The gem floated up... but not out of the crevice, still bound to the flesh below. And it would likely remain so until the very end of whatever the frog had just started.

  The sensations from this were much more… invasive than feeding, but as expected not comparable to a real transformation either.

  Finding that the filaments were in fact moving was a real surprise, even if only on a surface level: deep down, they were just flowing through its flesh unimpeded, nudging things around… and then allowing them to settle back down, as they were. Which was probably the reason why it had taken so long to notice anything was happening at all with them.

  There was no trace of the malleability of a transformation: its physical form stayed completely stable, as fixed as always.

  Unfortunately, the same could not be said for its sneakiness: even if they didn’t undo it, the way they writhed under the skin, altering it, was even worse. Making its flesh wriggle and sparkle in an eye-catching way, the very opposite of what it wanted to accomplish.

  The frog hurriedly dropped the stealth-mode, and looked around worriedly as much as it could in its predicament... fortunately there was nothing worrying.

  Once again, it forced itself to calm down: the owl would announce its arrival loudly, and there would be nothing to do about it either way other than hope it didn’t, as there was no interrupting this process now that it had started.

  Besides, there were other matters to attend to, as the problem with its sneakiness was not the only damage the filaments were doing. The way they were melding, on second glance, was imperfect.

  The replacement flesh had the same functionality, but was just a tiny, tiny bit worse. Just that much slower, that much weaker. By all means this should be a complete disaster.

  But there was something coming in along with them. The frog was sure of it.

  Something ineffable, impossible to understand exactly. If the filaments were half-here and half-not, then this thing was barely here. Maybe not at all. However, that might be changing.

  Some of the filaments were acting differently from the others, slowly dragging the mysterious thing into a more real state. Trying to make it into some kind of advantage that could more than make up for what had been lost, surely turning this around.

  … But was this really what it wanted? A simple physical enhancement? It would undoubtedly be something rare and powerful, but far from unique. There might be a few gems and filaments lying around here, in this very moment, capable of that. Would it not regret turning such an opportunity into more of the same?

  Before it could decide either way, a grinding of stones sounded out again - much closer than before – and the frog froze.

  It had already determined that this couldn't be the owl. But that didn’t mean it would be alone here, did it? Other creatures might have decided to make use of the thing's absence to dig around.

  In fact, soon after, something peeked out of a corner.

  A worm. Terrible news.

  A moderately strong creature, that the frog could handle easily enough, maybe even when limited in this way. But this didn’t reassure it any, because strength didn't matter here.

  Of all the creatures that could have turned up – besides those that were simply too powerful – a worm was one of the worst, because its main way of attack was just so incredibly loud! If the thing decided to try its luck against a weakened frog, no matter how mistaken...

  But contrary to the frog's fears, the worm didn’t pay it any mind, and kept doing its own thing: exploring the surroundings and feeding on random gems in its creepy way, by projecting its body forward and almost engulfing them.

  This should have been the best of outcomes. Something to be happy about.

  The frog was outraged.

  It had designs on these gems! How dare another creature make use of its opportunity?

  It had planned, waited, and been bored for so long, just to have this one chance, and this thing dared…!

  Still, it had almost gotten what it really wanted, and as long as the creature kept to the useless ones-

  As if to spite that very thought, the worm angled its head towards the very gem the frog wanted next, after the lizard's.

  Which was unacceptable.

  It jerked up and made for the worm, waving it away intimidatingly. It even made quite a lot of progress... before the filaments yanked it back hard. And they must have loosened their grip quite a bit to let it get even this far.

  Still, it wasn’t enough to reach the creature, that on its part didn't seem intimidated in the slightest.

  … but apparently enough to anger it, because it started shrinking back into itself in a way that would be a good sign with anything else, but with this one was the worst thing possible.

  The frog backed off and started waving its hands to convey an entirely different meaning. A desperate attempt to make this simple creature back off. Couldn't it understand the situation!?

  The worm, of course, ignored it. And started to vibrate.

  The frog had been ready, perfectly aware of what was going to happen, having experienced it before. It still collapsed, clutching at its head.

  It was so loud, it felt as if something physical had crawled inside its head and was banging stones against the walls from the inside. It was painful and violating.

  It was infuriating.

  The frog struggled through the pain, slowly got up, and started approaching again.

  This simple-minded creature was about to doom both of them, just because of a little posturing? If it didn't stop on its own, then the frog would would make it.

  When the filaments tried again to yank it back, it pivoted its frustration, trying to turn it into willpower to finally enforce its will upon them. It felt like it was achieving something significant. The absolutely null progress made strongly disagreed.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  It should have known not to try to make the worm back off. Their kind were arrogant creatures, and possessive. It had somehow decided that this treasure trove of gems was its, and that the frog was intruding. Thus, it would keep screaming until its would-be prey had been rendered incapable and only then approach to finish it off.

  Of course, the frog was far from incapable. It hadn’t been ready for how loud the attack would feel as the primary target, rather than as collateral damage, but it was now steadily pushing through.

  In fact, if it had all the time it wanted, it could even lay there and pretend to be harmless for the thing to attack. It would triumph even while in that predicament. But it didn't have all that time, did it?

  It had been long since this had started already, and with all the noise the worm was making, even if it was impossible to hear anything over it...

  Actually… it might just be in its head, the product of its fear. But wasn’t that a screech far away, steadily getting louder?

  No. It definitely was real. More likely, it had been going on for some time and the frog had only now managed to hear.

  It needed to push this transformation along and get away.

  Now.

  Fortunately, the filaments were about done settling, only one thing left to decide.

  It could either finish pushing the ineffable thing into the real and receive an immediate, surely useful advantage – if a boring one. Something that could be the difference between life and death, right now and in the future.

  Or let them do whatever they'd been trying at first, after some mysterious aim that might even turn out to be a disadvantage. Just to satisfy its curiosity.

  The choice was obvious.

  And as soon as it was made, the filaments rushed up all at once, settled down in its flesh and stabilized immediately, as if they'd only been waiting for this. Which might actually be the case.

  The frog stumbled forward, finally free to move, so close to the worm that it was sorely tempted to rush ahead and make it finally stop. Only the knowledge of how terrible an idea that would be kept it.

  It was undeniable now: the screech hadn't been just in its head.

  It launched backwards to the nook where the gem had been, and lied flat on the ground, immediately entering its sneakiness, hoping against hope that the owl hadn't seen. That it'd get distracted with the obvious thing screaming right there, in defiance of-

  The gem was still there. Floating above.

  Somehow, only the filaments had finished their thing, while the gem was still conspicuously hanging around in the air, a tendril leading right to the frog.

  No amount of sneakiness was going to disguise that.

  It was going to get it killed!

  But what could it do? There was no crevice close enough and deep enough to dive in, that could also hide-

  Another painful, extremely close screech, and in desperation, the frog snatched the gem out of the air and plunged it back down into the crevice it had been in, covering it with its own body. Then it went still, refusing to even look, right before the ground trembled as something massive impacted it, and the painful scratch of sharp claws gripping rocks cried out. The worm's scream went out immediately.

  The frog stood completely still as the worm was slowly torn apart in the usual way.

  Completely still as the gem finally vanished from under it, forcing it to arch in a very awkward position.

  Completely still as the annoyance tried, once again, to get it killed.

  Because it knew from the absolute stillness that had returned, and from the profound unease deep inside, that the malevolent presence was still here. Right behind.

  Why wasn't it leaving? Usually the thing went back to its clearing as soon as it had completely...

  It wasn't going away because it knew there was something else around, unlike back with the lizard! Of course it did.

  Somehow, the frog's sneakiness was still holding up, but the owl was clearly a cut above the rest: it knew that if the worm was screaming, then it must have been screaming at something.

  And as tenacious and malevolent as the owl was, it was clearly content to wait.

  The frog was determined too and had trained its sneakiness. It could endure even this awkward position for a long time.

  But could it outlast this predator?

  …

  A not so distant scream sounded.

  The howling of coyotes, most likely. Brutal creatures that hunted in a group, while still being much stronger than the frog, even individually. They had been a bane throughout some parts of the wider world, hounding it relentlessly at times. Easily one of the worst things to meet in this world.

  It was a sound bringing back terrible memories and that meant there was yet another deadly danger roaming around.

  It was the most pleasant thing the frog had ever heard.

  The chillingly screech responded, mind-numbingly close…

  And then again, much farther away and higher.

  … Until the frog’s profound unease relaxed into the usual, constant low-key dread of this place.

  It slowly got up and crawled back, out of the open and into somewhere more comfortable. Only when it was deep inside a cave did it calm down.

  It had been a grueling experience. A terrible, terrible risk for a very dubious gain.

  It had been the perfect proof of concept.