<blockquote><div><cite>Sillyness wrote:</cite> "Nor do I allow prey to escape my stomach, I don't believe I'm going to start now. Sorry" </div></blockquote><br/><br/>"I WASN'T REFUSING!" Rafe replied, the horror and desperation present in his voice as he felt the building force of the muscles preparing to expell his disapate only to be replaced with an ominous gurgle. "I said I ACCEPT your offer! I-"<br/><br/>Once again Rafe was cut off, his words morphing into an agonized scream once more. Unlike the first time, however, his scream was also soon cut off as Rafe had to close his mouth to keep the suddenly rising acid levels from forcing their way inside of him. Rafe was in shock - he couldn't believe that she'd changed her mind so suddenly, he was FREE! He had been SAFE! Alive! Now he was doomed, dead! He couldn't believe how fast the stomach had filled, how much the acid burned. He struggled and squirmed energetically as muffled pained whimpers and moans escaped past his clenched teeth. His fur was gone - he could feel it sloshing around his lower half as nothing more than a thick muck - and he knew his skin wouldn't last much longer. He had to do something! Anything!<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>"Mmm" Lilium moans out suddenly "Squirm, fight for your life, let me feel your final moments inside of me" <br/></div></blockquote><br/><br/>"What are you doing!? I accepted! How... how can you renege on a deal!? How can you do this to an innocent man!?" Rafe replied, finding it hard to think straight, arrange his words. Everything hurt, it felt like he was on fire. On fire and tossed into a sea of razor-sharp blades. He could feel unconsciousness closing in on him, the edges of his vision drawing darker. It hurt too much, he couldn't go on, couldn't remain conscious. His struggles grew weaker and weaker, kicking coming less frequently, the frenzied raking of his claws against the inside of Lilium's stomach growing slower. Before long it taped off entirely as Rafe went limp. Darkness didn't overcome him - there hadn't been any light in the stomach to subsume, after all - but Rafe felt himself fade all the same.<br/><br/>Even in the murky depths of sleep, however, Rafe wasn't given any peace.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">GET UP! You can't die here! Not now!</span><br/><br/>The voice seemed so familiar. Who was it? Rafe couldn't quite place it. Dully, he could still feel the pain, still feel his skin being eaten away by digestive acids. It was distracting, impairing his judgment. He felt like he was thinking so slow.  It was like wading through waist-high water.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">You need to do something or else you're going to end up as fertilizer!</span><br/><br/>Gradually, he realized it was his own voice trying to spur himself to action. He couldn't let it end like this. Not yet.  He'd never been hurt this badly before. So close to death. But he was strong. He had to awaken! He was Mohan, he was a hero! Even if he didn't live, he wouldn't go without trying his damnedest.<br/><br/>Suddenly, the stillness form in Lilium's gut resumed moving, Rafe gasping as he emerged both from consciousness and the acid bath, forcing his muzzle above into the small pocket of air that remained. "Please! Get me out of here! I'll make good on my promises, I swear!"<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Rafe uses one of his action points (reducing his total from 19 to 18) to automatically stabilize. He is no longer dying and is in the disabled state instead, conscious and able to make one move or standard action, the the latter sends him back to the dying state if it doesn't restore hit points.</div></div></div><br/><br/>His hands gripped firmly around his wand of cure light wounds. It wouldn't be enough to outlast the acids - they were far more powerful than he could have possibly anticipated - but it would keep him from passing out from the pain for a bit longer. It hurt to move, he was sure he could feel something, somewhere, rip painfully as he brought the wand to bear and activated it. Still, he soon felt the healing energy flow through him, dulling the pain momentarily.<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Rafe uses his Wand of Cure Light Wounds:<br/>Cure Light Wounds (1d8 + 5): 3 + 5 = 8 HP regained, now at 7/43</div></div></div><br/><br/>He could feel his flesh knit itself back together slowly. Too slowly. He simply wouldn't last much longer and his wand was merely buying him time to bargain. Using it had taken precious time he could have used to attack or escape, but having done that without using the wand would have been futile - he'd had strained himself and passed out again. He was aware once more now, and he could hear voices, it seemed that Lilium's companions did not agree with her sudden refusal. Excellent, that was invaluable to his efforts to not be digested.<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>"B-but Lil! He promised! An Alnuran wouldn't make that kinda stuff up! And he said be more food... and Lesik... TREASURE!"</div></blockquote><br/><br/>"She's right! I am honor-bound! To say nothing of the fact of how<span style="font-weight: bold">suicidally stupid</span>it would be to lie!" Rafe pitched in helpfully.<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>"Please Miss Lilium," he muttered, his tone uncharacteristically low. "This poor soul has done nothing to deserve such a fate. It is likely where he is because of some unfortunate accident, and he is willing to allocate all his skills and resources to aid our cause. Please..." His hand would trail further across her swollen gut, caressing it further. "Let him go. I promise meals will come later today, to fill your belly and thrill you. And if they don't..."<br/><br/>His voice lowered into a whisper. "...I'll fill your belly for you."<br/></div></blockquote><br/><br/>Rafe suddenly found himself in a crisis of conscious. On one hand, should Lilium accept the offer, Rafe would be home free. On the other, should she do that, there would only be a day to find a replacement for himself before this stranger ended up taking his place. It was tempting to just outright refuse the help - what kind of hero would he be if he was willing to let a stranger die to save his (admittedly partially-digested) hide? He pushed that thought aside after a few moments of consideration, however.<br/><br/>If he was released he could help obtain this meal. All they had to do was find someone wicked and everything would turn up roses and sunshine. Evil smote, hungers filled, and both him and his would-be savior still intact. If not, well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.<br/><br/>"Sir, I regret that I do not not know you name, but I thank you for you selfless offer! You have my eternal gratitude and I pray your companion accepts your offer before it is in vain. I do not have the luxury of time here."