The crumbling halls of the sandstone temple echoed with footsteps as a harsh sun beamed in through the broken ceiling, revealing their source: a well-built elven woman, clad in plate armour. Her sandy hair clinging to her tanned skin from sweat as the adventurer entered a larger chamber filled with glimmering riches. Lia had travelled days to get here, enduring the oppressive heat of the desert and the skeleton-infested chambers of the temple proper. But looking at the shimmer of gold, silver, and all manner of exotic gems, she felt it was worth it. Big time.

Lia wasn’t new to adventuring and had overcome her fair share of obstacles, though she’d be lying if she said that the desert hadn’t almost bested her. Not only was it an unfamiliar and hostile environment, but she really screwed up thinking she could get away with full plate in the burning heat that seemed to radiate from even the sand itself. Lia wiped the sweat from her brow as she ventured further into the chamber, gold coins tinkling under her feet as she walked. That said, she was feeling more assured with her success the further she wandered into the piles of gold. Besides, who could resist the allure of an abandoned temple dedicated to a water spirit? Places like that were always full of loot ripe for the plundering. Plus, given water’s extreme value out this far in the desert, the temple must have been loaded already, given it was dedicated to some water spirit. Far? Freen? The spirit’s name was inscribed in a few places around the temple, but Lia had forgotten it by now. She felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. She was somewhat ashamedly prone to forgetting minor things like that.

Shaking the thought away, Lia took a moment to take in the sights, admiring the gleam of the chamber’s riches in the fractured sunlight. She was thirsty, and really could use a break, but first things came first. She pulled out a folded black cloth from her sack of belongings, unfolded it, and placed it on the ground after clearing a few errant coins. The circular cloth immediately deepened into a large pit, already containing a few chests of previous hauls. Satisfied, Lia began the long process of pushing the piled riches into the pit, being careful to preserve anything delicate to put on the top later.

About halfway through the process, Lia had to take a break. Overcome by the heat, she sat down onto the gold pile she was going to tackle next and pulled out a waterskin. It was one of four she had brought with her. Out of all the decisions she had made on this adventure, the idea to bring extra water was easily her best and had saved her life more than a few times. Parched, she brought its nozzle to her lips and…

Nothing.

Groaning with exhaustion and thirst, she put the thing back on her belt. Just her luck. As she reached for another, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye she hadn’t seen before. A statue- no, inactive fountain depicting a fair maiden making a pouring gesture with her hands. The water spirit! Lia had completely forgotten. She approached eagerly; fingers crossed that there would be…

Water!

The stone fountain was inactive but there was still water filling its base. Thanking her lucky stars, Lia dropped down and scooped her hands into the cool liquid, not about to pass up this chance for free water. She lifted her hands with as much water as she could hold, but as she moved to take it into her mouth, it quickly and unnaturally flowed up out of her hands and back into the oddly still pool. As confused as she was disappointed, Lia tried again, forming a perfect seal with her hands before plunging them back into the water. When her hands came free though, the water once again escaped her grasp, plunging back into the basin. Lia stopped, utterly perplexed and slightly dejected, continuing to blankly stare as the water began drawing into itself. She watched as the water took itself and formed into the shape of a tiny woman, no taller than Lia’s shin. Putting two and two together, the adventurer pulled back slightly, matching the woman’s form to that of the statue. She blushed hard, embarrassed, and cleared her throat.

“Y-you must be the water spirit…” Lia said, trying to remember the name she had seen. Her amber eyes darted around the chamber trying to jog her memory before landing on an inscribing at the base of the fountain. “Faen…?” She half-mumbled, hoping she said it right. The tiny spirit fidgeted hesitantly, covering herself before giving a small nod. Seeing her hesitation, Lia relaxed somewhat, getting over the initial shock of the experience. She studied the small girl, noting her modest features and short ‘hair’. The spirit, ‘Faen’ was petite and had a delicate look about her, though more specific features were harder to make out through the shimmering of the water she was made from.

A million questions coming to mind, Lia asked the biggest one on her mind: “Um… why are you so small?” Faen looked down a moment, somewhat crestfallen, gesturing around the chamber. Lia followed with her gaze, noting the dry environment, sand particles falling from the cracked ceiling, and harsh sun continuing to beam in. “Your water has been… drying up?” she inquired. The tiny spirit quickly nodded, her form flowing with the movement. Lia leaned in further, putting her face closer to the tiny woman. She questioned further: “can you speak?” Faen shook her head anxiously, clearly somewhat intimidated by the comparatively massive elf in front of her. Noticing, Lia leaned back again, thinking to herself. The spirit was clearly stuck here, and had been for a while by the looks of it. If she’s already this small she probably wouldn’t last much longer either. Lia frowned, feeling a pang of empathy for the small woman, who had probably been here alone for years by the look of the place. She leaned back down to face the tiny spirit, who had been carefully watching her movements.

“Hey,” Lia said, eyes warm with compassion. “Would you like to leave this place with me? I passed a few Oases on my way, I’m sure you’d be happier there. I-if you’d like to of course.” She added hesitantly, blushing slightly. The tiny spirit hung on every word, her hesitance quickly shifting to eagerness. She nodded vigorously as Lia finished her proposal. Lia’s blush deepened before she leaned back to hide it. “O-ok!” She stammered. She knew that Faen was a proper spirit, and probably deserved a lot of respect no matter what size, but she couldn’t help but find the whole display overwhelmingly cute. Her mind was quickly taken off that thought however, and replaced by a new one: “Uh… how should I move you though…” Lia put a finger to her lips and looked around her for something to store the water spirit in. There are a few large goblets laying around. No, that wouldn’t work, she thought. The spirit might spill out like that. She needed something that could hold a lot of water without spilling. It was then that her eye was once again caught by the spirit, who was waving her arms to get Lia’s attention. She brought her attention down to the little spirit again, who quickly pointed toward her waist. Following with her gaze once more, she saw that Faen was pointing toward her empty waterskin.

Her waterskin! Lia had completely blanked about it. Understanding, she took it off her belt and held it toward the tiny woman. “This?” She asked. The spirit nodded eagerly. Lia was a little embarrassed she hadn’t thought of it as she screwed the lid off before presenting the opening to Faen. “Can you fit in here?” She asked again, curious to see if the little woman could. Faen nodded again, raising a leg into the throat of the waterskin, as her form began to slowly pour into the empty bladder. Lia watched on enrapt, until the tiny spirit stopped with only her head and shoulders poking out of the neck. The little spirit beamed up at Lia, making her blush warmly. Lia stood up waterskin in hand, bringing the spirit up to her face once more.

“I, uh, I hope it’s not too bad in there” she said, laughing nervously as she wondered when the last time she cleaned it was. “I’ll make sure to check up on you every day, and I’ll let you know when we get close to somewhere with more water, ok?”

The tiny woman smiled and nodded at her again, before quickly surging upward and planting a kiss on Lia’s lips. Lia blushed hard as the spirit vanished into the waterskin, bulging it out as it filled while Lia stood, stunned. She felt at the small wet patch on her lip and stood in silence for a moment, before quickly breaking herself out. “Well, I guess that counts as saving a princess. Cross that of my bucket list!” She said loudly, giving a forced chuckle. Somehow more embarrassed, she got back to work at moving the rest of the gold into her hole.

Faen couldn’t believe how lucky she was. After everyone had abandoned her at the temple she had been barely holding on to her existence in that lonely fountain. She was about to give up when this kind stranger had offered to take her away. She realised she didn’t get the elf’s name. Resolving to learn it later, the diminished spirit accustomed herself to her new vessel, the first new location she had been in years. The inside of the waterskin was surprisingly soft and warmed by its proximity to the kind woman’s body. Soft light filtered through the outside, and it held a faintly breathy scent. Almost as if the air remaining inside the bladder was the warm breath of her giant saviour. Faen felt her face warm at this thought, realising the intimacy of her location. She had already taken a risk with the kiss, and now realised she was inside a place that had touched those lips perhaps hundreds of times. Now slightly embarrassed, Faen shook the thoughts away, but couldn’t quite shake the warm feeling they gave her. She settled into her new home, rocked by the elf’s movements and warmed by her sides, Faen felt herself finally relaxing after so long, and allowed herself to be lulled off to a deep sleep.

Lia stepped out onto the steps on the temple’s exit, the treasure of the chamber now all collected inside the now folded portable hole within her rucksack. Looking out into the waiting expanse of sandy dunes and oppressive heat, she felt the thirst coming back into her body. Moving all that gold was hard work, and she was about to set back off into the desert. She deserved a drink, surely. Reaching down to her waist where her waterskins were located, she picked off the closest one and lifted it up to her mouth before pausing. Her cheeks flushed again as she hastily put the bladder containing her new passenger back onto her belt, away from the others. Making a mental note to NOT drink from that skin, she took another from her belt and drank. Satisfied and a little embarrassed, Lia quickly set off into the desert, starting the long trek back home.

The sun hung low in the sky as evening approached, casting long shadows across the orange dunes that dwarfed the lone elf making her way toward a lone large outcrop of stone. Lia was exhausted, the heat of the desert had been especially cruel to her today. Her plate armour heavy on her form, she stumbled toward the familiar rock outcropping she had slept under on her trip toward the temple. After what felt like an eternity, she finally collapsed inside the shade of the outcrop, soaked with sweat and breathing heavily. Pushing long, sandy hair out of her face, she quickly began dropping all her equipment and taking off her armour. Once free, Lia took a moment to simply stand in her undergarments, dripping with sweat, letting the gentle breeze cool her off. She desperately wished she could simply stop there and sleep, but she still had to get set up for the much colder night to come. After savouring the moment, she began pulling out her small tent and pitching it into the more packed sand under the shelter. Once that was done, she put her things inside and started assembling a campfire for the night. After some trial and error (she always forgot the exact order of things when it came to fires) Lia got the fire alight and finally, totally relaxed.

Laying down in front of the growing campfire, Lia felt she could almost fall asleep right there, but alas, her bodily functions made themselves loudly and painfully clear. She was starving, not to mention dehydrated. She had been ignoring it since she left the temple, focussed solely on putting one foot in front of the other, but now that she could finally relax, she was overwhelmed by thirst. Rolling over onto her front and standing, she moved back toward her tent and started looking for her skins. The more she thought about how thirsty she was, the worse the feeling became, until she was basically scrambling for water. She had gone through so much due to the heat and tossed aside empty waterskin after empty waterskin. Just as she was starting to get worried, she picked up the last one, and felt it sloshing with the now heavenly sound of water. The sound was like music to her ears, and she took it eagerly back to her spot in front of the fire. Lia sat down, eager to savour the experience as the sun set over the desert.

Hastily screwing the top off, Lia put the nozzle of the full waterskin to her lips, feeling the cool sensation coming from inside, and began to drink greedily. She drank with little regard to saving water, her primal hunger and thirst driving her to down the whole thing in one go. She felt the heavenly sensation of fresh, cool water flowing past her lips, splashing over her tongue, and collecting in her mouth before she swallowed it down gulp after gulp into her waiting belly. It was like nothing she had ever tasted before, crisp, cool, and an almost sweet taste. She felt it slosh down her throat and begin slightly bulging her belly outward, filling it with the skin’s contents. Finally, she squeezed the last of the water from the bladder, feeling it sitting at the entrance to her throat, and sent it down to her stomach with one final gulp with a moan of appreciation. Lia panted out a contented sigh, and lay back, putting the skin to one side. She pat at the light bulge that had formed in her belly, before letting out a loud belch. Sighing once more, the forgetful elf lay down, enjoying as her full tummy sloshed with its contents.

Faen awoke to a sudden jostling of her container, the bladder being flopped around and her form sloshing about. She formed herself into a tiny girl once again to balance herself against the sudden movement. After some turmoil, she felt something grasp the waterskin she was inside and take it elsewhere. Faen could tell from the gait she had gotten so used to that it was her kind escort and so relaxed somewhat. After a moment of light shuffling, she heard the cap of the skin being unscrewed. Remembering how the giant lady had promised to check up on her, Faen blushed lightly and prepared herself, tidying up her form somewhat before proceeding toward the exit. As she flowed through the tight neck of the skin, she felt a warm breeze flowing over her form. It was oddly familiar, and she pressed onward to uncover its source. Faen continued onwards before emerging into a deep darkness. How long had she slept? Was it night already? What was that odd warmth that surrounded her still? She slowly continued in confusion, her torso flowing free of the waterskin, before she suddenly felt a sharp tilt, and gravity pulling her downwards. She fell in utter confusion until she felt herself impact with a large, smooth, and wet surface. Quickly her surroundings came to life, more of herself being pushed out of the waterskin as the surface beneath her began moving. More of herself began pouring into the small space, and just as Faen began to realise where she was, she felt a powerful

GULP

as Lia swallowed part of Faen’s form down her waiting throat and into the stomach below. Faen could feel it now, the writhing tongue tasting at her, the smooth cheeks she was pressed against, and the pulsing throat about to draw more of her down into the hungry giantess who saved her. She began pulling away, keeping her humanoid form above the tide, avoiding falling down the rippling gullet. She tried to escape back into the waterskin, but Lia’s desperate suckling created a tide to powerful to overcome. Faen felt the first parts of her filling up the belly of her unaware friend, and panic began to set in. Had she forgotten she was in here!? She had to get the attention of her giant friend. She began to thrash about, trying in vain to climb the torrent, anything to avoid the greedy throat. Her thrashing did very little however, as the giant tongue was making its own rapid movements, sliding through and around her, making more waves than she could. As more of her was guzzled down into the hungry gullet of the giant woman, all manner of thoughts flitted through Faen’s mind, but were utterly clouded by two: the immediate sensation of the warm, rippling insides of her friend, and the intimacy of the situation.

She was in her giant friend’s mouth.

The thought wouldn’t leave her mind as she was sloshed around Lia’s maw. She was wrapped around the tongue of her giant friend. Being swallowed whole by this giant woman. She felt herself growing warm at the thought once again, before the movements around her stopped. Faen realised that the skin was emptied, and she was sitting on the back of Lia’s tongue. The last of her, about to be swallowed. In the brief instance of calm, she was pulled back into the moment. She could feel the rest of her form sloshing about in the stomach below, the hot breath of her captor, and the strings of saliva that stuck to her form, as a loud moan reverberated around her. Lia’s head began tilting back, Faen experiencing all this as if in slow-motion. She felt the throat at her feet open, the tongue she was seated upon rising and pushing her back, before…

GULP

With one final, powerful swallow, Faen was sent completely down the throat of her giant elven friend. The muscles rippled around her, pushing her ever downwards and closer to the gurgling stomach below. She could hear Lia’s powerful heartbeat pulsing all around her as she descended. Before long, Faen felt her feet spilling out into the stomach, joining with the rest of her before she fell into the stomach proper, the throat closing the way behind her. Faen was now sealed entirely inside of her thirsty friend’s stomach, the walls pulsing around her, kneading her form back into the water it was before. She felt that familiar warmth creeping back into her senses but pushed it away. She began crashing her form into the sides of the tight space, trying to get Lia’s attention. Faen felt a pang of hope as her forgetful captor pat her belly idly, but it was quickly dashed as a large belch forced a lot of the air out of the slick pulsing chamber, squeezing Faen tighter. In response, she changed her form again, turning back into a tiny woman in the stomach of the adventurer. Fighting off the warmth, Faen began beating against the wet walls of the giantess, trying to get her attention. Though she couldn’t help coming back to the feeling of intimacy.

She was inside her friend’s stomach.

The thought returned, along with the odd warmth. She began to calm and noticed that the belly of her friend was not entirely dissimilar to the bladder she had spent time in before this. Not only did she venture inside the mouth of the person she kissed hours ago, but had descended fully into her stomach, sealed inside of her. Now that she settled into the warmth of her friend’s gut, she couldn’t help but feel comforted. She was surrounded by the person who saved her, given wholly to her stomach. Faen probed at the warm, soft walls, feeling them give under her touch. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to be inside here, she thought as she lay back and allowed herself to relax into the gently rolling walls of Lia’s stomach.

Lia lay down on her side, enjoying the pleasant feeling of her belly gurgling and sloshing around its contents, completely unaware of her tiny friend sealed inside. It had been a long journey, but she felt fully content both in her haul and current fullness. She briefly felt as if she was forgetting something, but dismissed the feeling, opting to deal with it in the morning. Meanwhile, Faen leaned into the warm, slick walls of her giant friend’s stomach, being rocked by the gurgling, kneading motions. She still had reservations, but given she was sealed inside her forgetful friend, she simply let it take her, resigning to spending the night inside of her giant friend. Warmed by each other, the two of them began to drift off to sleep.