A Predatious Field Study Traveling Interlude 1 (Patreon)

Traveling Interlude 1

Beyond the edge of the castle’s main gate, the guards watched two women staring out into the surrounding woods. They wondered about offering to travel with them, whether or not the queen had made the right decision in sending them out on their own.

The larger of the two, a blonde, had a nervousness about her step. Magdalene Petrela wore an emerald green half jacket that remained half obscured by her hair, underneath it a brown leather tunic. The outlier in what seemed to be a normal adventuring outfit was her bottoms. She didn’t wear any breeches and the knee-high boots remained as her only leg covering. On a belt she carried several little trinkets in pouches along with a dagger and a sword.

The massive diaper sandwiched between her legs was another matter. It jutted out with tightly packed padding three feet in every direction. Its lowest point threatened to touch the ground but was just barely saved from scrapping the harsh earth thanks to its wearer's height.

She stood taller than most of the castle's largest guards, a venerable six-foot-five-inches. It in no way matched her nervous behavior.

The smaller of the pair juxtaposed her companion's timid nature as she had more than enough confidence for both of them. Juniper Lorn was BorgeFjell’s royal scientist, and though she stood just below four feet in height, she commanded the respect of everyone within the castle.

Not many could claim to have an appetite as voracious as Queen Nimue, nor would they have been as willing to say she could possibly outeat the monarch. A voracious appetite like Juniper’s was rare and normally made living difficult. She however took it in stride, researching magical secrets to ease her burden. In it, she found a love for the magical sciences and her true calling.

She too wore a diaper, though it was not even a quarter as sizable as her assistant’s. It held tight to her wide hips and waist, a jumble of magical runes printed on the front strip of plastic. Her feet were covered by sensible shoes and her body a long white coat that reached her ankles. Under it, she had on a green blouse, simple and without embellishments though held tight to an impressive bust. She kept fiery red hair in a ponytail with two small strands framing her face.

Behind them was a prepared cart loaded with supplies, the guards having seen some of the castle’s servants load it with a variety of boxes and heavy metal instruments. These were things the royal scientist had insisted she needed for ‘science.’

There were no beasts to pull the cart but as they took their first steps forward it followed, mowing as if pulled by something invisible. The gate guards looked at each other and shrugged. Maybe going with them wasn't the best course of action. They seemed like a strange pair.

----------------------------------------------------

Juniper moved with an excited pep in her step, having Magdalene follow behind. They’d consulted the magical map before leaving but she insisted on doing it again—there wasn’t time to waste going the wrong way after all.

Her blonde assistant unfolded the large piece of paper on which she’d inscribed the tracing spell, lighting up the space between them with a blue aura. The lines of the surrounding landscape burned into the paper, outlining everything around them. Where they stood was clearly marked, a small arrow letting them know which direction they faced. It correlated specifically with a pendant around Maggie’s neck, a sort of tracing beacon.

Juniper admired the paper, motioning for her assistant to squat down so that she might actually see it. “This truly is impressive spellwork my dear assistant. So this arrow tells us where we are… and where might the first gem be?”

She noticed Maggie blush at the compliment and stumble around her words before finding them. “Uhh this point here!” she said too excitedly, pointing to a blue glowing dot on the map, “That’s where we’ll find the first gem. It looks like it’s only about half a day’s walk away from us.”

Juniper jumped away happily, striking a pose and pointing in the direction the map had indicated. “Let’s make haste then and hope we find some snacks on the way. I’m starting to feel those second breakfast hunger pangs!”

With an excited step, the pair carved their way through the forest, their supply cart following dutifully behind. Maggie even started to calm down when the quiet chirping and wonders of nature settled in.

As they moved down the path their presence was noticed by several forest creatures, some of which seemed to take offense to their presence. Juniper caught sight of a pack of Bahargests skirting amongst the trees, their red eyes tracking the scientist and her assistant.

They appeared to lick their chops at the pair only to have the redhead do the same in response. Several more tense seconds passed before the beast rushed at Juniper who only smiled at its audacity.

She squatted, preparing herself to wrestle with the beast. It leapt, going for the pounce only to yelp in surprise when Juniper’s tongue extended out of her mouth like a massive python, catching it in mid-air.

It was there one minute and gone the next, disappearing down her slack jaw with surprising speed. Her stomach bulged with its mass. Then it was back again, turned around and looking confused. The black dog that served as an omen of curses and evil whipped around in shock, obviously remembering being swallowed but completely unsure how it’d ended up back on the forest floor.

Strings of drool extended out of Juniper’s mouth as she let her tongue—now returned to its normal size—hang out to expose several magical runes. The one that’d replicated the creature's mass lay dormant above the one that’d teleported the original back out of her stomach.

If Juniper were to consume without concern she was likely to cause an ecological disaster daily, so this was an easier compromise. She didn’t have to wipe out populations of monsters just to fill her stomach, only slightly traumatize them.

The bahargest whimpered and ran in the opposite direction, fear driving it away.

Satisfaction spread across Juniper’s face. Her stomach may not have been full but at the very least a light snack would keep her moving. The rune on her stomach glowed, flattening her belly in a matter of seconds.

*grrrwwwwllllll nggggmmmmmm*

With the use of her magic came the first of the bubbles, a small stream escaping her mouth preceded by a loud burp.

*BBBBBBURRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPP*

It was a downside created by the magic of her rune. Such a large mass undergoing extreme and sudden pressure created gas bubbles, and with nowhere else to go they came back up, sometimes carrying little remembrances of the thing she’d eaten. The bahargest’s bubbles had little bits of dark fur and swirling curses.

Juniper watched the disturbed pack lope away, following the one she’d swallowed and suspected to be the leader of the pack. It looked back nervously and she suspected that if it showed any signs of greater intelligence it may have been bothered by her smug smile.

“Here I was thinking I’d get a decent meal,” Juniper mused, “not just a running snack.”

From behind her Maggie giggled at the joke. “Well Ms. Lorn, it seems like the Cockatrices may be getting closer. You know, the ones coming from the west.”

Juniper’s stomach rumbled again as she’d already made another sizable deposit into the back of her diaper. “Ohhh good eye Maggie, I’ve just made plenty of room for a few.”

The scientist could feel her assistant’s eyes locked onto the back of her padding, waiting for it to expand, expectantly. “Always so watchful,” Juniper thought, “Especially after a meal.” She looked back, making sure that her padding wasn’t errantly growing behind her. While poofy and bulbous no mess strained the exterior of her diaper nor stained the outside.

The access to ‘hammer space’ meant she had much more room to fill despite the fact that her body voided constantly, working hard to process the chyme her body reduced copied matter into.

“Don’t fret yet dear Magdalene. Remember, when I designed the hammerspace pamper I made sure to get them to hold the upper limit of three tons before they started to expand. It’ll take more than that little snack to impede my movement.”

Already the Baharghest meal had made its way through her and was dropping into the non-euclidean diaper’s extra-dimensional void.

Maggie nodded but raised a single index finger as if to raise a missed point. “You’re right Miss but, I don’t think you’re accounting for the breakfast Queen Nimue sent, two whole steers is hardly anything to scoff at in terms of size.”

As if in defiance Juniper did scoff, amused by her assistant’s tracking of her padding’s usage. She’d stopped trying to track and count the weight of her meals long ago. The endeavor was mostly a waste because by the time she’d total up her stomach contents, they’d either be digested or she’d add to them, forcing her to start over.

That was back when she had to change her own diapers though. She was long beyond that now that Maggie was her assistant. Perhaps it was easier for her if she kept track, knowing when Juniper’s padding was near its limit likely kept her from having to deal with unbearable loads.

*GWWWWWOOOOOOULLLLLLL*

Her rumbling stomach pulled her out of her daydream and back into the real world.

“Well, that’s enough of that. COME MAGGIE, WE’VE A GEM TO FIND AND WILDLIFE TO CONSUME ALONG THE WAY!” With her declaration shaking the forest, Juniper stomped forward toward the place Maggie’s magic map had pointed them.