A Poached Supper (Part II)

The creature chuckled mid-run. "Aw, don't like it in there? Too bad; my stomach's your new home, so you'd better...get used to it," he panted out. "Now...no more talking...runnnnnnn-UUURRRrrrrp-ing...oof, gassy..." As he approached the camp, the guardian, placed a hand soothingly on his belly, a bit unnerved by the sight of a lone man, in a strange-looking outfit, seated back to him by the campfire. Curious, Bewaker slowly stalked the perimeter of the camp, moving towards the truck, but staying a far distance - for now - from the campfire, tents, and tiger cage...and the man that guarded them... "Hush up," he grumbled, poking his belly. "I'm trying to be stealthy, or whatever..." Sensing some rustling in the distance, the man; still seated, still facing his back towards the approaching beast, started chuckling softly to himself, holding his armor clad hands towards the fire...which would cause the inside to be smoldering hot, but held them up nonetheless, as though it were a nice, toasty, warming fire.

"Lovely night..." he said softly, possibly to himself...possibly to the guardian. From the shadows, the guardian continued to absent-mindedly stroke his belly, remaining hidden. "Isn't it though?" he hissed into the darkness, before moving silently around to the other side of the entrance, trying to find a way over to the man without being seen... Again, Phagan chuckled...then rose to his feet, eyes never leaving the fire. Then, he ever graciously pulled out his rifle from his back harness, gripping it softly with both hands...then snapped it in half and dropped them to his feet.

"Feels odd saying this, but I've never been much of a gun person..." The creature's ears perked and he blinked, keeping perfectly still, ready to jump away any second, claws half-extended. Three or four different retorts came to mind...but he decided to keep silent, simply waiting for the human to say more... Equally still, Phagan glanced down at another piece of armor still by his feet, and ever calmly and slowly, reached down at picked it up. The last piece to his ensemble; an unusual helmet, designed to look like that of a steel skull which concealed the head of whomever wearing it...leaving on the eyes. However, like his face, the helmet contained various deep clawed marks running down the entirety of the face. Gazing into it fondly, the poacher leader smiled, eyes still perfectly fixed on it.

"You can come out, if you'd like, Guardian." Now quite curious, forgetting about the pair of squiggling humans crammed tight in his padded gut, the Guardian debated whether or not to obey... He tried an old trick: throwing his voice, to make it seem like it came from behind the tent near the man... "I think I'll stay here...for now, anyway. Morsel," he added, mocking the man's tone. Again, Phagan chuckled and shook his head, not even paying any heed towards the 'source' of the voice. "You know, I've always wanted to learn how to do that," Phagan replied, both with a hint of amusement and some admiration for the skill. "Was it something you just picked up on your own? Or did one of those kids you went out of your way to help teach you?" The creature raised an eyebrow. "A bit of both," he rumbled, and, realizing it wasn't going to matter, cautiously stepped out from where he was, but stayed right in that spot, yellow, reptilian eyes in a mammalian skull fixed on the strange, armored man, but saying nothing more. Nodding in acknowledgement, Phagan finally turned towards the guardian, facing him and glaring right into his yellow, snake-like eyes. "I knew you were real," Phagan started, eyes calmly fixed on the beast.

"I remember, clear as day...this boy, probably no older than nine, said he got lost through the woods; stuck for days even. Then, he found his way out. Said a cop came through the woods and guided him out, but no one ever took credit for the rescue. Then, he goes on to telling people he'd have these dreams...of a strange creature; much like you, saving him and returning him to safety...but for the life of this young boy...he just can't remember this fantasy ever happening...six years ago."

Slowly, he took just a few, eerily calm steps towards those yellow eyes, and added, "Then just yesterday, I overhear a small little girl, cute as a button, maybe five or six...telling her mom about a peculiar dream...recalling how she too, was 'saved'." He then stopped in his tracks and chuckled, "Would you care to take a guess at whom she 'dreamed' saved her?" The guardian was equally steadfast and calm. He felt no fear...only curiosity. "A flying pig?" he retorted dryly, without missing a beat. Phagan chuckled. "Wouldn't that be a sight..." he retorted back, until his eyes lowered down to the creatures bulbous belly. "Were my associates to your satisfaction?" he asked, with just a whisper of a sarcastic undertone.

The guardian smirked ever so slightly, brought a paw to his bulging belly, and pressed it... "UUUUURRRRrrrrrrrp...ah. That answer your question?" the beast asked flatly, patting his belly as his double-meal screamed and cried louder... The armored 'poacher' chuckled with some undeniable amusement at the beast tauntingly belching at him, then nodded. "Quite so," he answered, smile still on his face. He then glanced back down at his helmet and added, "I get it. If you can protect this place and those who inhabit it from bad people and score a hearty meal, why not, right? And contrary to whatever those two vermin probably told you, I'm sure you can probably tell...we aren't good people." The guardian crossed his arms over his bloated sac, resisting the urge to burp again as his food kicked harder. "Obviously not; Steve's a friend of mine," he said, tilting his head towards the tiger cage. "Now, mind telling me what all...THIS," he gestured frustratedly with one claw at the man's getup, "Is about, Professor Moriarty...or whatever that guy in that book my last big meal had was...?" Phagan's smile widened as he said as blunt as a rock, "You." The guardian blinked, dully. "Um...yeah, I kind of gathered that," he sneered. "But what, exactly, about 'me'?" "Let me rephrase that," Phagan started as he held his hands towards the cages, and pointed towards the guardian's stomach. "ALL of this...is about you..."

He then glanced back down at his helmet, smile fading. "...Before I answer your question, let me ask you something; you ever wonder how people get to be the way they are...?" The creature sighed, seeing he wouldn't be getting a straight answer soon from this one; he WOULD just eat the rambling human now, but he was genuinely curious (most likely the feline in his head), and, furthermore, wasn't sure how well the man's armor would sit in his guts... "Sometimes," he admitted. "But 'how they get the way they are' is a pretty vague way of putting it, y'know. Evil is created, not born, and so forth...why?" The man chuckled, nodding as he heard every word. "You're half right. Evil, isn't born, but it's not created either...it's learned...revealed..." he said, eyes fixed on the scars of his helmet. "I was....maybe twelve....thirteen when my family and I went on our 'first

outing', as they say. Lovely experience really...can't recall the last time I ever saw my parents so happy..."

His smile immediately vanished. "But I certainly recall their terror...and mine..." He then turned his attention back on the beast. "A pack of wolves wandered into our little site. I remember, clear as day, Mom held me and ran as far as she could while the wolves made a three course meal out of Dad...but typical, Dad wasn't filling, so they came for us. I remember hearing Mom saying again and again...everything's gonna be okay...then...I heard her howling...a few of the wolves got to her...and then...I remember just...watching..." The guardian just listened, calmly, impassively, fairly sure he knew what was coming. He had little interest in the lives of humans in general, even those he "helped." They meddled with his forest, and meddling was something he, very frankly, did not like. Still, he had to admit, having one's family torn apart by wolves probably wasn't a great way to spend a vacation...but the man wearing armor and threatening his domain before him left little cause for sympathy. So, he just nodded, and continued to listen. "Then, the wolves came for me..." Phagan added...and once again, that smile returned. "You wouldn't figure a little kid would have a snowballs' chance against a wolf...let alone a pack...but give that kid a front row seat to the mutilation of the only people he ever loved...and anything's possible..." His hand slowly caressed the claw marks on his helmet.

He then took his hand off the scars of his helmet, and rubbed across the long scar running down his face. "A lot of what happened was something of a white blur...all I remember was the wolves gave me this...and they...well, what was left of them was even worse than what was left of my parents..."

His attention went back to the guardian. "Now, going back to my earlier point...evil comes when learning...and learning...REAL learning, comes from experience...and with that one...'experience'...I learned something about myself..." That smile on his face grew ever wider...unnerving to some degree as he added, "Killing feels good. Not INDISCRIMINATELY like so many of these primitive beasts...but killing those who fight back...those who pose a TRUE threat to your life. I don't do what I do to make money. Little crumpled up pieces of paper don't give my life meaning or feeling...the rush of battle, brushing backs with death...THAT'S when I'm alive."

He turned his attention to the tigers in the cages; the one from earlier, shuddering at the sight of the armor clad monster. "There are all kinds of predators in the world...and being on top is paramount to each and every one of them. Man is no different. Which...brings us here..."

Once again, he gestured towards the cages, the armor, and right back to the guardian. "Every story of your existence, comes from right here. I needed to know this creature of mystery was really here. So, I hired those idiots, had them bag a few tigers to get your attention, hell, I even told them I killed a ranger to get things moving, because I knew, sooner or later...you'd catch wind...take action...and eventually...we'd both be right here. Low and behold...here we are."

"I can respect what you do for people...animals...and yourself...but all predators have their own needs. Yours is to keep your home safe and make a meal out of anyone who would compromise that. Mine?" Phagan slowly lifted his helmet over his head, and clamped it shut, leaving his voice muffled, and eyes gazing within his eye holes. "Is to be the alpha wolf...better than man...better than animal...and better than you..." The guardian stared at the man for a few moments... Then, abruptly, he began to laugh. "How long do you think I've been alive?" he asked, between chuckles. "Since you seem to be such a 'researcher'? I'll tell you: roughly a hundred of your human years. A lot happens in that time. Do you honestly think you're the only one to come up here hoping to make themselves, 'alpha wolf'? Hoping to prove they are 'better than me'?" He smiled wider, fangs revealed. "If so, you didn't find out ENOUGH." Phagan slowly started to walk towards the guardian, not remotely fazed by the remark it had just made, muffled laugh echoing from his metal mask. "Your history means nothing to me. Let's see what your present has in store..." the man said, opens hands clenching into fists. The guardian smirked as his stomach growled almost aggressively, and lowered down into a predatory crouch, the fur on his neck bristling, snake like eyes fixed with the eyes of the man before him. "Yes. Let's." Likewise, the armored man lowered into something of a fighting stance, grinning underneath his mask as he waited for the guardian to strike.

The guardian shut his eyes; within a matter of about a second, he felt the forest air around him, let it soak him...felt the weight of the men in his belly, losing consciousness fast...

He opened his taking, taking a deep, sniffing breath...scanned the armored "poacher" for weaknesses...

And roared, barreling forward...

Phagan took a deep breath, eyes never leaving the brute, then clenched his fists tighter, and as the howling roar blasted into the air and the guardian came charging towards him...he simply stood his ground, waiting ever calm and ever still...

As the man did not move, showed no signs of worry, the beast instictively felt a twinge of surprise; the man had had a straight face throughout, but he knew better when in an impending fight...

Without showing a sign of doubt, the guardian subtly tilted to one side as he snarled and pounced...

Seeing the big beast pounce forward, Phagan crouched down as low as he could, and just as the beast was overhead, drove both metal plated fists right into the guardian's belly, and with a surprising abundance of strength, pushed his entire body up and spine backwards as he 'threw' the guardian overhead mid-pounce and caused him to land on his back several feet away. Phagan immediately turned to the beast and began to approach...

The creature quickly rolled up, crouched on one knee, one paw held in a fist, the other open with claws twitching.

"Nice trick."

Phagan said nothing. Seeing the claws sticking out from the guardians open claw, he idly flicked his right wrist as he approached...and out from the retractable plate on his knuckles, came four razor sharp blades.

The guardian's eyes widened slightly as the blades snapped out from the man's gauntlets.

"Heh...nice toys, too," he said, unfazed, licking his teeth.

Inching closer and closer, the man examined his left gauntlet, plate still concealing the blades and giving him something of a 'brass (or in this case; steel) knuckles' advantage, and idly opted to leave them inside, for now. Still not saying a word, he stepped closer and closer towards the readied beast. His eyes; the only visible part of his scarred face, never once leaving the guardians'. Then, as he walked towards the fire illuminating the site, he stopped. Looking down at it with disinterest, he stood for just a faint, motionless moment, then in a snap, grabbed one of the burning logs, and chuckled it like a baseball directly towards the beast, charging towards it immediately after.

The brute easily ducked the flying log and, with lightning speed, launched one of his horse-like legs out, the hoof smashing into the armored man's scarred helmet. Head reeling back, the man stumbled violently, rolling backwards, before landing on one knee, clutching at the minimal dent the hoof left. He quickly shook it off, then smirked beneath his helmet. "Very good," he complemented, still blinking a bit out of one eye, recovering.

The guardian smirked.

"Yes. You will be."

The 10 foot tall beast bared his tusks, pawing at the ground like a mad bull, as if preparing to charge again...

Fully recovered (minus the dent), Phagan stood at the ready, fingers on both hands twitching eagerly with anticipation. The guardian smirked...and suddenly darted towards the cage in the jeep... The armored poacher glared at the unexpected action, then saw the guardian moving towards the cage, and immediately, charged after him.

The guardian checked the cage, to see if anything was in it...nothing.

A decoy.

Good. At that moment, he saw the armored man running towards him, and he jumped back, dodging the man's blades...his guts churned complainingly at all the movement going on outside...he ignored it.

Blades piercing against the cage door, the armored man grinned and ripped the door right off the cage, now attached to his blade arm like some kind of rusted shield. Still in range, he charged and rammed it right into the bulbous belly of the guardian, and proceeded to punch his sides again and again with the steel knuckled plate of his left fist.

The guardian groaned as the iron door slammed into his midsection...leaving himself open to the man's attacks...the men inside twitched erratically at the abuse, nearly gone, but still able to react...

GLLLLLRRRG...

The loud moan from the brute's belly caused the attacking man to pause just a moment...the beast's eyes widened...his jaws opened...

"BHHHHUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOORRRRRRRRK!!!"

The disgusting belch pelted against the mans' mask, hitting him with some internal debris and forcing him to stumble back. The stench from within the beasts' belly caused him to cough in disgust and annoyance, before he wiped his mask off, and glared at the beast angrily.

The guardian gasped, chuckled, and drummed his claws over his padded stomach.

"Heh...pardon," he grinned, flashing his teeth in the dim light.

Then, the armored man raised an eyebrow, before another devious grin grew over his masked face. Turning towards the jeep once more, he took his blade-knuckled right hand, and drove his blade into the jeep door, and with an abundance of might, ripped the door clean off the car, and hurled it as hard as he could right towards the beasts' gut, before flicking his left wrist, causing the blades hidden in the plate to whip out as well, before he charged full speed ahead. The guardian grabbed the door, spinning from the momentum, an the flung it back like a distorted discus back at the man. Running full throttle, without missing a beat, Phagan raised his blades up and sliced the door clean in half as he charged onward. The guardian laughed low in his chest, and grabbed the man by one wrist as he lashed with his claws, before slashing with his own... "So, tell me," he grunted out, "What IS this stuff you're wearing anyway?" The man grunted as the guardians claws slashed against his chest plate, then jumped and kneed the beast in the wrist with his steel kneepad. Not enough to cause any real harm, but enough force to break himself free as he flipped backwards, gracefully considering the attire. As he landed on his feet, he straightened himself out and replied, "I wasn't always some poacher. I tried my hand at being a cop some years back; SWAT to be specific. They kicked me out for being a little...rough with suspects, but I snagged ny riot gear before they did, and, well, took the liberty of making some...modifications. Welded into the Kevlar is parts of armor sturdy enough to deflect blades and bullets, but lightweight enough not to slow me down." He flexed his gauntlets, detracting and retracting the blades and smirked. "These? I made myself. Afterall, where's the thrill if you're not down in the mud with your prey..."

With that, Phagan scrapped his blades against each other, producing sparks. "Shall we?" The guardian laughed aloud. "No, not here," he grinned. "After all, it's hard to get 'in the mud' with you, PREY, if there's no mud to get in." So saying, the guardian suddenly bolted into the trees once more, calling over his shoulder, "Catch me if you can!" The armored poacher chuckled and shook his head. "For a creature that claims to be a hundred years old, you've certainly got some spring in your step..." He crouched low and turned to one of the frightened tigers still caged and winked before leaping with great height towards the lower end of a nearby tree, digging his blades into it as he quickly climbed higher and higher...

The guardian slowed his trot, partially out of the dead weight (possibly literally) in his middle, but mostly because he heard the sound of the armored man rustling about...the sound was coming from...above him...? A second later, he figured it out, and smiled. Very well. Three...two...one... With a great leap, Phagan tore himself from the top of the tree, and dove downwards at the guardian, blades leading the way down... With the blades a centimeter from his head, the guardian abruptly whipped around, swung out his claws...and, as the man fell to the earth, smashed his fist into one of his gauntlets, ruining the blades, and the mechanism that allowed them to work. The blow knocked the diving man out of momentum, and he tumbled onto HIS back as the guardian loomed over him, waiting to see what would happen next... Wincing in pain, Phagan examined the damage to his now virtually useless right gauntlet, then back up at the guardian towering above him. Fed up, he dug the blades still in his left gauntlet into the busted one, and ripped the entire busted mechanism off his forearm, leaving it bare once more, and slightly bloodied. Angrily, he rolled backwards away from the beast and back onto his feet. "I can see how you've lasted as long as you have..." The man admitted.

With his bare arm, he reached back, and drew his C-Bar knife, glaring back up at the beast for a moment, then stood his ground firmly, waiting to see what the beast would do next... The beast said nothing. It stood still for a few moments... Then, it's stomach growled. It glanced down at its bear-belly, and smirked, placing one large paw on its rounded surface. Without saying a single word, it pointed a free claw at the man, then opened its tusked mouth and pointed straight down its open gullet. Muffled laughter emitted coldly from the mans helmet. "You want this meal," he started, scraping his blade gauntlet slightly across his chest plate, "...come and take it..." The brute smirked, and moved forward...then around, circling the man. "So...I know WHY you're interested in me...what happened to start the interest, huh? I'd like to know, before I stuff you inside me," the guardian growled, gears turning to decide on his next opening as he eyed his prospective prey, mouth watering, imagining all the meat behind that armor... Again, the man chuckled, moving his position slowly so as to always keep his eyes on the beast circling him. "After the stories resurfaced, I bagged a mountain lion; this big brute who'd been the talk of this one village for ages. He put up a fight, but not enough to save himself. To past as ling as it did; to become such a notorious beast, it had to defend itself against God knows what. After I sold it, I started wondering how tough you had to be to keep doing what you do. And, well, one thing led to another..." His grip tightened as he readied to strike. "Now, you tell me something...all those bad people you've...done away with...you wouldn't be so adamant about it if it were purely necessity. So tell me, you do it because you just like filling your gullet? Or is it the dominance and power you like?" He smirked. "Don't play psycho-analyst with me, little man. Yeah, I like having a nice, full belly; who doesn't? And, yeah, power's nice, I guess. But what matters - what REALLY matters - is keeping THIS..." he gestured around the forest, "Safe. And making sure the ones who might cause trouble never get a chance to cause it again; throwing you out won't stop you from coming back, after all...possibly with some sort of mob, or whatever you use nowadays." He laughed.

"Besides...you all taste DELICIOUS. Now, here's another quick question for you: when did you FIRST hear about me? I get the feeling this is more than just 'power assertion' on your part, as well, little one...have we met?" he asked in a low growl, tilting his head slightly. A moment passed, until finally, he answered. "That's just it, we haven't..."

He inched closer and closer towards the beast, "One hundred years guarding this miserable forest, but where were you when those damned wolves got to us, hmm?" He chuckled. "Ah...so it IS personal, then. Hey, how was I supposed to know? You never said it was MY forest, after all," he said, and picked up his hands in defense. "And as for your family? Back then? I'm not a GOD, kid. Immortality and being all-seeing aren't the same thing. Otherwise, you humans would NEVER have been able to invade my forest in the first place. I might have been sleeping. I might have been helping some other human or animal. Heck, I might have been having lunch! How many of your human police FAIL to save lives on a daily basis?" He lowered his hands calmly. "You can't save everyone; you learn that quickly. ESPECIALLY when you have a near-century of practice." He watched the man's feet as the drew closer, but made no indication of trying to stop him or closing in himself. His belly rumbled softly...he shook off the feeling and the two continued to circle each other. Phagan chuckled, his grin returning to his still masked face. "I haven't been a kid for almost thirty years, that faithful day saw to that. But you misunderstand...I don't HATE you. In fact, I should thank you. Your absence opened my eyes to this glorious indulgence. The world is vile, uncompromising, and to survive...? The only person you can ever truly rely on...is yourself." "You are a kid to me," the beast rumbled. "And not just in terms of age. You are a self-centered, misbegotten, lost INFANT, who thinks he's found the perfect way to catch the butterfly in the flower, but is just running aimlessly around and around. If you do catch me - which I doubt - what then? Show me off? Sell my hide? Riveting. You can keep killing and killing, and it won't do any good. Besides, if you hurt 'threats,' I'm only a threat to other threats. We wouldn't be here if you weren't an idiot, and a...oh, what's that word...? Oh, yeah..." The beast stopped in his tracks, grinning a smile so horrible, even his forest friends might have fled in fear; it was far cry from the smile he wore before this man and his "assistants" arrived.

It was a smile of hunger, anger, and mocking delight. "PSYCHO." Hearing that word, his grin grew wider and wider...so wide; in fact, that against logic and his own safety, Phagan ripped his own helmet off his head, once again exposing his scarred face, and more importantly, a toothy grin psychotic enough to confirm everything the guardian had just told him.

"Then you better finish this psycho off...because I'm not gonna capture or sell you...I'm gonna bleed you slow, just so you live long enough to watch me burn this entire forest and every single thing you love about it...to the ground..."

With that, he charged at the beast once more, knife and gauntlet blades at the ready. The monster laughed (none-too-sanely himself, he had to concede, mentally), and dodged a stab from the knife, before lashing out with his claws and grabbing the man's arm, twisting it till the knife dropped from his hands..he then grabbed the man's other wrist, keeping the blades away from his furry chest... "Heh...urgh...you're pretty strong...not that I didn't notice before," he muttered, as the man pressed harder, and squeezed him tight between his powerful arms and fat, wide, doughy belly... Phagan growled like a feral dog, pressing harder and harder, unable to sink his blades into the beasts chest. Feeling the guardians' blubbery belly begin to press against his still armored torso, the armored man began to start losing his grip as the beast began to pull his gauntlet back, squeezing tighter.

With all his momentum, the man pulled himself back and took as many steps back as he could, both arms still clenched tight by the beast, and then jumped up, high enough to plant both his steel toe boots right into the beasts' fat belly. He then threw all his body weight backwards, enough to bring both him and the beast down, and just as the man's back hit the ground, before he could be completely flattened by the guardian's gargantuan belly, he pushed his feet; still firmly planted against said gut, with all his might, and managed to break the grip the guardian had on his arms, and flip the beast right off of him and landing on his back with a floor shaking thud.

Breathing heavily, Phagan slowly stumbled to his feet. His bare arm bleeding some more, and other gauntlet, completely destroyed from the grip the beast held on it. Still catching his breath, he dug his knife into the device, and like before, broke it off, leaving both arms exposed, and only one knife and not a lot of energy left. Seeing the beast still on the ground, his breathing turned to a growling as he slowly limped towards the guardian, knife ready for the kill.

The guardian groaned, and sat up slightly, rubbing his head, which was sore. He was dazed, partly from the blow, and partly from the incredible speed and strength the man had just shown...he was SURE he had him...! Then, through bleary eyes, he saw the man approaching...an idea came to his head... Arms bare...head bare...armor's pretty much gone, minus the chest plate... He stayed still for a second...then, his eyes widened, and he backed away, still staying on the ground, as the man quickened his broken gait... Practically feral at this point, the barely armored killer roared furiously; knife firmly at hand, as he charged towards the beast... The guardian smiled... And lashed out with both horse like legs, letting out a savage roar of his own, which created a large dent in the chest armor...but, more importantly, sent the man flying backwards, like a wingless bird, into the trunk of the nearest tree, while his knife flew off in a completely different direction, far into the darkness. With a devastating CRASH, Phagan dropped to the ground, arms and legs limp and lifeless as he gasped for breath to no avail. Every ounce of his body ached and felt utterly broken. Slowly, his dazed gaze saw the beast from afar, rising to his hooves, then looked down at his own battered and beaten body. His heavy breathing softened, then gradually, turned into a low, very weak sounding chuckle. "...Heh...guess that's that..." The beast smirked, approaching slowly. "Not QUITE yet," he said simply. Glancing back up at the beast, vision and hearing still immensely hazy, Phagan smirked weakly, nodding ever so slightly at the knowledge of what was going to happen next. Surprisingly, he didn't try to resist or crawl away. He simply sat there, waiting patiently, still trying to catch his breath. The beast leaned down, and, with surprising care, removed the chest plate off the man, leaving him nearly without armor. He then picked the man up - much less gently... "Listen here," he said in a low voice, and, without any other warning, turned the man's head sideways, and pressed him face-first into the flab of his belly

Phagan listen to the belly of the beast, churning and gurgling audibly, as if eager for the man to join it. "Hm, guess those idiots weren't too filling..." Phagan said simply, still dazed. The creature shook his head, and pressed the man a little harder against his fat gut, grinding it against the man. "Not really...but I think you'll make a perfectly filling dessert," he said, with infinite calm. "You better; I had to work fairly hard for you, compared to them..." He smirked then added, "A final question - regarding me: how did you find out I ATE people? After all, if you heard of dreams, with me SAVING people, and the ones who got eaten, obviously, don't leave this forest...or my belly...or my flanks...how did you know about that? Just hearsay?" he inquired, with a slightly teasing tone. Feeling his head grind against the fat gut of the beast, he just barely heard the inquiry over the furry flab pressing tauntingly over his face. Nevertheless, he chuckled and raised his limp shoulders, best as he could. "I didn't. I had a hunch, if you lasted as long as you did, you'd have to defend yourself one way or another...and...unique or not, you're still some variation of animal...and animals...eat other animals. Was just a lucky guess really..." Bewaker grinned a little wider...then, he tilted his head down to look at the man, and forced his face up to meet his...his belly grinded against him and let out a deep moan... The creature opened its mouth... "HuuuuuurrrrrrrrUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaak..." B. belched right in the man's face, his paws not allowing the man's head to turn away... Phagan winced in disgust as the beast pelted the mans' face with noxious stomach gases. Coughing in disgust, the man tried faintly to turn his head away, but to no avail, being forced by the beast to endure the vile smelling gas. The creature chuckled darkly. "You'd better get used to that smell," he said darkly. "I'm not just going to EAT you, little man...I'm going to eat you whole. Alive. I'm going to feel you right in here..." He rubbed his belly in slow, smooth circles, "Wrapped up in layers of fur, flesh, and blubber...blubber YOU will be adding to, very, very soon..." Still coughing, unable to evade that horrid smell, Phagan nonetheless, chuckled weakly and shrugged, best as he could, then uttered, "C'est la vie..."

The creature smiled, and lifted the man up by the front of his collar, looking him in the eye, and leaning in close, teeth dangerously near his neck... "Head or feet first?" he hissed, almost taunting the man in his grip. Weakly, Phagan smiled right back, teeth visibly stained with his own blood, and replied, "Surprise me..." The monster smirked. "Head, then." He moved his grasp to the man's sides, pinning his arms with the sheer power of his heavy paws... He slowly...ever so slowly...licked his chops with a fat, pink tongue... And the jaws yawned open, wide...wide...wide...yellow, craggy fangs and sharp tusks displayed...mottled red and black flesh...fetid breath wafting up from the dark abyss of a throat at the back... Glancing down the cavernous throat he would soon be traveling down, Phagan smirked to himself, not bothering to resist. "Onward and downward..." he muttered to himself. The Bewaker frowned slightly, jaws still gaping open; he felt conflicted...on the one hand, it was no fun when his food didn't fight him...on the other hand, the complacence he was getting, after such a LONG struggle outside his body, was...interesting... Shrugging it off - food was food - he promptly, almost viciously, shoved the man into his stinking, filthy, dark mouth, opened so wide - like the jaws of a snake - he worked the man's shoulders in with little to no difficulty. He "mmmed" around the man, rancid, meaty tongue lapping and slopping about in his mouth, getting under the man's clothes, tasting his flesh...saliva dribbled from the corners of his maw... "Hmmmrrrr...tasty," he said, in a rather muffled voice, seeing as how his mouth was full... Phagan coughed slightly, turning his head way, trying to pull his head away from the stench and stinking tongue lapping across his body, but offered little resistance beyond that as his body sank deeper and deeper down the cavernous maw, entering the throat of the beast. Hot rancid breath violating his dazed senses the entire dark, dank way down... The faint wiggles as the man tried to avoid the foulness in vain gave SOME semblance of struggle to Big B., who rolled his eyes, pushed, and... GUUULLLP.

The man was shovelled into his body almost past his waist, his upper form mostly constricted within his pulsing esophagus, peristaltic muscles twitching, ready to pull him down further...his hands left the man and, once again, as with his ex-helper - Tanner, right? Oh, whatever... - he took to stroking his expectant, round gut (still filled by the long-suffocated remains of his former colleagues) with one gentle paw, while the other pressed against his throat, feeling the bulge his prey made within the tube...he cooed happily, wordlessly around the man at the taste... The tightness of the beasts' throat was damn near unbearable, causing the man to pull slightly in pain and discomfort. And the smell, ever worse than before, pelted against his face, filling his nostrils with the stench of the guardians' stomach. He felt the monster stroking the throat in which he currently occupied, and then heard the happy cooing of the beast vibrating from the inside. Being stuck in this position was absolutely insufferable. But he said nothing. Body as still as it could possibly be as a few weary thoughts entered his mind, one particular thought, bringing a weary, but unmistakable smirk to his face. The creature closed its eyes... GUUULLLP! The man was pulled in to where only his feet remained outside the ten foot tall behemoth; the crown of the man's head met resistance as it touched the stomach sphincter... B. chuckled around his meat, and gently pushed the feet in with one paw... Glurk... The man's head popped through the sphincter, and the giant kept him there for a few moments, hanging with his head suspended in the darkness... However bad the heat in the throat was, didn't even compare to the humidity Phagan face suffered within the belly of the beast. And the smell...utterly...utterly atrocious and nauseating. It was enough to make his head spin, as he forced himself not to gag in disgust. He wiggled his shoulders just slightly in an effort to loosen the sphincters' grip on the man, to allow more of him to enter, but after that proved futile, he simply lay helpless, waiting for the beast to finish the job. The monster let out a loud "purring growl," once again, savoring the man's squiggling... "Mmf...well...down the hatch..." GUUU-HUUULLLP!

Big B. gasped happily as the man was dropped down into his belly, the blubber quivering a bit... "AAAHHHhhhh...and into the pit..." Plopping down with a wet *SCHLOP!*, Phagan landed on the stomach floor, wincing at the force of the drop and the unholy stench. Slowly, he propped himself up, barely able to see anything beyond the stomach walls. He rubbed his face, groaning in pain and exhaustion as he looked around and calmly yet weakly pressed his hand against the stomach wall, nodding to himself, despite his unbearably tight and uncomfortable position. "Almost fitting...ending where it all began…" he muttered, more to himself than to the beast who had just swallowed him whole.

The brutish creature sighed...then his eyes widened...shut...opened again...his mouth gaped.... "YYYYYAAAAAAARRRRRP! Oof...you fill me up nicely..." he murmured, petting his belly happily. "Well...heh...you and your buddies...not that they know anymore..." The guardian sighed again and sat down by a tree, leaning back against it as he placed both paws on his bloated, blubbery gut, prodding it a bit with his claws and licking his teeth as he did... "I aim to please," the man joked, feeling the beast rub all over his vastly filled belly as he did. "I guess there's some solace that it ends where it all began," he muttered to himself, chuckling. "Whatever," the beast rumbled. "So, snack...what's it like in there, huh?" He shook his stomach with both paws as he spoke, to urge a response... Phagan tumbled back as his back smacked against the back of the stomach. He just laughed weakly to himself and said, "Could be worse..."

The brute smirked. "It will be," he said darkly, then shook his belly again. "Come on, come on! Details, silly! What's it feel like? Smell like? Sound like? I've never asked my food before...you seem to be taking this...well..."

The man chuckled some more. "It's far from fresh," his voice audibly strained; likely from their battle, "It smells like a sewer in here, and it's warmer and tighter than any cave I've ever been stuck in..."

He then added with a shrug, "Doing what I do means this was a very possible reality for many years. I knew it would happen sooner or later. Sure, I didn't expect I'd be swallowed whole...but I knew sooner or later, I'd end up in the belly of a being that proved too much for me..." The guardian frowned slightly. "Well, glad you're so...accepting," he muttered. He really wasn't; it wasn't any FUN when they didn't MOVE...or scream...or...anything! That would change soon, though... "But, hey, I eat people like you...I ate your 'friends' not too long ago, and they are right in there with you...plus I live in the forest. I expect my breath wouldn't be as...'fresh' as you humans generally seem to like..." he said with a shrug. "Besides," he added, giving his belly a knead with his claws, "The next idiot's going to be smelling YOU on my breath..." Phagan chuckled to himself, shaking his head. "You're better than that," he started. "Psychological warfare doesn't work on psychopaths, my friend. Yeah, I'm going to be digested, and it's gonna hurt worse than anything I've ever felt, and yes, whatever's left of me will stink up this putrid gullet of yours something fiercer than it already suffers. Why do you need me to feel fear in this moment?" Because it's fun when you're afraid. He decided not to say that, but instead said, "Shouldn't be too surprising; you barely showed disgust when I burped right in your face..." His belly gurgled softly around the man...he rubbed it soothingly... "You said it yourself, I may as well have gotten used to the smell...so I did, horrid as it might have been and horrid as it will continue to be..." the man admitted plain as day. Then, he weakly drummed his fingers against the stomach walls, as though in deep thought. "I can hear disappointment in your voice," he started, "does it feel good to elicit a reaction from your prey?"

The monster growled softly; he didn't like it when his meal decided to try and play mind games of its own. Outside his guts was one thing...but when it was trying to gain victory INSIDE HIS STOMACH...

"Irritating," he mumbled under his breath, and responded to the man by pushing down on his blubbery gut, pushing the stomach walls into the man's face...and pushing something else upward... "Huh-HUUUUUUUUUUHRP! Ahf...you taste good comin' up, too, you know..." he said, with a smile, smacking his lips and his tum. Feeling his face getting smothered by the stomach walls as more of his flat oxygen was depleted as the creature belched yet again, Phagan still offered little to no resistance, instead grinning a bit more to himself. "Irritating? You swallowed me whole, why not just admit what you want from your food?"

Balling his hand into a fist, the man smacked against the gut as hard as he could as he called out, "If that's what you want, why not just admit it? Hmm? How about THIS?" With that second beat, he punched again. "Or THIS!" and calling out louder, he punched even harder. "Does it irritate you that I'm not scared of my end the way those two cowards were? Would you like to consume my fear?” The guardian's hands pressed down eagerly on his stomach, and he groaned, loudly and suddenly... "Ohhhooooh...oh, d-do that again," he rasped, not caring he was revealing his hand, so to speak...he just wanted that feeling again...that feeling of hands battering his belly walls... His stomach gurgled around the man again...he smiled a bit wider, but shrugged it off, just petting his stomach in silence, and saying once more, "Again..." Phagan chuckled to himself. "Now, was that so hard?" he said bluntly, and, balling both hands together, bashed them fiercely against the cramped stomach wall, before separating them and punching at it again and again, as though going several rounds with a slimy, rubbery punching bag. "Ah! Ahhhwooooo...oooh..." The guardian's tongue flopped out of his mouth, and his horse-like tail started thumping the ground in joy... "Argh, yes," he groaned. "Ohh...oooooOOOOOORRRRP...mm, the fun's really going to start soon, I can feel it...keep it up, little man, keep it up...!" He swallowed down a bit of air; he didn't want this one to suffocate like the first two...he'd worked hard for this one...

The man chuckled to himself, not even caring at this point. "You're the boss," he said lowly, punching again and again. Despite his battered body, each punch was beginning to deliver more momentum than the last, to the point where the stomach began to quiver with each devastating blow, only encouraging a beaten man of his more built size and ample strength to punch harder and harder. As the struggle increased and increased, so did the guardian's pleasure...he moaned in a state of bliss that just got better and better...barely aware of the words leaving his mouth in a rambling torrent... "Yes...yeah...fight me! Fight my stomach! No escape now...soon, you'll be part of my body...just some more blubber on my belly? Imagine that, little snack...not so far off from now, you'll just be some extra weight on my gut, swaying about as I move...warm, soft fat - ARRRRRRRRP - AH, that was good..." He swallowed more air and tapped his belly. He punched harder and harder, laughing to himself. "There it is...keep it coming, big guy, try and scare me...or...whatever this is...makes no difference to me!" he called out, laughing a bit louder as he punched harder, and harder, and harder, laughing louder. "Uh-uh-uhhhhhhhrrrrrrp...mmf...not as big..." He patted his belly, which suddenly churned and groaned a little louder than before. He smirked. "Heh...I think the REAL fun's about to begin, little one...and you thought my belly smelled bad before? You thought it was hot? Just wait...just a moment..." He rubbed his gut, kneading and poking and prodding...waiting to feel and hear the reaction his food would make, if any, as he felt his stomach prepare; it had gotten worked up with the two previous men, but now, with them unconscious, and a new morsel moving around... He grinned, hugely and fiercely... Phagan just laughed coldly, disinterested in a single word the guardian was saying, as he just kept punching, almost certain the beast was equally disinterested. "You should listen to yourself," he laughed with amusement. "And you call ME a psycho," he added, punching again and again.

"Maybe you were right about me...maybe I am a little unhinged...but threat to your home or not, what kind of creature enjoys this kind of sadism, hmm?" His laugh bellowed louder and louder, ensuring the beast heard him clear as day.

"At the end of the day, us psychos are all the same..." he added, punching fiercer and fiercer, enough to actually create visible bulges outside the creatures' belly, causing the gastric churning to grow ever more intense as the cramped space became more and more humid. The man could feel it, but his smile remained all the same as he punched again and again and again and again... The creature ignored the man's squealings for the most part, playfully patting at the bulges his fists made. "OOoohh...you're fighting soooo hard...mmm, you're buds are starting to digest in there; they can't fight back...feel it? Smell it? Hear it?" he whispered, bringing both paws to the bottom of his dark belly, and lifting it slightly, feeling the men in there softening up as they were churned like butter in his body, then let the paunch drop again, with a bit of a bounce. "URP...hmmm...sadist?" he added quickly. "Well, maybe...but, hey, how many sadists would ask THIS question..." The creature leaned in closer towards his bloated stomach. "Would you like me to spare you some of the pain, little one?" he crooned, idly pushing another fist-bulge back into his belly's muck. The man was shoved back as one of the stomach walls shoved him back with a fist-sized bulge. Recomposing himself, he heard the beasts' question. "Spare me some of the pain, hmm? Elaborate," replied the man calmly, raising his still composed knee-pad and kneeing at the gut fiercely. The creature stroked his belly lovingly. "Here's how it can work: I'm going to swallow down some air for you, and you're going to fight until you force every last breath of it right back up...the faster you manage to make me belch - nice, long, and loud...longer and louder than ever before - the faster you can sleep, little man...my stomach can take care of the rest..." He squished his gut a bit with his claws. "Deal?" Inside, Phagan felt the stomach walls push slightly as bulges of both the beasts' claws became visible from within the gullet. Nevertheless, the man scoffed for a moment, and replied, "Bit crude and childish, wouldn't you say?" But feeling the inside of the stomach worsen, and examining his own horrid state, he just shrugged to himself. "Sure."

He glanced upward for a moment as though looking directly at the guardians' face from within the guardians' belly and simply added, "You are one unusual guardian for the forest...but yeah, deal. Let's just get this over with." B. smirked. "I'm made up of six different animals. I think 'unusual' is obvious," he chuckled. "I don't care what you think of it...I just care about how easily you'll digest. Now..." The guardian took several deep gulps of air... "Ahh...there," he said, moaning a bit as his belly swelled. "If you don't want to suffer for much longer, start kicking...HARDER." The man laughed some more. "Hehe, my suffering means nothing to either of us. Don't kid yourself, this is just your way of working out one last bolt of resistance from me, and you tempt me to try and resist harder with that...'sound'...as some kind of reward, sucking out all the oxygen I have left down here. This isn't mercy for me, it's pleasure for YOU."

Surprisingly, despite that, he complied and kicked FIERCELY with his steel-toe boots, feeling the humidity intensify. He then forced himself into a leg press position, pressing both his boots against the beasts' belly, and pushed himself back just slightly, before heel kicking the stomach walls again and again, similarly to how the beast heel kicked him during their battle. Harder and harder, he kicked the walls, feeling the insides churn and bubble as he did so. The monster opened his mouth to reply...then, the man kicked him hard enough for the imprint of his feet to be seen through the blubber... "BUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRP!" The guardian laughed, and thumped his stomach happily a few times. "Yeah...yeah, that's what I'm talking about, dinner! Go on...fight JUST like that...just - URP! - like that...!" The man laughed at the 'dinner' remark, caring less and less as he kicked more and more. For a man of his strength to be kicking so fiercely, the results inside the stomach were far more devastating than one would expect. The gastric juices churned and bubbled, but the entire stomach seemed to be quaking and quivering violently with each powerful kick. It was almost a surprise that the beast was enjoying this and not in agonizing pain, but the man paid no heed to any of that. He kicked and kicked, calmly and surgically, as though not even fazed by his situation or what this meant for him.

The creature had dealt with incredibly tough meals before this one; his stomach could take on just about any kind of internal abuse...the kicking felt more like a pleasurable massage from within his own stomach than a dying man fighting against him... He held his paws against his belly, not pressing, not petting, just feeling the movement within his guts... "AhhHHHHHUUUUURP...heh heh, wow...wow you're-YEEEEEERRRP-oof, fighting harder than I even expected...I - ARP! - think you really must WANT to die...you want it? Well, you'll have to work foooooOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAKLP it...kick, punch, wriggle like the worm you are...there's no escape...oh, half-BLARHP!-way there...just about..." The man laughed to himself, paying absolutely no heed to the beasts' mindless taunting. Instead, he just kicked harder and harder, to the point where his legs were actually aching just slightly. But, like his situation, he paid no heed to that either. Feeling the stomach's oxygen grow flatter and flatter as a series of belches 'leaked' up the beasts' throat, the man began building momentum, feeling gastric bubbles forming all around him and stinking up the inner stomach worse than it already stank, he heel kicked again and again, causing those bubbles to grow ever larger as smaller bubbles arose from the kicking, joining the large one, building up more and more pressure in the swollen belly of the guardian... The creature felt warmth rising up his gullet...he covered his mouth, desperately trying to hold it all back in... "Urrp...mph...so soon? No...no, not...quite..." He swallowed as much of the vile air back down into his gassy gut... "Bleeerrrrrk...ah, you'll need to work harder than that, little one," he teased, tapping his stomach region with a claw. "You'll have to work much harder...don't you want to go to sleep? It must be burning up in there by now..." Feeling the gas descend back into the stomach and toxifying the already toxic air around him with more noxious stench, he winced ever so slightly, but complied and kicked harder. In truth, it WAS getting quite unbearably hot, as he felt his body itch and burn a bit, but again...he just paid it no heed, and kept going. Not so much as uttering a sound, save for the muffled grunts he let out with each kick, or the occasional low chuckle he emitted from amusement, listening to the beast carry on. So, he did something else...

Once more, he leg-pressed his heels into the stomach walls, and lifted his backside from the stomach floor, his back being pressed against the back of the stomach as he seemed to lift slightly, stretching the stomach out considerably as he stretched his calves out as far as they could go, and sat there for a moment...

...Before stretching his calves out more and more, causing the stomach to expand as his boots pushed out the belly and blocked off the incoming pressure… The monster felt his gut churn viciously, and then stretch out absurdly with the man's body... His eyes widened...he clamped his jaws tightly shut...he felt the warmth rising up again, bubbling and frothing from his belly to his maw... He went tense, frozen still...he couldn't move...he couldn't SPEAK...his body felt like a bottle of human wine that had been shaken far too often; the SLIGHTEST pressure could pop the cork off like a bullet... He gagged...his stomach heaved...he could feel the impending gas churn, but it wouldn't come up...! Something had to give... The man looked up, hearing some commotion and chuckled to himself. "Hehe, having troubles there?" he asked as the stomach around him churned and bubbled more savagely than ever as the pressure within the beast built up to an obscene amount. "Does this hurt?" asked the man with no small amount of amusement. "Hurrr...hurrrrrrrr..." The creature couldn't respond, his belly still heaving and rolling, trying to force all the gas up his gullet...he punched his stomach...that did nothing...his stomach groaned loudly, unpleasantly; he clutched it and let out a puppy-like whimper... Phagan laughed, feeling the beast punch at his belly to no avail, and whimper as the pain intensified inside. Still perfectly clamped against the stomach, blocking off the impending gas bubble to be from expelling, the man glanced idly at the steel-toe boots planted firmly against the squishy stomach.

"Maybe I should have said feet first when you swallowed me, so you would have noticed you forgot to take these off of me when you swallowed me whole," he said, and to add insult to injury, he began to push further, laughing coldly as he felt the monsters gut churn as a result. "Bet you feel like you're going to explode any minute unless I move, huh. You might even feel so sick that you throw me right back up. Then I'd REALLY have some fun with you."

He ground his feet against the stomach firmer. "One hundred years guarding this place, taking on one 'threat' after another, and it's indigestion that gets you? Now, wouldn't that just be sad...?"

With one last chuckle, he held his position firmly for a few more moments, letting the beast suffer that agonizing pressure in his belly for just a little longer, then...surprisingly,

he lifted his legs just slightly, and willingly released himself from the position, allowing himself to fall back onto the stomach floor and causing the immensely stretched out belly to snap right back into position, snapping that impending gas bubble right up the beasts throat.

"You're welcome." The beast barely comprehended his food's words; his stomach felt like it was being pressed in a vise... Then, suddenly, a sudden surge - like a gigantic rubber band being snapped inside his body - sent a wave of warmth through him...his mouth gaped open...and... "HHHhhhhmmmmmmrrrrrrk....hhhmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRB-B-B-BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHP!!!" Quite out of breath, the guardian let out a grunted "oof!" and leaned back, panting like a dog, against the tree, one paw on his stomach, the other keeping him from falling sideways to the ground in a daze. He blinked slowly...then, jokingly, fanned the air around his nose. "That...smells...awful," he uttered, and looked down at his swollen belly; the man had stopped moving, and was likely not going to last much longer...but he was still alive. The guardian could feel it... The man in question, just sat idly and calmly on the stomach floor. The air had been all but depleted, and his body burned and itched immensely, but first glance, he certainly didn't show it. Rather, he sat patiently, as if waiting to see what would happen next, even as his breathing slowed down. He heard the beasts remark, and merely smirked. "I bet it did," he said, voice softer but showing no sign of fear or anger. Rather, he sounded almost content. The guardian rubbed his belly in soft circles, frowning again. "Well...nothing to do now, except digest you, I guess," he mumbled; he was not-so-secretly displeased - and, more importantly, quite confused - as to how nothing his internal workings did seemed to faze the food that sat inside. Did nothing faze this human at all?!

"You make a filling meal," Big B. said, frankly. "I can only imagine," he responded, shrugging his shoulders slightly, aware of the disappointment in his captors voice. "You know, I could've made you REALLY suffer more than just a bellyache," he said, "have you any interest in knowing why I didn't?" The guardian snorted. "Yes...and also HOW," he said, trying to sound less interested than he really was. "You might be made up of a bunch of different animals, but your stomachs biology is no different. That much pressure being blocked off would have caused the bile to rise up your throat and take me up with it. From there, well, who knows..." he said, hinting at malicious intent with his last remark. "But I let go, and out came a tremor. Why? Well, for the same reason you couldn't get any real resistance out of me once you'd eaten me; because I don't dodge my debts." "If you had found your way back out, you'd just end up going right back in," the Bewaker said, calm and confident, but not cocky. "And as for your 'debt,' consider it paid in full." He patted his stomach. "If it's any consolation, or whatever, you fought harder and better than most other meals before I put you down...and you were definitely tastier than most." If only you remained so protestant while INSIDE me...but it's too late for that now... He shook this thought off. "You tried to kill me, you tried to kill my friends, and you probably killed a lot of other animals and/or other humans long before now...plus, you're...well...psychotic," he muttered with a shrug. "I can't say I'm sorry for you, if you're trying to get my respect, or my pity..." The man just chuckled, paying no heed to the end result note, and shook his head, even though he knew the beast couldn't see. "I'm not looking for sympathy or respect. See, I may be 'psychotic' as you put it, but I'm not unrealistic. I've spent my life taking, causing nothing but harm to others; both animal and human alike. No measure of guilt or apology can undo the things I've done." He sighed to himself, weary of breath and added, "I fought because I'm a wicked human being. Then I lost, and got exactly what I deserved. I didn't; nor wanted to fight or

escape once you'd eaten me, because I accepted my fate the moment you sent me flying across the woods and into that tree. Soon , I'll be nothing but fat to add to the...immense collection, and the world will have one less bad guy in it. All things considered, that's a happy ending." Feeling fainter, he still maintained composure, and started chuckling to himself. "And you know...what the craziest part of all this is...?" "No, but I'm guessing you're going to tell me, being crazy yourself," the creature lowed, then absent-mindedly stretched and yawned, squeezing the man inside him a bit tighter for a few seconds... The man felt his body squeezing against the rubbery flesh as the beast stretched himself out for a moment. He idly rocked with the movement, still just 'taking it' as it were. "The crazy thing is, I'm actually grateful that creatures like you exist, keeping your own little part of the world safe from creatures like me," he added, chuckling weaker and weaker. Finally, he added, "Your friends, any weary wanderers, they're lucky to have a guardian like you..." With that, his eyes slowly shut as his head slumped forward, still in an idle sitting position as the liquids around him quickly rose up, ready to claim him. Unsure on how to respond to that, the creature just sat there, waiting, feeling the man inside him fading fast... Then... "Tell your parents I said hello." The near lifeless man flickered, then smiled, nodding ever so slightly at the last remark, as the liquid completely rose up and consumed his now unconscious body. The creature covered its mouth as the man's last breath came floating back up his throat - "Urp...'scuse me..." Then, with a bit of effort, the guardian climbed back up to his feet, patted his belly twice, and departed, heading back at an easy march for the campsite... He had a tiger to set loose...and a LOT to clean up... As the sun peeked over the hill top, signalling the end of the night, he smirked and sighed in amusement...

"This is going to be a LONG day..." Within a matter of seconds, he forgot about Tanner and Jones... But - though he pretended to - he could not so easily forget the last man. He would in time, however...he had centuries to, after all... The End