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Witnessing the day break anew was a sensation Ariel never dreamed she would dread. A new day meant many things. A fresh start. Another opportunity. Anything but the terrified possibly that nature's greatest light would be the end of her. And Emily too of course.

Why did they even have to leave? Couldn't they just stay here, live as cave dwellers? That'd be fine right? Right? No need to go outside during daylight!

What did Emily think? Parted mandibles clicked again. Emily was still growing creep. A rather unexpected development Ariel woke up to. Imagine her surprise and shock when the once hard and somewhat uncomfortable cave floor was slathered in thick glops of Creep. It was comfortable though. Cool and soft, like a chilled blanket. The revelation wasn't quite as disturbing as Ariel wished.

It wasn't alot of creep, barely extending 7 feet in a circle around them. But Creep was a super organism. It needed a strong vector or some sort of loci to grow. Studying the now-waking Emily, the creeped seemed to leak from between the "cracks" of her armor, flowing like thick slosh with the consistency of distrubed water. Emily, or at the very least her power armor, was a creep generator.

Yet it's creation was only thanks to Emily's... well, Ariel didn't know. The silent medic had no trouble letting her elation show but it didn't really answer the "how" that Ariel really wished to know. Just what made Emily such a good foci for Creep? Better yet, what inside her suit produced the Zerg's favorite meal? Regardless, Ariel instinctively shoved the really slimy but tasty goop into her mouth without hesitation. And as odd as it look it was quite tasty.

Was it the fact that Emily was an infested medic that caused such growth? The advanced medicines and healing agents in her CMC Power Armor along with the Zerg growth covering most of her suit prime breeding grounds for Creep production? In the end, it likely carried little relevance. Emily was a suitable host for Creep. That would probably come in handy for later...

As far as distractions go the infested doctor was out of ideas. They needed to leave and the simple fact was that meant going into the sun.

Whoever said praise the sun needed to be burned and charred.

Emily probably agreed.

After detaching from the Creep that served as bedding, Emily shuffled behind Ariel with an pep in her step out of place for one of her mass. The Creep seemed to squirm about but showed no signs of receding. The cave's dampness more than an optimal sustainer for the Zerg super organism. Satisfied and rested, the duo headed to the cave entrance.

The moment of chance has come. The cave entrance was still unimpeded by nothing by sand.

And the sunlight, along with all it entalded.

Ariel glanced at the area of light that pooled into the cave, her body just inches from touching it. Emily placed a firm hand on the very nervous doctor in support, moving it to join her own infested arm with Ariel's. Three clawed talons weirdly laced with metallic fingers.

She gulped and closed her eyes. Together then. Their arm's pulled back. As if ready to deliver a final punch. Anxiety rooted itself.

Nothing ventured...

With a swift swing, the Infested duo harshly extended their arm's into the sunlight.

Nothing gained...

A moment passed. Then it blossomed into a few seconds. Still nothing.

Ariel opened her eyes and felt... nothing. Saw nothing. No pain, no blistered skin, no melting flesh...

This relationship between Infested and Giant Star wouldn't be as cancerous as Ariel once feared.

Praise the sun?

More like fuck the sun.

Emily agreed. Vehemently.

The sun was beaming and the sands were probably scalding. Hot air gushed into the open cave entrance. Hear blasted ought chitin in waves, each seemingly hotter than the last. And yet for the discomfort is caused her, Ariel couldn't bring herself to feel upset. It didn't cause her pain, nor did it bring death. And that was a miracle in itself.

A new discovery was made after all. Two actually. Firstly and most unexpected was Emily's capacity to generate a fairly small amount of Creep. It was edible too, as Ariel discovered. Emily probably ate her fair share of of oozy slime-flesh but not visibly. Maybe her mouth didn't work? Perhaps that was why Emily had yet to speak. Though Ariel doubted this to be the case. Asking Emily such private questions was out of the question. Life saver or not, information was much more forthcoming when volunteered willingly. So for now, patience was key.

The other discovery, and the most dreaded by far, was that sunlight did not harm them.

All in all? It was a fantastic morning to wake too.

Still. Questions still bounced about that really needed answering. They answered the most important, but not the most immediate of curiosities.

So... What now?

After a brief one-sided conversation, their recourse had the duo backtrack to where they originally met. The jungle. Ariel suggested they be on the look out for any signs of life, intelligent or otherwise.

Emily was reluctant. She questioned why they shouldn't wait till' nighttime for them to explore. How it was possible they could be seem easily in the daylight. How vulnerable they would be.

Ariel's responded by essentially stating they needed to at least get the lay out of the land and while yes, they had complete night vision and we're probably safer at night, it was important to "experiment"... and later admitted that in her excitement the thought of traveling at night wasn't at the forefront of her thinking.

Emily mentally sighed to herself. A big flaw that really needed to be addressed.

So, in the end, a decision for travel was made, specifically. when. Retreating back into the cave and away from the heat, the two Infested terrans fell upon their small Creep pool and rested once more, Ariel slipping over her glasses and placing them gently on a nearby rock.

With a plan set in motion, Ariel snuggled with the gooey purple pillow in earnest, a smile somehow managed despite her parted lower jaw. Pleased with herself at the anticipation of exploring literal uncharted territory. Just the mere thought filled the glass wearing infested with giddy joy

It was scientific dream come true!

Creep would be a welcomed sight to return to, yet for now, time favored the Infested. Nighttime's cold grasp lingered upon this planet, sunlight a bitter memory for however long the present allowed. Replaced by the shattered moon's pale light.

The desert heralded little growth, sand dunes festering upon one another in childish squabble to become the best and highest sand dune. Unaware of how their fates purely dangle from the wispy fingers of the cold night breeze.

Cold air bleed and died at the hand's of a pervading jungle sweat, the frigid desert temperatures suddenly wary of the Jungle's much more humid outcast. Ariel took a bit of self-satisfaction in her happy ability to see in the darkness completely. The irony of her wearing glasses despite their shriveled uselessness was not lost upon her.

As the destination of the duo's first encounter with each other neared, a sensation seared through flesh and mind in a primordial manner. Bestial desire to _kill_ flared deep within, Ariel barely aware of anything else but the source of the dark desire.

Only then did it reveal itself. Two if Ariel's clementine orbs were to be believed. Black furred figures that married the shadow perfectly, burning crimson eye's glaring with hatred. Masks of pure white shielded their 'faces' and bony plating confidently protecting the joints of these wolf-shaped beasts. A mind splintering rage was barely contained in them, a rage that would phase the bravest of humans. Yet it was in conflict. The two Infested doctor's experienced a brobdingnadian need to satisfy the need to take what must be taken, to evolve into something more than what they were. To assimilate what must be theirs.

A stand off reigned. Mindless hatred against mindless desire. One will consume the other and one will no longer exist. Nature would not allow both. Neither side would not allow the other to live.

The Infested claimed dibs on First Strike. Emily leaped forward with a speed that physics should not allow, her momentum resisted by a counter pounce that ended in failure, the black beast tumbling backwards with her shield shifted into a more... offense role.

Snarling a unintentional warning, was upon Ariel swiftly, the former terran dashing to the side to avoid powerful claws. Unlike Emily, she would not have the luxury of brute strength. It roared as it readied for another strike. Ariel unshackled a screech of her own, this time ready for it's strike. Just barely avoiding the bony claws, Ariel dug her own infested claw's deep into black fur drawing a howl of pain.

Her brief victory was not celebrated, her form twisting unnaturally, jumping back a few paces to avoid it's vengeful bite. It snarled at Ariel, drool leaking from it's maw like blood from an open wound. The pain it felt was a drug for Ariel, the battle quickly dissolving quite literally into a slaughter. Every clash and snap greeted only air, Ariel nimbly dodging it's efforts, not always successfully, and administering punishment with sadistic satisfaction. The beast's efforts ended in futility as it fell to it's many wounds with glee, Ariel baring her fair share of injuries but she was a bill of health in comparison to her slowly disintegrating foe.

The battle's conclusion favored the Infested. Emily long since ended her foe. CMC Armor, infested or not, was nothing to laugh at. But for all her might, Ariel insisted she not interfere. So interfere she did not.

"So... that was... eventful." A disgusting understatement. "What now?" A silly question.

The desire still burned, but it's raging inferno dimmed to a small house fire. Still... though dissolved in body, taking most of what Ariel wanted with it, traces of it's essence lingered about. Hating in silent cries. It needed to be consumed.

So it was.

Streaks of red cried out in alarm as both Ariel and Emily experienced such _pleasure_ in absorbing such rage-fueled energy into their bodies. The emotion behind the beast's was strong but irrelevant. It served the purpose Ariel hoped. It sated the desire. The hunger.

Then the change's started sprouting. Her vision blurred.

Maybe it was in that moment Ariel understood what the burning desire was. What it's title was. For all her intelligence, it was comical at how the epiphany dawned as it spelled itself out just as it occurred.

Emily shuttered.

The complexities of evolution called. It would not be denied.

It clung to her like wet tissue paper. Time became a background noise, lost from focus. Sensations that rivaled the sweetest of ecstasy stuffed her mind to the brim. Sloshing about. Ariel feared her mind wouldn't hold it all. The human rational part of her mind long succumbed to bombardments of pleasure.

When it ended, Ariel didn't know. But it reached it's climax nonetheless. It felt so wrong, oh so very wrong, yet it felt so sweet. Like indulging in the most purest of sins. In honesty, Ariel briefly thought herself a fool. She carried the mindset of a perfectly normal human woman. Or, tried to in her efforts. But she was far from human. She was Infested. Her body slathered in thick chitin plating, mouth mutilated into a twisted mockery only a Hydralisk would kiss, and glowing dark orange orbs happily replacing her formerly human eyes. Her claws, her once soft human hands, likely did not deserve the choice to be called anything less than a registered lethal weapon. It is hardly a wonder how most Infested shredded through even the thickest of protective platings with time.

The more pooled into her body, the more she realized how utterly inhuman she'd truly become.

Speaking of, she was definitely bigger. Muscles bulging desperately underneath thick chitin, the latter fitting snuggly over the former. Spikes of bony plating erect from her brown hued exoskeleton.

Ariel steadied herself along a tree. Was she taller too? It was hard to tell. She didn't know how much she'd changed. Maybe Emily-

"Emily!" Ariel shrieked. Her frantic gazes showed Emily on her knees, kneeled over in what appeared to be more mental taxation than exhaustion. But alive and well. It was clear change called to her as well, but until Emily recovered fully, her own mini evolutions change would remain an unclaimed mysteries.

Still... they couldn't rest here. Emily was showing signs of getting her barings together, already beginning to show signs of recovering. That was good. Nighttime was not infinite. Even if this planet's brightest star failed to turn them into ash and dust, it's brightness was not exactly well equipped for concealment. Monsters such as them didn't need exposure. Returning to the cave was a safe bet, but Ariel had doubts they truly needed such an overtly cautious maneuver.

If events did not stack up in their favor burrowing was certainly an option. Likely the safest too.

"Emily. Emily!" Ariel kneeled beside her, firmly placing a powerful claw on the overgrown CMC armor. "Are you conscious?"

A presence tickled Ariel's mind, it's familiarity indicated Emily. Confusion gripped Emily as it did Ariel. They needed a plan of action.

Again, burrow was an option, but perhaps they were... overreacting. The essence they absorbed, the hatred that composed it's very existence, it was powerful but hardly overwhelming.

"Emily." Ariel stated. "Are you okay?"

It was a vague and blunt statement. But the initial shock was no longer present. They changed. They were stronger. Better than before. Evolved. Feelings of assurance gave Ariel her answer. Emily was surprised, but fine, reinforcing her wellness by standing and armed to full height, no worst for wear.

Seconds bloomed into minutes, the Infested duo finally used to their new 'adaptations.' The doctor barring the name of Ariel Hanson was intrigued. Never before had she seen Infested terran 'evolve' in the same manner the Zerg typically are feared for. It was unprecedented. Exceptions to that fact bared to no one else other than Sarah Kerrigan, with the convenience of being exceptionally gifted in psionic prowess. Things that did not describe the former Hyperion Doctor. Nor the Infested medic for that matter.

More ponderings to think upon at a later date.

With mental and physical stature displaying green bills of health, their original plan of action never out of mind.

The thought of another encounter with the Black Beast's was enticing, but exploration took priority. Splitting up was out of the question. With their point of meeting reached they required direction.

Purpose.

"Let's go." Ariel patted Emily's armor but her stride was without pause. Emily silently followed.

The telltale salt infused breeze bellowed from the direction Ariel strolled, thick legs gorged in muscle propelling the determination within her forward.

Winds that carried salty winds suggested ocean. Ocean meant food and the potential for intelligent life. Beach fishing was far from a lost practice but it remained a particularly Terran practice. Regardless of whether or not they would meet actual sentient life, Ariel _felt_ hunger tickle at her stomach pits. Ariel certainly did not think it was foolish to believe aquatic life lived within vast bodies of water. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Jungle brush eroded away in comparison to the clearing they stumbled upon.

Pure white sand wide and far engulfed the seashore, relentlessly destroying all who opposed it's white kingdom. The pale moon's glow and the white sand we're allies at night, both stubbornly unmoving in the white glory that shadowed the coast. Untainted unlike the black beast whom wore masks of hatred. But Ariel didn't dislike them. A hatred as potent as theirs had to be pure. The essence they carried was truthful as is the need was unfiltered destruction they craved.

At the moment it did not matter. Far more pressing matters demanded attention.

Upon the white sand was a woman cloaked in a black bikini that poorly concealed the fit model to the world, her healthy stack of abs likely not just for show, allowing with a bust that would seduce envy from many woman. Hair hued the same as her bathing suit cascaded to the winds will, a fishing pole and chair painting a very clear picture. Apparently, luck was feeling quite generous this night.

But with its revelation came a whole nother explosion of unfortunate complications. The woman was human, feline ears or not. Or perhaps she was a sub-species of human? Probably just a mutation of some sort. Couldn't be no less than her mid-twenties. Her presence here meant civilization, or at the very least a town. Close too if her attire was any indication.

Ariel glanced at Emily, orange meeting orange, before returning back to the peaceful scene.

What should they do? It wasn't asked. It didn't need to.

Dr. Ariel Handson cursed herself for not presenting an answer.

Hey guys! Note entirely sure when I'll pop up the next Chapter, but I'll see if it won't be within the week or so! So stay awesome my lovelies, and remember to let your thoughts known by Reviewing sometime, it would really help me out! Till next time!