Once outside the arena, the Kalesian soldiers guarding Angie and the embassy staff waited for a few minutes so that a couple of stragglers could catch up to them. Then they all moved out, taking the quickest route back to the Embassy. Though the crowds were thinning out the further they got from the Grand Arena, especially after they passed through the inner walls, Angie could see how the chaos had already spread throughout the city proper. The Canines all around were unusually excited. It was almost as if the entire city was overflowing with energy. Or something like that. She couldn’t put words to it. She did notice how the guards had formed up into a tight V-shape in front of the group, pushing through the crowds whenever they gathered. There weren’t enough to form a full circle around them, but she still felt safe with them there.

Just as they passed by the last intersection before they’d turn right to go to the Embassy, she felt as much as heard something land behind her. She had sensed it in the background through the canines, but with how pent-up they all were, she’d paid it less heed than she probably should have.

Angie looked up for a moment, seeing the two full moons visible in the sky even during the day. The feeling behind her wasn’t truly one of danger. It was hard to put into words. Like a canine, but not. Wilder. Stronger. She wanted to turn about, to look at it. The urge was practically irresistible. She halted for a moment. Started to turn to the right. Then fell over as if she’d tripped.

Everything itched. Her hands snapped forward, preventing her face from striking the ground as she fell over. Throughout the canine thought net, she heard the shout “he-who-smells-blood!” reverberating. She knew without knowing exactly how, that it was he who now stood behind her. But that didn’t matter, for she could not sense any real danger from him. All she felt, was a certain curiosity, intermixed with… familiarity?

She tried to make sense of it, but before she could think further on it, there was a pain unlike any she had felt before, right at the base of her back. And on her torso. And all over her body. She squeezed her eyes shut to try to drown it out and so failed to spot the first and most obvious changes. Her nails rapidly thickened, hardened and lengthened until they truly were claws. Not long claws, but still sharp. Underneath her long Kalesian tunic, at the base of her spine, something grew forth. And everything itched. The light fuzz she’d had in the past spread rapidly. becoming a sleek coat of fur covering greater parts of her arms, legs and torso.

Her modest breasts, having never really grown large the way other girls’ breasts seemed to do, were joined by others as the nascent ones lower on her chest rapidly grew in. While it should’ve felt strange, Angie found that it only felt right. As something that had been wrong was now fixed. In her small boots, she could feel her claws growing in and knew they were quite a bit larger than the ones on her fingers.

As always, she didn’t know exactly why she did it, but she bent her feet slightly, lifting her heel up from the ground. had she been able to see, she would’ve seen that her feet had actually changed shape. Where other humans had a right angle between the ankle and the foot, her feet now had a 110-degree angle. She could still lower her heels to the ground, but it didn’t feel right.

The changes stopped as suddenly as they had started. It felt like an eternity had passed, but somehow she knew only a few minutes at most had passed. She slowly rose to her feet, quite unsteady, as if her balance had changed. Which she realized quickly that it actually had. Her chest was heavier, her legs different. Then there was the short tail beneath her long tunic. She knew it was there, but couldn’t quite figure out how to control it.

She quickly wiped her hands over her clothes, trying to shake the dust of the road off them. Only then did she spot her claws. She stared in shock at them. Her fingers looked so different now that they ended in short but sharp claws. Flexing her fingers a little, she felt how they moved just as they had before. Then there was the thin brown fuzz on the back of her hands. She looked down herself, spotting how her changes had distended her clothes a bit. Below her breasts she could now see four other bulges of a similar size. She didn’t know if others too could see them. Not that she really cared about what others would think. She was far too confused to do that. And hungry. So very hungry. Her stomach growled, and she let out a similar growl herself. She needed to eat. And she felt… tired. 

Then she sniffed the air, remembering that he-who-smells-blood was right behind her. She started turning about to look at him, wondering what he looked like.