Alex woke to his stomach protesting via whale call. His mouth felt dry and dusty and his arms and legs were stiff from yesterday's exertions. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked around. Not much had changed from the moment he sat down to sleep, and luckily his crystal was still giving off light. He didn't know what powered it, but he was glad for it none the less.
Slowly he got to his feet. Sore as he was everything felt a little awkward. Looking down his feet still seemed swollen. Not that they looked puffy, they just seemed a little too big, and even his legs looked a little too thick. He put a hand on the cave wall to steady himself. His hand in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to stare at it. Even that looked off, his usually thin hand looked too wide and swollen, even his fingers looked a bit too thick. It didn't hurt, but maybe he did something to it.
Well, nothing he could do about it here. Getting his bearings, he started off down the cave again. Strangely the cave though still mostly just a path through the rock seemed a little taller as he marched on. There was no way to tell how much time passed down here, and Alex was beginning to get a little bored of the same rock walls. Then something caught his attention.
Something ahead smelled.... damp.
Not a bad, musty damp. Maybe more.. wet?
Eagerly he rushed ahead, almost tripping over some rocks before he finally burst through into another cavern. This one was bigger than either of the previous two. The light from his crystal wasn't enough to light the whole interior, but several yards in front of him it reflected of something shimmery. Water.
He quickly ambled forward. And as he did he grew even more excited to see strange colorless plants and mushrooms growing near the underground pool. He dropped to his knees by the water, setting his crystal down on the ground, and began eagerly scooping handfuls of water up to his mouth. It was minerally, even a little metallic, but it was cool and slaked his thirst.
His thirst quenched, Alex sat back on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. Only then he really noticed his surroundings. The crystal shed light over what looked like an abandoned camp. There was no tent, but there was definitely the remains of a campfire, and even some abandoned sacks and boxes. They didn't even look old or like they were falling apart. It was the best sign Alex had seen in two days. It meant he might not be alone down here.
Getting to his feet he began to rummage around. There were no clothes, much to his annoyance, but he still managed to make a small pile of useful items. A backpack, a couple of empty clay jugs he could fill with water, a couple of closed clay jugs that contained what smelled and tasted like beer, another excellent hint he might not be alone as the beer tasted good, and a couple of tools. He even found some flint and steel and tearing apart one of the crates he got a fire going in the pit.
"No food though." Alex muttered, sitting by the fire. Then his eyes slowly went to the plants by the water's edge. He got to his feet and wandered over to check those out. The mushrooms he wasn't sure he could trust but the plants were little more than colorless, scraggly vines. He grabbed one and yanked, deciding it was better than nothing, and from the shallow soil came up a rather thick tuber. Washing it off with some water he gave it a careful sniff. It smelled fine enough. He decided to take the knife he found and cut some off. Maybe he could eat it raw, if not, there was a fire to cook it at least.
He cut off a bit and popped it in his mouth. He had expected something hard and starchy like an uncooked potato. Instead it was crunch but still soft enough to eat, and tasted more like a cross between a sweet potato and a pear. Eagerly he harvested a few more, sat down by his fire and gorged himself on his meal. He ate enough that even his stomach started to stick out a bit. Satiated, he suddenly felt tired and laid back to sleep.
Alex started awake. He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but his fire was just a few dim embers. He grabbed some more wood and stoked it back to life. Then getting to his feet he stretched his arms over his head. He felt good, much better than the last time he woke up, and lowering his arms, he rubbed one hand over his still slightly distended stomach. He didn't feel too full, but obviously he must have gorged himself more than the thought. He walked over to the pool to grab a drink and froze.
There was just enough light from the fire and his crystal still laying by the waters edge to throw his reflection back to him on the pools' surface. Not only did his hands and feet seem swollen, but his face looked it too. His nose looked to big, as did his jaw. And there was more than a couple days worth of thick brown stubble on his chin and cheeks. Alex had never been a hairy guy, and a beard had always been beyond him, but he almost looked to be sporting one now. He brought a hand up to his jaw and rubbed at the coarse stubble. There was no way he grew that much facial hair in what? Two days?
He scratched at his chest, finally noticing a dusting of brown hairs growing right in the middle, and further down hair had grown in a line connecting his belly button to his pubes. And further down was something else that looked thicker than he remembered. It was hard to judge by wrapping his thicker hand and fingers around it, but it felt heftier, and quickly responded to his touch.
"It's not like there's anyone to see.." Alex murmured, his voice echoing softly in the cave. Laying back on the stone floor of the cave he began to pump his cock. It felt different, better. Where he used to have a cock he could wrap his hand around, the new one pushed his stubbier fingers apart as it swelled. With his other hand he reached down to tease his balls, which felt heftier in his palm, heavy, and hairier, a wiry coat of hair covering the sac.
Alex didn't last long, he let out a grunt as thick pearly semen splashed along his chest and stomach, getting into his new sparse chest hair. As his cock softened, he head slipped out of view into a foreskin he definitely didn't have a day ago. He was about to clean himself off with some water but stopped, instead scooping the salty cum into his mouth and savoring it, washing it down with a gulp from one of the beer jugs.
Finally, as he sat back down to the fire it all came crashing in on him. "What am I doing?" He asked no one, in a voice that sounded a little gruffer than he remembered. "Something is really not right." He murmured, lookin down at himself. His whole body looked weirdly proportioned, his large, wide hands and feet on limbs that were still a bit spindly and lean. A torso that seemed a little more compact but now sported a small but noticeable belly, which would hopefully go away once he digested his meal. And then there was.. his hand went up to his jaw and scraped across the stubble again. With a small growl he scratched at one of his pits, frowning as he found yet another thick clump of body hair there, where it used to be fairly sparse.
"Maybe if I can actually find someone in this world other than a couple of gay horny wolves." Alex muttered. He considered spending more time at this camp, but really it was just putting off the inevitable and he felt rested. Gathering up his supplies into his backpack including filling the empty jugs with water, he got ready to set out. Grabbing the glowing crystal, he doused his fire and found where the path continued out of the cave to continue on.