Crackle!
As Alptraum watches, more cracks appear in the segmented chitin plates that cover most of his right forearm. Each new crack is accompanied by a puff of black, foul vapor. The source of the vapor is clear as well: a black ichor is oozing between the segments, boiling away after a moment's exposure to air. But it's still thick enough that the plates seem to float on it, jostling and slipping. It looks like the entire back of the Eeee's forearm is sagging.
"Yeeeagh!" squeaks Alptraum as he flails helplessly at his forearm. "Do you have any bandages?" he blurts, then realizes, "No, wait, you're naked! No bandages. Glue? No glue!" The next minute involves Alptraum trying to 'shore up' the cracking chitin and keep it in place. "Not good! Definitely not good!" he complains.
Every movement seems to jostle the loose plates even more. Snow is still on her knees, and has to cover her nose and muzzle as the foul smell of decay keeps erupting from the stricken limb. With a horrible 'glop' sound, the casing over the dagger sheath slides off completely, dangling by a strand of sticky black goo. The plates over the fingers are oozing off as well.
"Maybe you should get the doctor!" Alptraum says quickly as his face skews up in abject horror. His ears then splay out when he realizes something, and says, "Dagh take it, Rina will be keeping the doctor occupied since she was just changed! Oh why does she have to be so, so, hormonal!"
"I can try!" Snow says, getting to her feet and staggering back. "I can… cool them off." More plates drip off, until all of them slide away at once to join the boiling black puddle on the straw-strewn floor of the carriage house. The ichor left on the arm is violently bursting into fetid vapor now as well.
"No, no, just … get me a bucket of water or something to, uh, douse this in," Alptraum complains and holds his own nose now from the stench. "You broke my arm!" he accuses.
"It's not my fault!" Snow claims, dragging a bucket from the feeding pens. "Maybe it was that thing Twig used to see inside of it!"
After the ichor finishes boiling away, Alptraum's arm seems laid bare. Shiny silver-black ribs form a lattice across bare muscle and dark, pulsing veins and filaments. The dagger sheath is exposed to be two curving rails connected to three large tubes and a bundle of silver filaments, snaking down through the ribs to the squirming mass beneath the orb. The ribs mimic the bones of his hand, stuck somehow to the bare muscle. The ribs aren't static, though! At the upper end, Alptraum's skin bulges and splits as the framework extends itself towards his elbow joint.
"Avralie! Maybe that was it! It cursed me or something!" Alptraum agrees as he now holds his right hand far away from himself in an attempt to avoid the smell. Of course when he can see what is left behind his eyes get huge! "Not good, not good!" he squeaks in rapid succession, right up to when the ribs start growing and splitting skin. "Really not good!" he adds as his arm and hands start to shake from the shear panic of everything that is happening. "Need skin! Need something! Aaaaauuugh!" He shoves his hand in the bucket of water to see if he can get it to stop.
The bucket isn't deep enough to take in the entire forearm, especially now that the affected area covers almost the entire back of it! Dark tendrils of shadow begins to emerge from the exposed flesh, looking disturbingly like fat maggots trying to escape a corpse. Where his skin splits, there's a burning sensation… but that vanishes as the shadow-worms spread to the affected area. Soon, a forest of wiggling tendrils extends several inches out from the back of the forearm. Some of them stick to the walls of the bucket.
"Gah!" Alptraum says as he yanks his arm out of the bucket and pulls the tendrils free from the wall. He flails that arm around as if trying to shake the shadow off. "Get it off!" he squeaks repeatedly!
Snow ducks and squeaks as the bucket goes flying, snapping free of the shadow's grip. The mass wiggles some more, and then abruptly lays down flat against the arm. The horrible throbbing sensation is now replaced by a hot tingly one, as Alptraum feels his palm and fingers change, while the shadow-skin ripples and sprouts fine, black hair – much finer than Eeee hair too. It's Khatta fur!
Alptraum abruptly stops flailing, though he's panting like a wild man. There he stands for a good couple minutes, arm sticking straight out. "Don't spook it. I think it … stopped?" Alptraum whispers to Snow. Slowly, very slowly, he draws his arm closer so he can get a better look at it, both upper and lower sides.
The upper side of the arm is most definitely that of a Khatta, with only the bulging, silver-black shape of the dagger sheath disturbing it. The back of the hand likewise sports the glowing orb, while the fingers seem a little shorter and thicker, with curved white claws – claws that feel odd, as if there are muscles attached to them. The fingertips have soft leathery pads, as does the heel of the palm. The Khatta fur extends up the lower side almost to the elbow before the courser Eeee fur takes over.
Alptraum stares at this and then feels over the hair and the skin to see how 'real' it all feels. And of course his description of all of this is eloquent and well-reasoned. He says, "Bluwhogah?" His fingers splay and flex a bit as he tries to make out why the claws feel so … odd.
The fur feels alive, and he can certainly feel the touch itself. Thinking about the claws causes something to twitch in his fingertips – and the claws retract, so that just the tips are showing.
"It's a Khatta hand," Snow points out, after she comes and strokes the fur. "Or a Sphynx hand."
"Okay, that is … new," Alptraum admits to Snow. "Is it because I changed you that it took on the shape of something similar?" he asks.
"Well, maybe some of it… reflected?" Snow suggests. "Or maybe just using it so much lately made it change. It… it almost looked like it was purging that goo from itself."
"I wonder if this means I could hold the Light of Nala now," Alptraum wonders as he flexes and rolls the hand around to test the range of motion. Also realizing something, he feels along the back skin, seeing if there is a pocket, or slit, for letting the dagger in.
The sheath is still there, an almost metallic looking bulge rising out of the fur.
Alptraum tries running the finger-pads and palm along Snow's stomach to test if he feels it … and what she feels too.
"That tickles!" Snow says, squirming away. The pads on his new fingertips are surprisingly sensitive, it turns out, and he feels the smooth skin and warmth quite clearly.
Alptraum actually blinks a few times. "I need an expert," he decides and goes for the dagger on his belt. Out comes the dagger and he positions it at the entrance to the sheath. "This is probably going to feel odd too," he admits, ears splayed. His jaw sets and he inserts the dagger.
There is the usual jolt of cold, and then a little dragon's head appears over the orb on the back of Alptraum's hand. "What's… hey, did you fall into a vat of bleach, Tulani?"
"I'm Snow," the albino Sphynx notes.
"That's actually, uh, Sister Toadstool. I've been using shadow-shaping abilities a lot the past couple days," Alptraum admits as if he were a child caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. "I made her look like Tulani, a little. But, uh, I have a problem… " Instead of describing it, he points at his forearm and hand.
The dragon head looks around, and then asks, "Okay, I'll bite: what's the problem?"
"Look at my hand! The plates fell off and it turned into a Khatta hand!" Alptraum practically blurts. "Isn't that obvious?!"
"Er… so… you don't like it?" Kaira asks. "Just change it back," she suggests.
"I can?" Alptraum actually asks. "What happened?"
"Looks like you molted," the dragon opines. "I take it you've been doing your reverse-kenning, shadow-morphing thing on the rat and bat as well as Snow here?"
"Several times," Alptraum admits, "You see, Rina wanted to experiment with stuff… "
"So, you've been effectively pumping a lot of Shadow-Spirit-Life magic around," Kaira says. "You must have lowered the Barsunala's resistance to the Shadow. Anyway, have you tried just extending the shadow over your arm and doing the reverse-ken on it? It looks like it changed to the last one you were trying."
"I guess I could try that?" Alptraum says, sounding unsure. He holds his arm straight out again and concentrates as he normally would to extend the shadow. Only this time he tries to extend it around his own forearm up to the elbow.
The fur appears to be melting, as it's reabsorbed into the shadow. It looks like Alptraum is wearing a shiny, slick black elbow-length glove now.
Alptraum thinks for a bit. He settles on the memory and feeling of a dragony-scaly, hand and tries to see if the shadow shapes to that.
The shadow ripples. On the underside, it folds back into scales, while on top it pools back into the spaces between the ribs. The odd silver-black 'skeleton' is exposed again while the contour-following shadow thickens into something like chitin, but more flexible.
Finally, Alptraum's fingers return more or less to Eeee standard ones.
"It's a different look, certainly," Kaira notes. "Surprised you didn't try for Twig's arm."
"Wow," Alptraum finally admits, "I can … change it a lot now. That is … is." He shakes his head a bit and concentrates again, letting the shadow reflow. He thinks back to Tulani and the sphynx hand, deciding that he apparently wants to 'wear' it for a while. If nothing else, the claws sure seemed … interesting. New muscles!
"I'm just … trying things," Alptraum admits to Kaira, though sounded rather distracted about it.
It takes a few minutes, but there aren't any squirming tentacles this time. Soon the arm once more resembles Tulani's. "Hmm, keep in mind you're using energy for the change and to maintain, just like before," Kaira points out.
"So anything you've kenned, you can mimic the arm of?" Snow asks, looking fascinated. "Even a hog?"
Alptraum blinks and then nods. "Okay. So … what would its default state then be?" he asks, "The one that doesn't use energy to maintain?" Snow's comment earns another blink, but he nods, "Probably."
"Well, probably that bio-mechanical look, with your regular fur on the underside," Kaira guesses. "You could probably recreate the chitin look if you tried, too. But… there could be certain advantages to the new structure."
"Advantages? Like what? It seemed rather vulnerable," Alptraum asks as he wiggles the Khatta fingers about in fascination. He even grins like a goofball when he extends and retracts the claws several times.
"Aside from those ribs, your skin is completely shadow-cloak in your rest state," Kaira notes. "You haven't even begun exploring what your cloak can do, you know. If you want to try and go back to the rest state, I have an experiment you can try."
"Okay," Alptraum agrees. He tries to 'relax' it and looks over at Snow curiously to see how she is taking the strangeness of it all.
The girl is torn between watching the oddness of Alptraum's arm, and learning how to control her tail.
"Nice tail," Alptraum tells her and even winks.
Once the arm has reverted to a furred underside with the skeletal shadow-filled top, Kaira looks around and spots the thrown bucket. "Ah, see that bucket over there?" she asks Alptraum.
"Yes?" Alptraum says as his attention returns to the floating head of opinions.
"It's about… fifteen feet away, I think," Kaira says, then grins to the bat. "Reach out and grab it from here."
Alptraum gives Kaira a really odd look. "Er, if you say so," he says and glares at the bucket. He stretches his hand out as if he could somehow reach it from where he was standing.
Nothing happens at first, but soon Alptraum can feel the shadow between the finger-ribs of the gauntlet stir. It seems to be coiling with tension… and then three finger-thickness tendrils shoot out and stick to the bucket.
"I suddenly feel like a demon-frog with a tri-tongue of doom," Alptraum admits as he stands there with goo stretched between himself and the bucket. He tries to draw the shadow back with the bucket…
The bucket rattles and bounces as the tendrils pull it back. Alptraum can feel the weight of it, and takes just as much effort as dragging it with three fingers would, but soon enough it's in his hand.
"Hmmmm," Snow ponders, looking thoughtful.
Alptraum actually asks Snow, "Ah … does this officially make me a tentacle monster?" The bucket still dangles from the tendrils of shadow.
"Well, you don't flail about wildly enough, but getting there," the Shrine Maiden admits with a grin. "Now… can you actually unstick from the bucket?"
Alptraum tries to let the bucket go by just … well, imagining releasing it from a gripped hand.
The tendrils unstick and retract back into the 'skin' of Alptraum's right hand. The bucket, naturally, falls on his foot.
Alptraum goes 'ow' and hops around for a few seconds in pain! Once the hopping is through he glares at Snow and tries to wrap her in shadow tendrils to pull her closer now.
Trying not to giggle, Snow points out, "You won't have to wrap your hand at night anymore; no sharp edges." The tendrils wrap around her… but it's a lot different trying to drag a fully-grown Sphynx with just three fingers.
Never one to give up easily, he tries to change the pulling to tickling. Tickling in rather tender areas, in fact. "You think you're so funny," he mock-grumbles at her.
"I'm sure you can get other shapes with practice," Kaira notes. "Maybe something like a Skedat-shield with a blade, like Babelite fighters use."
"Hey!" Snow protests as she falls over from the tickling tentacles!
"Or maybe feathers for tickling with," Kaira adds, rolling her eyes.
"Probably, just need to ken a skedat," Alptraum agrees as he pauses in tickling for a moment. He tries to move one of the tendrils to wrap around Snow's mouth to muffle her complains!
The human-turned-Sphynx knows how to deal with curious tentacles – she's had lots of experience, after all. She bites it! And Alptraum feels it!
"Ow!" Alptraum complains and pulls them all back. He ends up running the back of his hand too. "So," he says, trying to change the topic, "Kaira, can you still, uh, control my hand?"
"Probably," the dragon admits. "Was there something you wanted to try?"
"Well, just see if you can wiggle my fingers?" Alptraum asks, "Nothing complicated."
"Hmmm, relax them first," Kaira requests. "It's hard when you expect me to wiggle them."
Alptraum takes a few deep breaths then tries to relax.
The relaxed fingers twitch a bit, then curl into a fist before going limp again. "Yeah, about what I could do before," the dragon notes. "Oh… what's this… " she then says. "I might be able to access the kenned profiles you have recorded… "
"Go ahead. How would that help you?" Alptraum asks, "Or would it?"
"And oh! With the Tulani-based hand, could I hold the Light of Nala now?" Alptraum asks, ears perking.
"How would being able to move your hand help me either?" Kaira asks. "I suppose if you were unconscious and I was plugged in, and for whatever reason it was important that your arm look like someone else's, I could trigger the change. I can still restore your hand to normal by retracting the rest of it, I think. Or at least make it look normal. This new look is even more flush than the last one."
"If you want to access the kenned imprints, go ahead. I don't mind," Alptraum notes.
"Okay, testing!" Kaira says, and then vanishes. Alptraum's fingers clench into a fist, and then begin to shift in awkward ways as the shadow flows over them. The hair on his arm because wiry, course and brown as his fist turns into a cloven hoof!
"Ack! Hog," Alptraum complains as he wiggles the porcine appendage. He even points at it a bit to see how much it responds.
Hooves aren't very sensitive it seems, but Alptraum can feel that his fingers are still there… just curled and paired off, two to a toe, with his thumb folded under.
Alptraum tries pressing the hoof against the wall to see if well, functions like a hoof does. "This is embarrassing," he admits.
It would not be comfortable to walk on, from what the bat can tell. The fur starts to turn white then, and the hooves split back into fingers – which turn pink and leathery. Alptraum soon sports a white-furred Skreek hand.
"Hello there, Rina," Alptraum tells the Skreek-hand as he rolls and flexes the fingers. "And it is good to have fingers again. I don't know how hogs stand it."
The fur is pulled back in next, and the skin on the hand turns softer. Claws become fingernails, and Alptraum now has a very human (and very pale) hand. "Wow," Snow remarks. "Now you can get a palm reading!"
"Wow, that's as weird as the hog hoof," Alptraum claims as he peers at the human-looking hand attached to his right arm. "It's very cold," he says and after touching it, adds, "And sensitive! I see why you wear the cloak."
"Hmm," Snow says, and strokes the arm as well, making it really tingle… and raise goosebumps. "That's my skin, yes," she concludes.
Alptraum twitches along with it. "Eep! That was strange," he admits.
Brown fur sprouts next, as Kaira switches to Dr. Twig's pattern. Soon Alptraum has an Eeee arm again, just brown instead of black.
"Now that is familiar!" Alptraum declares and pikes Snow playfully with a finger. "Look, Doctor Twig, new and improved without a lisp!" He grins.
Snow pokes right back, although her fingers don't have retracting claws… just extra sharp fingernails. "Well, what now?" she asks. "I need to modify a cloak so I'm not naked all of the time I'm like this. It gets cold when you fly doesn't it?"
"It can, yes. But … I rather like you like this. The view would be lovely if you flew a bit ahead of me," Alptraum teases and even waggles his brow. "Now, in all seriousness you'll need some sort oh chest and thigh covering for the most part. The areas with the least insulation will need covering," he admits.
"I'll burn in the sun without a cloak too!" Snow reminds him. "And… my sunglasses won't fit now. I need to borrow a pair from Dr. Twig… "
"We'll fly at night and rest in the day. You should have Tulani's eyes and I can operate by sound," Alptraum points out, "It should should be manageable. Are you still feeling okay over all? Do you think you'll get used to the body?"
"Well, you finally found a high maintenance girlfriend it looks like," Kaira comments to Alptraum with a smirk.
"I need to practice with the wings and tail," Snow admits. "If they move when I'm walking I lose my balance."
"She's less maintenance than you are," Alptraum retorts to Kaira and then sticks his tongue out at her. To Snow he says, "Well, practice walking around in here. The hay will help if you fall… "
"And Alptraum can watch you for excess jiggle," Kaira comments in retaliation for the raspberry.
"Awwww, he's sweet like that," Snow notes, and starts sauntering around the carriage house, swishing her tail back and forth as she figures out how to walk like a feline.
"I'm an expert on jiggle," Alptraum claims, "For example you should watch Kaira's paunch jiggle when she jogs… "
"Hey, I don't jog!" the dragon protests. "I lope!"
"Mmmhmm," Alptraum says and nods. "To deal with wings," he remarks now to Snow, "Sometimes you need to lean a little forward to center your weight over your hips."
"My feet are still human," Snow points out. She tries walking on her toes while leaning forward a bit.
"Kaira, let my arm revert? I want to feel the shadow flesh," Alptraum remarks as he watches Snow practice.
"Also, realize you have to relearn how to eat," Alptraum notes to Snow. "Your jaws are longer. Different teeth, too."
The Eeee arm recedes back into the bio-mechanical looking armor with pools of shadow for skin. "Oh, you'll probably need it like this for doing shadow stuff with," the dragon notes. "You know, feeding it and such."
"I have a craving for fish," Snow notes, nodding thoughtfully.
"I will?" Alptraum asks as he reaches over and rubs his fingertips over the shadow-flesh pools to see what they feel like. "Tulani loved fish. She ate it raw all the time," he notes.
The pools feel like… skin. Both to the touch and feeling being touched.
The Shrine Maiden sticks her tongue out at the notion of raw fish, and tries spreading and folding her wings without falling over. "Can I still lie on my back with these?" she asks. "They aren't quite like Eeee wings."
"I bet it'll be a lot of fun to touch Melusine with this hand like this too," Alptraum tells Kaira, just to see how she reacts. He also peeks at the orb to see if he needs to recharge any since he's near some hogs and can see what happens…
The orb does look… dim. All of this activity has certainly taken a toll on it, especially Snow's transformation. Kaira just looks pouty at the mention of Melusine.
"Spread your wings wide so I can see how flat the muscles go," Alptraum remarks to Snow. He'll check her wings before he feed,s he decides.
"And if you were out here I could caress you in shadow and more too, you know," Alptraum tells Kaira.
"You've been using up your magical charge to amuse your other friends though," the dragon says, and manages to make a sniffling sound.
Snow turns her back and spreads her wings. "I think I can lie on them, it's just getting up again that I'm not sure of," she says.
"It's hard to amuse you unless I come into see you," Alptraum points out. "I can't do much with just an image of you… "
"Oh, lay down on your cloak, I'll show you how to get up," Alptraum tells Snow.
"Well, it's up to you to summon me, after all," Kaira says. "I'd be happy to manifest if you have the power to spare."
The Sphynx takes her time lying down. She actually sits first, then tries to lower herself without falling. Her wings automatically spread a bit, so the elbows are clear of her body, but it makes it hard for her to place her arms where she can support herself.
"Okay. Now you need to think of your wings like arms, just inverted. Use them to lower yourself… Once down, pull your wings in tight, they should bunch up under your back. The joint should thicken a lot from the muscle contraction and that should lift your shoulders and head up a bit. Then you just do, well, a 'sit-up', contract your stomach," Alptraum explains to the hybrid-human.
"So, you're telling me you want to be summoned solid so I can treat you with shadow? Are you telling me you're developing lust for shadow-dragon contact?" Alptraum asks Kaira and smirks.
It takes practice, and a few times of accidentally ending up on her side, but Snow eventually gets the hang of getting up and down and placing her wings.
"Treat me? What?" Kaira asks, looking shocked. "I'm not malleable like flesh and blood, you know," she points out. "Besides, I already turn into an elf for you."
"Or you just get used to sleeping on your stomach," Alptraum finally offers Snow. "I guess I'm just used to the extra appendages so I don't think about all I have to do with them when I sleep."
"I'm just teasing you," Alptraum tells Kaira. "Is all you want is to come out for a while?" he asks as he heads for the hog pen.
"I'll just sleep on top of you then, Alptraum," Snow says, bouncing on her feet a bit once she's up again. "I think if I just cut some slits in my cloak I can get the wings through."
"Sure, it's boring in here a lot of the time," Kaira notes. "And I could help teach Toadstool how to fly with feathers instead of leather."
"That would ruin your cloak, though," Alptraum admits. Kaira's suggestion of her teaching flight does make his ears perk. "You know, you're right! Your wings are more like hers so you would be better at explaining how to use them," he agrees. So … Alptraum decides to 'feed the hand' and looks for a likely hog candidate…
The hogs are getting wise, and backing away. As they try to crowd into the corners, the weakest one always gets pushed out and offered up.
Alptraum extends his hand outward … the decides to try something. He tries to extend the shadow tendrils from here and use them to devour the 'offered' hog.
"I can stitch up the cuts later," Snow rationalizes. "Plus, I've still got my spare cloak."
Instead of extending like sticky fingers, this time the tendrils pierce the hog's leathery hide and make it gurgle while it's absorbed from the inside.
Alptraum looks horrified somehow. He looks from the hog to his hand as it is slowly devoured. "Okay, this became disturbing again," he whispers.
The other hogs are in a panic, as the targeted one is reduced to skin and bones. "Yeah… best to stick to the up close and personal touch, I'm thinking," Kaira comments.
"Unless I'm feeling evil and the target deserves it … yeah," Alptraum agrees and nods vigorously. "Will that be enough for you to manifest… ?"
"Yes," Kaira says. "But if you find a deserving target… don't forget you should be stabbing them with the dagger!"
"You and all your stabbing. Are you sure you're not evil?" Alptraum asks Kaira when he pulls back the shadow from the carcass and steps away from the pen.
The hogs immediately start eating their dead comrade's skin.
Soon enough, Kaira is standing next to Alptraum. Snow retrieves her sewing supplies from the wagon, and her cloak is modified a bit to allow for wings without being too awkward. "So, should we start with the flying lessons, or did you want to do something else first?" the dragon asks, directing the question more towards Alptraum than Snow.
Alptraum spreads his hands. "I ultimately leave that to the newly transformed," he says with a grin. "But, I already know she intends to torment me with that form, so if I suggest anything else, she'll just use it to frustrate me. So … it's probably best if you teach her how to fly. I can watch and observe the 'jiggling' as you put it. Out of the way and possibility of being landed on, of course!"
Maybe the bat is finally learning…
