Bond of Friendship

It wasn't a being that was naturally supposed to be here. About twice or triple the height of the average human being, when fully standing up straight, it was around the height of most of the trees around it. Flashing a conspicuous bright pink fur that did nothing but bring attention to it in the vibrant green forest, plump red lips, incredibly long limbs, this creature couldn't help but grin as it felt the immense beating of its heart. With that grin, it accidentally revealed the many sharp and jagged teeth inside its mouth along with the secondary row further in matching the first.

A heart that seemed to have grown three sizes larger once it somehow appeared in this forest. Even now it could hear and feel its heart beating wildly without control. Was it just excited at being able to escape that place or was this how it always was? Back there, it was always referred to as E-13. To others, they just called it, Cuddly.

As it was about to explore its new sense of freedom, there was a rather loud noise that appeared behind it. Cuddly turned its neck around as if it had no bones and stared at the strange little grey creature making noises behind it. It stood on four legs, a flat face, chubby body, and a tail. For some reason, Cuddly's heart was beating at the sight of the thing.

The sight of this thing didn't make Cuddly's mouth water unlike the humans back there. It wasn't the first time Cuddly wasn't hungry looking at another living being. Some of the others like itself back there didn't make his stomach growl. Maybe this thing was also like itself...

So, it turned completely around and reached down with its arms. The creature took a step back and growled in fright. Cuddly took no notice of this as it hugged the creature. At first, it violently resisted by biting Cuddly's arms and flailing around but then it realized it wasn't about to be devoured. None of its struggling bothered Cuddly nor did its biting harm him.

Cuddly's heart was beating more than when it feasted and Cuddly was always hungry. An unintended flaw during its creation but a flaw that Cuddly never acknowledged. There was always food given to him at that place. Eventually Cuddly's appetite grew to the point where the things he hungered for weren't just for satiety.

At the beginning, Cuddly was fine with whatever test subject was brought to it. As time went on, it began to crave for more specific things. Fear, dread, terror, happiness, youth, wisdom. Then eventually, the researchers and scientists themselves but never the others like himself. All the tests... All the restrictions... The knowledge hidden within their tasty brains. That creamy but firm meaty taste filled with endless nourishment. If there was one regret Cuddly had before appearing in this place, it was that he could only partake in a few researchers in the facility during the accident that freed them from their prisons.

"Warm..." Cuddly heard the voice inside the creature's heart.

It could communicate. Could Cuddly talk to this experiment as well?

"Friend?"

"Friend?" It questioned. Not understanding what Cuddly meant by friend.

"Friend." Cuddly shared its understanding with the creature with its heart.

"Okay. What are you?" The creature asked, still being embraced by Cuddly.

"I am Cuddly." Cuddly did not prefer to be called E-13.

"I am Donkey." Donkey never heard of a monster or animal called Cuddly before.

There were goblins, orcs, lizardmen, humans, boars, birds, but never a cuddly. Donkey felt like falling into an endless sleep being held by his new friend but resisted the urge. She never fell asleep out in the open like this. It was dangerous to sleep in the open but for some reason, Donkey didn't feel worried with her new friend around. They were big, very big. Only the scariest monsters and animals would even think about fighting them.

"Are you hungry, friend?" Cuddly asked.

"No. Are you?" Donkey asked back.

"Always."

"Do you eat this?" Donkey rapped at the grass with her hooves.

"No. I eat meat. But do not worry, I don't eat friends." Cuddly answered.

"What is meat?"

"You are meat, but you are also friend."

"I'm Meat?"

"You are Donkey that is meat."

"I don't understand."

"Meat is food. Like this is your food." Cuddly pointed at the grass. "You would be this to me, if you weren't my friend." Cuddly explained to his new friend.

"I know where meat is!" Donkey excitedly shouted. "Follow me!" Donkey ran off ahead.

Cuddly walked behind the sometimes trotting sometimes walking animal. As they walked, Cuddly could feel both of their hearts slowly resonating until they were beating at the same time with the same rhythm. Once they reached perfect synchronization, a change happened to Cuddly and Donkey. Donkey was unable to continue moving as she dropped to her front hooves in terrible pain.

She cried out at the sudden and strange pain wracking her body while changes began to take place. Her grey coat of fur began to fall off rapidly, rendering her hairless in a matter of seconds. Donkey's tail then began to lengthen and thicken to an unnatural degree. It was the tail that caused her the most pain.

Cuddly also underwent a change as well but nothing like what Donkey was going through. It felt tingly throughout his entire body. Its fluffy pink fur grew shinier. Besides that, nothing else happened to it. Once it saw the pain that Donkey was in, to comfort her, it hugged her until she was done enduring the pain. Donkey couldn't speak but Cuddly could feel through their connected hearts that she was able to endure better in its arms.

It didn't take much thinking for Cuddly to make some guesses on what happened. Cuddly knew it had something to do with making Donkey its friend and its heart. Cuddly tried making friends back in that place but most of those interactions ended with a fight. The researchers from time to time would pair up different experiments in hopes of logging more information about their capabilities and personalities.

The weirdness of its heart didn't appear until it showed up here. Maybe its purpose here was to experience freedom and make friends. According to one of the researchers it ate, Cuddly was originally created for one simple purpose. Being the first living plaything for children. The best friend for any and every child.

"Are you okay?" Cuddly asked.

Donkey stopped her screaming and was now able to move around again. She happily ran around in circles while admiring her new self. Her fur was now a shiny golden yellow, body increased a tad larger, and her tail grew to an astonishing size.

She rapidly waved her giant tail from left to right in excitement with complete control over it like another limb. Thicker than the tree trunks and longer than her own body, it was difficult for Donkey to control herself.

"I evolved into a monster!" Donkey shared.

"Evolved? Monster?" Cuddly questioned. It was called a monster by some of the scientists during the accident.

"Yes! It says I'm a Terror-born Ancient Donkey!" Donkey replied.

"It? Do you see something in front of you?" Cuddly asked, confused on what she was reading.

"You don't see it?!" Her hoof was pointing at something floating in front of her.

"I don't see anything." It shook its head.

"I'll copy it for you!" Donkey grabbed a large tree branch with her tail and ripped it from the trunk with ease.

She began copying the symbols and numbers on the thing in front of her into the ground for Cuddly to see.

Terror Donkey

Species: [Ancient Donkey]

General Skills:

[Dash] - Lvl. 1

[Racial Skill: Ancient Power- Terror] - Lvl. 1

[Kick] - Lvl. 1

[Bite] - Lvl. 1

Stats:

[Available Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality]: 5

[Strength]: 5

[Endurance]: 5

[Wisdom]: 5

[Agility]: 5

Skills:

[Skill Points: 0]

Cuddly wasn't completely confused by what it was seeing. It knew what most of the words and numbers meant but not all. Some of the knowledge it gained from feasting during the accident allowed Cuddly to realize it was similar to a video game. But that confused it. Video Games weren't real, but his friend was living life like a video game? Did it have a status screen as well?

"Friend. How do I see my status screen?" Cuddly asked.

"Status screen?" Donkey questioned.

"The floating screen in front of you. It's called a status screen." Cuddly explained.

"Oh, I never gave it a name. I bring it up by thinking that I want to bring it up."

Cuddly tried doing what Donkey said but even after several minutes of trying to bring up its status screen, nothing appeared. It would've loved to learn more about itself, but it looks like it wasn't meant to be.

"I don't have a status screen." Cuddly shared.

"That's okay, big friend! Now that I evolved into a monster, I'll protect you! Stay behind me and nothing will try and eat us!" Donkey bravely trotted in front of him.

"Thank you." Cuddly knew that it could still devour Donkey in three or four bites even after her evolution but still felt pleasant after when hearing her words.

"Follow me!" She excitedly requested.

"I will follow you." Cuddly responded back.