It takes time to travel from Gromit to Castle Sturmandrang via hearse. Sometimes Alptraum and Snow travel by night, so that the shrine maiden can drive the cart herself, and sometimes by day when the Eeee takes over. There are plenty of inns along the way, and with Snow's obliging nature Alptraum hardly ever has to go hunting for food. And even though the girl is asleep for most of the time when Alptraum is driving, she's still pleasant company for the trip.

Rumbling clouds mark their destination: Castle Sturmandrang. It doesn't appear to be storming in the area of the castle this time though – just working up to it. "Is there anything I should be wary of in the castle?" Snow asks from the confines of the hearse, protecting her eyes from the glare of daylight (even Sylvania's overcast-filtered version of daylight).

"Just about everything!" Alptraum says in a disturbingly cheery tone. "I expect the Doctor will want to do experiments on you. He's like that. His servant, Rina … well, she might just try to bed you. Also, you want to avoid being wet in there. Lots of something he calls electricity and water gives it a way to travel. Dangerous stuff."

"Then why do you sound so… cheerful?" Snow asks, risking a peek over Alptraum's shoulder while wearing a pair of dark glasses. "They must be nice people, despite the danger?"

"Oh, they're fun," Alptraum says and grins. "But that doesn't make them safe. Don't worry, you'll get to see them examine me before they touch you."

"Mmmm," Snow says, noncommittally, as the hearse crosses the drawbridge.

The heavy door is right were Alptraum recalls, and a few drops of rain hit the cobbles in the largely protected courtyard. "You'll want to come 'round to the carriage room," Igorina says softly, sitting down on the bench next to Alptraum as if appearing out of thin air.

After a short and slight jerk at the surprise appearance, Alptraum remarks, "Wow, I didn't even have to knock this time." He gathers himself for a second. "Watching the road with a spyglass?" he asks as he tries to sound as if he was expecting her to show up.

"A good servant is able predict the needs of her masters," Rina claims, and points to what looks like the mouth of a tunnel at the far end of the courtyard. "Where'd you get a corpse wagon anyway?" the Skreek asks.

"I'm not your master, though," Alptraum points out and smirks. "The wagon belongs to the girl in the back. Her name is Snow." He then snaps the reins and gets the slow beast to head towards the tunnel at the far end of the courtyard.

Rina looks back into the wagon and then shrieks! "A ghost! You brought a ghost!" she blurts, and grabs onto Alptraum's arm tightly.

"Not so tight!" Alptraum complains as his arm is squeezed. "She is not a ghost. She is an albino and Shrine Maiden."

It doesn't help that Snow says, "Boo." But the rat does calm down once she realizes the girl is alive. "Albino? So… you didn't do that by overfeeding then… " Rina says. The tunnel is short, leading to a large torch-lit room that doubles as a carriage garage and a stable. There are stalls for Dromodons, and a few ancient-looking wagons. Most of the stalls are occupied by hogs now.

"Of course not. I know how to control how much I eat," Alptraum claims. It takes him several attempts for him to get the wagon backed up into one of the few free spots and there he tugs the reins to indicate stop. "Quite a lot of hogs," Alptraum remarks at the large number. He even quirks an amused grin and asks Rina, "Planning for a lot of … experimentation?"

"Well, we figured you'd need a lot of energy," Rina says, hopping down and starting to unhitch the Dromodon. "You'll probably want to take a look at Teeny-Reeny too before trying anything."

"Teeny-Reeny?" Snow asks Alptraum as she exits the wagon from the back.

"Did something bad happen to her?" Alptraum asks and arches his brow as he climbs down. He remarks as an aside to Snow, "I made a mini version of her using a lizard… "

"Nothing bad," the Skreek claims, as she leads the dray to the stall furthest from the hogs. "It just looks like she's starting to revert back to a lizard."

"Well, I was never certain it would be permanent to begin with. And has there been any decisions of the ah, first form attempts?" Alptraum asks as gets to get Snow's bag for her. "And oh! I need the doctor to quick-check my arm again, something changed."

"I'll take your bags," Igorina offers. "What's changed with your arm? It doesn't look like it's about to fall off or anything."

"I can feel through the shadow now," Alptraum explains as he hands over the bags. "Which opens up some possibilities," he adds and even waggles his ears.

"Oooo, Dr. Twig will want to use his probes then!" Igorina says, then cackles with laughter as she leads the way into the castle.

"See what I mean?" Alptraum asks Snow.

"She does seem a bit odd," Snow whispers to Alptraum.

After bringing their belongings to the guest room, Igorina leads Snow and Alptraum up the tower to Dr. Twig's laboratory, where the Eeee in question is poking through the bars of a cage at a patch of scales that has broken out on a miniature version of Igorina herself.

"Be careful with the batteries. Don't touch the metal pins sticking out of the top," Alptraum whispers to Snow and motions towards one of clay jars. "Pet has a skin condition?" Alptraum then asks Doctor Twig as he walks up behind the other Eeee and peers around him.

"Ah, Waltah!" Twig says, then blinks and rubs his eyes with the balls of his hands. "Err, Alptwaum, I mean! And… ah… " Twig begins to say, then leans in close to the other bat and whispers, "Did one of yowa 'clients' get fwee of the gouwad, owa is that… someone else… with you?"

"That's Snow. She's a Shrine Maiden," Alptraum explains, "Very much alive and very much human. she's also naked most of the time because of skin sensitivity … and humans look weird naked. Try not to stare."

"I have seen humans befowa," Twig notes, straitening up, but then blinking at the comment about nudity, since Snow is (so far) still wearing her rabbit-fur-lined cloak. "That is… ah… it is a pweasuwa to meet you, Yowa… ah… Sacwedness," the doctor manages, before bowing to the girl.

Snow silently returns the bow, which nearly causes Twig to fall over since she is naked under that cloak, and bowing reveals quite a bit.

"And oh, I think you had best check my hand out," Alptraum says as he rolls his right hand, causing the plate joints at the wrist to flex and slide. "I've developed sensation in the shadow. Sensation in my skin is about the same, but if I extrude the shadow I can feel things fairly well. I'm worried the flesh changed more."

"Wait, you can feel with the shadow, but not with the skin?" Twig asks, taking Alptraum's arm and turning it over to look at the non-armored side. "So… you don't feel any change in the flesh, but you suspect it's been changed?"

"I'm not sure. That just seems odd that I can feel more through the shadow than my actual skin," Alptraum remarks. He wiggles his leathery fingers while the doctor holds his forearm. "I suspect something changed."

In the cage, Teeny-Reeny extrudes a thick, reptilian tongue and licks her eyeball with it, which is weird looking on a still Skreek-shaped head.

"Aaaand I should fix Teeny-Reeny. That was disturbing," Alptraum remarks, wide-eyed.

"Hmm, do you know what bwought on the change in the sha- oh yes, the twansfowamation seems to be wevewting," Twig notes. Both Snow and Igorina peer into the cage as well. "You made that, Alptraum?" Snow asks.

"Yes, I made that. Looks like I need to re-enforce its shape," Alptraum explains. As he heads closer to the cage, he tells Twig, "It might have been eating real food with the shadow. Or … it might have been something that huge tree and ancient tree God did to me."

"The bugger nearly killed me. Drank a lot of blood from me, along with all the energy from my hand," Alptraum adds.

"Twee God?" Twig and Rina both ask in unison, although Rina pronounces the 'r' correctly.

"Yes, at the spring of purification. There is a huge tree there and an ancient dryad that protects it. That's where I got some flesh of an ancient dragon that used to terrorize Sylvania," Alptraum explains as he places his right hand against the cage holding Teeny-Reeny.

The lizard-rat recognizes Alptraum (or his hand at least) and licks his fingers through the bars.

Alptraum tries to extend the shadow between the bars to envelop Teeny-Reeny. "Let's see if I can fix you up… " he murmurs.

The extra sensation that the shadow now has make things more interesting. It's almost like kenning the creature all over again, as Alptraum and feel and taste all the way through it! The orb on his forearm dims slightly as Teeny-Reeny is re-ratified.

Alptraum almost goes cross-eyed. "Oookay," he murmurs, "This feels weird… " When he finally pulls his arm back, a full-body shudder rolls through him. "Yeah, I feel a lot more now… "

"Is it distracting?" Rina asks, as she inspects her doppelganger.

"So, uhm, yeah, I need you to check my hand. I think the shadow took over more," Alptraum adds and shakes his head. "No … just more intense."

"Have any othah connected ohgans expewienced incweased sensitivity?" Twig asks, as he gets out the incredibly ugly optodepthoscope.

"Well, no, I don't remember anything else seeming more intense and I have used them all," Alptraum admits as he rubs the back of his neck. "Chair time," he notes to Snow and then goes to sit in the exam chair. "You might find this thing interesting, Snow, come check it out. You can see inside people… "

"Do the tentacles produce any useful slimes?" Snow asks Twig, who just stares at her blankly for a moment. Rina helps Alptraum get his shirt off in the meantime.

So of course Alptraum takes the chance and lightly nips Rina's nose when she's close enough. "You still have skilled hands," he comments as he grins.

"Oh, my feet are pretty good too," the Skreek claims, and leans in as if to kiss Alptraum… only to push him down into the chair. "Now then… have you eaten any cheese in the last… oh wait, of course you haven't!"

The staring contest between Snow and Twig is finally broken when Snow says, "You aren't used to women, are you?" Twig just nods a bit.

"Why the question about cheese? I did eat some meat using the shadow. It was odd," Alptraum explains as he falls back into the chair and then settles his arms onto the arm rests. "Just think of her as a Rina without any fur," Alptraum helpfully suggests from where he sits.

"That… does not help, Alptwaum," Twig notes, hurrying over to connect the blood-sucking tentacles up to his shoulder and palm. "Let's see," he mutters as he adjusts the various 'bits' of the cthonic mirror until an image of Alptraum's energy and fluids network appears.

"Good thing I'm not the jealous type," Rina notes.

"She's about as good in some of Rina's ways," Alptraum helpfully tells Twig, "And she can enhance aspects… " His attempts at causing a bit of chaos end, though, as he tries to lean forward and look at his arm through the blob-o-matic.

"This time, can you twy and extend the shadow ovah yowa hand?" Twig asks.

"Sure," Alptraum agrees. His brow furrows as he gives the shadow a nudge to extrude itself.

Things change in the transparent view. Blood vessels dilate and darken, making it seem that the shadow is actually Alptraum's own blood being extruded out through the skin. Twig tries poking the shadow as well, to see if anything else lights up, but the silvery energy filaments don't seem to react.

Alptraum wiggles his black and oily-looking appendage as he looks through the aperture, looking for signs of the shadow-mass and his own regular flesh.

The extruded shadow shows up as a fluid, along with his blood. It's even clear where the blood starts to turn black. The flesh itself is barely there, as a ghost image. "Fascinating!" Twig says. "We should see what happens when you digest something thwough the shadow!"

"Is it worrying that I can barely see my flesh?" Alptraum asks. He actually reaches over and pushes on the underside of his forearm to see how far he can depress the shadow before there is resistance. "And get me something to 'eat' and I'll try it," he offers.

"Oh, that is just the setting of the scope," Twig notes, and makes some adjustments so that Alptraum's flesh shows up more, while still being transparent enough to see all the plumbing through. Rina goes to fetch a lizard and bring it back.

Alptraum opens his hand so Rina can set the lizard into it. Once she places it firmly in his grasp, his brow twitches and the shadow oozes over it to perform a 'traditional' shadow-devour.

It tastes like… well, Alptraum doesn't have a lot of flavors to compare it to yet. As Twig moves the mirror-scope around and makes adjustments, it looks like the shadow squeezes the guts out of the lizard first, and these are liquefied and converted to a glowing, silvery energy that returns through the blood vessels and accumulates in the ganglia below the orb. The rest of the lizard seems to be converted directly into shadow-stuff.

"Ewwwwwwww," goes Alptraum as he watches the process. "That is definitely different," he says and his ears splay. "Am I becoming more shadow?"

"Different how?" Rina asks, leaning over to watch.

"I don't remember seeing it squeeze out organs like that!" Alptraum says. "Nor do I remember ever feeling it when I ate something. Well, other than the pumping sensation when it devours the other way. It's also gross that it all feels, well, good. I enjoyed that."

"Well, you nevah got to see it befowa, I imagine," Twig notes. Snow remains quiet throughout – but doesn't seem distressed by any of it yet. She's used to disgusting things, after all.

"You should have seen the view when he turned that thing on my intestines once!" Igorina says, and then cackles with laughter.

"Can you check the condition of my actual hand?" Alptraum asks, "Does my flesh look better or worse?"

Twig squeezes and tugs and squishes the various control surfaces, getting various views of Alptraum's muscles and skin. "Well… it does look a bit… healthiah… " the scientist admits.

"It does?" Alptraum asks as he leans over to get a good look himself. "Why do you think it is getting better?"

Twig seems to think, and then just shrugs! "No idea! Something to do with you being neawaly dwained of life, if what happened at the twee is the cause of this."

Alptraum shrugs too. "Check the rest of the places it connects to. I expect they'll look the same," he suggests. "And after that, well … one of you will get a new body!" He cackles in a poor imitation of Rina, to boot.

Twig traces the links that go up Alptraum's arm, eventually leading to his heart, and reports, "No change. If you want to look at yowa heawt, I have to weposition the feedah tentacles."

"Go ahead and reposition them," Alptraum offers. "And oh, if you want to examine Snow with it … feet free." He grins over at the pale human.

"What?" the shrine maiden squeaks.

"Ah, does she have some saht of mutation?" Twig asks.

"We won't know until you check!" Alptraum chirps.

"I'm just fine," Snow claims, "other than being an albino."

"Don't you want to be tentacled?" Alptraum teases and waggles his brow.

"Not if I'm not getting any goo out of it," Snow claims, crossing her arms.

"Goo?" Igorina asks Alptraum.

"She collects grave worm slime," Alptraum explains. "And uses her powers to control men."

"Oh," Rina says, as if none of that surprised her.

"She could control you too, if she wanted to," Alptraum adds to Rina.

"Hah, I doubt that," Rina claims, giving Snow a contemplative look.

"Be careful or she might try," Alptraum notes. "Anyway … So final check, then shall we prepare to change one of you rather, ah, completely?" Alptraum offers as he looks between the Skreek and the Eeee. "Have you decided on who is first? And … what form?"

After moving the feeding tentacles around, Twig brings up a view of Alptraum's heart. It still has the 'seam' of shadow-flesh holding it together, but nothing seems different from before.

"Heart is intact, good," Alptraum says, nodding. "That still scares me, but it beats the alternative."

"I want Twig changed into me, and me changed into Twig!" Igorina says. "What?" Twig counters. "No no! Change her into that beautiful Eeee… "

"Well, all those will happen!" Alptraum promises, "But someone has to be done first… "

"You could change them both into me, couldn't you?" Snow asks Alptraum. "Because you kenned me, right?"

"I could, yes," Alptraum agrees.

"Maybe we should flip a coin, draw straws, or something else to pick what happens first?" Alptraum offers.

"Well, I want something that can fly, one way or another," Igorina says. "But if I'm an Eeee, then Twig will just be frustrated! I don't know how deep the transformation goes, but I don't want to risk getting pregnant!"

"I don't think you can get pregnant," Alptraum says, "Are you, uh, fertile right now?"

"There's also a sphynx imprint I have," Alptraum offers, "Female. If you really don't want Eeee."

"Hmmm, I suppose it's safe then," Igorina notes, stroking her whiskers. "I guess Eeee is okay then. I'd lose my whiskers and tail but get wings and hearing… "

"It would make the Doctor really happy," Alptraum offers, "And more willing to be you next, right?" HE looks directly at Doctor Twig now and repeats the question, "Right?"

"Tempowawily!" Twig reminds everyone. "You have to change us back befowa you leave."

"I do? Don't you want to be a Skreek for a few weeks?" Alptraum jokes.

"Of course I have never been a woman before, so I can't really say what you'll experience," Alptraum says and stretches out his feet. "You might like it."

"I want to twy eating solid food," Twig admits. "But we don't know how fast wevewsion will be, given the amount of enahgy wequiwahd. It could be painful owa fatal to change back without you contwolling the pwocess."

"True," Alptraum agrees, "Okay, you'll both be normal, relatively speaking, before I leave. I can always experiment on Snow once we're back on the road anyway… "

"Experiment?" Snow asks nervously.

Alptraum smiles fangily to Snow. "don't you trust me?" he asks.

"Well then, should we go to the stables so you can eat some hogs?" Rina says. "Or do it up here? I'd feel safer in the stable, since if you find yourself running low you can get more energy right there… and not end up eating me instead!"

"Hmmm," Snow goes. "I'll decide after seeing how this all works out."

"The stables are fine. Gods know I've done odder things in even odder places," Alptraum admits as he holds still for the tentacle removal from his body. "Rina will be first then, imprint of Eeee."

The opto-grope-o-scope is put back into its cage, the blood cleaned up and Alptraum given back his shirt before everyone heads down to the carriage house stables. The hogs are all acting up, until Snow calms them down by whispering to them.

Rina strips down to her fur and sits on a bale of hay, holding her tail in her hands and looking a little nervous.

"Two, I think … to be safe," Alptraum decides after some thought and repeated rubbing of his chin like some villain plotting something devious. "If I sense anything wrong I will stop immediately and revert," Alptraum promises as he heads to one of the hog bays and tries to place his hand upon its back for devouring.

These hogs are a bit more feral-bred than the ones back at the county seat, reminding Alptraum of the ones back at the Smith ranch. But the first one doesn't resist, having been lulled into docility by the shrine maiden. And that feral blood seems to equate to a bit more life-energy than a same-sized domesticated hog would have.

It also tastes like bacon.

Again there's that full body shiver after the devouring and the sensation of feeling good flows through him. "Ahem, okay, maybe just one," the bat says as he shakes it off. The Eeee now heads towards Rina and kneels down before her. He shakes out his right hand a few times and tells her, "Relax. You'll enjoy it."

"Oh… I'm relaxed!" the Skreek claims, showing too many teeth when she smiles, and practically hyperventilating.

"Relax," Alptraum tells her again and places his hand on her knee. "If anything goes wrong, I will stop immediately," he repeats. It's now his turn to breathe deeply and slowly. After a minute, each exhale is followed with a push of the shadow, slowly enveloping the Skreek.

Alptraum can feel Rina's heartbeat, the blood flowing through her arteries and taste her nervousness. Once she's completely enveloped though, she seems to calm down – or else it's just the effect of the shadow taking control of her.

It's here Alptraum goes very slow. He thinks back to Mave and brings her imprint to the front of her mind. There he visualizes it floating before an image of Rina the Skreek. From there it's a slow push of that Eeee image onto the form of Rina. First is just redistribution of shape, reduce the tail, thin the body a bit, and increase the ears…

The process is slow and tiring, since unlike the lizard which could be changed completely there are parts of Igorina that only need to be changed subtley, while others have to be changed drastically, And while the lizard offered no resistance at all, the Skreek seems determined to retain some of her traits. The wings in particular take up most of Alptraum's efforts. After an unknown amount of time, he begins to tire, but at least the new physical imprint feels stable.

Alptraum lets out a long and slow breath, then uses the remainder of his strength to recheck the imprint a couple times to be absolutely certain it's stable. When he finally speaks, the exhaustion in his voice is noticeable. "Okay, I believe she will be quite Eeee now," he says and it is then he starts to withdraw the shadow. It's slow as well, in case the imprint starts to degrade and he needs to fix it … if he even can at this point.

The withdrawing shadow reveals an Eeee… although not quite Mave. The form is certainly familiar as that of the Yodhinala, but the head is black like Igorina's, and the eyes are violet when they open. The woman's hands are lightly furred, with the fingers being completely bare, like a Skreek's, and as the reveal is completed it appears that her feet are the same. The only other deviation is that the naked pink tail remains as well, albeit shorter and thinner than the original one. "How do I look?" Rina asks, nearly screeching out the words.

"Gowgeous!" Twig exclaims, after he takes his fingers out of his ears.

"Ack," Alptraum says and his ears flick backwards. "You need to practice with your voice," he explains with a wince, "But besides that … you look really. Well. Interesting. Like a Skreek and an Eeee had a child. It's exotic. Twig, get her a mirror… "

"I knew we fowgot something," the other vampire says, and instead offers his hand to Igorina. "I'll take you to the big one in yowa woom." The hand helps, since Rina has a bit of trouble getting her balance, due the shortened tail and higher center of gravity from the wings.

"You're going to be a while, aren't you?" Alptraum asks Twig as he arches his brow a bit at the other Eeee.

"Will her blood taste like a Skreek's or an Eeee's now?" Snow whispers to Alptraum.

"Ah… just need to help Wina get the 'hang' of things," Twig says with a wink.

Alptraum ponders that, then shrugs a bit. "Mostly Eeee with a hing of Skreek, I would guess," he whispers back to Snow. "That was hard … but she looks really good."

"Take as long as you need to teach her about her body," Alptraum tells Twig. "And enjoy… "

"How do you feel?" Snow asks Alptraum as the other two make their way back into the castle. "Tired, or drained like in the old temple?"

Alptraum looks to his right hand to see how much that actually took from him. He also checks the point at which his chitin 'seams' to his furred arm, just to see if the seam point is still where it has been. "Tired and finding it hard to think anything complex," he admits. "How long did that actually take? I lost track of time."

The arm looks normal – in fact, the underside isn't showing any of the usual exhaustion signs, not even any wrinkles. "I fell asleep during most of it, but I'd guess two or three hours," Snow says, and stretches… which makes her stomach rumble. "I suppose it made me hungry too. Do you know the way to the kitchen?"

"Yes. I can show you. You can get some food and I … well, I'll take a nap in a chair," Alptraum says as he struggles to his feet. "I think you would make a good Eeee too, by the way," Alptraum tells her and smiles tiredly. "Maybe some day."

"I'll carry you to bed after I eat," Snow promises with a grin.

"I'm that light?" Alptraum asks and grins, "I also expect you to curl up against me to keep me warm. Castles are cold after all. Plus, maybe you'll keep me from having weird dreams. I can hope, anyway!"