CYOA Wednesday 2025 #17 [Beyond the Woods 17]

This fantasy CYOA story continues today. Synopsis below:

When Derek, Jade, and Clara go camping, they stumble upon a portal to another dimension filled with strange creatures and sexy seductresses.

Aethera goes hunting for supplies, and the group sets off for the last part of the journey. Now what? You decide.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/127319327

Read the seventeenth segment below:

17 – Gathering Supplies

Before anyone could say anything else, Aethera got to work. Her form blurred and compressed, transforming into a sleek, midnight-black creature with razor-sharp claws and fur that seemed to absorb the dim cavern light. A hunting predator from some unknown ecosystem, perfectly adapted for stealth.

She slipped between the crystalline pillars, her movements liquid and purposeful. The Wanderbeast’s massive form barely stirred, its eyestalks tracking her silent departure. Clara watched, fascinated by the shapeshifter’s ability to become something entirely alien.

The darkness of the Undercroft swallowed Aethera quickly. Chittering sounds echoed from distant tunnels – potential prey, potential resources. She moved like a shadow, her new form allowing her to navigate spaces a human never could. A membrane-like webbing between her limbs let her glide silently across uneven stone surfaces, her heightened senses probing every crevice and potential hiding spot.

When she encountered a cluster of scuttling insectoids guarding a cache of strange crystalline containers, she transformed into one of them, mimicking their movement patterns and infiltrating their defensive formation. They never realized she was an intruder until she had already secured the supplies they’d been protecting.

Her mission was clear: gather what her human companions would need to survive the treacherous journey ahead. As for her, there was nothing to worry about. She had been around long before they arrived, and would continue to be so even if they failed. As much as she enjoyed their company, self-preservation would always speak louder if things went south.

Her collection grew methodically: compact food sources compressed into dense nutrient blocks, water-absorbing crystals, primitive cutting tools made from iridescent materials. Each item was carefully selected, her alien form allowing unprecedented access to hidden caches throughout the Undercroft’s labyrinthine tunnels.

As she neared a particularly promising supply cache, a territorial serpentine creature emerged, its scales glistening ominously. In response, she underwent another transformation. Her form shifted into a creature with multiple limbs, each moving independently with fluid grace. Her body was encased in a chitinous exoskeleton, its surface an iridescent marvel that reflected and diffracted light in a dazzling display of colors. She moved with such precise mimicry of the surrounding environment that the territorial guardian paused, its defensive posture faltering as it became bewildered by her strange, alien presence.

A subtle vibration, a near-imperceptible shift in body language, and the guardian retreated. Aethera had learned long ago that survival in the Undercroft was more about adaptation, not confrontation. However, she wouldn’t back down from a fight if the situation called for it.

As if she had just tempted fate, Aethera was suddenly attacked. Massive razor-sharp legs erupted from the tunnel’s darkness, piercing through her camouflaged exoskeleton with shocking velocity. The spider-like entity was easily three times her current form’s size, its translucent limbs crackling with bioluminescent energy that pulsed like electrical currents. Where her careful calculations and mimicry had worked moments before, this creature seemed immune to her shapeshifting subterfuge.

She was flung against a crystalline pillar, her segmented form fracturing and recalibrating instantly. The monster’s mandibles clicked with predatory intelligence, sensing her vulnerability. Each of its dozen legs moved with surgical precision, probing for weak points in her alien anatomy.

Aethera knew immediate transformation was her only survival strategy. Her body liquefied, then rapidly reconstructed into a form more compact and armored – something between a crustacean and a metallic insect, with defensive spines that vibrated with potential kinetic energy. The spider-creature hesitated, momentarily confused by her rapid metamorphosis.

In that fleeting microsecond of hesitation, Aethera unleashed a counterattack with precision and fury. Her appendages cleaved through the creature’s primary sensory clusters, sending a cascade of sparks and fluids into the air. The tunnel erupted with a cacophony of alien sounds—chittering that echoed off the walls, piercing screeches that reverberated through the air, and the resounding percussive impact of exoskeletal warfare clashing like thunder in the confined space.

Her mission of gathering supplies had now transformed into a battle for survival. The spider-creature lunged, its massive limbs attempting to overwhelm her with sheer biomechanical force. But Aethera was faster.

She ducked low and executed a swift roll, her exoskeleton shimmering as it subtly adjusted itself to deflect the strikes aimed at her.

One of her segmented arms erupted with a plasma-like energy, slicing through two of the creature’s primary limbs. Ichor-like fluid sprayed across the crystalline tunnel walls, creating a luminescent splatter of alien blood. The spider-creature shrieked – a sound that was part mechanical grinding, part biological terror.

Aethera pressed her advantage. Transforming mid-motion, she became something more serpentine, more fluid. Her body now moved like liquid mercury, each strike precise and devastating. Her appendages struck neural clusters with surgical accuracy, systematically dismantling the creature’s ability to coordinate its attack.

A final transformation completed her victory. Her form became a hybrid of blade and living metal, each movement a calculated strike. With a sound like shattering glass and compressed thunder, she crushed the creature’s skull. It collapsed, twitching, then went completely still.

Panting, Aethera looked around. The supplies she’d gathered earlier were undisturbed, scattered around the tunnel like trophies of her survival. She would return to Clara and the others soon. But first, she would rest. And adapt.

Her exoskeleton slowly softened, becoming more gelatinous as recuperative processes began. Micro-repairs knitted damaged cellular structures, drawing energy from the ambient crystalline environment and the remnants of her defeated opponent. A low, almost imperceptible vibration hummed through her form – a biological recharging mechanism unique to her shapeshifting physiology.

Minutes became indeterminate periods as she reconstructed herself. The tunnel’s ambient luminescence pulsed in sympathy with her regenerative cycle. When equilibrium returned, she began extracting the gathered supplies, compressing them into compact formations that would be easily transportable.

A subtle shift in her molecular structure signaled readiness. Her current form dissolved and reformed into something more humanoid, though still distinctly alien – a compromise between her natural state and a shape familiar to Clara and the others. Tendrils of collected energy trailed behind her like translucent ribbons as she oriented herself toward the tunnel’s exit.

By the time she returned to place where her human companions waited, she carried provisions that would sustain them for weeks. The Wanderbeast’s eyestalks tracked her return, a low rumble of acknowledgment emerging from deep within its massive form.

“Interesting acquisitions,” it murmured.

Clara’s eyes widened as Aethera deposited her gathered supplies. “How did you get all of this?”

Aethera simply smiled. The biggest challenge of their lives was about to begin.

To decide what happens next, head over to my Patreon (you can join for free), and vote on the poll there until next Sunday. 

If you’re new to these CYOA stories, here are the basic rules:

1) You can only choose one option;

2) If there’s a tie at the end of the poll, and the competing options can be combined somehow, I’ll do that. If not, I get the deciding vote to keep the tale going.

3) The process continues every Wednesday until the story runs its natural course.

Have fun.