Transformation

They rested for three days, and it was almost til the end of the second night before Sidra felt clean again. There was a feast for them, and much merriment was to be had, as everyone relaxed and ate. The foals ran and played, and Sidra remembered fondly the times she had played like that with her youngest two siblings, Zehar and Signe. Briefly she wondered about them, and how they were doing. But those thoughts quickly left as she was pulled back into the celebrations.

Voyeur did his best to avoid Binary, something that was noticed by many but not commented on.

The days of celebration went by quickly, and suddenly Sidra, Sulien and Voyeur found themselves bidding Sirona goodbye.

“You go south next?” Sirona asked as she saw them off.

“Yes, I suppose,” Sidra replied, sharing a look with Sulien. “Toward the swamps.”

Voyeur was eager to return to the swamp, a place he had visited many a time while serving the detities.

“Be safe down there,” Sirona warned. “The swamps always hide more than they show.”

Sidra nodded pensively. “Do you think Korvah will welcome us?” she asked.

Sirona sighed. “One can never be sure with Korvah. Only Pandora has ever broken that shell enough to see what's inside. I would suggest steering clear of Korvah herself, but her daughters will welcome you.”

Sidra tucked that information away and nodded her thanks as the trio set off toward the swamps.

The trip through the plains was rather uneventful, and soon the swamps began to spread around them. Sidra knew they had a long way to go before reaching Korvah’s land, but couldn’t help the feeling of trepidation that overcame her. The swamp had a certain beauty to it, but also a danger in the air that Sidra couldn’t ignore. Voyeur seemed well at ease in the swamps, taking lead on their walks, pointing out things that Sidra would have missed. He taught her how to spot snakes in the vines, where water might look shallow but were deep enough to swallow a Quirlicorn whole, and how to navigate the strange seemingly floating miniature islands in the water. Sidra stored the information and made sure to listen to his advice on the land around them as she truly realized how dangerous it was around her.

The days bled together until they found themselves on the edge of Korvah’s territory. What none of them expected to find was Korvah herself waiting for them.

The mare stood stiffly, a raccoon not too far from her munching on something Sidra couldn't make out. Sidra’s cat rested on her back, away from the damp ground that Sidra’s hooves felt like they were getting sucked into. Falkreath was sitting on Sulien’s back, the falcon not wanting to go too far when the trees above formed a near blanket over them.

“My daughters said you three were approaching,” Korvah said, her dual whip tails twitching.

“Yes,” Voyeur replied, and Korvah tilted her head.

“I know you,” the blind baroness said, and Voyeur dipped his head.

“Yes,” Voyeur repeated.

“You have been through these ways many times, wanderer,” Korvah proclaimed, and Sidra and Sulien shared a quick glance. Both knew that Voyeur knew the swamp, but how well he knew it was a surprise.

“You were also at that blasted meeting that Pandora dragged me to,” Korvah continued, and Voyeur once again spoke his confirmation.

The mare seemed to see their souls, not through her covered eyes but by something more. Finally she snorted and turned. “Anything that happens to you in my land I am not responsible for,” she finally said as she walked away.

Sidra and Sulien released their held breath at the same time, looking at each other then to Voyeur.

“That is about as warm a welcome we are going to get,” Voyeur muttered, before leading the way into the heart of Labyrinthian.

Laughter seemed to dance around them as they walked, and Sidra looked around a bit nervously.

“What is that?” she breathed.

Voyeur tilted his head, looking around. “I’m not certain,” he admitted. “There are things in this swamp that havent been seen in hundreds of years.”

Sidra turned to Sulien, only to realize the stallion was missing.

“Sulien?” Sidra cried, turning around and around, backing toward Voyeur who looked just as startled to realize the stallion had disappeared. “Sulien!”

“The hell?” Voyeur muttered, and Sidra turned to him to see his form shifting and changing. Sidra shuddered as it felt like a million ants were crawling over her skin as her own form began to change.

The world blurred and kept fading to black as the foul magic fell over them, forcing their shapes. Sidra whimpered slightly, surprised when it came out in more of hiss.

When her vision cleared, her body was foreign, and the world looked a lot different. Looking down, she had feline paws, and that was fur covering her body!

Sidra looked around wildly, shaking. She tried calling out, but it was a series of strange meows and hisses that had her quickly shutting her mouth.

A wave of queasiness overcame Sidra, and it felt like the world was spinning around her. From the corner of her eye she saw a large wolf, but one with Voyeur’s markings.

The wolf seemed to be checking out its new form, looking over its body and bouncing back and forth to get a feel for it.

Sidra let out a pained sound, and the Voyeur-wolf looked her way. A bolt of fear went through her as she saw the canine jaws coming toward her. But the Voyeur-wolf just gently picked her up by her scruff, and began running.

Voyeur ran as swiftly as this strange wolf body would carry him, holding Sidra as gently as he could. Getting away from the strange laughter seemed the best idea for helping them both.

He heard voices ahead, and was surprised to hear Sulien’s among the three female voices that seemed to echo in the swamp. He rushed toward them, not thinking about the danger, and Sidra began thrashing, trying to get to Sulien.

“The hell happened?!” Sulien shouted as he saw them, recognizing them thankfully. The three mares with him looked alike enough to be siblings, and Voyeur realized that they must be Korvah’s daughters. Two of them wore snakes around their necks like the jewelry that graced them, their familiars Voyeur supposed. 

Sulien was standing with them, with Shadowdancer, Falkreath and Sidra’s cat all sitting on his back. Voyeur dropped Sidra gently, and the small feline form lunged for Sulien, barely making it to his legs where she clung.

Voyeur whined, and then began prancing in place. “Can you understand me?” he asked in the language of wolves, and Sulien’s eyes widened.

“Yes, I can,” Sulien replied, in the common tongue.

“We can get answers later. But do these three know how to turn us back?” Voyeur asked.

Sulien conveyed the question, and the tallest mare nodded slightly.

“Come with us,” she said.

Voyeur had lightly lifted Sidra to rest on Sulien’s back with the familiars and Shadowdancer, and Sidra had curled up with her cat, her shaking incessant. Introductions were brief on the way to wherever the cure would be. The one who had spoken was Karou, and her sisters Tallie, who had antlers and a deer tail, and Theo, who had a buckskin coat.

They reached a small house, raised on stilts above the soft ground. Inside was chaos, Voyeur realized. One third was full of pink soft things, one was full of plaids and black, and the last one was baby blue with plenty of glittering gems stashed on the available surfaces.

A foul tasting brew was shoved down Voyeur and Sidra’s throats, and Voyeur sighed as he felt his form begin to shift. Sidra had thankfully passed out on the way there, and now in equine form, lay nestled within that fortress of pink soft things that Voyeur could not put a name to.

Shaking his head, Voyeur shivered.

“That was…. Unique,” Voyeur replied, after his skin had stopped crawling long enough to speak.

“What happened?” Sulien asked. “One moment I was following you, the next I was in a different part of the swamp where those three found me.”

Voyeur felt another shiver pass through his body. “We kept going, and suddenly you were no longer there. When we stopped… I guess whatever was waiting was able to get to us. One moment I was fine, the next my skin felt like it was going to crawl right off my body, and then I was a wolf,” Voyeur said with a hint of wonder.

“Sidra…. Didn’t take it well. She was already panicked because you were missing, and that went into overdrive when she transformed. I just grabbed her and ran. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Tallie looked over from where the sisters were resting. “Creatures of strange and old roam these swamplands,” she said with a singsong voice that creeped Voyeur out more than the entire ordeal.

But they were as safe as they could be, for now.

Sidra didn’t wake for three days. Tallie and Theo brought food and water for Sulien, who refused to leave her side. Voyeur mostly stayed out of the way, watching the sleeping mare from a distance.

At one point Karou approached him. “What did it feel like?” she asked.

Voyeur knew what she meant. “I…. I never considered the world from the angle of another animal. It was fascinating,” he admitted.

Karou smiled, and he watched in shock as her form flowed from one to another. “I have shapeshifting magic. So does Tallie,” Karou said as she settled back into her Quirl form.

“Perhaps we can help Sidra, when she is up for it. The magic that changed you is foul and tainted, not at all like a pure shift. But we can try.”

Sidra was groggy and still nauseous when she woke, but seeing Sulien lightly dozing by her side was a blessing she didn’t know she needed.

“Suli…” her voice was rough and scratchy, breaking half way through his name.

Sulien instantly came awake, looking to where Sidra was next to him. “Sidra,” he murmured, nuzzling her.

Sidra gave a weak smile and tried to speak, but it turned into a cough.

A small bowl was placed in front of her, full of clear pure water, so unlike the swamp around her.

Sidra drank slowly, taking it easy on her unhappy stomach. But the water was a blessing, soothing her parched throat.

“We could only drip water into your mouth, so you are probably a bit dehydrated. Take it slow, we have more where that came from,” a voice said and Sidra looked up to find a pale appaloosa mare adorned with gold jewelry standing above her.

Sidra tried shifting, but her body spiked with pain and she immediately stopped moving. “Thank you,” she finally said, a bit roughly.

Sidra drank and nibbled at the strange leaves brought to her by the mare as introductions were made and she was caught up on the past few days.

“I never want to experience that again,” Sidra said with a shudder that overtook her entire body.

“Stay within the bounds of our house and you won't have to,” Karou said, her tone very matter of fact.

“Why does Korvah allow things like that in her land?” Sidra asked, then remembered Korvah’s cryptic comment… or warning?

“Because mother is antisocial!” Tallie said brightly.

“Ma doesn’t like company,” Theo agreed, her expression a bit vacant for Sidra’s liking.

“And it keeps strangers from coming into our land,” Karou finished.

Sidra nodded, even if she couldn’t quite understand. Voyeur, standing in the corner, seemed to understand better than Sidra did, a knowing look in his eyes.

“Either way, you need rest,” Karou said. “So get your rest. We can talk more tomorrow.”

The trio of young mares left, going out into the swamp. Sidra looked between Sulien and Voyeur and sighed.

“I’m going back to sleep,” she decided. Her skin still tingled, and even now Sidra didn’t feel wholly at home in her own body. Sleeping it off, she decided, was the best option.

Voyeur nodded, and Sidra curled closer to Sulien, falling asleep to the sounds of Voyeur and Sulien softly talking.