Darrin was doing her best to stay calm.
'Just.. take a breath-' and out popped her new tail, grazing the ground sending a foreign sensation up as the fur at the end touched the wet cold floor. It was such a small thing but hardly the smallest thing that was different now. "A-ah..." she pulled it back into her clothing trying to find... some way to cope with all this.
Darrin was not just a child in body though... She truly lacked the mental fortitude right now with an immature mind that was more likely to act on impulse then rational thought. She certainly remembered acting mature and having those experiences but this body was sifting through her brain, enhancing memories that were more emotional and changing how she felt about those memories. It gave her the impulse to 'react' rather then to judge such reactions if they were suitable in the moment. That impulse right now was fighting the well of tears that threatened to burst, even when a minor thing like dropping ice cream could set it off- only this was something worse. She was in the wrong body, she was the wrong age. the (slightly) wrong species. The wrong sex! She was lost and... alone. It couldn't get any more -wrong- for her as she hugged her foreign form for warmth in the damp alleyway.
She glanced around the wet buildings with her tear streaked eyes wondering why nobody was here to help her. She pressed at her cat-ears again with their peculiar sensitivity and weight, tickled by her soft hair. The feeling of them pushing back on her small hands became apparent, a tingling sensation running straight down her spine and along her animated tail. She couldn't help what happened next as her lips curled into a flickering smile. "Meeeeoooow- ah!" she tensed putting her hand over her mouth beat red. Did... did she just meow?
"I'm some.. some kinda.. cat.. girl thing..." she bit her lip. The cat part she could probably have endured but... the girl part... it made her feel a bit- well- icky. Feeling dirty at that thought she instinctively started to lick her hands and arms, as if that would help her feel clean again- "Ah what am I doing!" she screamed.
That- that really was disgusting! She was licking herself. But again that feeling of disgust just made her want to lick herself even more! She held that in check for now, as she she ran a slightly wet hand over her face. From what she could tell from the broken mirror she looked reasonably human, enough so that she had thought she was just a smaller human anyway. She didn't even notice her change of gender due to her flat chest, being a prepubescent girl. It was only on the closer inspection she realised... and the absence between her legs was becoming all the more apparent with each passing second. It was no longer... familiar to her the way her underwear bunched up there.
Darrin examined all the rest of her clothes carefully, once again feeling the absence between her legs but found one or two odd items. A set of keys, some kind of long steel pin... and of course there was the nature of her clothes themselves. She got the impression that were intended to hide her body and possibly sex to make her blend into the background. She looked surprisingly boyish really.. she held on to that a bit. 'Maybe I'm a tom...boy.. cat...' she thought partly amused by that weird thought. Maybe part of her was in this body after all?
The weight of that thought though... of suddenly being something else... feeling another body as close and as young as this felt... wrong. Almost violating but he wasn't sure who the victim was. This... this was impossible. It was impossible! This had to be a dream. A crazy weird screwed up dream she was about to wake from. But the rain felt real, the people were real... her clothes felt real, and there was no way she could dream all the details of this world. Still she tried to pinch herself on that slim possibility- "Ow..." so.. maybe this wasn't a dream. What to do now?
'I can't stay in an alleyway forever,' she decided roiling up her sleeves and tucking in her tail again. She counted her blessings that at least she was in a town. Heaven help if she had ended up in the middle of the countryside or in some alien cat-village or in a wild land in this body without a clue on what to do.
She was lost.. a lost little girl... so.. she had to do what any lost child would do and find an adult to help her. Part of her couldn't believe she was actually thinking that, but for the first time there was a consensus building in her mind between all the parts that made her who she was right now. The adult felt it was the rational choice, the child felt relief at the idea of someone taking care of her and the cat.. well... It didn't object anyway to the plan. (Or if it was vocal enough to say suggest anything.)
She started to walk out and into... the unknown steam-town and back into the street. She was scared, alone.. frightened, but she was just one figure among many and none paid her any attention. A quick glance and.. that was all. She was just a kid walking by... not worth any attention. Her ears felt so irritated in her hood but she refrained from scratching them. She saw different kinds of people.. wait.. some were not human either! She saw a curious looking wolf-man... though unlike her own animal features that one was clearly more animal then human with a light grey muzzle and smaller eyes. She emitted a slight -eek- of surprise, to which the wolf's ears twitched at. They shared a brief stare and he give a polite smile by baring his teeth just a little (At least she hoped it was a smile). Fortunately it was also contexted by a friendly wave.
Darrin breathed a light sigh. Her voice was light.. so light and high pitched. She was looking quite boyish in these clothes but there was no disguising her voice when she spoke even as she tried to put it down an octave. She looked unsure of herself now as she looked though each street trying to work out where she was or even which country. The signs were in English, but were not pointing to anywhere she understood. The architecture looked... European she guessed. Was she in England? But what about that wolf? Were others moved around and changed? Or.. was this another world entirely? Could it be she had also... travelled through time? The child's mind was working in overdrive as it explored such imaginative scenarios each building up theories based on the most circumstantial of evidence. Goodness... she felt incredible when she felt her thoughts were unbounded by any rationality of her older self. With no evidence anything to the contrary anything could be true...
"Got to get a hold of myself," Darrin said pulling back herself. She had to focus... she was determined to find an answer to this. She had to remember that she was an adult... she could think like one, if she concentrated really hard and not get distracted. Maybe. No matter how... shiny that stone over there looked now. She glanced at it.. 'no ignore it just ignore it. 'this shouldn't happen to people!' There was nothing rational about her situation.
She had to ask someone for directions. Directions to where though? Eventually she settled on a man in uniform. Maybe she could trust the local police to help her? His uniform did look a little odd, again very old fashioned with strange brass buttons. He wore a badge though so he clearly must be someone in authority and- he had a sword as a weapon. That made Darrin a little wary but.. she had to get some help. "E-Excuse me." she called out.
"Hm? Hello Hello Hello, what we have here?" He said looking to the 'young girl'. Goodness he thought it was a boy! "It's a bit late for you to be out Missy." He bent his legs down in concern to look her face to face. He then noted the poor thing looked about to cry. What in the world happened? He carefully noted that she was not bruised or attacked... so that was a good sign. "Hey, it's alright miss. My name is Bill... Ol' Bill you could say," he chuckled warmly. "Tell me what's bothering you. Has someone hurt you?" He spoke slowly.. calmly; like anyone would to a child they wanted to earn trust with.
It was hard not to feel a little patronised. but.. the cat-girl could sense the man was trying to put her at ease. Still she felt wary. She was about to place her entire future into the hands of a stranger.. a child did this every day, but for one who had once been an adult... well... it was a mix of pessimism and optimism. She knew what adults could be like... either way. "I- I'm lost." Again.. that light soft voice echoed in her ears, and sounded just a little too far away from her mouth- given the sounds were muffled and had to go over her head. "I'm just looking for my home." Darrin felt herself shiver. She really did sound like a lost little girl, and was getting drenched in the rain.
The policeman looked her over then blinked. "Oi wait.. don't I know you? Take off that hood if you would missy... I need to be sure."
"Huh?" Darrin glanced unsure. She didn't want this cop noticing her cat-ears! How would he react? But.. now she was caught. Reluctantly she slowly slid off the hood tearfully, her strange ears now visible to the policeman. They started to get wet with rain making them twitch at each drop.
Bill gave a half smirk. "Ah ha! I knew it! Diana isn't it? We've been looking all over for you!" He sighed in relief. "Your parents have been worried sick... you really shouldn't frighten them like that."
Darrin blinked. "My- My name isn't Diana!" Was she just mixed up with someone else now?
Bill took out a picture tucked away in his waist jacket. It showed a picture of the cat-girl... "That's definitely you see? There, that's your parents too. We were all given light copies of your picture. Your parents really spared no expense in making sure we knew your face." . Light paper really was expensive...but for situations like this, a life saver.
Darrin was still very confused by all this as she stared up at the man. "My- my parents?" She had not lived with her parents for almost ten years! This was turning into some cruel joke. "Now- hold on- this ain't right! I'm not Diana!" She looked exasperated at the policeman but he clearly didn't believe her. That image on the paper though... it did look a lot like what she thought she did at the moment.
"Light paper can't lie Diana. See? That's you..." Bill said softly, then took her hand cupping it protectively. "Please listen, I know you have your reasons... but you really must come with me now. Running away from the people who love you isn't going to solve anything... we'll get this all sorted out. You don't really want to be out here in the cold rainy streets any longer do you?" he then started to scratch at Darrin's ears treating her like.. a stray cat.
The policeman was so... warm in his voice and by that touch Darrin started to purr- she actually purred! A deep rumbling from within her chest like some kind of rattle going off warming her body. It felt nice as it vibrated inside... and... with that going on, for some reason she would have believed -anything- when her ears were scratched like that. Her tail came loose in her pants, wiggling out as she writhed about a little, lying back.
Bill smiled. Cat girls sure were easy to convince sometimes. "There now, shall we take you home little one?"
Darrin could only meow in agreement. All she could think of now was a nice warm cosy place that this man would take her to.
In the high town district, a husband and wife sat with worry in their living room. They had.. quite a large house, though at the moment it was just the two of them. At the corner was a little bowl with the name 'Diana' on it. A small collar dangling on the side.
Samantha Cottage was sick with worry as she paced in her home sitting down on a comfort chair. "It's been three days," she said wearily. "Three whole days- she's never been gone for that long. I knew we should have made her wear that collar."
Her husband, Justin, looked out the window tensely. "Well.. I put her favourite food out for her as well as a bowl of milk. It's untouched though.... Maybe she'll be back tomorrow. You know she never liked wearing the collar. She could just be exploring, doing what cats do..."
Samantha started to cry wiping her eyes. "Were we... wrong... to adopt a mythoid? I didn't know how difficult it would be raising her."
Justin sighed. He sat down next to his wife to comfort her. "I don't regret it.. I mean she looks so very human to me too. How can we not treat her as any other little girl... she's my child, I don't care about her ears and tail... but maybe we have to face up to certain realities... if she comes back, let's try something new, shall we?" He gave his wife a warm kiss. "You... don't blame me.. do you?"
Samantha looked at Justin. "No... I... I would have liked us to have had a child between us but... I'm sure the spirits had their reasons. After all we ended up with Diana. I want to look after her... Ever since she entered our life it's just..." she trailed away.
Justin nodded. He wanted the best for his adopted daughter but at the same time, treating her as a human seemed to just push her away. The orphanage she came from said she was always more cat-like.. but when they saw her, they just had to adopt her. They said it was likely she would be returned to the orphanage if they gave up. "I'm not going to give up on her... she's not going back to the orphanage. I have a better idea..."
It was getting late... perhaps it would be another night? Another night of waiting. Then the bell rang... Could it... could it be? Samantha opened the door with such speed it nearly broke the hinges off. "Diana! Oh thank goodness you've been found!" she reached down and hugged the cat-girl warmly.
Diana stared up in confusion. She was being touched and didn't like it. She had that dazed look as any cat would after being lost for a while. But the scent on her felt familiar... was that her own scent? It felt warm inside... a rush of warm air welcoming her.
Samantha hugged the watch-man next in exhilaration. "Oh thank you officer. Thank you. We've been looking for our little darling everywhere! Thank you.. thank you... I hope she didn't get into any trouble?"
Bill gave a kind hearted smile. "Oh she was no trouble. She just needed a bit of food, I've had to get cat-girls down from trees a few times in the past." he chuckled ruffling Diana's hair again as her eyes slowly came into focus. "Just be careful with her, she did cause a bit of a nuisance at a cafe.. but I know raising a cat-girl must be rough."
Samantha sighed. "Indeed... she's in a lot of trouble."
Bill nodded tipping his hat. "Well, you folks have a good day, if you need anything just call the watch." he then glanced to Diana encouraging the cat to move into the house. "Go on little one, you can do it..."
Darrin glanced back in some annoyance. What was she, some kind of pet to them?! She would go where she pleased! She was not a kid... then she heard the door close behind her.
Somehow it was like time had skipped and she was already inside. Somehow her instincts just brought her into the warmth of this house and her 'mother and father' now looking at her as she was soaked to the bone. An instinct came upon her as she started licking at her hands and face again. She had to clean all this rain off. Right now she didn't care how disgusting it must look.. it gave her time to think.
Darrin's 'father' looked really annoyed. "Running off like that and giving us a scare! Why did you do it Diana! Don't you know how much we love you?"
Samantha calmed her husband down a bit. This wasn't how she wanted this situation to be resolved. "Now Justin she's been through enough. Look at her the poor thing, she's just trying to clean herself up..."
Darrin watched the situation tensely despite her licking of her arms and hands. She honestly didn't know what to say to either of them. She wasn't really Diana.. not their Diana. but then she noticed something else. Neither of these two were cat-girls like her.. they were not her 'real' parents then? Not that they were but..they were not Diana's real parents?
"Diana, would you come here a moment please?" asked the mother.
Darren tentatively approached. She really should explain the situation. That she wasn't their daughter, that somehow she ended up in her body and that this was all a terrible mistake. "I- I'm sorry... I don't really know-"
"That's alright honey... I want to show you something. We think this will be good for you, and will hopefully help you control those.. cat-instincts of yours so you can better integrate into human society." she took out a piece of paper. "Now I know you are not happy with it but... we have to be realistic. Your only going to have more trouble as time goes by so... we've enrolled you into this all-girls school. It's especially made for those with your... condition."
Diana looked at the advert. "Carolyns school for myth-girls?" Diana's eyes widened. She looked at the fliar's advert.
'Carolyns school for myth-girls. It is a known fact that raising a non-human to live amongst humans can have its downsides as well as upsides. In our school, we attempt to bridge that gap with proper understanding of the instincts and drives of each student. We prepare them to hone their instincts to better use. We have had a near 100% success rate at ensuring proper decent and lady-like behaviour in all our students regardless of their species. Enrol your child now, be they adopted or if you wish to learn more of human culture to live in.'
Darren's eyes widened. Were they serious? If they sent her- that is- if they sent 'Diana' to this school, Darren wouldn't be able to work out what happened to her! "Look- you can't. I'm not even a cat-girl! I'm-"
"Oh Honey I know you say you're not but look..." her mother then gently scratched at her ears again and Diana felt incredible bliss emanating from her. Her mother knew exactly how to scratch her, and how to make her feel warm and safe. Even more so then the police officer. There was a familiarity to that touch... a connection... "Won't you do this for me honey?"
"M-meooow.. .Y-yes- wait- No! Look this is all wrong! You're not my parents!"
Suddenly Samantha started to cry. Diana... she... how could she say that.. but it was true, wasn't it? Her eyes dulled and she looked a completely broken Woman at her daughter's outburst. "I- I know... I'm sorry I-"
Justin looked angry at Diana but held it back speaking in a deep gravitas in his voice. Clearly he was also very upset. "...I think you should go to your room and think about this. We're taking you to that school... you'll thank us afterwards. It's a good place for you."
"but-"
"No buts young lady! Go to your room now!"
'Diana' had no choice... they completely misunderstood what she was trying to explain. She wondered in the house... looking for her room. She didn't think it was possible to make them believe... but all the while she was thinking, if she was here... where was Diana?
But another part made her think if this all really was... just a game... if she was just a character in a video game, then this was just her backstory. Nobody here was real.. she shouldn't feel bad- even if- even if she was starting to get upset about it all...
-op? Sarah blinked, with a swish of clockwork as finally, her gears moved granting an awareness of her presence. That experience was unnerving. Just to suddenly 'stop' thinking... internalising that experience was something that might take a bit of time. Light was around her and slowly it was all coming into focus. Unlike humans (or indeed any biological creature) who might experience a lack of memory to be filled, her trail of thought was still there right up to the moment she had stopped. Sarah was now sitting up in the coffin but had no memory of the door opening or well- anything from since she was budged loose. "Are you alright?!" asked a panicked voice. Sarah turned her head and saw Tom, who appeared to be drifting towards her winding key looking at it for damage.
"I- I'm fine," Sarah responded. "I think..." she looked herself over. Her winding key was now starting to move again. She got up slowly. She certainly hoped her insides could handle it when her key was stuck like that. The last thing she wanted to worry about were any broken cogs inside her. It's not as if they could fix her body if it broke.
Tom looked so relieved to hear her synthetic voice he actually hugged her. "Thank the spirits!" he woped a brow of sweat. "I- I honestly thought I broke you. I'm sorry- I thought you had enough space in there. I- I knocked but when you didn't knock back I thought something serious might have happened to you." he looked like he really was about to cry. Tom had never seen anyone so unique. His plans were already being tested and he honestly thought he had failed her. He didn't want to tell her he was just... improvising. He had to show he knew what he was doing.
Sarah looked around again. "Where are we?" They appeared to be in the middle of the road. There was no safe house, nothing at all here. Just a dirt road, with a few trees in the distance, and some shrubs. "I thought you were taking me somewhere safe?"
Tom cringed. "I panicked! I thought something had gone wrong. I thought maybe you did need air after all or something cause you didn't knock back. I thought maybe you were broken when they moved the coffin. So I- I I stopped the chariot to look you over and asked the others to go on without me."
"In the middle of the road?" Sarah asked.
"I... explained I had arranged a relay for this particular coffin. People tend to be superstitious and not ask too many questions about a box for the dead. I opened you up found you were not moving and.. pulled you out."
Sarah grimaced. She guessed she couldn't blame tom too much for this turn of events. But this was going to cause problems. How was she to find Jon now? "Where is the chariot now?" she asked.
"Miles away by now. Fletcher was on it... I... I couldn't risk... I'm sorry."
Sarah carefully started getting out of the coffin. At least with Fletcher out of the picture that might make things a bit easier.
"Are... um... do you need winding?" asked Tom concerned.
Sarah shrugged. "Do I? I don't know. I havn't been wound before..."
"Could... could I?" Tom asked with a blush. Why did it feel so... weird to ask. It wasn't as if he was asking anything untoward... was he?
"I... suppose..." Sarah guessed it would probably be a good idea to maintain a charge.
Tom a little eagerly started to turn the handle-
"other way-" Sarah vibrated with odd tones.
"Oh right.. gotcha..." slowly Tom worked the handle the other way, as it clicked with a definite tightness into her main spring. Sarah had a weird experience as she felt new energy ripple into her. Potential energy... building and growing inside her. It was... like someone sharing a drink, or food with her. She felt a strange connection to those kinds of social events and the act of that spring being tightened. It was... friendly. She liked it anyway.
Tom started to hear the ticks that indicated she couldn't be wound any more. "I guess you didn't need much after all..." Then he started to try and pull on the coffin. "I- I need to arrange for something with this. It costs money, Fletcher will want it accounted for."
Sarah was almost afraid to ask. "What's the plan now?"
"Uh- well- I know there's a small village a mile or so from here. I think... well... let's hide the coffin in the shrubs. We'll go to the village and get some new clothes and rest up. Then hopefully I can arrange to get you somewhere safer."
"Is this village safe for me?"
"Oh... yeah... well..." Tom glanced to the side. He honestly wasn't sure. "I havn't been there in a rather long time. It's called Arbolia. Lovely rustic village.. surrounded by trees.. quite a few animal folk there too. Humans at the center of the village live in normal hatchet houses while the surroundings are all tree-folk. Even has a few tree dwelling humans I think- I'm told the inside of the village is very civil. We just.. have to get past the tree guardians, but I'm sure that wont be a problem." He gulped slightly. 'Are you insane?!' Tom said inside to himself. 'Arbolia? You're going to take a girl made of Ancient Technology to Arbolia? You're a steamer! They will smell the iron in you- this is a bad idea!'
Sarah looked to Tom again. "You sure about this?"
"-Ah positive. We just.. need to look a bit more casual..."
Fazalune was in deep thought. This was going to be a very difficult journey, she didn't really expect to have to do it again. Not at her age.. still, she knew where the shifting sands were as well as the dead pools. She knew the easiest way to get to the Lady of the Sands, and if possible she really did want to help this Karyn back to her world. The elder scorpion-woman stared up at the moon, bathing for a moment in its light.
"The sands might change..." she thought to herself. But the worst possibility was if... well.. it was not -too- likely, but the giant sandworms had been seen here a few seasons ago. They didn't have much to fight against them. She had one or two surprises though that would confuse their senses... planning for a sandworm attack though was just the start. There were so many other possibilities and things that she couldn't contemplate. Most concerning to her, were the trials of the Lady herself. She always somehow knew when someone was seeking her... and she tested them. She always tested them... regardless of the purity of their soul or the desire they wanted. Still she was not a vindictive soul... there had to be faith in a reason for why she put people on these trials.
Fazalune started placing the protective trinkets around the tent in a circle. She then started to draw a pentagram... maybe some of it was just superstition but... it served her well thus far. "I wonder why the child isn't sleeping', she idly wondered. She didn't hear any movement of sand to scuttle under for warmth... "wait.. does she even know to do that?" Oh the poor dear!
Fazalune entered the tent and treated to the most amusing sight she had seen in years. The young girl was resting her head on an incline of the tend, whie her scorpion body was rested on the floor. She couldn't help it, she laughed just a bit. "Oh child! Is.. that really how you sleep?"
Karyn looked annoyed. "Well- how am I supposed to! Do I just.. stand like a horse?"
"Hm, I don't honestly know how Centaurs sleep... but you will find this a little more comfortable. Now do as I do..." Fazlune started to outstretch her claws on her lower body. Soon the scopion woman was scuttling but not actually moving so much to the side, just.. burying her lower body into the stand. Soon the soft sand was pressed all around her. The sand to her front was moulded just right to rest on, and support her human-like form. "Simple..."
Karyn tried to do the same, but all she got was a face full of sand in her eyes. "Pft! Ah-" It looked like she also threw sand at Fazalune!
Fazalune just took it in stride as she lifted herself out of the hole she dug, with just a flick of her six legs. "Use mine if you like... I'll make another one. Though you really do need to learn how to use your body better in this place... I'll teach you in the morning."
Karyn sighed and placed herself inside the impressions Fazalune had left. It was.. surprisingly snug. The sands shifted a bit to take on her profile- (if not quite so much on her large breasts.) she dug a bit with her hands to make room for her chest there, as Fazalune watched with idle curiosity.
Finally, Karyn was able to get some rest...
