Chapter 36: 36. The Warren Part 1

36. The Warren Part 1

It feels like a short run to the Warren with Harpy Lightweight and long legs from my new Orc Stature. Cottontail already showed me the way before, so it’s trivial to retrace my steps. On the way, Harpy Sight scours the air for predators while my Wolf Nose sniffs for traces of powerful monsters. Nothing gets in my way this time. I’m standing over the entrance hole in the ground before I realize my lapse in judgment.

I can’t fit in there!

The downside of Orc Stature is that I’m literally as big as an Orc, a seven-foot tall, athletic, feminine warrior type. It’s not like I’m jacked from muscle training or anything, I still have my human build, but everything about me from my hands and feet to my shoulders and hips are larger than before. What seemed like a tight fit as a 5’6” tall woman is now a ridiculous proposition.

“Cottontail? Are you in there?” My voice echoes pitifully in the deep hole. What am I thinking? The Warren is probably a huge underground network with any number of individual living chambers. There’s no way she can hear me.

My instincts say tunneling down with Earth Magic is plausible. There’s no ‘mana’ associated with casting, so repeated usage is no obstacle. In practice, the tunnels will still be too small for me even when I’m inside them, and cave-ins will be a constant threat. Wading through hundreds of feet or even miles of tunnels with Earth Magic to find one bunny seems like a recipe for failure.

Should I wait until sunrise to refund Orc Stature? Or…

*Slime Marks – Three*

Slime Constitution

Slime Constitution (Jellyfish, Fuzzy)

Slime Malleability

Slime Malleability (Jellyfish, Fuzzy)

Slime Mutability

Slime Mutability (Jellyfish, Fuzzy)

Slime Hair / Legs / Arms

Jellyfish Slime Tentacles

Fuzzy Slime Flesh Shaping

Fuzzy Slime Fur

Let me think. ‘Paternal Malleability’ allows me to reshape my dick. Scratch that, it lets me alter the body modification mark I have selected. If the Slime mark tree follows the same pattern… well, I do have three chances.

*Selected Slime Malleability!*

*Temporarily use Slime Malleability to Refund a current Body Mark?*

Wolf Nose

Harpy Sight

Harpy Lightweight

Bunny Stamina

Goblin Stature

Orc Stature

I select Orc Stature and the world around me gets bigger. Rather, I shrink to something like almost a third of my previous size. Fitting into this hole will be a piece of cake!

Nice.

The second obvious problem I notice as I enter the tunnel is the quickly dimming light. I consider refunding Harpy Sight for the likely low-light-oriented Mermaid Sight, but I have to take the obvious into account. Rabbits don’t have super night vision; they use their sense of smell and hearing to navigate underground!

Actually, screw it. What the heck does Slime Mutability do?

*Selected Slime Mutability!*

*Temporarily Transfer a Slime Mark to another Type?*n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Mer

Goblinoid

Canine

Avian

Forest

Awesome; this is Perfect!

*Selected Mer!*

*Spend a Mer Mark to replace Harpy Sight with Mermaid Sight using Slime Malleability?*

I navigate through my tummy tattoo menus while there’s enough light to see until I find what I need and make the selection. My surroundings immediately come into focus on a greyscale. Thankfully, the low-light vision of a Mermaid isn’t limited to underwater, or else this would’ve been sadly pointless.

I’m extremely pleased by my Slime abilities now. This gives me a lot more flexibility during the day instead of having to wait until sunrise to refund poor decisions. A use of Malleability refunds a mark within a type, with the secondary benefit of allowing me to replace body modifications of a similar class (much like Paternal Malleability) as long as I have it equipped. Mutability, meanwhile, allows me to shove Slime marks at a problem.

Both have significant advantages. Together, they let me rewrite my build on the fly… if only to a limited degree.

Okay, I may not have Bunny Ears today, but I have Wolf Nose to follow trails through the mazelike tunnels, Mermaid Sight lets me see what’s in front of me, and I’m pleased to find Earth Magic gives me something like a tremor sense similar to a Mole-man. I couldn’t tell fine details about a person that way, unlike some ancient human fiction, but I can guess their weight and relative position to me from their footsteps.

Overall, I’d rate myself as way-overprepared to raid a bunch of tunnels filled with mice and rabbits.

Making my way deeper in the Warren, the tunnels aren’t actually that bad at my size. I don’t have to hunch over to walk. Crawling through here in my human size would’ve been claustrophobic as hell. I might not have been able to turn around after entering, forcing me to crawl in reverse if I hit a dead-end.

What a nightmare.

I try to sniff for Cottontail, but her scent is masked by dozens of others. I’ll just have to go deeper in!

A few minutes later, I’ve gone several hundred feet through a dozen intersections. I’m confident I’m going vaguely the right way based on some of the traffic I’m smelling and the footprints I’m seeing. It’s also nice to reconfirm I won’t have any trouble following my scent trail to the surface considering how far I’ve already come.

The tremor of footsteps alert me to nearby smallfolk. I continue heading towards them, only to sense them halting. Rounding the corner, I see what I’m dealing with.

A bunny boy and a bunny girl hug the walls, staring blindly while their ears turn in my direction. Having a sensory advantage is great! A mouse girl comes up behind them, and they grab her as they point my way. The mouse seemingly has better low-light vision and peers at me.

Unfortunately, she’s clearly not the mouse girl I rescued from a drunken Dura. This one has huge ears, each one bigger than her head.

“Fish!” a squeaky voice screams, and the three of them flee.

Fish? I look down at myself in my crab armor and realize I should’ve known better if I wanted to ask for directions. All Seafolk are the same in a mouse’s book. Dismissing my armor and embracing nudity, I call after them, “I’m not a fish, I’m human!”

That makes the three of them slide to a halt. The trio confers amongst themselves while I force myself to be patient. Running after the skittish monsters is only going to drive them away.

They timidly approach me.

“Goblin!” the squeaky voice screams this time, and we repeat the same song and dance.

“I’m not a Goblin, I’m a short human!”

“What’s a human child doing in the Warren?” the bunny boy asks. Even with greyscale vision, I can tell he has dark skin and black fur.

This time, the bunny girl gets close enough to catch a whiff of me. The fur on her arms, legs, ears, and neck is super fluffy. “They smell like an adult woman…”

“I see a cock!” the mouse girl giddily announces.

“I smell cunt,” the black bunny boy says as they all approach. “And fish, but some dirt will rub that off.”

“I thought humans were bigger?” the mouse girl asks, looking up at me.

“They typically are,” I say. “I’m an unusually small human with a dick and a pussy. Nothing to be afraid of.”

The three furry monsters vaguely surround me and stand there awkwardly as if unsure what to do next.

“Did… did we just catch a human?” the fluffy bunny girl says what they all must be thinking.

I shrug. “It’s not ‘catching’ if I don’t resist, but sure. You caught me.”

“We caught a human!” the black bunny boy cheers in celebration.

“She’s pretty!” the bigear mouse girl tells the others.

“Never smelled one up close before…”

The three of them take that cue to step closer and take deep whiffs of my personal aroma. I struggle to maintain a straight face as they make funny, enraptured expressions.

“Do all humans smell this good?” the fluffy bunny girl wonders aloud.

Seeing their reactions makes me realize the Warren must capture hardly any humans compared to the Ogre Fen, Kennel Hills, the Western Sea, Charlatan Forest, or Harpy Mountain. Since humans are considered the utmost peak in quality for sexual partners, finding me must be like winning an ancient human lottery for them.

Now they crowd in close. I’m a head shorter than the bunnies and a head taller than the mouse. I do miss my Orc (or even human) stature in this moment, but they’re still really cute monsters!

The black bunny boy reaches with a blind hand to touch my shoulder, then gropes his way around until he finds and palms a boob. “She’s got a huge rack!”

“Thank you.” I’m still proud of my new breasts ever since getting my first Mammary mark.

The fluffy bunny girl sidles up close, pleasantly pressing her ample chest against my arm as she reaches between my legs to feel for my slit. “She’s already so wet…”

I’ll admit, this is scratching that ‘captured by sexy monsters’ itch I’ve always had without the inherent danger. I’m kind of into this scene.

The bigear mouse girl grabs my dick in both hands. My swinging member (still full-size despite my height downgrade) utterly dwarfs the pipsqueak. “Humans don’t have cocks this big… Oo! Dibs on her precum!” She licks the tip of my rod before anyone can object. Her eyes roll up into her head, and she swoons while appreciating my flavor. “I’ve died and gone to monster heaven!”

“Maybe you three should have your way with me…” I say in a flirtatious tone.

My suggestion makes them pause instead of encouraging them to continue as I’d hoped. Perhaps the reality of the situation has finally sunk in?

“If we do her here…” the fluffy bunny girl trails off as if afraid to finish the thought.

“We could get in so much trouble,” the bigear mouse girl says. “What if Peter finds out?”

The black bunny boy grunts and resumes squeezing my tits. “He doesn’t need to know. We’ll take her far around the hub to the southern breeding chamber, so her trail has a chance to fade before he stumbles across it.”

“She has a cock, so we can breed humans now!” the fluffy bunny girl says. “By the time Peter learns the truth, we’ll have enough humans to share with everybody!”

If I had any hopes my captors are altruistic, that comment pretty much shatters them. A casual hookup with a bunch of bunnies and mice sounds fun, but I can’t allow any pregnancies in my wake. I won’t permit any of my children to become sex slaves now I have the strength to control my destiny.

Arguably, it seems my offspring with this cock would be a Fuzzy. The monsters wouldn’t know for certain it was a child of mine. However, I don’t like the idea of leaving my progeny scattered about where I can’t find them. It’s not exactly a moral decision. More like, it’s me being selfish. Any kids I have here would be lost among possibly hundreds of other Fuzzies.

I regrettably say goodbye to the couple dozen Breeder marks I'm turning down to keep my personal integrity.

Still, I can play along while this stays fun, and these monsters might even help me. “I came here looking for Cottontail. Do you know him?”

“Cottontail?” the fluffy bunny girl asks, clearly confused by my motivations.

“That weirdo?” the black bunny boy says, then shrugs. “I don’t have anything against him, but he’s kind of a loner.”

The others nod. I notice they’re misgendering her, but I guess she hasn’t come out yet?

“His mom and sis are nice,” the bigear mouse girl makes some conversation while stroking my cock with both hands to coax more precum from the tip. “He’s been acting weirder than normal. I don’t think he’s even gone topside today. Hey, human… did you fuck him?”

“That explains it!” the fluffy bunny girl coos as she fingers me. “No wonder; he’s lovesick.”

“Lucky-footed bastard,” the black bunny boy mutters under his breath.

“Don’t blame me if I steal you away,” the fluffy bunny girl whispers in my ear. Not a chance. My heart belongs to the cute bunny girl who risked her life to save a bunch of Fuzzies. “I bet I can take your big meat stick better than him.”

I doubt that.

Not to say I’d object to taking a few bunnies or mice home with me if they’re not terrible people, but I have to be reasonable. There’s the logistics of feeding everyone even if Gabby gave me permission to house them. My nutritious semen can supply a small harem, not a small colony. Mental note: find more food sources!

“Come with us,” the bigear mouse girl proposes between licks of my cock, “And we’ll tell Cottontail where you are even though we’re keeping you secret from most of the Warren.”

Yeah, secret. I’m sure you’ll only tell your closest dozen friends and family. There’s no way everyone will find out about the human hidden in one of the cardinal breeding chambers within a matter of hours. Well, at least I won’t tell anyone.

“Sure, what could go wrong?”