Matthew awkwardly slivered across the ground, his movement more like controlled flailing at this point, having not gotten used to his new system of movement. It was day two after becoming the leech-like creature, and he was in an odd lucid state after having spent the rest of his waking hours in a state of near-insanity, and he wondered why his mind hadn’t simply shattered by now.
A few minutes ago, he had just suddenly found himself unable to feel anything at all, like he was disconnected from the part of his brain attempting and failing to handle the complete rejection of his entire life up until that moment, and the lingering pain of his transformation. It was an odd, lightheaded lucidity, and he idly felt like at any moment he would switch back into the Matthew who was going insane. But until then, he was going to at least try to get a grasp on his body.
While his body had changed, his mind had unfortunately remained completely human, and as such had no idea how to use his body, right down to movement. His movements were random and sporadic, and he would find himself violently switching, or something in his disgusting ‘mouth’ moving, unable to know why just yet. He had managed to figure out how to flail to some slow degree of movement, and had retreated into the safety of the moist cave to practice.
His new vision, if you could call it that, was very odd, and had originally made his head ache, his mind not used to processing it, but eventually he had grown used it, and its odd way of working, and the pain in his head was slowly receding. He wasn’t quite sure how it worked, but he basically had a full 360 degree view around him, for fifty or so metres before a grey fog set in, clouding his further vision. The colours were dull and muted, but he could see clearly enough and he had an odd awareness of above, below, and sometimes the other sides of thin walls. He generally strayed from that last part, since all it did was increase his almost constant migraine.
The many tendrils or feelers, or whatever he could call them, protruding from his running down his body to his midsection didn’t aid him in his attempts to move, and the two flipper-like fins on his underside, while able to support his weight and push him along a little, were clearly suitable for water, not for land. He surreally bemoaned his lack of words to properly describe his body, having to settle for the inappropriate human bywords, and so he had a tail, despite there being no distinction between it and the rest of his body, and a head, although it was really just a giant suckering mouth...
It was almost laughable, if he didn’t feel like he would never laugh again, ignoring of the course the fact that he couldn't physically express any emotion, and his lack of any ability to express sound other than a hiss made depressive pangs through his emotionally detached state, dragging him back into his normal state of mind. The sudden rush of everything catching up to him was simply too much for him, and he completely shut down, not moving for several hours.
--
As the light faded, he felt that he could at least thank his new sight for its night vision, having barely any distinction between day and night visually. He slithered towards the lake, and as he approached the water, he remembered his thoughts the day before about not wanting to go in, which at this point barely made an impact on him through everything else. He briefly considered trying to drown himself, before he remembered his new biology making that practically impossible. That and there was a nagging voice at the back of his mind shoving any suicidal urges out of his mind, and the more he went on the stronger it got.
He slid easily into the water, the feeling of the water going over his slimy hide being far more pleasurable than he expected, and as he completely submerged himself, his otherwise mostly useless top and side fins proved highly efficient in moving himself through the water, where he was highly mobile and swam for a few minutes, putting off facing reality.
Eventually a couple of fish caught his eye, for lack of a better expression, and due to him not exactly being an expert on aquatic animals, they looked pretty much like regular fish to him, and highly edible, reminding him of the gentle pangs of hunger that he hadn’t noticed thanks to his otherwise preoccupied psyche. While they were a tiny meal, they were too much to resist, and he darted forward in a display of speed that surprised himself, sending the fish directly into his gaping maw where they were quickly consumed, whatever sound the process would have made being made silent by the underwater environment.
There was a tiny shimmer of blood left in the water, and the tiny meal hadn't done much but make him realise that he really hadn’t eaten in two days. Putting his other worries aside, he casually swam around the lake, preying on the occasional that he came across, unused to their new predator. He had no idea how much time had passed before he had decided that he was full, but when he finally rose from the water, the sun was starting to set.
He wondered how he had just put himself on auto-pilot so easily all things considered, and realised that he’d have to find shelter. He didn’t feel tired, but he couldn’t just swim around aimlessly until it was day again. Could he? Was that something he could do, but it just wasn’t in his human mindset? Either way, he needed at least semi-permanent residence that no predators could come into while he was sleeping. That ruled the caves above the water, since there was a good chance that it was already somebody’s home.
He nearly bumped into a wall before he realised that he was just casually cruising through the water, and realised that he could see a darker spot rather like an opening below him on the rocky side of the lake He dropped down to inspect it, and found a tunnel large enough for something twice his size to fit through. He swam through it, and after twenty or so metres, found that there was an end to it that didn’t end in a wall, and in fact was a place to resurface. Was there some kind of cave in here?
He surfaced in a small pool of water that connected the apparent cave to the lake, and slithered out of the water into a dank and moist cave as he had predicted. The cave was relatively thin, but thirty or so metres long opened up into a large chamber, dark enough to be pitch-black if he was still human, but perfectly visible to his new eyes, for lack of a more mentally convenient term. He was well aware that the human words for his body parts didn’t really apply half the time, but it was easier for him to use mentally. It was easier for him just to not think about it at all, really.
He slid through the mossy and slick ground around the rock formations and stalagmites, the humidity of the secluded cavern proving to be quite pleasant on his… Skin? Hide? Whatever. There seemed to be more than enough oxygen to go around down here too. Was there some crack somewhere, or was his biology just suitable for this environment? He doubted that anything could get in here as well, and he couldn’t find any current residents.
Having deemed it a safe haven, at least for now, he curled up in the middle of the cavern, and realised that he didn’t know how to close his eyes, or to put it better, turn off his vision. It was going to be a long night.
--
Matthew peered over the edge of the crag, seeing how far down it was. He had gone up one of the nearby rocks near the lake to get a better look at his surroundings, before remembering the fog that obscured his long-range vision. Now, he pondered just throwing himself off and hoping that he didn’t survive the landing. A day earlier, he felt he might have been able to, but now he just couldn’t bring himself to. His self-preservation instinct was overpowering his mind’s rejection of his situation, and it oddly enough brought him some comfort.
At that moment, he made a promise to himself. If he couldn’t end himself, then he was going to survive this. He was going to adapt, or die trying. He began to carefully make his way down the top of the cave, thankful that his body was completely unaffected by all but the sharpest rocks sticking out.
--
Matthew looked over at the creature taking a drink from the lake, having concealed himself in the bushes and trees a short distance away from it. It was one of the common creatures that lived in herds in the area, an odd thick-hided buffalo-like creature, hairless with a small, stubby tail, an odd, almost bill-like rhino-esque face with four strange tentacle-like feelers or whatever they were on the end. It had two three-pronged antlers for self-defence, but on its own against something like Matthew, it didn’t stand much of a threat. They were herbivores, and relied on their herd to intimidate predators. Matthew had hunted many of them before, but never like this.
It was a reality that he had put off facing as long as he could, but three days after he had taken up residency in the underwater cave that he considered home-base, he had to face the fact that he couldn’t keep filling himself on the fish in the lake for more than a month or so at the rate he was going. The leech creature he had become was obviously not a part of the ecosystem, and the fish inside weren’t adjusted for a predator like him. He wasn’t stupid, and would have to find a primary meal elsewhere if he didn’t want to eventually starve.
He was still somewhat reluctant, his own tools of killing and devouring the beast still disgusting him somewhat, constantly dripping and moving. He had seen these animals at the lake a few times, and they obviously considered it a safe haven just like him, although not for much longer. He couldn’t put it off any longer and began to slither towards it, his back fins unconsciously rising, his feelers growing tense as he grew closer.
As he drew close enough to attack, he sped up and leapt with a height that startled even him, landing heavily upon the creature’s back and sinking his maw in, his mass of teeth quickly tearing through the tough hide of the beast’s back. It gave a guttural ox-like howl of pain and began to wildly try to buck him off, blood seeping down its side and all over Matthew.
The taste of the meat he had reached drove him into a frenzy, and he tore into the beast over and over, going completely mindless and wildly devouring it even as it collapsed, Matthew savagely and efficiently consuming every scrap of meat and each edible organ until there was nothing left but a bloodied carcass.
Matthew managed to reclaim his mind from his animalistic instincts only after the corpse was unrecognisible, and he was standing over its bloodied ribcage, almost completely covered in blood and completely full. He was torn between disgust and the practical side of him that told him that this was going to be routine from now on, and he’d just have to get over it. The flies and insects arrived to pick off what he left, and he moved away from the carcass, sliding back into the water to rest and wash the blood off of him, scraps of meat falling from his teeth.
--
A week and a half later, Matthew finished tearing the scraps off of a smaller, rabbit-like creature that he had stumbled onto on the way back to the lake. He had been going further and further out into the surrounding forest, and he had quickly desensitised himself from the carnage he created whenever he had to feed. It was just a fact of life, and if he wasn’t careful he’d end up on the receiving end. The small mammal was like a cross between a rat and a rabbit, and normally it would have been left alone, but in the last few days he had been feeling a bit hungrier than usual, and for some reason somewhat bloated towards his tail end. It was probably nothing though. It was usually worth grabbing a little extra as the sun was going down.
He moved out of the trees and into the water after a few minutes, heading back to his cave. He looked towards the wall where he had carved a single word with his back-spikes. It was clumsy and very poorly written, but it was legible, and read Matthew. He might adapt and get used to his new form as he already nearly was, but he resolved to never forget what he once was. He had abandoned the notion of trying to go home, since he’d just be shot on sight before he could even attempt to do anything, assuming there was anything he could do anyway.
Instead, he curled up in his cave, and having figured out how to “close his eyes” and rest comfortably, quickly got to sleep, hoping to dream of a better time.