Poisoned Rationality

<Morning,> Stella said. I smiled softly.

“Good morning,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. That dream tired me out. “What time is it?”

<It’s seven in the morning,> Stella informed me.

I stretched out on the bed, a soft noise of contentment coming from my chest. Then I got up and got dressed.

After a quick breakfast, I headed outside and toward Arianna’s house. When I got there, she was just leaving. She smiled when she saw me.

“Good morning!” She said, waving. I waved back.

“I have some news,” I told her. “I’ll tell you and Nat at the same time.”

“Oooh, exciting,” She replied, grinning. “Can’t wait.”

The two of us walked over to Natalya’s house and waited for her. It took some time for her to get ready because of her three younger siblings.

At last, she exited the front door and jogged up to us.

“Nyx says she has news for us,” Arianna informed her.

“I’m not going to tell you yet,” I said. “We need to be somewhere private.”

“Let’s go check whether we’ve had any applicants for the party, then,” Nat suggested. “Then head to the forest.”

The three of us walked to the Guild, chatting about random things. When we reached the building, we found a huge crowd of people.

“What’s going on?” I asked an Adventurer I knew standing just outside the Guild.

“A bunch of people arrived,” The grizzled older man, Ferris, told me. “They’re part of a big party hunting a wyvern and spreading out to close in on the beast.”

“A wyvern?” Arianna asked. “Wow. Do they know what level it is?”

“If they do, I haven’t heard it,” Ferris said, chuckling. “I’m going to go out and hunt some direwolves now, if you don’t mind.”

“See you around, old man,” Nat called as he walked away.

“Should we try and get inside?” I asked.

“Nah, let’s come back later,” Ariana replied. “There are too many people here.”

The three of us turned and walked away, heading toward the forest. We found our usual spot and all sat down.

“Okay, spill it,” Nat demanded. “What’s this news of yours?”

Before speaking, I double-checked that nobody was nearby.

“I got a new void ability,” I said. “It lets me shapeshift into anything I’ve consumed with my void abilities before.”

“That’s so cool!” Arianna exclaimed. “Can you show us?”

“I can try,” I told her. “I haven’t used it yet, so I don’t know if it’ll work.”

“Let’s see it,” Nat said, grinning.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the form of the [Devil Leopard]. I felt my body shift and opened my eyes, looking… up at my friends.

Hold on, I knew for a fact that the [Devil Leopard] was much bigger than us. When I transformed in my dream, I definitely got bigger.

“You’re so cute!” Arianna shouted, reaching down and picking me up. I realized that, instead of becoming a full-grown [Devil Leopard], I had become a kitten.

Then Arianna’s hand began to stroke my head, and I relaxed, a soft rumble building up in my throat. Natalya started chuckling as I nuzzled against Arianna’s fingers.

<Nyx?> Stella asked.

Hmm? I thought. Wazzit?

<Do you realize what’s happening?> Stella asked. I opened my eyes and blinked several times before looking around.

Oh.

“Do you want me to put you down?” Arianna asked. I nodded, and she did so. Once I was back on all fours, I shifted back to the body I was used to.

“I’m sorry about that,” Arianna said. “I should have asked.”

“It’s alright,” I told her. “I was expecting it to be full-size.”

“The full size of what?” Nat asked.

“The [Devil Leopard],” I replied. “I can shapeshift into anything I’ve consumed with the void before.”

“That’s cool,” Nat said. “Imagine if you could get your hands on some dragon parts?”

“I would assume it would only work if it were a whole body,” Arianna interjected. “If all it takes is a tiny bit, you could take a small chunk of a dragon scale and immediately gain all the power of the dragon.”

“I think it doesn’t need to be the whole body,” I explained. “I need to consume a certain amount, and it probably varies depending on the size of the original creature.”

“That makes sense,” Arianna said. After a moment, she asked, “Do you think you can do partial transformations?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied. I concentrated on the [Devil Leopard] shape again, but this time, imagining only the ears and tail.

After a second, I felt my body change slightly. I looked at my back and found a long, fluffy leopard tail sprouting from between and above my two regular tails. Reaching up, I confirmed that I had the fluffy ears of a leopard atop my head. My regular ears weren’t there, however.

“Cool!” Arianna said. “Now you’re like me!” She paused, looking at my two wendigo tails. “Well, almost.”

I laughed and leaned back on my favorite log.

“I can’t turn into anything else yet,” I told them. “But the more I consume stuff, the more forms I’ll get.” I shifted back into my regular form and stretched out.

“You think the guild building has cleared out yet?” Nat asked. “I’m getting bored.”

“We can look and see,” Arianna replied. “And if it’s still busy, Nyx can intimidate her way through the crowd!”

“Hey!” I said.

“She’s right, you know,” Nat grinned. “You intimidate the regular adventurers in town, even some of the other wendigo. Of course, all these new ones will be intimidated by you.”

“Okay, fair,” I grumbled. “Come on, let’s go back.”

The three of us walked back to town and toward the Guild. Upon entering, I glanced around at the people gathered, a small frown on my face.

Then I strode toward the front desk, not looking at the other people. They parted before me, hurrying to stay out of my path.

“Hello, miss, how can I help you?” The receptionist asked.

“I’m here to look at the responses for a Party Member Request Form,” I replied. “My name is Nyxandria.”

“I’ll go get the responses,” The receptionist replied, smiling. She turned around and went into the back. As our group waited, I scanned the room.

Some of the adventurers were talking amongst themselves, but a lot of them were looking at us. Some were staring, some were just watching, and a couple were very openly glaring.

I overheard a group sitting at a table nearby whispering to each other, obviously unaware that a wendigo’s hearing was far superior to a human’s.

“Who are those people?” One of them asked.

“No idea,” another replied. “I think they’re adventurers from this town.”

“One of the wendigo has two tails,” A third pointed out.

“What levels do you think they are?” The last asked.

“They look high level,” The second answered. “I’d guess high twenties.”

“The one with two tails looks angry at somethin’,” The first said. “What kind of wendigo do you think she is?”

“There are multiple kinds?” The third asked.

“Yeah,” the first answered. “I don’t know what they all are, but I know they all have differences.”

“The one with two tails has fur at the end of her tails,” The fourth one said. “That means that she’s the kind with poison.”

“How much would you need to be paid to sleep with her?” The second asked the third. I internally grimaced, my face shifting into a scowl.

“A lot,” The third replied. “I don’t like Beastkin.”

“Wendigo aren’t beastkin,” The fourth corrected. “They’re unique, like seafolk and harpies.”

“Whatever,” The third said. “They’re not human, is my point.”

“Hot girls are hot girls,” The first told the others. “I’m just saying.”

At that moment, the receptionist from earlier came back with the responses. I thanked her and took the forms before finding a table with my friends.

There were two entries, both of which seemed promising.

Party Entry Submission

Name: ______Sarya Corsola______________________________________

Adventurer Type: _________Healer, Fighter___________________________

Rank: ________Copper___________________________________________

Specialties: _________Crowd control and healing heavy wounds_____________

Party Entry Submission

Name: _____________Tyler Aekis_________________________________

Adventurer Type: ____________Tank_______________________________

Rank: _________________________Copper_________________________

Specialties: _____________Drawn-out fights, taking attention______________

“They’re both good,” Ariana said. “We need a healer and a tank.”

“Are they any good is the question,” Nat pointed out. “If they aren’t, then we can’t accept them.”

“We can hold tryouts,” I suggested. “Tomorrow, at noon, we can do a trial run. Do a simple quest to see how it feels.”

“Let’s do that,” Ariana said. “We can meet up outside here.”

We went back to the receptionist and asked her to notify the two who submitted the forms about our plans. She said that she’d do it as soon as possible, and we thanked her before leaving.

As we left the building, I kept a watchful eye on the group of humans from earlier. I caught the gaze of one and glared. He quickly looked away.

Now we waited.