Breakfast turned out to be an open buffet of sorts, with odd foods mixed in with the more conventional ones. Jon frowned at the dead rat on her plate, tucked in next to her slice of toast and scrambled eggs. It had looked so appetizing the moment she first laid eyes on it, but still, it felt so surreal. Obviously, her new body lacked any natural squeamishness about such things, and the label had assured her of the meat's quality and origin. That, however, did not mean that she particularly wanted to eat rodents. Nevertheless, she figured it was worth a try at least once.
A picnic area had been set up next to the cafeteria building, and Jon spotted her parents already seated at one of them. Well, seated on the floor, that is. Several other people milled about or gathered at their own tables. Most looked like staff-members, judging by their more conventional horse bodies.
"Hey, Mom. Hi, Dad," Jon greeted her parents while side-stepping the abdomen of a giant ant body attached to another camper.
"Good morning, Jon," the two snake-women replied.
Reaching the table, Jon stopped and stared. It's got to be the different lighting, she told herself.
Seeing the two nagas, now, she would never guess they were more than twenty or so, far too young to be her own parents.
*Yeah, definitely the lighting. They must've been like this last night. Right? Then again *
Jon put these doubts aside as she enjoyed breakfast with her family. To her surprise, the rat actually tasted really good. One tentative bite, and the deliciousness overrode her previous misgivings. Oddly, she found that she now possessed fangs through which she instinctively injected venom into her food. After that, she simply ate her meal like normal, bite, chew, and swallow. Twenty minutes later, she had already eaten several more. Mikey also discovered the joys of a raw meat diet, though she seemed to prefer grasshoppers.
The whole time, everyone stayed on the lookout for a familiar scorpion girl. Another hour ticked by, but she never showed up.
"Alright," Dad announced, moving away from the table. "Time to find Zoe. She really shouldn't miss a meal."
"Right, let's go," said Mom. Turning to Jon, she added, "You'd better look, too. We'll go this way, and you can go the other way. We'll meet back here in another hour." Once more, the two nagas slithered off together.
"Why are they leaving us alone so much?" Mikey asked.
Jon shrugged. "Well, we have the bodies of giant predators attached to us, so maybe they figure it's safe. Anyway, we might as well start looking. Let's go."
