Originally posted on FA on Dec 21st, 2016 06:37 PM

This one's a sequel to that other story I wrote with the fate-stealing fox goddess.

---

Heather sat cross-legged on the grass, her dress tucked beneath her legs. The female wolf watched as the mouse sitting across from her stacked logs in the fire pit.

"So you come out here every year," Heather said. "And nothing ever happens?"

"That's right," Claris responded.

"And every year you convince someone to come out with you?"

"The scrolls say that the goddess requires two, yes." The mouse said, her focus still on the fire pit. She had stacked the small logs into a tent shape, and now began to stuff dried leaves beneath them.

"Two sacrifices." Heather said.

Now Claris looked up at her. "If you're not comfortable with this, please say so. I'm not trying to force you into anything."

Heather's ears drooped. She was a big, strong wolf, and Claris was a meek little mouse -- or at least, that was how the others in the village saw them. Heather towered over Claris, at least twice the little mouse's height. So why did Heather feel like the petulant child being scolded by a concerned parent?

"Hey, I told you I would help," Heather said, forcing herself to smile, "and I will. Besides, it's not like I believe that the goddess is actually going to appear."

"I don't believe she will, either," Claris said, turning her attention back to the pile of wood and tinder.

"Then why do this every year?"

"Because I believe it's the offer that's important," Claris said. "The old records say that our ancestors made a deal with the goddess: two young women from our village every year in exchange for good harvests. The years have passed and many of our traditions have changed, but we still enjoy bountiful harvests every year, and our village is wealthy because of it. The sacrifices may not actually be taken, but I believe offering ourselves is a way that we can show the goddess we appreciate what she does for us."

Heather listened to the fervor in the little mouse's voice. She did have a point: though Heather had never intended to spend her whole life in their little village, it had always been prosperous. "You really believe that, huh?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then, if this is important to you, it's important to me," Heather said. "And I'll be a 'sacrifice' with you. And after all, it's not like I'd be doing anything important today if I didn't."

Claris smiled at Heather and looked her up and down, examining the form-fitting dress that the wolf wore to accentuate her already ample curves. "Probably just getting every boy in the village to chase you," she said.

Heather's breath caught in her throat at Claris' smile. Thank the goddess that the mouse had never realized it wasn't the boys she was interested in having chase her.

Claris pulled her hands away from the fire pit, pleased with it. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

The mouse nodded, then held out one hand, palm up. She placed a dried leaf on it, then concentrated. Heather could feel the energies gathering -- heat seemed to drain out of the air. Claris released a sharp breath on the leaf, and it burst into flame, a small fireball launching forth and setting the tinder ablaze.

It was a simple spell, Heather knew, but she still admired Claris' ability to perform it so easily. The mouse had tried to teach Heather how to do it, and the wolf had only succeeded in singeing the fur on her fingers.

The two girls waited a moment as the fire consumed the tinder and started to catch the logs. Once they had a decent flame heating the crisp fall air, Claris stood up.

"Stand," she commanded, and Heather did so.

Claris raised both arms up, and a gust of wind blew through the woods, rustling the trees and causing the tunic that Claris wore to billow up.

She cut a surprisingly impressive sight for one so small. Standing before the fire, her arms raised as sparks swirled around her, she looked like something out of a storybook; one of the mages of old, the great sorcerers that commanded the earth and skies and laid waste to entire cities with a word.

"Oh goddess of the harvest," Claris said, her tiny voice almost lost in the wind as she recited the ritual by rote, "we offer ourselves to you. In exchange for protection and succor, you may take these two and do with us what you will. We surrender our fates to you." The fire crackled as Claris stood still, arms still outstretched, waiting.

And Heather felt something.

There was no audible noise -- no crack of thunder or heavenly choir. Just that odd sensation you get when you know someone is watching you. A golden light filled the clearing, and Heather heard the snap of a branch behind her.

Slowly, she turned around.

A female fox stood before her. Rather than red or white, her fur was a beautiful gold, and seemed to actually glow, spreading brilliant light throughout the clearing. She wore no clothing to conceal her lithe figure. She stood straight and tall, a little taller than Heather, even, her posture filled with a supernatural grace even when unmoving.

Heather swallowed hard. She felt like she should say something, back away, do something, but her legs felt locked in place. This was the most beautiful female she had ever seen, and just her presence was making Heather blush.

The fox stepped towards Heather and laid her arms on the wolf's shoulders, gently caressing the back of her head, like a lover might.

"I accept," she said.

Then she opened her mouth wide and pushed Heather's head forward. Her muzzle slid inside easily, and Heather's world went dark.

It happened in an instant. One moment, the wolf found herself staring into the fox's open maw; the next, slick walls undulated around her. The fox slurped her up like a noodle, and Heather found herself crammed into a tight, sticky chamber that could only be one place.

Panic seized Heather's chest as her brain finally had time to absorb what had happened. She had been eaten. She had been eaten.

Heather pushed out with her hands and legs. The moist walls stretched, then snapped back just as tight as before. She screamed, but she couldn't tell if anyone could hear her. She tried to find the entrance, to claw her way back out, but all her struggles only managed to work more of the sticky fluids into her fur.

Her fur? Where had her dress gone!? She had been wearing a dress just a minute ago!

She thought she could hear talking, but it came muffled through the thick fur and flush surrounding her. Claris' voice... and it sounded scared? Heather supposed that wasn't a surprise. Was Claris about to join her?

"Run!" She screamed, kicking at the walls again. "Get away from her!"

Rather than just snap back, the stomach walls responded this time by redoubling back on her, stronger than they had before. Heather found herself crushed into a tiny space as the walls kneaded her.

And it was only getting tighter. And hotter, too. She tried to push on the walls, but now they resisted like a sheet pulled taut, and with all her strength, Heather couldn't get them to move.

Finally, as the space shrunk tighter and the air grew thin, she blacked out.

---

Heather woke up -- somewhere. She wasn't sure where. In fact, she wasn't even sure she had woken up.

She tried to get her bearings on her current situation. It was warm and dark. It didn't feel like the stomach, but it did feel alive -- a fleshy wall pressed against one side of her, and something huge and slimy moved against her other side, like a giant worm of some kind.

Her body felt strange, too. She couldn't move, but not because she was bound tightly; it was as though her body was now made of concrete. She didn't even think she was breathing. Oddly enough, though, she wasn't uncomfortable -- she felt no muscle cramps, nor the intense claustrophobia that should have accompanied being unable to move like this.

Was she dead? Was this death?

"So that's it?" The voice was muffled, but Heather could still recognize it as belonging to Claris. "She's gone?"

A hot wind blew around Heather, and suddenly there was light. A large portal opened, and through it, Heather, somehow seeing without eyes, found herself looking down on Claris. The mouse looked like she was still in shock, having fallen backwards into a sitting position on the forest floor. Propped up on her arms, she stared up in Heather's direction, her eyes wide with awe and fear.

"No." The fox's voice rumbled around Heather, reverberating through her. "She isn't gone." The portal winked open and closed, and the large worm-like thing writhed beside her.

"Oh." Claris' nonplussed response almost made Heather want to laugh. "But I -- I saw you eat my friend. And then your belly just... shrank. So doesn't that mean she's...?"

The portal curved, changing shape. "My body is not like yours. Your friend is not gone; she has become part of me. Her soul will give me energy to sustain my physical form, but even when that energy runs out, she will remain. The soul cannot be destroyed."

Well, that was a bit of a relief; the idea of suddenly not existing wasn't one that Heather was very fond of. But where the hell was she?

"Are you upset?" The fox's voice asked. The question sounded genuine.

Of course she's upset! She just saw her friend being eaten and having her soul stolen!

Claris furrowed her brow. "I... I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to feel. You... you're really the goddess?"

"That's right," the voice responded, coming from all around Heather. "Shouldn't you know that? You are the one who summoned me."

"Well, yes, but..." Claris hesitated. "I guess I... I've done this many times, and I've never..."

"I don't usually make house calls, but I happened to be in the neighborhood," the goddess responded. "But don't think that means I haven't noticed you. I always fulfill my deals regardless, but it was nice to know I hadn't been forgotten."

Claris' eyes darted away, embarrassed. "So you... you really were listening." She seemed to ponder for a moment, then asked, "So... why are you 'in the neighborhood?'"

"I do it every thousand years or so," the goddess answered. "I take my physical form back into the world and I walk it for a while, perhaps a few of your mortal lifetimes. It gives me an opportunity to see through mortal eyes how things are going, and to collect fate for the next cycle."

Claris nodded. "And... what happens to me? Are you going to eat me, too?"

"Well, let me see."

Through the portal, Heather saw the goddess' golden hand reach out and help Claris to her feet. Then the portal lowered itself towards the mouse, turning to look at her from different angles. The goddess' hand gently grasped Claris' chin, turning her head.

"Is everything okay?" Claris asked, sounding concerned.

"Just a moment." The portal moved in close, almost touching Claris' fur, and Heather heard snuffling. The giant worm-thing slid forward, reaching through the portal to touch Claris' cheek and leave a slimy trail.

And Heather suddenly understood where she was -- what she was. The fleshy wall beside her was the side of the goddess' mouth. The large, slimy muscle was the goddess' tongue.

And she? She was the goddess' tooth. The canine on the upper left side, to be precise.

This... this all had to be a dream. Some sort of nightmare! She couldn't just... be a tooth. How long was she going to be here? Was she really going to be trapped here forever!? Watching whatever the goddess did, never able to move or speak, never able to tell Claris that... that...

"Huh."

The goddess' surprised tone caught Heather off guard. She stopped worrying about her own problems for a moment and focused on Claris. Was her friend about to suffer the same fate she had?

"What?" Claris asked, worried.

"When you came here -- you really meant to give yourself to me, didn't you?"

"Well... yes. I mean, you've never come any other years when I did this, but I always meant it when I said I'd be a sacrifice."

"Interesting." The goddess sounded amused, now. "Because you see, my girl, I sustain myself by gathering fate. When I swallowed your friend, I preempted the potential life she was going to live, and I take that energy for myself. That's how I perform my 'miracles.' But you... you have no fate at all."

Claris looked up at the goddess, her expression falling. "You mean, I'm just... nothing special? Just a normal person?"

Nothing special? Ridiculous. Claris was as kind-hearted and self-sacrificing a soul as Heather had ever known. That had to be worth something!

The opening of the mouth moved back and forth as the goddess shook her head. "No, anything but. A normal life is still a fate, albeit not a very tasty one. You have no fate. Your entire existence just... ends here. Like if you were reading a book, but you turned a page halfway through and found that the rest were blank."

Claris cocked her head to one side. "So then what happens to me? Do I just disappear?"

"Not at all. But it does mean your future is up for grabs, and since you were offering yourself to me anyway, I'm going to take it." Through the goddess' slightly open mouth, Heather watched a golden hand come to rest on Claris' shoulder. "Claris, I hereby claim you as mine."

Claris' breath caught, and Heather felt a rush of energy. Something more significant than words had just passed between Claris and the goddess.

"What..." Claris was still struggling to catch her breath. "What... will you do with me?"

"Well," the goddess said, her tone casual, "it has been over a thousand years since I walked the world. Things can change a lot in that much time. I could use a mortal guide to show me around."

Claris stared up at the goddess, her eyes wide. Then, as she understood what the goddess had said, she smiled. "I... I get to be your guide?"

"For as long as I'm here in the mortal world. Then I'll take you with me when I go."

"That... that's fantastic!" Claris was grinning now, and practically dancing in place with excitement. "I get to be the servant of a goddess! I, um..." She swallowed. "I'm sorry, Mistress. I didn't mean to..." The mouse frowned. "I didn't mean to call you that."

"That's okay," the goddess said. "It's appropriate. And your excitement is appreciated -- it tells me I chose the right mortal. Now, why don't you go into town and get us some traveling supplies and clothes. After all, I need to see more than just this little part of the world."

"Of course, right away!" Claris looked up at the goddess. "What will you...?"

"I'm going to change my appearance to be a bit less... remarkable. I will catch up with you in town. Don't worry, even if I look different, you'll know that it's me."

Claris nodded, then scrambled off down the path towards town, tripping over her tunic in her hurry.

Heather watched her go, trying desperately to reach out towards her. In her excitement at her new role, Claris had forgotten about Heather completely. Not that she could blame her. This whole thing was a dream come true for the pious Claris -- of course she was distracted.

And Heather would be stuck here, unable to do anything except help the goddess chew her food. She wanted to cry, to scream, to do something, but she remained completely immobile. Was this her future? To be ignored forever?

The goddess watched Claris run off, her mouth still slightly parted. Once she was a good distance away, the goddess spoke. "Don't worry," she whispered, her voice sliding around Heather in a gentle caress. The large tongue came up to touch her for a moment. "I'll make sure I brush you every day."

Oddly enough, that actually did make Heather feel a little better.

The goddess closed her mouth, enclosing Heather in darkness.

At least Heather wasn't in pain. In fact, she was actually quite comfortable. The way she fit in among the other teeth felt somehow... right, as though she had always been made to belong in the goddess' mouth. And even if she couldn't directly speak to her, at least it sounded like she was going to get to stay close to Claris -- keept on eye on her, as it were. And Claris had been so happy with her new arrangement; Heather couldn't fault her for that. Heather herself would have been excited to find out she was going to travel the world with a goddess.

And she still would, in a way.

So Heather tried to relax as she was immersed in the sounds and sensations that would be the chorus of her existence: the sound of the goddess' regular breathing, the wet noises of her mouth and clack of her teeth, the occasional caress of her tongue. She might as well get used to it.

After all, it seemed she was going to be here a while.