Kate and the Damaine

Kate and the Damaine

     Kate did not know how she came to this forest. She had slept soundly in her bed, next to her boyfriend, last she remembered. She looked around, trees and grass, and pink and yellow flowers. She stood up, slightly giggling as the grass tickled her bare feet. Had she simply been in her pajamas, she would have assumed this was some kind of dream. But she was dressed in a light fitting shirt and shorts.

     She focused her glasses as she blinked. "Hello?" There didn't seem to be anyone around. The young English woman explore the forest. Occasionally, she saw a butterfly pass by, and heard the song of a bird here or there, but no life other than that. And yet still she could not help but feel as if she was being watched.

     She walked for hours, until her legs were tired. The sun seemed like it was taking forever to set. One thing she seemed to notice was, that though she was bare foot, while she was walking, her soles never got dirty. The ground was insanely clean. She finally reached a large tree, that bore large orange looking fruit. Kate reached up, feeling hungry and picked one.

     It was spongy but at the same time, firm. Its aura made her smile, laugh even. She took a bite, and felt her energy return as if it had never left her to begin with. Kate leaned against the tree, and slowly fell asleep.

     As she did, a light blue form slurped and inched its way toward her. She looked fun, and full of energy. And the form was ready for some fun and was incredibly hungry.

*****

     In another part of that same forest, two individuals walked through. One was a male, with light red hair, and purple eyes. He wore a light blue shirt, with tan pants. Like Kate, he too, was barefoot. On each of his hip, he wore long feathers, hitched to his belt as if they were swords, which in this island, he had learned, they were. His companion was smaller by a good foot in a half. Her hair was silky black, her skin a light pink. Her eyes glowed light blue, and she wore a sleeveless shirt that just barely exposed some of her stomach. But the thing about her the most was that she wasn't human.

     Two antennae stuck from her head, and her lower part was an abdomen, her legs, six of them stuck deep in the ground. She was known as an  Knisme Ant. A Mamono. A supernatural creature that feeds on the essence of human laughter. She and the male figure had fought in the past. She'd hoped to turn him into a ticklish dinner. She hadn't expected that he would fight back, and yet he did.

     Her colony shunned her, after that. Cast her out. When he had re-found her, he had taken pity on the poor creature. And as many stories he'd had heard went, she had decided that she owed him her life.

     The male's name was Zack. And he called her, Ginger. She had a true, regular name, of course, but he couldn't even come close to pronouncing that right, and she seemed giddy at the name he'd suggested.  

     Zack turned his head upwards, and peered out at the graying sky. "Going to be a storm," he sighed.

    "Ginger no like the rain," she muttered. "It make her feel all sticky. Ginger no like being sticky."

     Zack chuckled. "So you keep saying." He tickled her sides, making her jump. "Over and over again," he laughed.

     Ginger jumped and squealed, rubbing her sides. "Hey, you no giggle me," she laughed. "Ginger giggle you!" With her legs she stretched out and poked and prodded his sides, making him laugh and fall. She skittered closer to him, pinning him and tickling his sides and ribs, his weak point.

    "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, COME ON, I DIDN'T PIN YOHOHOHOHOU!" He tried to roll, but she had a good hold of him, and he could tell her energy was getting stronger. "IF YOU KEHEHEHEHEHEEP DOING THIS, WE MIGHT GEHEHEHEHEHET THE ATTENTION OF SOMETHIHIHIHIHIHING BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAD."

     She blinked and pulled away. "Zack, Zack is right. Me just was a little hungry."

    "Thahahat's okay. Listen, there is a fruit orchid just a few minutes away. I think we should go there, eat up and then see what we can find."

    "We still go to the feather farm, later, right?" she asked.

     He nodded. Zack had long given up on trying to go home. There were stories that there was a chosen one who would lift the curse of this island that thrived on tickling. He learned he wasn't the one. And life as a simple villager, tormented by their captain because he'd been an outsider didn't seem like a good idea. So he became an investigator. It had given him more prestige than anything else that had been done before. And the captain of the main village decided to leave him be.

     Ginger was a bright, young thing. Fun, and perky, she was also quick to discover clues. Much faster than Zack was sometimes. They had taken a case that would take them to one of the farms in the area. It wasn't too long now before they'd reach it.

    "But first, we should find that orchid, and get some dinner. We might have to camp out too."

     She didn't seem happy about camping, but she accepted it. All that early afternoon she'd complained of her feet hurting her, so it would be relief to simply relax. "Me agree."

******

     Kate had slept an hour, when the sound of something liquid like woke her up. She scanned the horizon. Soon she found what was making the noise. It looked as if a living puddle was inching closer to her. "What in the world?"

    "A human," it said. "Its been such a long time, since I've seen one."

    "What are you?" she asked. Her eyes were wide as it raised up, forming a shirtless male. Now her heart raced. He looked as if he had short hair, with bright blue eyes. "What are you?" she asked more frantically.

    "Do not be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you," it said and smiled. "I'm just hungry."

     Kate frowned, and inched away, "You won't hurt me, but you are hungry?" It nodded at her, nearly at her feet. "You want some food?" Again it nodded. "Well there are these pieces of fruit."

    "I am tired of eating the Fruit of Knismesis, they don't feel me up, like what human's do." It smiled again.

    "How can you eat me, and not hurt me!" Kate stood up and ran, but the slime was already close enough that it latched on to her ankle, and tackled her to the ground.

    "Like this," it said in a soothing voice. Slowly her foot was swallowed by the ice cool jell like thing. Her foot itched for a moment, and then tiny feather like sensations stroked her sole.

    "Haha! Hey, that tickles!" she said, tugging on her leg.

    "That's the point, that is what I need," it said. It pulled Kate further into itself, grasping her other kicking foot, until it too was inside its body. Then her hips and up into her waist. Slimey tentacles arched and moved upward, slipping under her shirt, finding her ribs and stomach and navel.

    "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAOP, STOP IT NOHOHOHOHHHOHOOW!" Kate thrashed and laughed hard, her glasses falling from her face.

    "That's it, that's what I want, what I need," he said, smiling.

      He inched upwards, until all but her head was covered. Kate screamed and pleaded, hitting the slime, but her hands simply got trapped in the goo. It even tickled between her fingers. Thousands of fingers prod and poked at her soles, sliding back and forth between her toes. He scratched at her right pit, sliding a feather like feel up and down her left.

    "STAHAHAHAHAHAHA IT TIHIHHIHIHICKLES SO MUCH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAHAOP!" The tickling on her feet grew stronger, as it felt like feathers, and fingers, hair brushes, and electric toothbrushes tormented her from heel to toe. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH THIS IS DRIVING MEHEHEHEHEHEHE CRAZY, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    "Such luscious, delicious laughter." He smiled at her and tickled her ribs, a tentacle slipping in and out of her navel, sliding against the walls of it slowly. "And you have to admit, this is so much fun!"

    "FOR WHOHOHOHHOHO?!" Kate wiggled her own fingers, eyes widening as he inched back a few seconds with his own laughter.

    "For bohohohohoth of us, I suppose, haha," he laughed. "Of course I'll end up on the winning side here, hahaha." He narrowed his eyes and smiled, the sensation tripled on her skin and he smiled as she cackled and howled with laughter.

******

    "Do you hear something?" Zack strained and listened to the wind. "It sounds like there is someone laughing."

    "Ginger hears it too," she said. "It sounds like over there." She pointed towards a clearing where a few trees were lined up in two rows.

    "Let's go," he said. He drew his feather blades, and rushed towards the sound of the laughter, with Ginger right behind him. A few minutes later, they saw a young girl, tucked onto a tree, screaming with laughter as a blob feasted on her laughter. She was shaking her head back and forth as the monster tickled the insides of her ears, her face red as an apple, tears streaming from her eyes. But there was something odd about this mamono. As he got closer, he could notice it.

    "I thought all Mamono were female?" he asked Ginger. This one appears to be male.

     The Knisme Ant shook her dark head. "No Mamono. Not that one, its male," she said.

    "That's exactly my point," Zack sighed.

     Kate fought hard against the slime male. She managed to tickle on the inside of his body, and make him laugh, but he was stronger, and refused to retreat. His touch felt like a thousand feathers, and one slipped in and twisted out of her navel at a snail's pace. The inner areas between her toes were being tickled by what was like electric toothbrush on one foot, and a very tickling manicure on the other. "STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOP, PLEASE," she cried. She knew she had lost this fight.

    "I am nohot done feheheheasting," the slime said, his laugher slowing to match her tickling. And as she slowed he quickened the pace. He was determined to keep her here, all night, and make a wonderful feast of her laughter.

     He was so in tuned with her laughter, he hadn't noticed two strangers approach, a male human with feather swords, and a Knisme Ant. It was when the male called down that the tickling started to ebb. His eyes twinkled. "Well, I haven't seen very many male humans either. Tell you what, when I am done with her, we'll play."

    "How about now?" the male called back. He ran up, hesitated and looked at the blob. "Release her, or you will regret it."

     The slime smiled and noticed the blush on the male's face. "Not that into tickling other males are you?"

    "What are you?" the human male called. "Ginger here tells me your not a Mamono. I've never seen a male tickling monster on the island."

     Kate was starting to breathe again, the slime's tickling growing slower as the two talked. She looked down at the newcomers and gasped at the sight of the feathers the male held. The ant girl thingie looked up at her and smiled, a sweet smile, but it also seemed predatory as well. Had she been saved only to be tickled by something else?

    "My name is Zack," the human called up to her. "I'm here to save you. Don't worry about Ginger here, its her nature as a Mamomo to want to tickle you, but I don't think she'll do anything. Minor is just a quick poke or two when I'm not watching."

     The slime's color changed from blue to red, and his eyes narrowed. "Do not speak to my meal as if you've already saved her. Or even could." He eyed the two and smacked his lips. Two humans, and a Mamomo, this would be a feast. "She's right," he continued, motioning to Ginger. "I'm not Mamono. Those beings are all indeed female. I am called a Damaine. A male counterpart, shall we say to our little cousins there."

     Ginger's body went ridgid. "You lie, lie. There are no more Damaine left. The great war between the two goddesses ended their line."

    "Most, but not all, little ant," the ant cooed. "And while we are on the subject. Why are you not feasting on the male? Is he not good?"

    "Zack, Zack is Ginger's friend!" she called. "Me never hurt him. Me never force him to giggle forever." She ran to the Zack and snuggled with him.

    "A pet, then," his eyes turned to Zack. "I applaud you in gaining one."

    "She's my friend and partner, not my pet," Zack snarled. "Not release the girl."

     In all the commotion he'd forgotten about his meal. His body stiffened, and as it did, it began tickling Kate yet again.

    "NOHOHOHOHOHOHO STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHOP IT, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, LEAVE MY BOHOHOHOHOHOHODY ALONE, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," the girl cried. She growled and squirmed. The few minutes they'd spent talking had given her a chance to regain some strength. With renewed value, she slipped her fingers back into the slime, and tickled.

    "HEHEHEHEHEY, DON'T DOHOHOHOHO THAT!" He inched, and gave the girl the time she needed to tickle more, using her bond toes. "NOHOHOHOHO STAHAHAHAOP!" The slime tickled back slowly pushing the girl back to the bark of the tree, and might have, if Zack and the Knisme Ant hadn't jumped in to help.

     All of her legs pressed into the gooey body, and Ginger wiggled them like crazy. The slime rolled and howled with laughter. Ginger used her antenea and made him scream like crazy.

    "NOHOHOHOHO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, STAHAHAOP!" Kate managed to free one hand, and tickled faster. Zack used the feather against the slime's sides, and the monster and the girl dropped from the tree.

     Free of the slime, young woman tickled now with her ten fingers, and joined Ginger to tickle his insides. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA," the slime laughed and reached out, tickling Zack's ribs.

    "HAHAHAHA, OKAHAHAHAH I WILL ADMIT THAT TIHIHIHIHHIICKLED," Zack said. "But nohohohohohot enough to stahahahahop me!"

    "GIHIHIHIHIHINGER IS SO TIHIHIHIHIICKLISH HAHAHAHAHA," the Mamomo laughed, wiggling as half her body was consumed by the slime. Kate hurried over, and tickled where she was falling.

    "STAHAHAHAHAHOP, NOHOHOHOHOHO, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA," the slime pulled back, huffing and wheezing. "No more, pleahehehehehease. I was just so hungry, I needed something more than those fruhihihiuits."

    "Will you promise to leave the girl alone," Zack demanded, trying to catch his own breath.

    "My name is Kate," the young woman said. "And thank you so much." She looked at Ginger. "Both of you." She quickly explained what had happened to her. And the three of them nodded.

   "Same with me," Zack said. "With most humans here."

   "So is there anyway home?" she asked, her eyes wide with pleading.

    Zack informed her of the legend. "There may be other ways off the island, perhaps once the curse is lifted everyone can leave. I'm not sure. For me, there's very little to go back to. So not that interested."

   "I see," the girl said.

   "But don't give up hope. There may be other ways, like I said. Look, Ginger and I are going to do a job, perhaps you can come, and we'll find you help?"

    "You'd do that for me?" she asked. The two nodded. "But what about him?" she motioned to the slime. "He was mean, but if what you say is true, I guess I feel sorry about him. Being so hungry and all."

    "You really sorry?" Zack demanded again. The male monster nodded his head. "You have a name?"

    "I do, but I doubt your tongue would be able to pronounce it right," the slime said.

    "Same thing with Ginger," he chuckled. "Alright, the more the merrier. I suppose we should give you a name, and then you can come."

     The Demaine blinked and smiled. "Thank, thank you for such compassion! The goddesses bless you all! But…," he frowned. "If its all the same, I'd like her to give me a 'human' name," he said, motioning to Kate.

     Kate thought for a while, and then came up with a name the slime really liked. Once that was done, the four went off, for further adventures on this island.