28: Bondage Solo Leveling
Caitlyn packed her bag and threw in all sorts of training and bondage equipment in case she got bored on her training trip. To the right of it was a packed tent that would protect her from possible rain. Meanwhile, her mom Terra and dad Aaron were packing her food. After the initial shock of his wife's sudden reappearance, he was now full of love for her again and had taken extra time off from his last business trip to spend some time with her and his children. Normally, Caitlyn would have been all for it, but after a few days she realized that she needed to practice. Practicing to become a better magician and to steel her body to do justice to the tasks of a police officer in Leon City.
“Soooo, how long have you realized that you have mastered magic?” Luke asked behind her and Caitlyn spun around as he startled her. He had become somewhat solitary since the conversation with their mother a few days ago.
“Mom already explained everything to you.“
”I want to hear it again from you.“
Caitlyn exhaled briefly and cleared her throat.
”Well… 'mastered' might be a bit of a stretch, but… I could do magic at twelve, as I said, until Maike made me forget it, and it wasn't until a few months ago that I remembered it again,” Caitlyn said truthfully and shouldered her bags.
“And you moved away with mom because…“
”Because your nine-year-old self couldn't keep his mouth shut. It might not have been so cool if your classmates had found out that your sister could do magic.“
”Yeah, you're probably right about that,” Luke said, breathing heavily.
“What's going on, Luke?“ Caitlyn asked, putting her bags back down by her bed and gesturing for her brother to sit down. He reluctantly complied and sat down next to her.
”You're not jealous, are you?"
Luke gave her a nudge on the shoulder.
“No… I mean a little, but then I think no. It would be cool, of course, but I have programming and robotics… it's kind of like magic,“ he explained, sighing heavily again.
”But?” Caitlyn asked.
“But… do you think… I… I'm starting over. Since Mom explained it to me and everything. That there is magic in the world. We live right next … in a magical forest and our neighbors are magicians, elves and… catgirls… I'm just wondering… do you think that this magic can change people? In terms of their mood? Make them more aggressive or play with their minds?”
“I… think so? But I'm not sure about that either and I never studied the subject. Maybe you can ask mom about it. Why?“
Luke's eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully, and he stood up.
”Just wondering,” Luke replied, ”I have to do a few things and do some research. I hope you have fun on your trip.”
With three quick steps, he had disappeared from her room, leaving his bewildered sister behind.
“Um… thanks?” she said uneasily as the door to Luke's room slammed shut and he locked it. Caitlyn shook her head, picked up her bags from the floor and went down to the hallway, where her parents were already waiting. They seemed so happy, as if they had never been apart.
“Well, see you later, my dear, good luck with your training,“ her dad said and gave her a hug.
”Here is the food. That should last for quite a while, and don't burn down the forest,“ her mom warned and gave her another bag that she hung over her shoulder.
”I'm not twelve anymore, Mom,” Caitlyn mumbled and hugged Terra.
“I'm just saying, and remember, try to find your talent in magic. After that, the rest will develop by itself,” Terra explained, and both parents waved after their daughter as she left the house and jogged heavily packed along the front yard. Caitlyn crossed the entrance gate and followed the familiar forest path that she regularly used for her running training. But this time she left the beaten track and ventured deeper into the forest. Deeper than she had ever dared to go before. Until now, like all the other inhabitants of Leon City, she hadn't had the courage to go deeper into the forest for fear of the curse that was said to lie on it.
But now she knew better. It was Ifry who chased people out of the forest when they got too curious, posed a danger to the forest, or needed to be rescued, such as when they accidentally got caught in the webs of the local spiders.
Knowing this, Caitlyn wandered so deep into the forest that she thought even Ifry couldn't find her. She sought a place where she would be safe from detection, at least while she tested her magic or took a break with her bondage tools. Of course, she usually didn't mind a little company, but she wanted some time to herself. Some time to clear her head and get stronger, faster, and better at her magic.
Far away from civilization and only with the sounds of the forest around her, Caitlyn set up her tent between trees and bushes that, although quite bare, would hopefully protect her from the winter wind. She built a safe fireplace with stones and found some dry branches that she would simply light with her magic.
“Hopefully,“ she murmured, remembering her last attempt at throwing a fireball. Caitlyn climbed into her tent and closed it. In front of her lay her bags, and two of them in particular seemed to be calling out to her.
”Training or fun…” she murmured, shaking her head, ”first the work, you idiot.”
She reached for her bag of training equipment, but hesitated again.
“Why not both?” she whispered, then opened the other bag. Inside were ropes of different lengths and types. Leather cuffs and Summers' latex straitjacket, along with all the straps for it. Next to it were her two latex catsuits, which Caitlyn took out immediately. Her clothes landed on her inflatable mattress and she quickly slipped into her CT latex suit. Fortunately, it had the property of keeping her warm or cold, and she immediately felt its effect on her skin. Caitlyn breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the feel of latex on her skin again and it started to tingle in her stomach. Her hands automatically moved to her breasts and crotch, but she thought better of it before skipping training altogether today. She quickly took the second catsuit, which was much too tight, and pulled it over the one from C&T. In contrast to the other one, it pressed relentlessly on her body and it seemed as if she had to fight for every movement. Next, she took her sports clothes out of her bag. She didn't need the winter version, though, and just pulled on a pair of leggings and a tight shirt over the top. She only did this in case she got a sudden visitor, so she wouldn't be sitting in the forest dressed only in latex.
“I certainly wouldn't want to have that conversation,” she murmured, imagining having to explain to an old lady with a dog what she was doing out here in the wilderness, dressed only in her catsuits. A blush rose to her face, and she quickly took the cuffs and a few stretchy black ropes out of her bag. She tied them to the D-rings and locked the cuffs around her wrists and ankles. Next, she took some more strips of duct tape and taped them over her mouth. In her mind, this was at least a good idea to make the workout even more exhausting, and she finally tied a scarf around her face so as not to breathe in the freezing cold air directly. Caitlyn opened the tent and climbed out into the fresh air. She tied the other ends of the stretchy ropes to a tree and walked away from it until the ropes were taut, then tried to pull them back. The pull on them was so strong that she had to be careful not to slip or tip over backwards.
Maybe I just wanted an excuse to test those special ropes. Caitlyn thought, striking a fighting pose with the anchor tree behind her. Just raising her arms was hard enough in the latex suits, but the ropes added another challenge. Before she could even begin, she had trouble just maintaining her pose, but she used all her strength and managed to keep her hands in front of her face with great concentration. Then she lunged forward and the rope stretched further, and she had to fight to counteract it and maintain her position. She brought her hand back to the starting position, taking care not to hit her own face. She repeated the process with the other hand and then switched sides. It felt a bit like she was in a gym, albeit a much kinkier one. The fact that she could only breathe through her nose made everything all the more exhausting, but she kept going and after a while she got cocky.
Maybe I can train my kicks too? Caitlyn wondered, lifted one of her legs and immediately regretted it. She lost her footing, slipped and was pulled backwards by the tension. The momentum made her roll across the ground and the stretchy ropes wrapped around her. She came to a moaning halt at the base of the tree, her body tightly entwined from head to toe as if she were a damsel in distress from an old cartoon. The only thing missing was duct tape over her mouth, but that had been lost during the flight.
Nice idea, Cait. she thought, while everything was spinning around in her head. Caitlyn lay still for a moment, while the ropes pressed deep into her skin. It felt as if they were pulling tighter and tighter.
“What was I thinking? I can barely stand with these ropes,” Caitlyn scolded herself as she struggled against the grip and felt the ropes slowly slide off her body, ”At least it's not an effective bind…”
Caitlyn was irritated when she felt the ropes around her feet tighten again and looked down at them. She blinked in surprise when she saw a few tendrils of the native vines wrapping around her legs and seemingly tightening the almost loose black ropes again.
“Yeah, no,” Caitlyn muttered, annoyed, and started kicking even harder, managing to free one of her arms before things got even worse. She quickly freed her other arm as well, sat up, and leaned forward. Her fingers fought against the vines, beating back new ones that came crawling up. She loosened her grip on the plant and, breathing heavily, managed to get rid of the tendrils. Caitlyn rolled away from the vines and set about untying the rest of the ropes from her body, which was now much quicker. She stood up triumphantly and set about re-establishing her night's lodging a little further away from the plants. She didn't fancy any more problems with these forest dwellers.
That evening, Caitlyn sat by a small fire and warmed a ration that her mother had given her. It took her a few tries to light the fire, but ultimately a miserable fireball jumped out of her hand onto the dry wood and caused it to flare up.
“Fire is obviously not my element,” she murmured, lost in thought, stirring the food in a small pot, ”But what is it then? What am I good at? Summoning the fog and the ropes was too much for me. With Ava and Summer, the problem was tying them up, and it used to be the same with Jade, too… back in the day. When else did I use magic?”
Caitlyn stared into the fire as she tried to remember. She recalled a few moments when she might have used magic.
At the Kinky DnD event, but wasn't that just me resisting and redirecting Celine's magic? Maybe at the academy, when I was locked in a locker and freed myself. Caitlyn wondered.
“Anywhere else?” she whispered and poured the food into a bowl when it was warm enough. She spooned some into her mouth and closed her eyes with relish. As always, the training had been no problem for her, even after the little accident, but the food was still a blessing after the long day. The magical latex had protected her from the cold all day and now it was no different, but the warm meal gave her a feeling of security. She enjoyed every spoonful of her meal until it had completely disappeared into her stomach and put out the fire. She climbed into her tent, closed it and made her bed ready. Finally, she took off her sports clothes. Clad only in her two latex catsuits, she stretched on her inflatable mattress and yawned loudly.
“Should I just sleep and tie myself up a little more tomorrow?” she asked, looking over at her bondage supplies bag. A grin spread across her face, and she shook her head. How could she think about sleeping right now? Caitlyn pulled the pink latex straitjacket out of the bag and immediately slipped into it. She slid it over her latex-covered legs, and gently squeezed Caitlyn's crotch while she struggled to slide her arms into the jacket sleeves. Once that was done, she turned her back and, sticking out her tongue, fumbled for the jacket zipper. With her hands now stuck in mittens, this was no longer an easy task, but after several attempts she finally got hold of it and zipped up the jacket. The sound it made sent a shiver down her neck and she moistened her lips with her tongue as her stomach started to tingle with anticipation. The zipper clicked into place at the nape of her neck and Caitlyn took the straps out of the bag, which she immediately fastened around her body. With a few quick movements and a touch of magic, since she couldn't jam the flap anywhere like she could at home in her door, she was once again trapped in Summer's self-bondage straitjacket. Thanks to the instructions, she also knew how to free herself this time, and she was able to lie down on her mattress with peace of mind. With a few well-aimed kicks, she managed to throw the blanket over her body, and the warmth and exertions of the day took their toll as she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.
“This is a mistake, please believe me!” I shouted once more, but the strong hands dragged me wordlessly through shadowy corridors. We stopped in front of a steel door and when it opened, I was thrown inside. I bounced off the soft floor and hit the wall before sliding down it and rolling to the center of the room. I tried to push myself up, but my hands stuck to my side thanks to the straitjacket and wouldn't obey me. The strange hands grabbed my wriggling legs and tied them with belts. I could hardly feel them, but I couldn't move them afterwards. I had no choice but to watch as the steel door was closed and I was left alone in the padded cell.
“Let me out! I'm a police officer from Leon City! I…“ I trailed off as the door flew open again and a blonde woman with a clipboard entered. Underneath a white coat, she was wearing a police uniform that looked strangely familiar.
”Ms. Schoene?”
“Caitlyn, Caitlyn, what are we going to do with you?” my former instructor from the academy asked me and sat down on a chair. I wanted to get up, but Ms. Schoene just pushed me to the ground with her high heels and pinned me to the soft surface.
“It says here that you don't belong in public. A pronounced passion for bondage, latex addiction, believes in magic…“
”But I can do magic!“
Ms. Schoene ignored me and listed more crimes.
”You're a cop in Leon City? So obviously corrupt! Maybe we should gag you so you don't infect us!”
I blinked in confusion and panic spread through me. If she gagged me, I couldn't defend myself! Then I would be lost!
“Please Ms. Schoene, let me talk to a doctor!”
“Hoooo? The doctor will only agree with me, dear.”
"Please.”
“All right, the doctor will see you now,” Ms. Schoene said, lifting a hand puppet from her clipboard. It was modeled after a wolf and had a doctor's coat and a small stethoscope around its neck. Its beady eyes seemed to look into my soul and distracted from its long tongue hanging out of its mouth.
“Uhhhh,“ I said, and the wolf puppet pressed its hands over my mouth.
”Hello Caitlyn. My name is Dr. Wolvun. Are you having hallucinations?”
“No. I…” I squeezed out between the fluffy hands of the hand puppet and looked puzzled at Ms. Schoene, who was back to her clipboard and no longer holding the puppet, but it was still dancing around in front of my face.
“Ah ah! Don't talk!“ Dr. Wolvun admonished me and pressed harder on my lips. At that moment, I felt my lips melt together and I couldn't open them, as if they were glued.
”Do you sometimes see strange things?” the hand puppet asked me again, and I nodded eagerly.
“Mmmmh, very interesting!” said Dr. Wolvun and put one hand under his chin while his other hand was busy pulling the stethoscope off his shoulders, but without success because his arms were so short. Ms. Schoene rolled her eyes, leaned forward and put the stethoscope on him. Dr. Wolvun nodded at her gratefully and pressed the cold metal against my forehead, while saying loudly, “MMMMMMMMMMMMHHHHHHH. Oh, that's not good at all!”
His beady eyes fixed on my face and his wolf muzzle came dangerously close to my nose.
“You need rest urgently! Ms. Schoene? Make sure that Caitlyn is not disturbed! A week! No, a month!”
A month? It shot into my head. I started shaking my head. I didn't want to sit in this cell for a month!
“Don't worry, Caitlyn, we'll get you back on your feet. Here's the bill,” said Dr. Wolvun, slapping his soft hands against my forehead. I fell backwards and a sticky note appeared before my eyes, with a one and dozens of zeros on it. My stomach turned.
“If there is anything else, call Ms. Schoene,“ said Dr. Wolvun, sitting down on my instructor's shoulder, who promptly stood up and smiled at me sadistically.
”How about a year, Dr. Wolvun? Just to be sure?” she asked as they walked out.
“What an excellent idea!“ said the hand puppet, and the door slammed shut behind them, while the price on the sticky note increased a hundredfold.
”NOOOOOO…“
”OOOOOoooooohh,” Caitlyn exclaimed, blinking the sleep from her eyes. Her heart was racing and she didn't know where she was. She couldn't move her arms and she couldn't see anything, not even her alarm clock, which could usually always reliably tell her the time. She felt her blanket on her body, and in the next moment that her face was numb from the cold. Immediately, Caitlyn tried to use her hands to warm her face, but they just didn't obey her and stuck to her side as if she were in a…
“Straitjacket…“ Caitlyn mumbled with relief and immediately the panic left her as she knew she was still in the middle of the forest and had tied herself up.
”Just a dream…damn it."
Caitlyn knew she would have a much harder time falling asleep now because of the dream and the restraints. She also didn't want her face to start hurting from the cold or worse. She sat up and cast a spell to release the straps holding her arms and within a few minutes she had freed herself from the jacket and snuggled deeper into her blanket. Caitlyn let her mind wander.
“Maybe I should put on the mask next night?” she whispered into her arm and closed her eyes only to open them again a crack when something scurried along her tent. As a reflex, she hit the tent wall and whatever it was scurried away, while something else, which she had not noticed before, slid down her tent in fright and also crawled away.
“Was that the spiders? With my luck, they've spun the whole tent,” Caitlyn whispered and closed her eyes again. She doubted that the little troublemakers could open a zipper, and even if they could, what could they do? But Caitlyn didn't have time to worry about it; she had to be fit for the next morning.
**
Sure enough, the next morning, her tent had been vandalized by the spiders, and she had to spend the first 10 minutes freeing it from the threads. All the time she couldn't help shaking her head. Nothing bad would have happened if she had left the spiders alone, but being stuck in a cocoon while she should be training was not useful, even if she liked the thought. As she rekindled her fire and thought about a training plan for today.
“I think I'll practice magic and then go for a run,” she said aloud and stretched, yawning, ”Mom said that I've been neglecting my magic and that's why I'm exhausted after just a few spells. I have to push myself harder again by going beyond my limits.”
Caitlyn picked up a stone from the ground and made it float in her hand. A moment later, she shot it through the forest and it disappeared between the bushes with a small portion of her magic.
“That wasn't that much…” she murmured, but instead of picking up another stone, she conjured one in her hand. This time, she breathed a sigh of relief at the amount of magic she had used.
“Wow… this could be more effective,” Caitlyn said, sitting down on an old tree trunk and starting to materialize one stone after another in her hand.
Breathing heavily, she looked down at the pile of round stones. She had summoned one new stone after another until she passed out. When she woke up again, she got up immediately and looked at her achievement.
“That should be enough, right?” she asked herself, but shook her head as her will to train grew again.
No more time wasting. No more magic, means running! She thought and walked past the bunch. She fell into a light sprint to get up to speed and reach a secluded forest path, where she then slowed to a leisurely pace. Through the dense trees, only occasional rays of sunlight reached the ground, transforming the path into a dark work of art. Caitlyn admired the forest and could even see a few of the eight-legged inhabitants hiding in it. If she didn't know that they were all extreme cowards, she probably wouldn't be so carefree, but that way she could smile at every fluffy, colorful fur she saw and stifle a laugh when a spider scurried away in front of her.
“Maybe I should give them something to eat to thank them for leaving me alone… or leave the tent open tonight and see what they do? Well, I'd rather not,” Caitlyn said, waving at a dark blue spider curiously peeking out of a hole in one of the trees. The spider crawled out of its hiding place and Caitlyn eyed it carefully as she continued walking. The spider crawled along a branch hanging over the path, cocking its head as if to ask what Caitlyn was doing there. The young police officer smiled and was about to answer when she saw a reflection on the branch and all her alarm bells started ringing. Caitlyn was about to stop, but it was too late. She ran head-on into a huge spider web that she had completely overlooked. It stretched across the entire forest path, but it was still almost invisible because the trees swallowed up all the light.
“Great,” Caitlyn hissed, scaring away the blue spider above her, “No, wait, come back, you have to… free me.”
She rolled her eyes and started to struggle against the sticky threads, but to no avail. The web only got more entangled in her sports clothes and started to pull at her hair uncomfortably.
“Come on… it can't be that impossible to escape from this,” Caitlyn murmured, pulling with all her might. However, she was immediately pulled back into the web, without any significant success.
“Then magic it is. Fire!” Caitlyn said, but nothing happened. She narrowed her eyes and, if she hadn't been stuck in the web, she would have slapped herself in the forehead. She had already used up her magic and needed to recover first.
“Then… I'll have to wait until I can do magic again or… the spider frees me after all?” she asked hopefully when she heard a rustling between the branches of the trees. She looked up and saw two spiders looking down at her, not curious or frightened, but, and Caitlyn couldn't put it any other way, really pissed off.
“Hey… I'm sorry if I ruined your web, um, could you give me a hand here…” Caitlyn didn't get to finish, as one of them shot a ball of silk in her direction, which hit her mouth exactly and immediately stuck it together. Caitlyn's head jerked in shock backward, and she looked up. She thought she saw both spiders nod at each other, and the next moment they jumped down on Caitlyn. Incredulous, Caitlyn watched as the otherwise timid spiders began to wrap her legs in cobwebs. Starting at her feet, they skillfully crawled up her legs, layering one sticky silk over the other. This wasn't Caitlyn's first experience in a cocoon, and so she sensed that the spiders were tightening their bonds much more than usual or even necessary.
I… I have to get out of here, and right now! It shot through her mind and she started screaming into the gag and pulling at the web with her arms as if her life depended on it. The spiders didn't like this at all, and one of them crawled up Caitlyn's back and clicked its fangs menacingly close to her neck, immediately silencing her.
What did I do to them to make them hate me so much? Caitlyn asked, but she turned pale when she realized that she had frightened two spiders last night when they were creeping around their tent.
“Pfooom hoooom,” Caitlyn murmured into her gag as the spiders yanked her arms down and pressed them into her back before gluing them down with more silk and spinning the rest of her upper body. They kept crawling around Caitlyn, completely wrapping her head until she couldn't see anything. Finally, they jumped off her roughly, and Caitlyn flopped uselessly in the web as the spider silk began to dry, tightening around her body. She moaned into her gag as her body was squeezed on all sides until she had to focus all her strength on breathing and couldn't even think about fighting her prison. The strings stretched taut across her chest, forcing her to take only short breaths, which almost pushed her to her limit. Caitlyn tried to concentrate on burning her way out, but nothing happened because her magic was still used up from the morning's spellwork, and she had no choice but to wait.
It was already dawning when Caitlyn dared to burn the threads again, fearing she would burn her remaining powder. The flames immediately distorted the cobwebs and she fell heavily out of the cocoon to the ground, breathing heavily. Lying on her back, she stared up at the darkening canopy. She trembled with exhaustion and her stomach rumbled. Still, she felt good, now freed from the bonds, no longer feeling an all-encompassing pressure on her body that had even started to become painful in the past few hours.
“Lesson learned, I'd say. Don't mess with the spiders,” Caitlyn murmured weakly, rolling onto her stomach to slowly sit up and drag herself back to her camp. She opened her tent and collapsed onto her air mattress. With her face in the pillow, she groaned and it echoed muffled in her camp until she turned to the side. Half blind, she groped for her bag and pulled out a few dry rations. Caitlyn stuffed them into her mouth to stop her stomach from rebelling. She was too tired to cook and just wanted to sleep. She didn't even feel like self-bondage, so she threw herself on the bed and just curled up in her blanket. She didn't even take off her workout clothes, just kicked her shoes off her feet. Before she fell asleep, she remembered the burning cold from the morning just in time and put on the latex mask of her suit. Caitlyn squeezed her hair down her neck and closed the zipper. Her mask was now between her two suits and so tightly wrapped around her neck that it felt as if they had merged, and Caitlyn immediately sensed that the magic within was protecting her from the cold as well. The latex pressed her gently, but after the pressure inside the cocoon, it was definitely a relief for her. It was an unusual feeling on her face, but she was confident that her tiredness would help her fall asleep quickly and maybe even stay asleep a little longer without her nose freezing off. Now she could finally wrap herself in her blanket again and Caitlyn's eyes fluttered shut, her breathing calmed and within seconds she was asleep. She didn't even think about the fact that she had forgotten something important.
Caitlyn was startled out of her sleep by the feeling of falling, but it remained a feeling and she was still lying in her soft bed, this time with a warm face. It was the middle of the night and the sounds of the forest gently caressed her ears. She heard an owl and maybe the rustling of a spider. This time, however, she didn't hit her tent. She had learned her lesson. She hummed contentedly and closed her eyes again, snuggling deeper into her blanket.
“Just keep sleeping. It was just my stupid head,” Caitlyn murmured, but she opened her eyes again when she felt the sensation again and her head suddenly disappeared under the blanket. Disoriented and confused, she pushed against her blanket, which seemed to swallow her up. Only now did she feel something wrapped tightly around her legs, and again she suspected the damn spiders.
“Come on guys, I've been hanging in the forest all day!” Caitlyn hissed at the ceiling, but the spiders didn't seem to want to listen to her and pulled again. She fell out of bed, hit the tent floor roughly, and groaned. Her head was still under the blanket, and she finally pushed it aside with her hands. Caitlyn angrily raised her hand to shoo away the spiders, but she didn't see the glowing eyes of the eight-legged creatures anywhere.
“What the?” Caitlyn whispered, and was thrown off balance again by another tug. Her legs were pulled out of the tent as her head scraped across the tent floor. Caitlyn waved her arms around wildly to grab onto something, but she couldn't, and she was finally pulled completely outside. The moonlight on her campsite finally allowed her to see what had kidnapped her. The creeper from the first day had wrapped itself around her legs and intertwined. The tendrils now pulled her deeper into the forest and at the same time wrapped themselves ever tighter around her legs and up her body. Caitlyn rolled her eyes.
“Okay, game over,” Caitlyn muttered, tugging at the vines to simply free herself, but they dodged her fingers and wrapped tightly around her waist. Caitlyn gasped briefly as the plant gave her a corset, and she slipped another step into the undergrowth.
“Let go of me, damn it! Or I swear I'll turn you into a pile of ash!“ Caitlyn threatened, pointing her hand at the vines. Of course, they didn't listen to her. Without further hesitation, Caitlyn summoned a flame in her hand, but it instantly went out.
”Uhh? Fuck! Still empty! Then the old-fashioned way!”
Caitlyn started to pull the vines apart with her fingers again, but they simply wrapped around her right arm and pinned it to her side, while she just managed to free her left. She was pulled over a root that was sure to bruise her, and rolled onto her stomach as a result. Caitlyn grabbed the root with her free hand and held on to it.
“Oh fuck!” she exclaimed as her arm alone fought against the forces of the vines, which continued to climb up her body and wrap around her body.
“Hey… HELP! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? HELLO, I NEED RRRRRRR…” Caitlyn didn't get a chance to finish as the vines wrapped around her neck, up her face, and around her mouth. At the same time, they grew up her outstretched arm and squeezed into her hand, loosening her grip on the root. One finger at a time came free until she was dragged screaming across the ground again, her hand drawing a trench in the cold grass. Caitlyn's left arm was also pulled against her body and finally the vines blocked her vision. Kicking and cursing at her plant gag, she was dragged deeper and deeper into the forest, unable to do anything to stop it. Caitlyn was dragged roughly over roots, stones and grass until she felt she was being lifted up.
Great, now I'll be turned into a fruit or what? Damned to hang from a tree or something like that. It shot through her head, but she dismissed the thought.
Come on, Caitlyn, you'll get out of here as soon as you have a little more magic! Oh? she thought as she felt the vines loosen and Caitlyn knew this was her chance. She wriggled against the plant and triumphantly managed to free herself.
“HA! What do you say now, you…” she trailed off as she realized that she was hanging from her left arm, dangling over a huge pitcher plant that had opened its large mouth in anticipation. The inside of the plant was glowing, illuminating the otherwise pitch-black night.
“Wow… you don't want to, AAAAAAH!” The plant didn't let Caitlyn finish and loosened the ties around her hand. Caitlyn plunged screaming into the funnel and slid down the slimy walls.
“Hey! Let me go right now, you stupid piece of shit!” Caitlyn swore, hitting the walls of the plant with every word, but her fists slid uselessly over the surface as the top of the plant closed. It sealed the young mage inside of it and at the same time, the walls secreted a green, transparent liquid that smelled sweet and now collected at the bottom of the plant.
“Hey, HEY HEY! Cut the crap, I'm not a midnight snack!” Caitlyn shouted and hit the plant even harder, but to no avail. She even tried to summon fire again, but it simply fizzled out at the plant and Caitlyn felt dizzy again, but she didn't stop.
I have to do something! I can't after everything I've been through in the past year alone… she shuddered at the thought and leaned both fists against the plant's walls, looking dull at her feet. The liquid was slowly dissolving her socks and leggings.
Maybe not too smart to hit against the acid if I get this on my hands… MY SUITS! Latex protects against acids, right? Caitlyn thought and looked back down at her feet, but the acid didn't seem to be able to penetrate her suits.
“Ha! HAHAHAHAHA! Swallow this, you fucking beast! I'll get stuck in your throat! HAHAHAHAHA!” Caitlyn laughed with relief, but she looked again at the liquid with concern, which was now slowly rising over her hips, ”Unless it gets over my head and under the mask?”
Caitlyn swallowed as she watched her favorite leggings dissolve into their atoms and now her sports shirt began to follow their example, hissing.
Caitlyn stared glassy-eyed at the wall. She had been sitting inside the plant for hours, hungry, tired, and bored, waiting for her magic to recover. She had been able to regenerate a little, but she wanted to be on the safe side. The slimy walls had so far stifled any attempt to burn out and at the same time ensured that she could not climb out, even if the lid were left open. The acid itself had disappeared back into the plant and instead the slime was stuck everywhere on her latex suit.
“Maybe I can cut myself out, too?” Caitlyn murmured, stroking against the walls of her slimy prison. She didn't know exactly how much magic it would take and wanted to wait until she couldn't wait anymore. But that also meant that she couldn't fall asleep until then, which was becoming increasingly difficult, and more than once Caitlyn woke up from a light doze only to find that nothing had changed in her situation. Annoyed, she waved her hand to get rid of the slime, but it just stuck like it did on the rest of her body.
“Super gross,” Caitlyn commented and leaned back again. As she looked up, she finally noticed a change. A handball-sized tentacle was growing out of the wall she was leaning against. It was green, like the rest of the plant, and wobbled hypnotically back and forth as Caitlyn watched it with suspicious eyes.
“Ready for round two, finally?” Caitlyn murmured, carefully rising to her feet on the slippery floor and raising her hands in defense, whatever was coming. She tilted her head to the side as she saw that the root of the tentacle was thickening, as if something was being pushed through it.
“Acid again? Then I have to be careful not to get anything in the mask openings,” Caitlyn admonished herself. ‘Probably better if I use a protective spell. Hope it's enough.’
The tip of the tentacle widened, and Caitlyn immediately created a transparent blue shield over herself, which once again reduced her magical capacity to zero. At that moment, the tentacle opened and expelled a cloud of golden pollen, which crashed into Caitlyn's shield with full force and then spread throughout the chalice. Caitlyn inhaled it in shock and suddenly she became even weaker than before, as her muscles began to rebel.
“What the…” was all she could manage before she lost her footing and collapsed again at the bottom of the chalice.
Damn, if the acid comes back now, I'm history! Caitlyn thought, and sure enough, the walls were once again secreting slime and slowly filling the chalice. But for some reason, slower than before, while the pollen settled on him and mixed with it. At the same time, she saw that the tentacle began to move again and came closer to her. Weakly, she tried to raise her right hand as a last sign of resistance, but she was interrupted when the tentacle suddenly snatched at her head and devoured it in one go. Caitlyn could suddenly see nothing, or scream, and could only perceive the sweet smell of the plant, which was now even stronger than before. She gasped for air, but there was none, only the constant pressure of the too-tight tentacle on her face. Her already weak attempts to free herself were suddenly prevented and she didn't even have the strength to raise her hand, which was now stuck to the bottom of the calyx like the rest of her body. The mucus, mixed with pollen, had turned into a thick soup and stuck Caitlyn to the base of the calyx. Panicked but unable to do anything about it, she didn't feel something moving down the tentacle again and towards Caitlyn's head. It forced its way into her nose and deep into her mouth, and before she passed out, she was suddenly able to breathe again.
The plant wants to keep me alive now? Caitlyn thought, not knowing how to process this.
Well, at least I can accumulate magic again until I can break free… unless the plant doesn't want to wait that long.
As it turned out, the plant was willing to wait a long time for whatever it was waiting for, while Caitlyn was stuck half-conscious at the bottom of the calyx, with something sweet repeatedly touching her tongue, which she then reflexively swallowed. Caitlyn suspected that it was some kind of nectar that the plant was giving her to satisfy her hunger, but why she didn't know. She was already having trouble staying awake and couldn't afford to waste energy on wild guesses.
I just have to wait… wait… wait… for what again? For something to happen, right? Exactly! Waiting. It went through her head over and over again. She didn't notice that the plant was slowly straightening her up and sticking her to the wall so that other prey could still find room inside her. The mucus covered her body and ultimately Caitlyn looked like a green ornament inside the calyx. Even her face could be seen through the tentacle's membrane, giving her a perfect, statuesque appearance.
“I hope Caitlyn's okay,” said Phaelyn, who had bent down next to a drag mark to examine them.
“Don't worry, she's a fighter. I mean, look at this. Whoever took her must have cursed like no other,” Ifry said, pointing to a deep trench that had been dug into the forest floor by a hand. The demon waved to her friend behind her and followed the tracks.
“Maybe,” Phaelyn murmured anxiously and followed Ifry, ‘At least the tracks are, AU! Why are you standing…’
Phaelyn fell silent when she bumped into Ifry, who was standing rooted to the spot in the middle of the forest, gaping at a three-foot-tall pitcher plant. The plant's interior was glowing, and both could sense a powerful and a barely perceptible weak magical presence within it.
“Is that Cait?” Ifry asked doubtfully, and Phae tilted her head to the side as she tried to sense Caitlyn's magic.
"If it is her, then it's very weak. The plant, on the other hand…” Phaelyn said anxiously, clenching her hands into fists. White flames blazed up around her wrists and grew larger as she imagined the worst.
If the plant has done something to Caitlyn, then… Phaelyn thought to herself, but Ifry held her friend back and smiled weakly.
“It's okay, Phae. This is my job.“
”But… the plant?“
”I know…"
Ifry walked towards the plant, followed closely by Phae, who kept talking to her, but the demon ignored the angel. She raised her right arm and extended her middle and index fingers. With a lightning-fast movement, she sent a bright blue blade against the plant, and the membrane burst open. Slime poured out over the forest floor and both could see the body of a woman inside the plant.
“Phae!” Ifry barked between clenched teeth, and the angel hurried to the plant and pulled Caitlyn out of the chalice with difficulty.
“She's unconscious,“ Phaelyn murmured, looking up from Caitlyn to Ifry, who was still staring at the plant with a rigid expression, ‘Ifry?’
”It's all right… I think I need to talk to Rilliana. This type of plant shouldn't normally be here.“
”But?”
“No buts…“ Ifry said sadly and raised her hand, in which a small orange flame was now forming, and pointed it at the plant.
”Ifry?”
“Perish,” Ifry said in a monotone voice, and the flame grew longer in the direction of the plant. At the same time, a hissing sound spread out from it, becoming ever shriller, until it was as long as Ifry's arm and Phae had to cover her ears. A moment later, a sea of flames shot out of her hand, instantly engulfing the plant. The fire burned through the ground and extinguished the root system and all the pollen released into the air. Phae threw herself protectively in front of Caitlyn when she feared her eyebrows might start to burn. Ifry continued to stare at the fire with a petrified expression on her face, while the heat burned every tear from her face and she ignored the screams in front of her.
Caitlyn's eyes fluttered open and she looked up weakly. Above her stood her mother, Ifry and Phaelyn.
“Hey guys,” Caitlyn murmured, trying to sit up, but she was gently pushed back down by Terra.
"Stay down, honey. You've been through a lot.”
“What? I was only trapped in a plant for a few hours, nothing special really, right?” Caitlyn laughed and accepted a glass of water that Phae handed her. She drank it greedily, washing down the last remnants of the sweet nectar.
“When were you captured by the plant, Cait?“ Ifry asked, and Caitlyn looked at her, frowning.
”Um, it must have happened on the second night. Why?“
”Celine sent us to look for you after Terra called. We thought you were training all the time… The Pitcher Plant tried digesting you, but when that didn't work, it used you as a magic source and sucked you dry. At the same time, you were inhaling the pollen all the time and days seemed like hours. Cait… you were in there for a week.“
”A… a week?” Caitlyn stammered, her mouth falling open.