The forest was dark, gloomy, and terrifying. Friysia snuck quietly through the shadowed thickets, trying not to jump at every little sound around her. She could barely see three feet in front of her through the thick branches and deep shadows. Something could be right in front of her, ready to strike, and she’d be none the wiser. Even still, she preferred it to being in the village for one more second. The villagers had always feared and despised her, but it’d only gotten worse in recent months. The man who had unceasingly tormented her for being a “freak” and a “witch girl” since the two were children had used his newfound power as mayor to blame their recent famine on her. What had previously just been cold looks and snide remarks from the other villagers had been stirred up into complete hatred under his unceasing propaganda, becoming vandalism, burglary, and now outright attacks. With all her immediate family having perished or left by now, she was the only one left in their ancestral cottage. And now there was nobody left in there… She’d thought of using the old reagents to create a trap for them, but she hadn’t inherited any of her great-grandmother's skill in alchemy, or really any of her occult abilities. The only thing she’d inherited from her, other than her reputation, was her enchanted medallion. She could make a few pretty lights with it, but that’s it. And even if she could make a trap… She couldn’t bring it upon herself to do it. She wasn’t a violent person by nature. That’s why she left in the middle of the night instead of fighting back. And that’s why every noise that even resembled a predator nearby shook her to her core. She had no chance of fighting them off, she was prey! Especially in here…

The dark forest near the village had long been filled with superstition and rumors. Nobody knew for sure what started them, but tales of terrible beasts inside were commonplace around the village. Wolves with scorpion tails eyes as bright as burning coals, winged spiders the size of dogs with webbing thick as steel, terrible scaled birds that lured you in with sweet music to drink your blood… Nobody who had ever entered the forest came out alive, but some say they could hear their screams for days afterwards. But those were just stories… Friysia had never seen any of the so-called monsters sneaking out of the forest at night, and she’d certainly never known of anyone to enter and never return. Although, she also didn’t know anyone who tried… All she knew is that her great-grandmother had done many of her experiments and rituals inside. That was a large part of why nobody trusted her family, after all. But from the few pages from old grimoires she’d found scattered around the cottage... The tales of horrible beasts sounded disturbingly possible. Her great-grandmother did like experimenting with animals, after all... But they wouldn’t have survived this long even if they were real. Probably… As she sat down to rest, she breathed deeply. She began to calm down, her heartbeat returning to normal. She was a rational lady. Ominous tales of horrible beasts didn’t scare her. Th-that rustling nearby? Not scary, she was perfectly calm, perfectly calm, perfectly calm. She forced herself to relax. She hadn’t gotten much sleep, so she needed a rest. She leaned back against a tree, breathing deeply, in, out, calm, relaxed. She just needed to let her mind cool down. She just needed to close her eyes, and listen to that relaxing music faintly floating out from the forest. It was so nice… Like the sweetest birdsong... But soft and sugary… So easy to relax… The soothing music… The rustling of feathers… Feathers and scales… Getting nearer and nearer and-

Her composure was shattered as she lazily opened her eyes, seeing a terrifying bird covered in fish scales with a horrific, sharp beak. As it sang, she could see razor sharp teeth inside. She tried to get up and run, but the music was so relaxing… She could barely muster up to strength to move. As the creature moved closer, she slowly raised her fists… And stuffed moss into her ears. The song faded, and her body was filled with adrenaline. She bolted away, running as fast as she could. Hopefully it would think she was too much effort to pursue. She ran for what felt like forever, not daring to remove the moss or glance behind her. Eventually, she couldn’t run anymore, and she collapsed onto the ground, leaning against a tree. She removed the moss, the music nowhere to be heard. She sighed in relief. Opening the meager sack of food she’d taken with her, she grabbed a stale heel of bread, ravenously devouring it. She was still exhausted, but she’d be worse if she didn’t eat at all. As her breathing slowed, she was forced to admit that maybe the rumors were true… Which she absolutely did not want to be the case. Because when she was a child, she found one of her great-grandmother's journals, and it terrified her even now. Descriptions of her proposed “Perfect Specimen”, made by combining “the most powerful and effective aspects of animal with the alluring occult power of those not of our earthly understanding”. Even the diagrams had given her nightmares. She didn’t want to see a hulking demon-beast anywhere near her… Not that what she had seen was any better. She’d hoped that by just going straight consistently, she’d end up leaving the other side of the forest, ready to start her life anew elsewhere. But she was all turned around now, and she had no idea what was in the forest now… She forced herself not to cry. If she cried… Something could find her. Maybe she should climb up onto the tree? That might be a decent idea. But as she slowly got up, she noticed something staring at her. A pair of deep, glowing orange eyes.

Friysia knew she had to run. She knew she had to get away as fast as possible. She knew she had to escape. And yet… She just stood there, unable to move. The orange eyes seemed to hold her in place, locking her movement. All she could do was stare as the eyes grew closer. A giant wolf came up to her, its chitinous tail swinging softly back and forth, its teeth bared, almost grinning. It began sniffing her, its chilling breath numbing her skin, making it even harder to move. It wrapped its tail around her, the stinger waving in front of her eyes, a glistening drop of venom swaying back and forth. Her mind began to grow as paralyzed as her body. The wolf gazed back into her eyes, opening its mouth wide, revealing several rows of teeth… Then stopped, suddenly seeming terrified. And even in her nearly petrified state, Friysia could tell why. The ground shook as massive footsteps began to come towards them, first slowly and steadily, then becoming surprisingly rapid, sounding like an entire stampede. Several trees fell over as it approached, while the wolf tried to unwrap its tail from Friysia’s body. A hulking shadow fell over them, and Friysia found herself able to look up. Able to look up at the Perfect Specimen, standing before her in the flesh.

It was even more terrifying than the diagrams. It stood larger than a house, an unholy amalgam of animal parts. It had five arms, seven wings, and three tails, all from different animals or just completely alien. A massive scar adorned its muscular chest, and Friysia couldn’t help but feel she recognized the shape from somewhere… But most terrifying of all was its head. A massive animal skull, surrounded by a glowing lions mane and adorned with several horns. Inside the eye sockets was a swirling vortex that seemed to warp Friysia’s mind just looking at it. It looked down at the wolf, a devious ‘smile’ on its head. The wolf tried to run, but a large, birdlike wing was flapped, sending a shuddering pulse of sound throughout the clearing. It filled Friysia's mind, the sound horrible and maddening, and yet blissful and alluring. Her mind became jumbled and warped, She gazed up at Pretty Specimen big Specimen wings Wings obey Fear fear love Gaze Obey Perfect specimen obey… Her mind slowly returned to coherence, while she watched the Perfect Specimen consume the hypnotized wolf… And then gaze down at her with its maddening eyes. She should let it eat her it is hungry only right to feed it she must- She averted her gaze, trying to stop the madness from taking over. But it’s not like she could do anything else… She was defenseless… It was leaning closer… Going to eat her… She wracked her brain for anything she could do, but it was all jumbled… All she could think of was the Perfect Specimen… Why was the scar familiar…? It looked like her medallion… Her medallion? Maybe she could try and… blind it with the lights? It was all she could do. She took a deep breath, focused on the medallion and not the giant Perfect Specimen almost close enough to breathe on her, and thrust it out before her. She could see the light out of the corner of her eye, and the Perfect Specimen gazed at it. It seemed to be transfixed by the lights. She slowly began backing away, holding the medallion outstretched, the Perfect Specimen staring at it. Just had to walk a bit further, and then she could bolt… And maybe she could survive then… Probably not… But as she prepared to run, the Perfect Specimen suddenly flung out a muscular arm, scooping her up to its chest. This was it. She was about to die. The Perfect specimen raised a furry arm, bringing it next to her head, and then… Began softly… stroking her hair? It felt so nice and soft… Her mind started becoming soft and furry too… And its chest was so muscular… It felt so comfortable to lay against… As she tried to fight against the furry bliss, it lowered its head next to her ear, and softly whispered with a voice that sounded like a thousand animals howling, yet also utterly alluring and soothing. “Welcome back… Mistress…”

It took a while for the information to make it through the forest of soft fur now coating Friysia's mind. She quietly murmured “W… What…?” The Perfect Specimen gently nuzzled her, the bony face feeling surprisingly soft. “It’s been so Long, Mistress. You’ve made Us lonely out Here…” Friysia focused on the Perfect Specimen's voice to keep her from drowning in the mental softness. “M…Mistress…? I… I'm…” She paused. Perhaps it was really not a good idea to tell this thing she was not its Mistress, lest it decide to kill her, or worse. It stopped nuzzling her. “Are You… are You not Her?” She could say she was, and continue getting blissfully snugglied… But lying about being its Mistress might make it even angrier… Maybe she should just stay silent and relax in furry bliss for as long as she could… “Where is Mistress? Is She alright?” Mmm, so soffffttt… No speak just soffftttt… But… It sounded so worried and confused. She couldn’t help but feel a little sorry. She spoke dreamily, unable to stop from grunting happily as she cuddled into the fur. “Mmmiii… I donmm't knowwmm… Mwherre your Mmmmmstressisss…” The Perfect Specimen raised a bony claw, and softly tapped on her medallion, the clink echoing through her mind. “But You have Her My binding sigil… You Must know where She is…” The clink forced Friysia out of her furriness, and she began to realize what was going on. “Oh… That’s… That’s my great-grandmother's… Heirloom… She… I’m sorry, but… She, Your Mistress… She’s dead… I’m so sorry…” The Perfect Specimen began to tremble. “Mistress dead…? Dead…? Dead…? Gone…?” It hugged Friysia tightly with all its arms, filling her mind with all sorts of overwhelming sensations. It was impossible to think as her mind was furry, crushed, ghostly, frozen, and some indescribable blissful madness. But Friysia knew Perfect Specimen was sad. Crying so loud. So hard. She wasn’t sad though. She couldn’t be sad. All her emotions were gone right now, replaced with big hug furry hug cold hug floaty hug houagh…

…furry hug big hug soft hug floaty hug cuddle hug “New Mistress… Please wake up Now.” Hug want wake up wake up wake… Up… Friysia felt her mind slowly beginning to work again. She was no longer being hugged by all five arms, only being held up by the muscular one. She looked up at Perfect Specimen, its eyes tinged with blue. “I was Sad, I am Sorry. How do You feel, New Mistress?” Friysia breathed deeply, trying to let her mind stop wobbling and shaking and stretching. “Feel… Not sure… Weird… Feel so weird…” She buried her head in her hands to steady it before looking back up. “Wait… New Mistress?” Perfect Specimen nodded. “You have The My binding sigil, you are My New Mistress.” Friysia looked at her medallion. The same symbol as on the giant muscular chest she was currently snuggling. She stared blankly at it. Maybe it was the hug still affecting her, but… She felt giddy. So happy. She wasn’t in danger any more… She looked up at Perfect Specimen. “Well then…” She thought of what to say. She had a big friend who would do whatever she wanted… Even help her take revenge on the village… She could destroy them as revenge for kicking her out… Have them completely shatter the mayor's mind… But… Why would she want to do that? The villagers were cruel, yes… But they were starving. They didn’t need any more misery. She was better than that. Right now, all she needed was… “Uh, Perfect Specimen, do you… have a home here?” Perfect Specimen nodded. “Mistress had circle where I took Her when She visited. I sleep There.” Friysia smiled, tired. “Please take me there, Perfect Specimen.” Perfect Specimen nodded. It started walking, and Friysia could hear loud squelching sounds. She looked around, and saw that, for what seemed to be at least a mile in every direction, the forest had become a swampland, dark blue mud covering sunken trees. Friysia was suddenly really glad she was in such a tight hug while Perfect Specimen was crying. Hmm… “Uh, Perfect Specimen?” Perfect Specimen looked down at her. “What is it, New Mistress?” Friysia looked around at its limbs. “Can you hug me again, but without your… cold arm?” Perfect Specimen nodded. “Yes New Mistress.” Friysia was pressed tightly against her new best friend's muscular chest, and soon felt her mind begin to get all soft and furry, her worries floating away, her negative emotions crushed to dust, and her sanity being blissfully eradicated… Big hug furry hug best Perfect friend love friend hugs love houagh…