Scaling Survival (Ruto TG Comm) (Patreon)

“Gods please, let me find land, or someone find me.” Ruto said. He looked up at the sky. The sun beamed down on his sunburned skin like an evil deity. For a moment, he swore he could see a malicious grin on it. He shook his head, and it returned to its normal appearance. Still, he shot it a look as if it would grow arms and reach down for him.

His mind went back to how he wound up here. He had gone fishing yesterday, trying to get his latest haul for the market, when a storm had come his way. Despite his best efforts, he had wound up getting caught in it. The winds had dragged him around and pulled on his ship. Waves crashed into it as if they were going over a bed of rocks. For a while, it seemed like, despite the chaos of the situation, his ship would come out of it until a lightning bolt struck the mast and set it aflame instantly.

At that moment, it was as if the gods were mocking him. Despite the rain, the fire grew and lit the sails and the rest of the ship. With little time, he grabbed a satchel, filled it with what food, fresh water, and tools he could, and then got on the raft.

‘It’s a miracle the storm didn’t turn my raft over, or anything else.’

Ruto craned his head upward and took a swig of the last bit of freshwater he had. It did little to lessen the pain in his throat, but it was welcome.

He saw a lush green island out in the distance when he put the bottle down. Ruto stared at it. His body trembled. He rubbed his eyes, hoping his eyes weren’t betraying him. But, to his shock, the island remained.

Ruto smiled. “Finally…land!”

He pulled out the oars and paddled as fast as he could. His limbs ached and were covered in sweat already, but he refused to let that stop him.

When the bottom of the raft scraped across the beach, he leaped out of it and pulled it with all his might. With every tug, it felt like he was trying to move a massive boulder until It got stuck. Still, he pushed it. His hands slipped off, and he fell onto the sand, but he quickly got up and turned around.

Ruto’s hands balled into fists as he watched a large ocean wave come up and brush against the boat. His heart was pounding, and he bit his lip in worry. The ocean tried to pull it back, but to his joy, it remained put.

A hoarse chuckle came from him that turned into a raspy cough. He hacked as he fell on his butt. The hot sand under his feet made him smile.

“Oh sweet land. I’ll never take you for granted ever again. Please always be under my feet.”

Despite how much he wanted to lay there, Ruto forced himself up, his body letting out little cracks as he did. He looked into the clear skies trying to find anything that could tell him someone else was on the island, but there wasn’t any.

“Oh well…I’ll figure it out. Either I’ll find a village, or something. I’ll need shelter if I’m going to get through the night. Once I find it, then I can figure out what to do for food and water.” Ruto took what supplies he had. He breathed in and out, gathering his courage. “Alright let’s do it. You got through the ocean and storms trying to kill you, you can survive on land without any problems.”

He entered the forest, his feet leading him on. The noises running through the jungle made his heart pound in his chest. Yet he couldn’t be happier. The large tree branches and leaves protected him from the sun’s heat. At least here, he could trust his feet and wasn’t stuck on a tiny boat.

His heart soared when he saw a large set of ruins. It stood in the center of a lake with bridges connecting it to the land. Fauna covered the stonework, and he could see some of it had fallen into the water. A broad grin formed.

“Oh praise the spirits.” Ruto ran to the ruins.

His heart pounded in his chest, and his lungs burned, but his eagerness to have shelter gave him more energy, power, and hope than he had for days. The front door of the building was gone, but he hardly noticed as he entered the building and was surprised to find stained glass in the windows, unlike the stone that kept it up. In addition, the windows were unmarred with age and had no cracks in the buildings.

“Ok that’s good.”

A grin formed on his face despite it all. Despite the aged look the outside had, the inside was solid. There didn’t seem to be any leaks. He went through the rooms of the ruins, trying to get it all mapped out in his head. Some rooms were in better condition than others, with holes in them, but most were habitable. He went down the stairs to the basement and saw a large pool of water.

“And this place keeps getting better. Depending on the taste, I won’t have to go hunting for water.” Ruto clapped his hands together, a hearty laugh coming out of his mouth. His smile fell as he thought over how good this place was.

“Just wish I knew if this place already had something living here. Doesn’t seem like it, but can never be too careful. Maybe there are some weapons, or tools I can use around here to help get me set up.”

In the pool, he noticed something shining in the water. He waded through the water and reached down. To his surprise, he saw they were a pair of purple amethyst earrings.

“Well worst comes to worst, I could use this to try and pay my way off. I’m sure these are worth something to the right people.”

Ruto returned to the stairs, enjoying the cold water moving against his body as he did.

When he made it to the steps, he went to put them in his pocket, but before they left his hand, they were gone.

“Huh?” Ruto patted his pocket but didn’t feel anything inside it. “Where did it go? I just had it."

A sudden weight on his ears caught his attention. It was as if something was pulling down on the sides of his head. He turned his head and could feel something shift in tune. His heart pounded at the thought of something being inside. He rushed back to the pool of water and cringed when he saw the earrings he had picked up were now in his ears.

Ruto reached up and felt cold metal touch his fingers where nothing should have been. He pulled away as if he had touched a massive serpent. For a moment, he froze, struggling to process everything.

“How did these get on? Are they magic?” He hadn’t encountered any magical artifacts before and had only heard small tidbits about what they could do. They didn’t feel special, and he didn’t feel any more powerful. His body still ached, and his red skin burned. He pulled them off, and his heart eased at how simple it was.

“I don’t know how you did it, and don’t need any more problems at the moment.” Ruto tossed them into the water, and they made a slight plopping noise. “Now then what was I going to do?”

The weight on the side of his head returned, and he reached up. His heart went cold when he felt the same metal in his ears again.

“By the spirits are these things cursed or something?” The thought made him faint, his breathing picked up, and his head throbbed.

Another cold shudder went through his body as he stared at his face. His eyes watered for a second, and he rubbed them. Then, with one hand, he pulled them off and tossed them away like rotten fruit. And to his horror, the familiar weight of the earrings returned, pulling on his ears and making him want to scream.

“No! Why do you keep coming back?!”

A scratching sensation came over his head, and he answered it. The itching need got worse as if something was nibbling on his head. His scratches did nothing at all to appease the irritation on his head. He increased the pace of his scratching, hoping it would be enough for him to gain some sweet relief. Yet it only worsened. Strands of hair fell into his vision, but he paid them little thought as his nails scratched his head.

Patches of hair fell off in droves as if someone was taking a razor and cutting it off. They fell one after the other, yet he couldn’t stop himself from scratching. Despite how much his nails scraped against his scalp, no relief came. He ran his hands through his eyebrows, and his hair disappeared as well. In mere seconds he didn’t feel any soft brown hair brush against his fingers. Only hairless skin there.

Ruto gasped at how much hair had fallen off his head. He trembled and reached down. He grabbed the fallen hair as if it was gold. Then he touched his head again and felt no soft hair greeting him. He rushed over to the pool of water, bracing himself for the terror he might see.

Ruto stared at his bald empty head in shock. The tears in his eyes multiplied. He ran his head over his bald scalp moaning as if someone had snatched away his precious treasure and shoved it into a dark hole he would never see again.

“Wait…”

He ran to the pool and saw every little patch of hair he had was gone. He ran his hand over his skin and shuddered at the velvety touch it had. The lack of resistance and hair made him shudder as if a monster was staring him down. He opened the front of his pants and saw even the bush of hair he had down there was gone, leaving not even a faint shadow of what had been down there.

His hands slipped out of his pants. He leaned against the wall, his throbbing head hurting more. “Just what are these damn earrings doing to me!?”

Ruto’s hands went down the side of his face as he shook his head, his heart pounding faster as he tried to figure out what might happen next. He stared at his body, his jaw tight. “Is anything else going to happen to me?”

A flash of silver on his arm caught his attention. For a moment, he thought something was being reflected off the light and hitting his skin. He ran his hand over the spot and blinked when he felt something contrasting with the rest of his body.

There was a slight sheen to his skin now. He grabbed it and tried to pull it off, but it remained put. His skin slipped out between his digits, and the patch of silver was more prominent than before.

The silvery patch on his skin grew. He pulled off his attire and saw multiple silvery patches all over his body growing larger. Everywhere he looked, there were patches of silver. Even in his most intimate places, they there were as if it was a nasty rash that had spread throughout his body. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come over him, but it never did.

The seconds dragged on, and he opened his eyes. He raised his hands and jumped at the sight of silver appendages. His eyes lowered, and he saw silvery scaly legs poking out of his shorts.

“Ok, no pain. That’s a relief, I think.”

Ruto’s eyes wandered to the pool. The mere sight of his arms and legs made him want to cling to the wall like a spider and hide in the corner, yet a part of him needed to know what he looked like now.

Again he went to the pool, dreading every second, wondering what his reflection in the water might look like now. He got on his knees and closed his eyes. His fingers curled around the edge of the step. The smell of the clean spring water hit his face. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. A horrified scream escaped at the sight of his reflection, which was that of a humanoid reptile man.

Ruto’s hand slowly went up his cheek and caressed it. Soft, smooth scales greeted his touch, making him want to vomit. The scaly touch of his new skin made him shudder. His knuckles brushed against the earrings, and he yelped as if an animal had bitten his hand.

“Are these earrings turning me into an animal or something?” Ruto’s heart pounded faster. Stars entered his vision. He couldn’t feel his lungs filling with air despite how much he breathed deeply. “How am I going to get back home looking like this?”

He could already imagine what some people might do if they saw him now. Some sailors might attack him on sight or try to capture him. His fingers spasmed as he ran them down his side.

Suddenly all of the clothes he was wearing thinned. His shirt slid off and exposed his shoulders, and his pants sagged and went down his body.

Ruto screamed. “No!”

He grabbed pieces of the cloth, trying to keep them from going all over the place, but his tunic broke apart in his hands as if a sword had gone through it. They slid faster down his body, despite how hard he tried to keep them there. Everywhere his fingers touched, they broke apart, severing the threads there. They kept falling apart, breaking down as if they were soggy paper. Every little scrap of cloth, from his tunic to his undergarments, kept falling apart, not even leaving a piece of string to cover his body.

“As if this wasn’t bad enough, now I got to be naked too?”

Small little pops and cracks came from his fingers as they curled, and he winced in pain. He brought them to his face and saw they were getting smaller. Bits of flesh formed between his fingers and made him gasp at the sight of them. He pulled, poked, and prodded the webbed digits, unsure what to make of them. They finished going up when they were halfway up his fingers, yet he gained no measure of comfort. He laid his hands out flat as much as he could and saw small folds.

Ruto dipped his hand in the water and paddled. More water moved with his hands than ever before. “These hands…they're… just like a fish.”

His eyes roamed the rest of his arms and saw forearms had gained the same slender grace his hands had been going through the rest of his arms. The muscle in his biceps shrunk as well. He pressed down on them, but to his shock, they felt even stronger than before.

Something pushed out the sides of his forearms. A transparent see-through portion of flesh formed. Green bits appeared on it and mixed with the bluish sheen it had. They kept growing longer, developing into long frills until they went down the sides of his arms.

“What are these supposed to be?” He pulled on them, and it felt like someone was tugging on the equivalent of his shirt. “Really trying to sell me looking like a monster or something?”

He hugged himself with a heavy heart and a deep breath and trailed his arms down his body. There was a faint image of a slender appearance in his arms. They were thinner than what he was used to, yet he could feel taut muscle hidden underneath that made his spine quiver.

Another feeling overcame his body, making him gasp. He could feel his legs tingling as if they were being prodded with nails. His hands grazed them, and he gasped as if someone had grabbed them. The tenderness they had became more dominating and pronounced. A cold feeling went through his body despite how hot he was.

The transformation power reached his thighs, and they swelled. He could feel his muscles tighten and strengthen, begging to be ravished. They crushed his masculinity between them, making him moan as he shimmied around. He moved his thighs around, giving himself some freedom, but still, his anatomy craved further stimulation.

The new plush thighs he had demanded attention. His fingers inched closer to his thighs, his fingers curling in anticipation. They brushed ever so slightly into them, earning a somewhat excited gulp from him, despite the worry and nausea that went through him. He balled his hands into fists, desperately trying to keep himself under control. The primitive urge kept screaming at him, urging him to touch them. The slight curves of his new thighs drew his attention to them.

“Focus Ruto. Have to focus on something else.”

Something pushed out of the sides of his thighs. He pulled on them and was immediately reminded of the long fins he had on his arms.

“Why am I getting these things?” Ruto forced himself to move his thighs, and just like the frills on his arms, the ones on his thighs followed his movements, almost like a blanket. They gained the same blueish-spotted pattern as they went lower. “Why do these feel so damn comforting?”

Another sigh came out as he could feel the transformation continue down his legs. Ruto braced himself, his calves tightening. A charlie horse went through him, making his breathing sharpen, but he couldn’t bring himself. Instead, he massaged his legs, trying to ease the pain going through them and his touch like someone was poking him with dozens of needles. Ruto grimaced as the needle's sensations on his thighs multiplied ten thousandfold but continued to massage them.

As he did, his calves slammed against his fingers. The power in them multiplied, growing stronger with every pulse of energy. Despite their slimmer appearance, he marveled at their unique appearance. The pain in his legs ceased much to his glee. With the relaxed muscle they had, it looked almost as if they had become half their size. Again he tightened his calves, and defined muscle appeared.

“By the spirits they look like they would be able to crush rupees with how big they are.”

His feet curled on their own, yet, the mobility they had before was gradually dissipating. With all of his will and might, he tried to keep them in place, but they refused and continued to wiggle as they pleased. They grew a little longer, making him yelp.

Ruto pulled his legs closer and grabbed his boots. He pulled them off, bracing himself for what they might be like now. Again he jumped and watched his toes move of their own accord as they gained the same little flesh between them his fingers had. The nails on his toes disappeared, melding into his altering feet as they did. Flesh formed between his toes, just like with his fingers. He prodded the thin membrane, cringing at the webby flesh. His hands trailed down the rest of his legs. He grimaced. “I look like a damn fish!”

Dull pain went through his head, and he held it. Everything about his head felt off. Small whimpers came from him as he braced himself for what next atrocity might happen now. His hands roamed his scalp, trying to make sense of everything. He tried to push down on his head, trying to get a better idea of what was happening to his head. Parts of it continued to expand and grow out, giving his head a more oval appearance, with the uppermost part being the most prominent. Some of the scales on his merged and formed together into a hardened exterior.

He could feel his cheeks grow out and rise higher. Small pops resounded through his cheeks as he struggled to contain himself. His breathing picked up as his lungs got heavier. A slight burn entered his eyes as if salt water had gotten into them. He instinctually rubbed them to try and ease the burden he felt coming from them.

“Ahh!”

A slight pinching feeling came from his ears. He brought his hands up and noticed them shifting. The cartilage in them moved around as they grew larger and gained a more defined point. His fingers traced them and could tell they were reminiscent of a fish’s fin.

Again Ruto went over to the water, wondering what his appearance was like now. The bounce of his altered ears and the weight of his transformed noggin made him whimper. Again the feeling of the fins swept against his body, making him jump.

Gone were his normal ears, and in their place were webbed ears reminiscent of the fins he had now. He ran his hands down them again and shuddered in disgust. Bright purple eyes stared back at him in the pool of water reminiscent of the earrings hanging around his ears. At the ends of his head, he noticed two small gems that matched his eyes. He looked closer and realized the orbs were the same shade as his earrings.

“Why is my face like this now? They look almost like…almost like a woman's.” The softer angular cheeks and delicate face made him reel. If it was on a normal Hylian, it might have looked attractive to some, but to him, it might as well have looked like the gaping maw of some horrible monster. What caught his attention the most was the strange shape of his he ran. “The shape of the head just looks so off.”

He moved his hands, the new shape of his skull making his insides twist and turn as if he had eaten a handful of sand. His eyes were locked on his reflection, unable to turn away despite how many knots his innards made.

Ruto breathed, his webbed hands turning into fists. “Is it finally over now, or am I going to have to go through some more stuff before it is?”

A slight sting went through his lower body as his hips widened. Ruto brought his hands down on them and again shuddered from the leathery skin he felt. The boney feelings of his hips were the only source of comfort. However, that comfort was ruthlessly torn apart when he felt a shift in his body. He could feel something pushing out as if it was forcing its way out of his body. Despite it all, he kept his hands there, trying to shove them back into their proper place, but they kept growing outwards. A minor pain came from them with how hard he was trying, but he refused to give up.

Even when the change to his body finished, he still pushed them, as if they would return to their original place if he tried hard enough. The girthy hips contrasted greatly with the rest of the slender swimmer's build he had gained. “Why are my hips this big?”

Ruto eyed the water, wondering what he should do. His new aquatic body would certainly help him out in there, but now it looked like it could have been a pool of lava.

“What if I won’t be able to breathe on land soon?”

Again the war in his mind raged and became more apparent. He shook his head and forced those thoughts away. Right now, he had to focus on surviving and doing what he had to.

Another tingling sensation overcame his lower body, and he gasped. He looked down and saw despite the situation, his member had risen higher. It grew more prominent, and he tried to shove it down as if it was a snake that would retreat into its den. Its tenderness grew, and he shuddered as bolts of arousal went through it. Suddenly it got smaller, heat pooled into his core, and his hands acted on instinct.

He wrapped his webbed hands around it, and his knees went weak. Then, like a small bush in a storm, he swayed. A glazed look appeared in his eyes as he rubbed it up and down, savoring the energetic little bursts that came from it, further fueling his imagination.

“N-no! You shouldn’t be shrinking! Why are you shrinking?!” Ruto stumbled forward, his feet feeling like they were wrapped in clogs. With every little stroke, he could feel more of his member disappear. It got smaller, shrinking between his hands. He fell into the pool, his scream drowned out by the water as his wood entered his body.

His balls trailed into his body, making him flail in the pool. Again he flapped around, swirling in the water and doing circles, his sense of control and balance thrown out of order.

Ruto floated like a log in the water. She couldn’t bring herself to move. Her mind felt like it had been disconnected from her body. Her body sloppily adjusted itself, and looked down at herself. She looked between her legs and grimaced. At first glance, it looked as if any genitalia she had, had been hidden, out of sight. She pressed down on her crotch and could only faintly figure out where her entrance was.

“Am I a girl now?” the words slipped out, almost unheard in her mind as she struggled to comprehend her new gender.

Ruto looked over her shoulder, and her eyes bugged out as she watched her flat bony rear push outwards. She cupped her expanding cheeks and shimmered, air bubbles leaving her mouth and heading to the surface. Its growing definition pushed her hand away as its shape became more defined and rounder.

She prodded her expanding cheeks, her fingers only going slightly in. Just like with her thighs, it was taut and filled with muscles. She quivered somewhat as a tiny bolt of pleasure went through her body. Her buttocks swayed ever so slightly from side to side, but it hardly rippled. She moved her hips from side to side, and the bounce of her behind was only a light bounce.

There was no moment's respite for her as her chest felt off. Ruto moved her arms and saw small spherical shapes form that made her gasp. The faint outline of her nipples disappeared into the growing mass as they continued to grow. She cupped the bottom of them and spasmed as if someone had smacked her on the butt. Her nipples receded into her chest as if they were hiding.

They kept growing more noticeable, pulling on her muscles. She swam through the water and could feel her boobs drag as she moved. It took her bust a little longer for them to catch up with her. After a few more strokes, she stopped and grabbed one of her breasts, which felt weightless in the water.

"How the hell am I supposed to swim with these damn things?" Even now, she could feel them make her rise in the water as if they were a pair of buoys. "…Wait, how am I breathing underwater without any issue?”

For the first time, Ruto noticed she had been speaking and moving through the water with incredible ease. Her jaw dropped. “How long have I been down here?”

Ruto swam to the surface, and her head popped out. Fear gripped her heart and lungs. She took a gulp of air and waited for the moment the air would feel like poison to her lungs. Yet her lungs continued working just as well as when she had been under the water.

“I can breathe out of the water at least.”

Ruto swam to the steps and stepped out of the water. The fins on the side of her body draped against her as if they were clothes. She pulled them and was surprised by the softness they had. Despite the scaly look on them, they were soft and comforting, almost as if she was wearing a dress. Even the part around her torso vaguely gave her a dress-like appearance.

She opened and closed her hands. Her eyes went down to her webbed appendages. She walked around the room, trying to get a feel for her new body and how it worked on dry land. Everything felt the same to a certain extent, though her brushing fins was weird.

“Ok so I don't  need to worry about being stuck in the water. Still what am I going to do now that I’m like this.”

Fishing might be easier with how much her body resembled a fish’s. However, she wondered how much her diet would be messed up now that she was like this. She opened and closed her mouth, paying attention to how it moved.

Something came out of the water, and she scrambled back as if it was a fire-breathing dragon. Then, more fish-like people appeared, similar to her in appearance.

Ruto stepped back and stared. Her eyes roamed the room, looking for anything she could use as a weapon to protect herself.

To her shock, she saw the people coming from the pool were fish men. Unlike her, the tentacles on their head were reminiscent of hair. Some wore shells on their head that acted like they were helmets, along with several weapons.

They stopped when they saw her, and she froze like a cornered animal. The two went toward her, and Ruto tried to look as small and harmless as possible. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever might happen next.

One of the fishmen stepped forward. “There is no reason to be afraid  of us.”

The other one stepped back. “Could you tell us your name please?”

Ruto started. She gulped down the vomit that wanted to come spilling out of her mouth. “Ruto, my name is Ruto.”

One of them gasped. "Her earings!"

They stopped and immediately got down on one knee. The two tossed their weapons to the side.

Ruto said. “Why are you bowing like that?”

“Ms. Ruto we mean you no harm, but could you come with us please. Those belonged to the Zora royal family. The fact you were able to wear them is proof that you are of the Zora Royal family.”

“W-what?”

“Please I know this is a shock and a lot to take in, but please you must come with us. We can prove it.”

“...Ok.”

“Then we shall escort you and protect you with our lives.”

The guards picked up their weapons, and they all entered the water, and Ruto was surprised by the speed they moved. Despite the jugs she had, she could keep up with the other Zorans with ease. At the very least, it beat being alone and struggling to survive.