[Mkguild] Part 5 of Changing Fortunes

[Daniel Michalek]

Here is the fifth part of my story. Ditto previous.
KillerNarwhal


They noticed that some of the shops were closed up tight, signs posted
outside declaring that they would remain closed until further notice. Many
shops were open still; since their owners were very unlikely ignorant of
the Plague, they must have been apathetic toward it. Most people had not
seen any victims, but had simply heard that there was Plague. Some of these
were terrified at the idea and barricaded themselves indoors to try to last
it out. The guards had their hands full trying to prevent mass panic from
the terrified citizens, so Cheep and Kag made their way back to the Keep to
find ways to occupy their time. On the way, they passed one of the open
shops that appeared to be a small tailor’s, but it looked a bit
dilapidated. Unsure of what to expect, they walked up to a window and
looked in.



“What are you lookin’ at?” An irascible gopher’s face popped up right in
front of Cheep’s. He gave a startled cry and fell backwards. Kag remained
stoic, but helped Cheep back to his feet.



“Sorry, we were just curious what was in here. It looked open, but we
didn’t see anybody.”



“I’m not just anybody. I happen to be the best tailor anywhere! I can make
clothing for anybody and anything. I just haven’t had much business since I
got here, and haven’t bothered much to keep up ‘pearances.”



“Oh. Sorry to bother you. We’ll be going now.”



“Now wait just a goldang’ minute there, where do you think you’re goin’?
Yer’ gonna need new duds soon, anybody who has eyes can see that.”



“What are you talking about?” Cheep asked?



“What, you think the Curse changes yer clothes, too? You must be dumber
than you look.”



“Curse?”



“How long you been here? Long enough to start changin’, that much is fer
sure.”



“How can you tell?”



“Lookit the back a’ yer hand.”



Cheep glanced down skeptically, but to his surprise, the back of his hand
was hairier than normal. In fact, it looked to be growing a layer of golden
brown fur.



“I see you weren’t expectin’ that. Ha ha!” The gopher laughed.



“What am I turning into? Can you tell?” Cheep asked hopefully.



“I happen to be one of the best here at recongnizin’ species, so *I* can
tell you that, well, let’s see… you seem to be turning into some sort a’
monkey.”



“A monkey.” Cheep suddenly thought of his only link to his old home, a
small jade monkey statue he had in his pack.



“That’s right. And you, big fella. You look like you’re wearin’ yer little
brother’s clothes. You notice any changes?”



“Just the size so far.” Kag scratched his nose, which oddly itched.



“Then what’s with the nose- Ohhhhh, ha ha ha ha! I think I know what you
are!”



“What?”



“Lookit his nose!” the gopher was practically hopping with glee.



“My nose? What does it look like?”



Cheep looked and noticed a single thick black hair growing oddly out of the
tip of Kag’s nose growing upward.



“That’s weird. What does that hair mean?”



“That ain’t just any hair, it looks like the beginnin’s of a horn!”



“A horn?” Kag asked. “What creature has a horn on its nose?”



“Well, there’s a couple of them here already, so you can ask them if you
like, but if I remember the name rightly it’s Ry-nose-a-ris, or somethin’
like that. We just call ‘em rhinos, though. Big, tough, grey fellas. Thick
skin and muscles an’ stuff.”



“Hmmm… I think that would suit me fine…” said Kag, looking thoughtful.



“It better, ‘cause you sure ain’t gonna be anything else! Once the change
starts, you can’t stop it or change it or nothin’.”



“So why are you so interested in us?” Cheep questioned, looking
suspiciously at the gopher.



“Well, as you may have noticed, you is both changin’ shape. You are prob’ly
both gonna get tails, and you need to get yer clothes altered to
‘comma-date yer new shapes. This big fella here may need all new ones,
dependin’ on how much bigger he gits. You fellas is just the first in a
while to not just walk by my shop with dis-gust. There is just too much
rude folk in this world…” the gopher trailed off and began a rambling
tirade on the times.



“So you want to make us new clothes? Or at least make our clothes continue
to fit?”



The gopher looked up from his tirade. “Why’d you think a tailor would grab
you off the street?”



“Oh. That makes sense. We should probably wait until we finish changing,
though, right?”



“A’course! You think I’m stupid, or what?”



“No, neither… I guess we’ll seeyouagainsoonBye!” Cheep started to walk away
anxiously. Kag followed.



“You better!” the gopher shouted after them.





The next few days were met with little enthusiasm. They had not started
work yet, and Kagmer’s wallet was almost empty, so Cheep went looking for
something to do for free.



Cheep was walking down a street in the market section of town. He watched
the odd people as he went, chuckling at the sight of an angry toddler
giving a big bear morph a lecture on appropriate behavior as the bear
cowered, flinching at the harsh words. He passed a seedy-looking booth run
by an equally seedy-looking human merchant, who appeared to be selling
cheap jewelry for quality prices. Cheep paid him almost no attention, but
turned at the sound of the man’s honey-smooth voice assuring a customer
that the talisman she was considering was pure gold, and magical as well.
Cheep watched the gullible bird woman drinking in the man’s words, a look
of adoration in her eyes. He approached the booth again, and the man looked
at him and smiled broadly.



“Good afternoon, sir! You look like a fellow who knows a bargain when he
sees one! Just look at this cloak pin, it suit you perfectly. For you, I
will offer it for a measly two gold!”



Cheep had been skeptical, but now he was downright disgusted. He decided to
play along for a bit, though, and see if he could do something about this
greasy vendor.



“Hmm, shiny. What’s it made of?” Cheep asked, trying to sound interested
and not-so-bright.



“It may look like ordinary silver, but this fantastic bauble happens to be
made of mithril! Only the finest for such a fine customer,” the man oozed..



“Oh, so it’s scratch-proof! That’s great. So you won’t mind if I scrape at
it with a piece of steel,” he said, pulling one of his ornate shuriken off
the cord tied around his belt.



“Oh no! I mean, there’s no need, I, I can assure you that- Wait!”



But Cheep had already gouged a deep furrow into the pin, which had only a
thin layer of polished silver on top of the pewter it was made mostly of.
Cheep gazed at the spluttering merchant with a look of utter contempt. The
bird woman looked at the pin in shock, and then at the dishonest trinket
peddler with spite and humphed as she turned and stalked away.



“I will give you one chance to stop lying to your customers before I turn
you in to the Watch.”



“Lying? What? I, but I, I, I didn’t know! The person who sold it to me, he-”



“That’s it.” Cheep started to walk away.



“No! I’m sorry! I’ll do anything, don’t tell on me!”



“Anything?” Cheep raised one eyebrow.



“Yes!”



At this point, everyone on the street had stopped whatever they had been
doing and were watching the confrontation unfold.



“Give back all the money you gouged from people already and sell your cheap
trinkets for what they are really worth, instead of trying to take
advantage of people’s ignorance. This pin is worth maybe two coppers.”



“Three.”



“Whatever. Deal?”



“Can’t we just- I mean- you…”



Cheep remained immoveable.



The man sighed, defeated. “Deal.”



Cheep smiled to himself for a job well done as he returned to the Keep,
thinking of the people he just saved from being ripped off. He walked along
dreamily, imagining being rewarded for his efforts with bananas.



“Look out!”



Cheep turned just in time to see a runaway cart full of rutabagas rolling
down a hill toward him at a startling speed. He tried to leap out of the
way, but was ultimately unsuccessful.



“Oh grea-” WHAM! Splat. Cheep was thrown five feet and landed face-first
into a mud puddle, sprawling on the ground. The vixen who had been chasing
the cart ran up to him with a concerned expression on her face.



“Are you okay?”



Cheep groaned as he extracted himself from the mud and got to his feet.



“Owwwwwww.” He moaned.



She stood twisting her hair nervously. “I am sooo sorry. I’m so sorry. Um,
here, let me help you up.”



“Ow.”



The girl pulled him to his feet.



“Are you going to be okay?”



“I’m fine, just give me a minute. Ow.” He winced, rubbing his side where
the cart had struck him.



“Umm, thanks for stopping my cart. That must have really hurt.” She
commented sympathetically.



“Yeah, don’t mention it.” Cheep’s mood had gone from good to terrible in
one fell swoop.



Cheep scraped some mud off his skin and clothes, realizing he badly needed
a wash, picked up his belongings, and trudged back to his room. Kag was
reclining at the table, reading a book. He looked up and noticed a
mud-caked figure standing in the doorway who did not look particularly
happy.



“What happened to you? Decide to have some fun in the mud?” Kag laughed..



Cheep was not amused. “No. For your information, I sacrificed my body for a
cartful of rutabagas. Now I’m somebody’s hero. I’m going to get a bath.”
With that he dumped his pack and grabbed a towel before slamming the door
on his way out.



“I have got to hear this one,” Kag said as he shook his head and resumed
reading his book.



He scratched his nose again, feeling the rapidly growing thick hair on his
flattening nose. The developing horn was now about an inch long and an
eighth of that in width, and he could feel another similar one starting to
grow above the first. His skin had started to lose its color, too, he
noticed, as well as getting thicker. He wondered how long it would take to
complete the change.





Cheep scrubbed at the caked mud on his body with a brush he had bought
after discovering his personal Curse. He looked at the fur again, and
noticed that it was growing lightly on his entire body except the palms of
his hands and the soles of his feet. These were getting darker, he noticed,
and instead of having stubbly facial hair, he had a thin coat of golden
brown fur on his whole face. His pink skin was still showing through, but
he could almost watch it fade as the fur grew thicker. He was distracted
from watching his skin change by a sudden spiky tingling sensation coming
from his backside. He felt along his backbone until he came to a knobby
protrusion that had certainly never been there before. It was observably
growing longer, and sitting on the stone bench in the recessed bath he was
soon able to pull the tip of it above the surface of the warm water. He
stared at the odd thing in his hand: *his tail*. It even *sounded* weird as
he said it in his mind. Cheep watched it elongate with an uncomfortable
feeling of pressure coming from the end of his spine, which he realized was
becoming his tail, and then continued scrubbing off the dirt until all the
solid pieces were off him. He drained the tub, refilling it with clean,
fresh, hot water, and then got back in to soak for a while. It felt
heavenly. He began thinking of all the things he could do with a tail until
the heat started making him drowsy.



Cheep suddenly jerked up, splashing water onto the cold stone floor when he
realized that he had fallen asleep in the tub. His skin felt all wrinkly,
and he got up and dried himself the best he could, not really knowing what
to do now that he had a full coat of fur. His tail now reached the ground,
and he realized that his arms had gotten longer while his body had shrunk a
bit. He put his clothes back on, which were only partially dry, and noticed
that they were too loose and too short now. On top of that, he now needed a
tail hole in his pants. Only having a single pair made him apprehensive
about it, but he reasoned that they would need fixing anyways and went
ahead and cut a hole on the back just below the beltline. This satisfied
him reasonably well, and after managing to feed his tail through the hole,
he cinched up his belt tight enough to keep his pants up and made his way
out of the private booth, through the public baths, and back to his
chambers. By the time he got there, it was late and he could hear his
friend snoring loudly already from the room across from his. He suppressed
his curiosity about Kag’s changes and sat down in front of the fire that
was left burning in the fireplace. He added a few more sticks and pulled
off his damp clothes, spreading them on the stone to dry.



“I should go back and see that gopher guy tomorrow,” he thought as he
stretched and groomed his fur, which was still rather damp. “I needed to
get a few more sets of clothes anyway.”



He had barely noticed how drowsy he was before he fell asleep again.





Kagmer woke in the night to a strong discomfort in his midsection. He
cleared the fog from his mind and tried to discern the source of the
irritation. He got up and realized that his trousers were extremely tight.
He fumbled around until he found a candle and lit it with some effort. He
removed the offending garment with difficulty, noticing that his legs were
much thicker than before, and his feet were shorter and wider. His skin was
now a light grey, much thicker and tougher than before, and the skin on his
back was starting to fold and form armor-like plates. He looked at his
hands and realized why lighting the lamp had been so difficult. His fingers
had sort of ‘melted’ together in two places and he now had two wide fingers
and a thumb on each hand.  He reached up to his head when he noticed
something in the middle of his field of view and felt that his skull had
changed drastically, elongating forward and down. His hair and beard had
been shortening for a few days now and were almost completely gone, but the
curved horn that protruded from the end of his nose (which was now a snout)
had grown much larger, as had the smaller one behind it. His ears flicked
in surprise, and as he felt them move he was even more surprised. His ears
had grown longer and more pointed and shifted to the top of his head,
sticking out at angles. He set the lamp down on the dresser and noticed
that there was now a mirror on the wall. Apparently Kyia had wanted him to
see his new form. He gazed at the unfamiliar figure in the mirror, opening
and closing his mouth and turning his ears. He flexed his arms, noting that
the muscles were even harder and thicker than before; his arms were now as
thick as his head used to be. As he turned about, he noticed a tail hanging
from his backside. It was small and ropelike with a hairy tassel at the
end, but the tail would not bother him much, Kag decided. He lifted one
foot into the light and saw that his boots would never fit again; his
almost circular three-toed feet were built broad and heavy just like the
rest of his body. He was glad he didn’t wear much to sleep in, or he would
have torn out of it like the light shirt he had worn that was in tatters
around his shoulders, or possibly he might have been injured as he grew. He
felt himself growing still, but he felt very tired; he got back in his bed,
which didn’t seem so big anymore, and went back to sleep.



He woke to the sound of a bird singing so loudly it sounded like it was
perched right in front of his ear, and opened his eyes to see bright
sunlight streaming readily in through the window.



“SHAAADDUUUUUP!!!!” an irritated voice shouted from somewhere outside his
window, presumably from another person leaning out theirs. The deafening
birdsong stopped.



“Well excuuuuuuse me,” a chirpy sounding voice said. “It’s such a beautiful
morning, I couldn’t help but sing. You could use a little more cheerfulness
in your life, anyways.”



“In the wild, cats eat birds. Restrain your instincts or I may
‘conveniently’ lose control of mine,” the first voice growled.



“Sheesh. Sorry.”



“Some of us like to sleep in the morning and not become deaf.”



Kag smirked as he rose and stretched his new, unfamiliar body. He looked
down and realized he would need to find something to wear, at least
something temporary to wear to the tailor’s shop. He found that his cloak
that was more than big enough before now just covered his back and
shoulders, so he wrapped a sheet around his waist. He could no longer wear
boots, but the thick pads on the bottoms of his almost circular feet
protected him from rocks and other things normally uncomfortable to step on
barefoot. He tried walking back and forth in his room a few times, noting
that his new feet were very different and that walking normally would take
some practice. He fell down once and wobbled a few more times before
mastering moving in his new body sufficiently and heading out for the day.



He opened the door to his room to discover a naked monkey curled up asleep
on a small pile of clothes in front of the cold fireplace. He realized that
Cheep must have finished changing as well, but left him alone to wake
whenever he would. For now, he gathered all his old clothes into a sack and
slung it across his wide back, headed to the tailor shop owned by the
crotchety gopher he and Cheep had met previously. He only met a few odd
glances on the way, mostly owing to an unfamiliar face rather than lack of
proper clothing. He walked up to the door and thumped on it with a meaty
fist. After waiting a minute with no response, he knocked again, this time
eliciting a string of curses from the occupant.



 “What do you want?” the gopher scowled, and then looked up at the hulking
grey figure dressed solely in a white loincloth who filled up most of the
doorway.



“I came back to get my clothes refitted,” Kag replied calmly as he held out
the bag of clothes.



“Oh, you’re that big guy who came here a few days ago, aren’tcha? With a
skinny little fella who was turnin’ into a monkey? Anyways, a customer!
Great! Come right in.” The gopher’s irritation turned to pleasure at the
prospect of business and non-hostile company.



Kag squeezed through the doorway, ducking his huge head to avoid smacking
his larger horn on the frame. It was slightly difficult, as it was now
about a foot and a half long and increased his overall height
significantly. He looked around the cluttered shop, strewn about with
scraps and bolts of cloth on racks and the floor, pairs of shears, and a
few measuring tapes. The brown rodent dumped Kag’s clothes out of the sack
onto a table and sorted through them.



“I can’t use any of this. You sure did a lot of growin’, that’s fer sure.
Tell ya what, I can buy yer old clothes from ya and apply that money to new
ones, but that’s all I can do. Whadda ya say?”



“How much would a couple of sets of normal clothes cost?”



“Depends on the material. Yer gonna need som’n sturdy, so with what you got
here, I would say prob’ly about, oh, say twelve bronze. ‘Cause I like you.”
The gopher left off the bit about needing business badly.



Kag agreed and let the gopher run his tape all over him, watching as he
scurried around and wrote figures on a sheet of parchment that had been
lying on the floor. The furry tailor finished taking his measurements and
told him to come back in the afternoon to pick up his new clothes. The
rhino thanked him and left.





Cheep was looking himself over in a mirror when Kag got back, and he
greeted him as he came in.



“So I’m a monkey. Cool.”



Cheep opened the door to his previously disliked room and walked in.



“This makes so much more sense now,” he commented, swinging himself up to
the higher beams with startling ease.



He made his way over to one wall with the wardrobe and pulled the jade
monkey statue out of his pack.



“I think this might turn out to be pretty fun after all,” Cheep said,
placing the figure on his dresser and smiling.


!DSPAM:4f96b55665621804284693!
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