Monster Girl Imagines

Ivara (The Cotton Monster)

The night sky gleams as the jungle around you passes in a haze, your breathing rapid and uneven while the wound upon your abdomen burns viciously.

It was a simple attack on your Kingdom that made you evacuate; you should've anticipated this, considering how bold these soldiers were getting, and yet here you were.

It was only a matter of time before they found you, the otherworldly soldiers and their blasted guns from earth. They had luckily caught your skin with a blade as you attempted to hide; it wasn't fatal (or so you assumed), but it still hurt!

"She's over here!" One of them shouts, stupidly mistaking a wild boar scrambling through the brush as you.

You could almost laugh, almost.

You take your chance and duck behind a fallen tree, clutching your wound as to stop the bleeding before it became too much.

Ten minutes of pressure, that's all it needed, but by then, the adrenaline would have subsided, which would leave you with the pain.

You didn't know much, but you were in a jungle! There had to be something that held healing properties here, but you had to remember just how dangerous this wilderness can be at night; everything comes alive when the sun goes down.

For a moment, you considered hiding inside of the hollowed-out tree trunk, but as you glance inside of it, hundreds of tiny, insect eyes reflect at you, blinking curiously at the intrusion.

Your skin crawls as you return to hiding behind it, grimacing as the wound gushes and throbs.

The sound of distant gunshots and screaming interrupts your disgust and pain, your eyes scanning the area just as a flash of a bullet shows how far they were. About two-hundred meters, just far enough to make it easier to breathe.

But one thing stuck in your mind was the screaming; what could've possibly overwhelmed five soldiers in that short period?

It wasn't something you wanted to meet anytime soon, so you make an effort to traverse a bit farther from the scene. Even without the soldiers to worry about, you had jaguars, tigers, and even leopards, so you had to get out of as soon as possible.

Sneaking in a jungle was nearly impossible, with every step, dead leaves and sticks cracked beneath your weight, but thanks to the dense bush surrounding you, if your death were to come, then it was waiting in there!

You resist the urge to roll your eyes, already accepting a fate you thought you escaped just moments ago.

What next? Running from a Bengal tiger? Ha! Don't make me laugh.

The stinging upon your wound never ceases as you have to take a moment to recover yourself, your eyes closing in pain as you grit your teeth together.

A thin, cold layer of sweat drips down your forehead while your hands grow cold and clammy -- the wound was nothing! Yeah...just nothing.

"You're hurt."

A disembodied voice comes from the trees, the adrenaline that once faded now back in full swing as you ready yourself to bolt.

But it soon becomes apparent at the words the voice spoke, like they were making an observation rather than stating a fact. This, for some odd reason, puts your mind at ease; perhaps whoever they were, they didn't mean harm.

But you ask the one question roaming your mind; it was simple enough.

"Were you...did you kill them?" You ask, glancing around at the trees for any sign of the person.

A low purr sounds from your right, and instinctively you glance, noticing the glow of eyes reflecting from the light of the moon.

"They did not care for peace, and so neither did I."