Jen's vision returned again and she was unable to blink her eyes to shut out the blinding light. Out of habit, she tried to shield her eyes with her arm. To her surprise, she now had arms. She was elated to return to a more familiar body. Her happiness was short-lived, however, as a second arm moved into her broad field of vision, then a third.
Jen was shocked and repulsed as she took stock of her new form. She had a total of six limbs and her body was encased in a chitenous shell. She was clinging to a piece of plant matter in a large pond. To her, it looked like a vast ocean, drifting into a dark horizon on all sides. Her vision was fairly keen,.and she could turn her head dizzyingly far from side to side. As she attempted to speak, her lower jaw snapped forward, splitting in two, with sharp, interlocking plates on either side. Jen gasped, returning her jaw to its resting position, below her neck. Jen also noticed a rythmic, contracting feeling on her rear end. Looking back, over her slender body, she saw her back end pulsating, drawing water in and out. Jen became aware that she wasn't breathing, at least in a human way. Her first pair of arms went up to her neck, only to make tactile contact with her creepy mouthparts. Jen felt like a monster!
Jen sat for a long while. She thought about the T&D curse and how she might break the cycle of death.and rebirth that Kyle had essentially doomed her to for eternity. Jen began to feel a deep despair. She wanted to cry, but lacked the ability. Her body was an alien form and she felt constricted by her hard exoskeleton.
Surprisingly, Jen began to relax. Her body pumped more water inside. Jen felt increasing pressure, but her instincts told her everything was normal. With a cracking feeling, Jen felt her exoskeleton split. She wriggled free as if it were a set of coveralls. Jen expended great effort to do so, however. Her limbs felt soft and almost useless. Her instincts told her to hide, since she was vulnerable after molting.
Jen scrambled to make her way to deeper cover. She nearly reached some water plants when she felt strong punch in the side. Jen was momentarily dazed and only vaguely aware of being drawn into a gaping maw. Darkness surrounded her again. Unlike before, Jen felt the warm flesh enclose around. She struggled against the walls with her weak limbs. It was no use, however, and eventually the darkness took her.