of it stitched together animal hides. I can't see much more than that, a pocket not having a great view. I can, however, tell that the one with me in their pocket is slightly smaller.

  They follow the path from the cave and across the bridge, and I take the chance to gaze out at the sheer magnitude of the scenery. Massive tilted pillars of rock pierce the bright blue sky, clouds snaking between them, slender gorges and random pits of darkness pockmarking the land around them, greenery taking hold in the strangest of places. Small gliding animals travel between the pillars, resembling flying squirrels.

  The bridge sways slightly, breaking me out of my reverence. The two goat minotaurs don't even bat an eye at the movement, just continuing on their way as if nothing happened. They get off the bridge and begin following the dirt trail upwards into the jungle, ducking under the large trees as they go.

  After many minutes of their chatter, a comparatively small boar-like creature with six legs and claws instead of hooves suddenly attacks. The larger one pulls an ax from somewhere I can't see and slams it into the beasts head mid-charge, forcing it into the ground and destroying its skull.

  The one carrying me jumps, then lets out a sigh of relief. They proceed to grab a large stick from the side of the forest and tie all six legs of the boar-thing to it using some stringy vines they pull from their other pockets. They sling one end over each of their shoulders and get going again, quietly this time. No talking.

  A bit later, we arrive at the entrance to their village. It's another cave, the entrance covered by a gate that blends into the earth. Not all that well, but enough that a glance wouldn't immediately reveal it. Several small slits line the walls, presumably to let those inside look out without opening the gate. The gate opens as they approach, and a hunched, wrinkly goat minotaur marches out.

  My group exchanges greetings with the elder, then gesture to the dead boar-thing. They talk a little more, then the elder notices my ears peeking out of the pocket. He makes a stilted, questioning sound, and the smaller minotaur jolts. They look down at me, only now noticing how my bunny ears poke out. They reach down and grab me, hold me with both palms, and present me to the elder.

  I jiggle a little. Then make a high-pitched *mrbl* sound. The elder and the younger(?) minotaur talk a bit more, gesturing at me exasperatedly. Their voices start to rise, but before they get to shouting the third one puts themselves between them. They say something, and the other two stop arguing. A bit more discussion follows, before the younger one reluctantly hands my gooey form over to the elder. I wish I had a clue as to what they were saying, but the translation is ongoing, and takes a lot of time and data. Mostly data.

  The elder scrutinizes my roundness. Pokes me in the side and observes my reaction. Tries to poke my eyes, but I move my eyes away so that he can't. Something pokes me from behind, and I turn to find the younger one poking me with half a bush. I stare at the desecrated greenery. He shakes it slightly. Does he want me to eat it?

  Ok.

  I stretch towards it and open my mouth, then take a bite. They both stare at me, slit pupil eyes wide. You want me to eat the whole thing? Sure! I reach out again and morph my body around its edges to get a good grip. Then I yank it out of his grasp and (slowly) devour the whole thing in seconds.

  My bunny ears twitch again, my eyes unmoving for maximum cuteness. They start talking again, before the younger one again grabs something to feed to me. This time, it's a rock. I eat it just the same. They talk a bit more, before the elder finally relents and hands me back. I get stuffed in the pocket again. Would it kill you to be a bit more considerate?

  Anyway, the door opens pretty quietly and they go in, my ears once again poking out of the pocket, my eyes on the end of them so I can see.

  Wait, wouldn't they be eyestalks instead of ears if my eyes are on them?

  Semantics.

  After the door closes behind us, the light level drops to pitch dark, and I stop being able to see the walls of the pocket i'm being carried in. Then a soft orange glow starts to appear in small patches. Some kind of bioluminescent moss? Whatever it is, the further into the cave we go, the more of it there is. Curiously, the light level remains at that same soft orange, despite the increase in moss.

  Then the cave opens up into a vast cavern, the ceiling absolutely covered in that same glowing moss. The center of the cave is filled with many modest buildings, minotaurs moving all around inside. Around the village, in the vast emptiness, are plants. Crops, somehow growing beneath thousands of tons of rock. Must be the orange fungi or magic bullshit. Probably both.

  He looks down at me, ears jutting out from his left pocket and lets out a constipated snicker. I let out a burble of my own, and the one carrying me nearly devolves into snorts and giggly grunts, barely managing to keep themselves together. Why? How should I know? I'm like a week old, how could I possibly understand the humor of a giant tree colored goat-minotaur?

  A couple others greet them as we walk towards the center, and about halfway there we pass off the dead thing to what might be a butchers shop. I can't tell if he's selling meat, crops, or both. the orange light making it exceedingly difficult to pin down whether those stains on his apron are blood, water, or juice. The ambiguous lumps of stuff hanging from hooks don't help narrow it down either.

  The two leave the shop, then say their goodbyes (or some variation of goodbye) and head their separate ways. The older one heads into the fields of corn-like plants, and the one with me in his pocket continues on their way to the center. I stay silent, observing everything around me with my eyestalks.

  The one whose pocket i'm in greets those tending the fields as they pass, getting several lighthearted responses and a few grouchier ones. Once we enter the city, I observe the buildings around us. They are made from stone, and appear to be melded with the ground itself. Most of the buildings are very blocky in shape, a personal touch somewhere on most of them. Some are two stories tall, but the vast majority are only a single floor.

  Unless they have basements.

  The most radically different are the shops, which are usually two stories. They also have large signs depicting simple symbols. Not writing, more like pictograms.

  Anyway, we reach our destination, a slightly larger than average one story house with a long gash down the middle of the door. He knocks on the door, and a voice responds from within. He turns the handle and is greeted by the back of the biggest minotaur I've seen yet, leaning over some sort of cooking stove. Faint bubbling comes from whatever they're working on, so they probably have some sort of heating magic. They don't seem advanced enough for scientific stoves.

  They exchange greetings, and I'm finally able to pinpoint what the name is of the one whose pocket i've been riding in. Their name is Jhay. An oddly human name for a minotaur, but what do I know about minotaurian naming conventions?

  Jhay heads away from the parent(?) and makes their way through the house towards the back, then descends two whole flights of stairs. On the negative 1st floor I hear faint sounds of scratching, but jhay moves away before I get enough data to figure out what it is. On floor -2 he heads away from the stairs, which I can see continues down one more floor before stopping. The walls are sparsely decorated, a few weapons mounted to their surface. Some primitive furniture fills the space, and Jhay plops down in what looks like the most uncomfortable couch ever.

  Jhay sighs, laying down on their back and fully stretching out their bovine legs. Jhay just breathes for a moment, then pulls me out of their pocket. Holding me up above their chest with both hands, Jhay studies me. Then squishes me gently. A smile starts to creep onto their face, and they starts squishing me like a stress ball.

  Bad minotaur!

  I form tiny black eyebrows and fix them over my eyes, glaring down at him, bunny ears splaying backwards. Jhay freezes. Then starts laughing so hard I fall out of their hands, landing on their chest and splatting like mud. My eyebrows and eyes remain fixed on him, which only makes them laugh harder. I take the opportunity to feel the rhythm of their heartbeat, examining their green fur and rough, bark-like skin.

  Interesting. It really is just like tree bark, but softer. Their green hair is also patterned in such a way as to resemble leaves. I must say, this is some excellent evolutionary camouflage. Most non-sapient creatures would have difficulty spotting them amongst the trees.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Jhay stops laughing, and scoops me up with their hands, gently kneading me back into shape. They sit up on the couch and stare at me, before saying a few words. I chirp in response, eliciting a smile. Then they plop me on their head, between their horns. Like a hat. A tiny bunny-ball hat.

  Seemingly satisfied, Jhay goes back over to the stairs and heads up, all the way back to the top floor. The scratching on the second floor has been replaced by loud banging, and Jhay completely ignores it. A sibling perhaps? Jhay sneaks past the larger goat minotaur, who's still working on that bubbling pot, before heading back out into the town to go somewhere else, me still sitting on their head.

  "How are we supposed to know we have the right plant again?"

  "It glows purple when you get close." Answers the gruff voice of Gheken.

  We are on our way to the cave to find a very valuable plant. I've never seen it before, but it's been described to me as 'an upside down baby tree made of glowy purple stone'. Nobody has been able to find it in the last week of searching, so I doubt we'll find it this time, but we need to try anyway.

  "Eyes up. Almost there." the images of what the plant could look like vanish from my mind, my attention turning back to the forest around us. It's been oddly quiet today, the insects and animals alike hiding away from something. If Gheken wasn't so nonchalant about it, I might've even been worried.

  We cross one of the naturally formed bridges, following the dirt path to our destination. Once we reach the cave, we enter and begin our search.

  ------------------------

  "Did you find it?" I whisper.

  "No. Keep looking. If we don't find it soon we'll head back." Gheken responds.

  I let out an sigh, then back away to head down yet another tunnel, this one slanting slightly upwards. Almost nothing lives down here, so it's safe as long as you stay quiet. Speaking of quiet, what is that strange noise?

  *boing*

  I creep closer, noting the almost rhythmic repetition of the sound. The source changes direction a couple times, but eventually I manage to narrow the echo down to a singular source. A small white lump with large ears, blindly bouncing around the cave. I've never seen anything like it before!

  I watch the creature bumble into another wall. Deciding to take it out, I calculate it's path and gently place my hand in it's way, making no noise as I do so. It hops over, utterly oblivious to its impending death. I carefully draw my knife and prepare to strike.

  *boing* It bounces right into my awaiting hand, my dagger flying in for two quick stabs, but Instead of sinking into it's flesh or popping it, the dagger does nothing and the creature sits in my palm unscathed.

  "What the..."

  "Find something?"

  "I found something alright..."

  I stand up, the jiggly thing making no moves to escape from my hand, even though I just attacked it. I head over to Gheken and show him the creature, it's form simple enough that the lack of light does not impede our observation.

  "What is that."

  "I don't know. I tried stabbing it but nothing happened, and It doesn't seem aggressive. Can I keep it as a pet?"

  Gheken looks at me incredulously.

  "A pet. You want to keep a random creature you found in a cave as a pet."

  "Yep! It doesn't mind me having tried to stab it, and just look at how cute it's little ears and eyes are! I can't believe I was thinking about eating it earlier."

  "Do you know what it eats?"

  "I'll figure it out when we get back."

  "If you can convince the elder to let it in. Now lets go, it's pointless to search any longer."

  "Ok!" I gingerly place the creature inside my pocket, wait a second to make sure it won't try to bite me through the leather, then follow behind Gheken as he leads me through the winding dark tunnels. The faint glow that permeates the cave guides our way back. I have a terrible sense of direction, part of the reason i'm not allowed outside without an escort. I'd get lost within minutes.

  Once out of the cave, we strike up our usual conversation. Me, ranting about things in my life and Gheken giving out sagely wisdom with his usual deadpan delivery. On our way back through the forest, something dashes out of the bushes at us. I jump in surprise, Gheken kills it, and I realize it's only a pariedoar. I grab a nearby stick and start tying it up. Meat is meat after all. We stop talking, not wanting to draw any more wildlife to us.

  Strange. normally we can be as loud as we want and nothing will go near us. Something really has these guys spooked.

  At last, we arrive at the village's main entrance, and the Elder comes out to greet us.

  "Welcome back Jhay, Gheken. I take it you did not find the plant?"

  "No, Elder."

  "Unfortunate. I see you caught a pariedoar though. You going to drain and eat it yourself, or sell it to the butcher?"

  "Sell it. Then split the money."

  His eyes fall on my pocket.

  "And what is that?" Damn, I was hoping he wouldn't notice. I look down at the little thing, it's ears poking out of my pocket. I reach my hand in and pull it out, presenting it to the elder with both hands cupped around it. It jiggles slightly, then makes the cutest noise i've ever heard.

  "Myrrrrp?"

  "Can I keep it?"

  "What? No, of course you can't."

  "Why not? It's docile, doesn't have any claws or pointy bits, and just look at how adorable it's little eyes are!"

  "That's exactly why you shouldn't keep it, let alone bring it anywhere near the village. You don't know how it defends itself, or why it hasn't attacked us yet. It could be intelligent, just waiting for you to bring it into the village before killing all of us! It's too risky."

  "It could never! Just look at it!"

  "You are being blinded by its appearance child, listen to what I am saying! You should not have even brought it here! Throw it back where you found it and forget about it!" Gheken suddenly steps between us.

  "Stop fighting." The Elder loses a bit of his steam, and I shrink back, having unconsciously gotten closer as we argued.

  "Elder. Why don't you examine it yourself? See if it's truly dangerous."

  "Great idea Gheken! Just risk myself instead of the village! What a bright idea!"

  Gheken's face remains stoney, unamused by the Elders sarcasm.

  "Fine, I'll judge the thing myself. Now hand it over." The Elder grumbles.

  I take a deep breath, before relinquishing it into the Elders outstretched hands. He examines it's gelatinous flesh, wiggling it and prodding at it's skin. He tries to poke its eyes, but they float away from his touch, making me think that they aren't actually its eyes. Suddenly, I have an idea.

  Turning around, I quietly break off a piece of a nearby bush, then prod the back of the creature with it. The 'eyes' swivel around to look at me, and I jostle the branch enticingly. If it eats this, It should help prove to the Elder that it isn't a danger to the village.

  It stretches towards the branch, and the part of the branch nearest to it vanishes. Wait, what? Then, almost faster than I can blink, it reaches out and grabs what's left out of my hand, then shoves it into a mouth that definitely wasn't there a second ago. And then the mouth is gone, as if it was never there.

  "..."

  It's ears twitch, its puffy little cheeks and adorable little eyes the very picture of innocence.

  "Jhay." The Elders tone has become much more relaxed, none of that earlier vitrol to be found.

  "Yes Elder?"

  "Feed it a rock."

  "What? Why?"

  "Because I'll let you keep it if it eats the rock."

  "Again, why?"

  "Do you want to keep it or not?" He glares over at me, irritation seeping into his wizened voice.

  I shut my mouth and pick up a rock, handing it to the blob the same way I did the plant. It eats it, then resumes its expression of perpetual cuteness.

  "It ate it! I get to keep it now! Wait, why would it eating a rock let me keep it?" I turn my questioning gaze over to the elder.

  "I think it's a baby earth elemental, which you are utterly unqualified to handle, but is generally harmless. You may keep it until it grows intelligent enough to want to leave, at which point it will be far more powerful than you. Raising it will likely prove to be a fruitless endeavor, but you youngins are allowed to make mistakes."

  "Thank you Elder! I'll be sure to raise it right!"

  "Great. Now let's get back inside." He returns the blob, which I put back in my pocket. This time I catch their little jiggly ears popping out, which is just the cutest thing ever! The gate opens, and we enter the village's outskirts. The Elder stays behind to keep doing whatever he was doing, while we continue on, traverseing the soft orange caverns that formed semi-naturally. If you count earth elementals as natural.

  Gheken doesn't seem up to conversation for now, so I don't bother him by trying to start one. I do greet the other Capritaurs working the fields, receiving mixed but mostly positive responses. The few that answer grumpily do so because I interrupted their work, not out of any ill will, so I don't take it personally. I glance down at my pocket and snort at how frantically it's 'ears' are moving around. I knew it's 'eyes' weren't actually it's eyes!

  We drop off the dead pariedoar at the butchers and split up, Gheken heading back to his house near the ouskirts. I'll come back later for my half of the payment.

  I walk down the wide streets, tracing paths i've walked since I was a kid, familiarity guiding my step. Soon, I arrive at our door.

  *knock knock*

  "Come on it!" A warm voice answers my knocks.

  "Hey Dad!"

  "Welcome home Jhay. How was the search?"

  "We still didn't find it. Wait, are you making catal soup?"

  "Yep!"

  "Ugh. I hate catal soup."

  "Too bad, so sad, i'm working with what I have dear."

  "I'm gonna go rest for a minute, then head on over to Harts."

  "Alright sweetie, don't stay over for too long."

  I move past Dad and head downstairs, ignoring my brothers floor entirely. I live on floor three, but I'm actually heading to floor four. The living floor. Mom and Dads room is the deepest, floor five.

  *Whump*

  I collapse onto the couch and stretch out my limbs, relaxing after that tiresome search. Taking a moment to breath, I reflect on the fact that I now have an honest to gods Earth Elemental chilling in my pocket. Speaking of which, I pull the little bugger out and study it's near-perfect sphere-ness. Gently, I start to squeeze it with my palms. It doesn't react. So I squeeze it harder, folds of it coming out through the gaps of my fingers, and tiny angry eyebrows show up above its "eyes". It's ears also bend backwards.

  "..."

  "HAH!" I erupt into giggles, my hands involuntarily dropping it onto my chest. It melts, gooping down and around my chest yet never seperating, eyebrows and ears somehow staying fixated on me, which only makes me laugh harder. With the way this thing acts, it might be some sort of mud elemental, but that doesn't detract from how funny and cute it is.

  Eventually, I calm down enough to start scooping it back together. Thankfully, none of it got stuck in my fur. Staring into it's pitch black eyes, I notice something weird. Theres no reflection in them. Eh, must be because of the natural orange obscuring my vision. I decide to try and wear it as a hat, because why not? Hart will find it absolutely hilarious, Dad won't see it, it'll probably annoy my bro if he catches me on my way up, and Mom won't be back in time to tell me not too.

  Decision shakily justified, I place the little thing on top of my head, partially between my horns. I feel it conform to the shape of my head, which gives me confidence it won't fall off the minute I start moving. I head back upstairs, ignore my brothers noises, slip past my Dad, and get back out into the street. Time to go to Harts!

  I sprint away from my house and through the less traveled paths, heading almost directly to Harts place. Hart is my best friend, we've been friends since we were kids. He loves to fight, I love to explore, and together we caused all kinds of chaos. I was always finding people for him to fight, things for him to break that wouldn't get us into too much trouble, I even helped him win a couple of his fights. Nowadays, he sometimes accompanies me outside, and gets disappointed when nothing shows up for him to fight.

  I dash through his open door (they never close it) and dodge his Mom standing in the middle of the hallway.

  "Sorry! Coming through!"

  She doesn't get a chance to reply because i'm down the stairs in seconds. I leap off the stairs on the second floor, (Harts floor), landing hard on my hooves.

  "HART!"

  "YEAH?" He yells back through the walls.

  "COME LOOK AT THIS THING!"

  "SURE."

  A loud thunk reverberates through the floor, and a door opens to reveal Hart, drenched in sweat and almost naked except for his underwear.

  "So, what did you- what is that?"

  "My new pet!" I smile, amused by his confusion.

  "...right. Where did you get it?"

  "The cave."

  "Where in the cave?"

  "By the entrance."

  "Cool. What does it do?"

  "Eat and look cute."

  "Thats it?"

  "So far, yeah."

  "Can I fight it?"

  "No. It's harmless. You'd be bullying it."

  "Fine." Hart takes a closer look at the thing on my head, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

  "Is that thing even alive? It isn't breathing."

  "Well, Gheken thinks it's a baby earth elemental, so of course it wouldn't need to breathe." I proclaim, placing my hands on my hips and huffing.

  "Can I fight it when it grows up then?"

  "Again, no! No fighting pets!"

  "will it still be a pet when it grows up? Don't they grow more intelligent as they age? Can I ask it if it wants to fight me then?"

  "Uh..." I did not expect such a well thought out response from Hart.

  "Mrbl?" The elemental asks.

  "Awwwwwwww, look at the little cutie! Making gooey noises!" I pull it off of my head and hold it by the sides, eyes facing Hart.

  "Look at it's face! You have to admit it's cute!"

  "...Yeah, i'm not winning that argument. Can I go back to working out now?"

  "Sure, go back to lugging around your massive rocks. I'm gonna go play with my new pet!"

  "Alright. See you later."

  "See you!" I smile goodbye as I head up the stairs, before turning my attention back to the thing between my hands.

  "Now, what game should we play first?"

  "Mrbl."

  "Great idea! I've always wanted to play fetch!"

  ------------------------

  I have been here for two weeks now, pretending to be a docile pet and acting cute the whole time.

  Can we eat them all now?

  Shush. We have a rudimentary grasp on their language, eating them would waste all that effort and time.

  But i'm hungryyyyyyyyy~ and they're annoying!

  No they aren't. You're just tired of playing pet. I am too, to be honest. That name Jhay gave us is terrible, and every time they use it I have to fight the urge to throw up. Mimic time?

  Mimic time.

  I begin unraveling a bunch of stored up surface area, growing myself to be around Capritaur height. I've been sneaking out of the village whenever Jhay goes to sleep and eating some ground., then coming back and listening in on conversations to further my knowledge of their language. Needless to say, they haven't noticed.

  "Blorby, where are you you? Ah, there you are Blor-BLORBY?!?!" Jhay walks into her room while i'm still transforming, just as I planned. Also, turns out Jhay is a girl. The only difference between genders that I can discern is horn curvature, male horns tending to curve into a spiral towards the sides, while female horns just grow backwards.

  I morph my face into the general shape of a Capritaur, bunny ears growing and taking the place of my horns. My legs remodel themselves, becoming hoofed and digitigrade. My skin gains color, going from stark white to a blend of dark green and brown, mimicing the patterns I've seen on some of the Capritaurs. Then I texture it, giving my skin depth and green hairs to complete the look. My eyes gain depth and what looks like an eyeball, mouth splitting to reveal newly shaped teeth.

  My lungs form, drawing in a deep breath. I turn to Jhay, who is still standing in the doorway, paralyzed by the sight of my transformation.

  "Hello Jhay."