_Mystic Heart Odyssey_

_Part 7: Downtime_

_Chapter 23_

_More lore/world building… and Daisy having a little too much fun at Lana’s expense, as usual._

_\-Llox_

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Lykou’s eyes fluttered open and he saw a certain now-familiar surreal space full of floating discs. He let out a small yawn as he got up and stretched- except he paused in the middle of it, noticing that something seemed off. He glanced down and noticed that even his dream-body was in feral form. “What the… really, even here?” he commented, then sighed. “Well that’s weird… and a bit concerning.”

He glanced around for a moment. “Well, hopefully Lana and Daisy will be able to offer some advice about it. Feel kinda bad having to bug them about this, though.” He paused and blinked, then rolled his eyes up in annoyance. “Hello to you too, inner thoughts not staying inner thoughts.”

With a slightly annoyed grumble, he shook his head, then started strolling through the astral realm. “Well anyway, I’m sure they’ll show up sooner or later,” he said out loud to himself, knowing his external voice would just say it for him anyway if he didn’t. He stopped to inspect a few of the discs carefully as he strolled. Some made him giggle, some made him smile wistfully, and others made him blush- and sometimes he had to force himself to walk away with a silly expression before he got a bit too excited.

As time went on, though, his reactions grew more subdued. He felt a bit… odd. Not bad, necessarily, but not normal, either. Eventually, every scene he peeked in on made him feel more contemplative and introspective than anything else. Even when he accidentally stumbled upon one of his nightmares, it didn’t really frighten him so much as make him question what might have inspired it. And after a moment, that in turn made him question his strange shift in perspective. On several occasions, he was so preoccupied with his thoughts- which were repeatedly narrating themselves, much to his chagrin- that he nearly stumbled into another one of the discs. In a way it was almost like the opposite of when he was struggling with his instincts during his and Kuna’s species swap.

“Okay, get it together Kou,” he said to himself, shaking his head and rubbing it briefly with a paw. “Stay focused on your surroundings. Gotta be careful not to fall into any-”

Before he could finish his next sentence, he froze when he caught sight of something strange. It was another disc hovering in the air, only… it was blank. He furrowed his brow as he cautiously approached it. The glow around its edges was notably dimmer than the rest, and he felt a strange chill in the air around it. As he peeked a bit closer, he could see that there was a faintly-defined space on the other side- it was mostly another dark void, but he could barely make out dimly-lit grass on the ground of wherever it was.

“Something… doesn’t feel right here. Funny it doesn’t seem familiar at all,” he said to himself as he started to step back. Then something took him by surprise; his face suddenly popped up on the other side- his anthropomorphic one, that is- and it was staring right back at him, through the disc. And his expression showed that the other him clearly saw him as well, through the disc. Lykou knew practically nothing about the astral realm, but even to him that seemed… wrong.

If there was one thing that offset the strange, unsettling arrival, it was that his other self seemed to be eyeing him with just as much surprise and confusion as he was experiencing. But it wasn’t simply mirroring his own behavior like a reflection. “Uh… hi?” Lykou hazarded.

His other self jerked back slightly at the sound and bared his teeth briefly, then seemed to calm down after a moment. He then leaned forward, actually somehow poking his head through the portal into the astral realm proper, and sniffed the air curiously.

Lykou’s eyes widened as he watched his bipedal form break what he was pretty sure was some kind of law of the astral realm. He was basing it on nothing, of course, but he instinctively knew somehow that dream-entities weren’t supposed to be able to leave the dream that contained them. “Uhh… can you… talk?”

The other him cocked his head to an angle and eyed him with a strange expression. Suddenly, without warning, he reached his hands out and grabbed Lykou, catching him off guard and yanking him into the dream. All at once everything went dark… for a moment.

When Lykou came to, he realized he was laying in a patch of grass that stretched out into the darkness in all directions. Above him there was a distant crescent moon hanging in the sky, though it was otherwise alone- no stars or clouds in sight. It was surreal. And it wasn’t putting out much light. He quickly got up and looked around a bit. His eyes ultimately fell on his other self, which, despite being in a bipedal body, was crouched over awkwardly as if trying to walk on all fours.

“...I guess you can’t talk?” Lykou asked, feeling strangely calm, given the circumstances. “Can you even understand me?”

The anthro-Lykou cautiously stalked towards him, pausing occasionally to sniff the air.

“I’ll… take that as a ‘no’ for now, I guess,” Lykou said, then looked down at his paws and started to mull the situation over. “This is very strange. This has to be tied to being transformed, but what does it mean? I hope Lana and Daisy can help make sense of this. I wonder if this-” Before he could continue, he felt something wet on his cheek. He blinked and looked up to see his other body right next to him, having apparently just… licked him. “...I hope you’re not planning to eat me. We might be different shapes at the moment, but I’m pretty sure that still counts as some weird kind of cannibalism.”

The anthro-Lykou just continued sniffing and occasionally licking at him for a few moments, then backed away with a strange, bewildered look. He made some kind of half-whine, half-groan sound as he sat back and tilted his head one way and the other at the feral form.

“Yeah, uh… I’m confused too. You know, I feel like I should be freaking out a little more,” Lykou commented thoughtfully. “But I just find it all fascinating. I mean I guess it helps that I know this is a dr-” He froze for a moment, then glanced around. Sure enough, some distance behind his anthro form, he could see a certain portal hanging in the air. “...huh. This time I’m still aware it’s a dream. No… weird memory stuff. What’s going on?”

The anthro form followed his gaze to the portal, then tilted his head again. He glanced back and forth between it and the feral-bodied Lykou for a moment, then got back up and started to awkwardly approach the disc. Feral-Lykou perked up and started to follow after him. “Uh, hang on, you gotta be careful out there!”

Startled, the anthro form looked back and let out a warning growl.

“Woah, easy!” Lykou said, pausing for a moment. “I’m you, remember? Er, sorta anyway. I think.” He started contemplating the situation again, and only snapped out of it when he heard a faint ‘woosh’ sound. He looked up to see his strange alternate self had slipped through the portal. Concerned that it might close up and seal him in the strangely empty dreamspace, he hurried through afterwards.

This time, the exit was somewhat dizzying, oddly enough. Once he was back in the core of his astral realm, he stumbled around a little and collapsed onto the floor until his head stopped spinning. When it did, he definitely still felt different, as if there was something missing that he couldn’t put his finger- or paw, rather- on. He took a moment to try and clear his head. Even if he’d played at being bored by it before, he found himself all the more grateful to Kuna for trying to coach him through meditating. Once he felt steady enough to get up and walk around again, he realized he couldn’t spot his other self.

Yet again, he felt like he should panic. After all, that seemingly feral-brained konuul could stumble into any dream, memory, or… _fantasy_ without knowing what it was doing. Still, despite knowing the risk, he only felt concerned, not full-blown panic. And that in itself made it all the more clear to him that something was amiss as he began searching for his wayward anthro half.

\*\*\*\*\*

Elsewhere within Lykou’s astral nexus, a pair of familiar visitors appeared in a blur of light and mist. “Didnae expect tae visit one o’ ‘em agin so soon,” Daisy commented. “Dinnae they have travelin’ ta do? Haup they’re a’right.”

“Aye. We’ll find oot soon enough,” Aelana replied as she glanced around their surroundings. “Dinnae see ‘im so far. Best we get lookin’.”

Daisy grinned as they began searching the astral realm. “Mibbie he fell intae another interestin’ dream.”

“If ‘e did, ye behave yerself,” Aelana warned, shooting her a small glare. “None o’ that shite frae last time.”

“Nae promises,” Daisy retorted playfully.

“Daisy!”

“What? He laughed too, ye ken!”

“Na tae point!” Aelana grumbled. “Ye ken better tha’-”

“Wait!” Daisy interrupted, holding an oversized paw up in front of her other half, and nodded off to one side in the distance. “Look!”

Aelana squinted, then perked up. “Aye, there ‘e is! Good thin-”

“Why’s ‘e walkin’ like that?” Daisy asked, tilting her head in a mixture of confusion and amusement.

“Tha’s… a good question,” Aelana replied, staring at the anthropomorphic figure in the distance. He was half-walking and half-crawling on all fours, sniffing at the hovering memory-discs nearby curiously. “He’s nae in a dream, should be ‘is normal self…”

“Let’s ask ‘im!” Daisy said, then immediately lept up into the air before the lepne could reply. After a quick flight, she dropped down next to the konuul, startling him. “Oi, Lykou! What-”

The anthropomorphic canid immediately started snarling and backing away with a decidedly hostile stance. He let out a few warning barks before turning and awkwardly bolting away.

When Aelana caught up, she mirrored the wolpertinger’s bewildered expression. “What was that aboot?”

“Ah… dinnae ken,” Daisy said, watching the konuul run away. “T’was mighty queer thing, tha’s fer sure. Somethin’s wrong with that lad.”

“Ah dinnae like this,” Aelana said. “What in tae world did the lads get intae-?”

“Oh, good, you’re finally here!” a familiar voice spoke up behind them, panting. They both turned to see the feral Lykou running up, a bit winded. He took a moment to catch his breath, then peered around them. “Have you seen- oh, there he is! Help me catch that… uh, other me, before he falls into another dream or something!”

Aelana and Daisy blinked at him in surprise. “...Lykou?” Aelana asked, eyeing him curiously. “Why-”

“Nae tiem, ye heard the lad!” Daisy said, then lept away.

“A’right, but then ah have questions,” Aelana said as she began following alongside the feral canid.

“Believe me, so do I,” Lykou replied.

Daisy landed in front of the bipedal konuul, causing him to stumble to a stop and start growling again. The wolpertinger rose up and spread her wings out, trying to minimize his escape routes. Just as he was turning to dart away again, Lykou and Aelana caught up, and the latter used her magic to shape a small wall out of dream-stuff. Now trapped, he started clearly panicking, head whipping around, tail tucked between his legs, snapping and growling in a defensive stance as he frantically searched for another way to escape.

The feral-bodied Lykou ran around and ducked under Daisy’s wing, then slowed to a stop a short distance from his other half. “Easy, easy… They’re friends, remember? Uh… assuming we have the same memories, anyway…”

The anthro form glanced back and forth between him and the looming wolpertinger, then back at the wall as Aelana scaled it, then sat atop it and watched the scene curiously. Finally, when he turned back to the quadrupedal Lykou, he whined softly and crouched down, curling his tail partly around himself.

“Ye mind explainin’, lad?” Aelana asked, after conjuring the rest of the wall up all around them to keep the seemingly less-intelligent canid from bolting off again.

“Well… as much as I _can_ anyway,” Lykou replied as he sat down, keeping an eye on his other half. “So… Ku and Gleam and I found some more ruins and accidentally set off another magic, err, thing…”

Aelana face-palmed. “Ye lads really need tae be more careful aroond auld magic shite.”

“Much as ah understand tae curiosity,” Daisy added with a smirk. “She ‘as a point. Ah’m nae one ta judge, but even ah ken not tae bother every wee magical mystery withoot kenning a thing aboot it.”

“Ehehe, I know, I know,” Lykou said with a sheepish look. “To be fair, it was partly Gleam this time. She’s started developing some weird magic of her own, and apparently it can sort of… mess with magical things just from touching them sometimes.”

“Really noo?” Aelana said, perking up. “Tha’s mighty interestin’…”

“Yeah, so, anyway,” Lykou continued. “I was looking at this weird small room thing when she accidentally started a bunch of magical… _stuff_ off. Long story short, it turned me into the wild animal version of a konuul- physically, anyway. As in, out there- y’know, in the, uh, waking world.”

“Ach, tha’s… inconvenient,” Aelana said, somewhat wide-eyed.

Daisy huffed a bit. “Oi, ye get used ta it. All fours ‘as its advantages ye kin,” she retorted with a smirk.

“When ye ‘ave powerful magic on yer side mibbie,” Aelana pointed out flatly. “An advantage Lykou doesnae ‘ave.”

“Don’t get me wrong, some parts of it have been kinda… well, surprisingly fun,” Lykou said. “But then when I came here to talk to you guys tonight, I came across… him.” He gestured with his head to the slightly shivery anthropomorphic form still sitting between them, eyes constantly flicking between them as each individual spoke. “I thought he was just another dream… thing, but then had escaped out into this place.”

“Aye, dream-folk cannae dae that,” Aelana said slowly, wide-eyed. “That kin only mean…”

Daisy gasped loudly, briefly spooking both konuul- albeit mostly the feral half. “ACH! Lana, he’s… he’s-”

“Ah ken! Damnation,” the lepne swore, then quickly covered her mouth when she saw the canids’ physical response to the outburst. “Oh. Sorry, lad. Er. Lads.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Lykou asked. Even as muted as his emotions felt, there was a pit growing in his stomach at their reaction.

“Weeeel,” Aelana said, drumming her fingers together thoughtfully. “Let’s just say we either need tae find a fix fer this soon, or-”

“Or yer oan yer way ta bein’ like us,” Daisy said, crossing her forelegs and smirking faintly. “Ye ken, two souls one body shite.”

“’cept a might messier,” Aelana added. “At least both o’ us kin talk. Ye’ll end up one half wild a’ tis rate. ‘n’ ye dinnae ‘ave ta magic tae make yer body match which one o’ ye is oot, so ta speak.”

“Oh. Oh that’s… that’s not good at all,” Lykou said, meeting his other half’s eyes. Even if the wild half clearly couldn’t understand the words, there seemed to be some kind of recognition there that things were bad. “What do we do?”

“Withoot kenning more aboot the magic that made ye this way,” Aelana said. “Tis nae easy answer. But we mibbie able tae at least fetch ye some time.”

“Ooo, doin’ something new??” Daisy chimed in, perking up excitedly. “Ah ken what yer thinkin’, just didnae expect ye ta-”

“Ah jest dinnae want ‘im tae have his life mucked up any more than ‘tis already,” Aelana interrupted. “Drastic situations, drastic measures, ye ken.”

“Uhhh, what are you talking about?” Lykou asked, eyeing them warily. “What are you gonna do?”

“Nothin’ withoot yer permission, o’course,” Aelana said. “An’ ah’ll warn ye, like Daisy said, tis nae somethin’ we’ve actually done yet, nae like this anyway.”

“Tis a ritual tha can bind ye back together,” Daisy added. “At least partly. In here anyway. Cannae affect yer physical body frae yer astral realm, at least not frae this far awa’.”

“Oh. Uh. Good?” Lykou replied hesitantly, sharing a nervous look with his other half. “What’s the catch?”

Daisy grinned. “Thas the fun bit. Y-”

“Fer some definition o’ ‘fun’ ah’m sure,” Aelana interrupted, rolling her eyes a bit. “Ah’ll be honest, lad. Tis not perfect. Ye’ll be brought back together, but there’s side effects. Especially because o’ yer other recent transformation experience, yer soul ‘n’ body are gonnae start bein’ more susceptible tae certain kinds o’ magic. Efter this ritual, ‘n’ once ye find a way tae fix yer actual body, there’s a guid chance yer body wull have nae one, but two true forms. Which has... implications.”

“Fun ones!” Daisy insisted. “Ye said yerself ye enjoy bits o’ bein’ in the new body, aye?”

“Well… yeah, I guess,” Lykou said. “Does that mean sometimes I’ll randomly transform again?”

“Nae necessarily,” Aelana assured him. “Jest means it’ll be easier fer ye ta be affected by magic like tha’.”

“As long as yer careful tho, shouldnae be a problem,” Daisy said, then narrowed her eyes and poked the canid playfully. “O’course, if ye wanted ta let Kuna practice some thin’s oan ye-”

“Enough, Daisy,” Aelana interjected. “Point is, we kin at least get ye started on turnin’ back ta normal. Ye’ll just have… weel, two ‘normals’ afterward. Ye’ll still have ta find a way ta change back physic’ly, but it should be easier when we’re done. Jest ken that it means if anyone wants tae turn ye back ta this form, it’ll be jest as easy.”

“Okay, that… doesn’t sound too bad, I guess,” Lykou hazarded. “So what do we have to do?”

“If yer willin’, jest, eh, get all… close tae him,” Aelana said, gesturing to the anthro form. “’n’ we’ll do ta rest.”

The feral-minded biped noticed her indicate him and immediately tensed up, shying away from her a bit. The sentient Lykou eyed him for a moment, then took a deep breath before getting up and cautiously approaching him. When the anthro form noticed him, he grew slightly hostile again. “It’s okay,” Lykou said quietly and paused, trying his best to seem non-threatening. “I uh… I know you can’t understand what I’m saying, but… um…” He trailed off as he studied his other half’s face. It felt a bit surreal, to say the least. Trying to control his body language to be as friendly and non-threatening as possible, he started approaching again. When he got close enough, he laid down and waited a moment. “Look, you can uh… sniff me or whatever again, if you want,” he said, extending a paw. “I know this is weird, but it’s just going to get more confusing and scary over time if we stay separate.”

The anthro form eyed him suspiciously for a moment, then glanced back and forth at the other two. While he was clearly wary of all three of them, he obviously recognized the familiarity of the other canid. Eventually, he leaned over and sniffed at the proffered paw a little, then gave it a little lick. Even if he couldn’t fully comprehend the situation, a vague understanding was building up between them. With a soft sigh, he nervously shuffled a bit closer, then sat down a foot or so away from the feral canid.

Sensing that the wild-half was calming down a little, Lykou carefully moved a little closer himself, then gently nuzzled up against him. It was beyond strange, but oddly comforting in a way. The anthro form clearly felt similarly and ended up awkwardly trying to curl up next to him. Lykou looked up at Aelana questioningly once they were cuddled up by each other.

“Aye, that’ll do,” Aelana said, then nodded over to Daisy. “Ready?”

“Very,” Daisy replied excitedly. “Nae often we get ta do rituals together like tis.”

“Probably don’t do them in dreams and stuff much to begin with, I imagine,” Lykou chimed in. “Right?”

“Nae fer a long time anyway,” Aelana conceded. “There’s guid ones fer protectin’ folk frae special demons ‘n’ such, but they’ve nae been a problem in Clovaria fer a very long time.”

“Aye, they ken better’n tae tread in oor turf,” Daisy said with a smug grin.

“I can imagine,” Lykou said, smiling a bit. He glanced up at the bewildered anthro form for a moment, then took a deep breath and braced himself. “Alright, we’re ready whenever, I guess.”

“A’right, here goes,” the lepne said, then nodded to the wolpertinger.

Daisy nodded back, then began swirling a silvery light around in the air above her antlers. Aelana began making strange gestures in the air, manifesting glowing energies of her own while muttering something quietly under her breath. The anthro konuul watched wide-eyed and began to tense up again. But just as he seemed like he was about to try and bolt, Lykou laid a paw gently on his hand and nuzzled up to him.

“S’okay,” he said quietly as he watched their two guests perform the strange ritual magic. Lights and symbols began to float in the air around them, as well as appear on their bodies. Eventually he turned and met his other half’s gaze. “Weird, I know. But trust me, this is a good thing. We belong together, not apart. Okay?”

The biped stared back down at him silently for a moment, then looked back up and shivered. Somehow, he seemed to understand, at least a little. He seemed to be struggling with something for a moment, then awkwardly opened his mouth just as a bright glow began to envelop them. “O...kay…” he awkwardly mimicked in a strained voice.

Lykou didn’t have time to react as everything suddenly vanished all around him. He felt like he was sucked into a bright white void of deafening silence. He could no longer see anything, including himself when he tried to look down. He tried moving his limbs, but he couldn’t even be sure he had any anymore. Just as he was starting to panic, the astral nexus started fading back into view, and he dizzily slumped over, clutching his head. After getting his bearings, he realized with some relief that he was doing so with a hand, rather than a paw.

“It… worked?” Lykou said, flexing his fingers around a bit. He smiled as he glanced around. “I’m… back to normal!”

“In here at least,” Aelana said, smiling down from the wall, which she then proceeded to lower. “How do ye feel?”

“Like myself again,” Lykou said, getting to his feet a bit shakily. “Thank you!”

“Happy ta help, Lykou,” Daisy said. “Do remember what we said, tho. Ye’ll still be in the ether shape when ye wake up, till ye find a way ta change back.” She grinned. “Be sure tae let Kuna know aboot what we talked aboot, tho.”

“Dinnae encourage any o’ that,” Aelana warned, shooting her a glare. “’least nae till they find a way ta reverse whatever did this ta him in the first place.”

“Ach, fine fine,” Daisy replied, then turned her attention back to Lykou. “She ‘as a point. Whatever did it tis probably more stable than pokin’ aroond with life magic all willy-nilly.”

“Makes sense,” Lykou said, nodding. “I know he’s done a little experimenting on himself, but he says it’s hard to do on non-plant things.”

“Aye, it would be,” Aelana agreed, then crossed her arms and smirked. “Noo then, with that oot o’ the way, tell us more about this ‘magic’ shite o’ Gleam’s.”

“Ach, yes, ah want tae hear aboot this!” Daisy eagerly agreed. “That lass jest gets more interestin’ all the time. Lana was… eugh, ‘researchin’ aboot those ruins, bit hasnae come up with much yet.”

“Well, she can sort of feel the, uh… connection between certain things,” Lykou said. “Like that rock Ku and I keep around. And the magical stuff we’ve collected.”

“Ooo, she kin sense sympathetic connections?” Daisy asked. “Thas unusual fer a mortal, especially with no trainin’!”

“Indeed,” Aelana said, stroking her chin thoughtfully. “And she just does it… instinctively, or…?”

“Well, from what I understand, it was kind of ‘given’ to her by those weird sleep-messengers, probably,” Lykou said, then explained what the squirrel had described from her dreams.

Aelana listened intently, growing more and more intrigued. “Whoever these folk were, they must ‘ave been fascinatin’, ‘n’ very powerful.”

“Lana!” Daisy exclaimed, wide-eyed. “D’ye s’pose they worked wi’ primal?”

“Hmm... ordinarily ah’d say no,” Aelana replied. “But these def’nately soond like unusual folk. Ah need to ken more tae say fer sure, but it very well may be a possibility.”

“Primal?” Lykou asked curiously. “What’s primal?”

“A kind o’ theoretical energy tha’ links all worlds- includin’ both spirit and Sylthea,” Aelana explained. “Makes up th’ weave ‘n’ such. ‘n’ some think tis what gets turned intae other kinds o’ energy. But nobody kin touch it or even sense it, gen’rally.”

“Then how do you know it’s real?” Lykou asked.

“Has ta be,” Daisy replied with a shrug. “We may not ken much aboot it, but what we do ken o’ the world leaves a hole in thin’s that only somethin’ like primal energy kin explain. Like Lana said, what the weave’s made o’, fer example.”

“Ye said Gleam has weird stuff happen with magical items, aye?” Aelana asked the konuul. “Kin ye tell us more aboot that?”

“When she touched one of our astral charm things, it sort of made this, uh… sort of like a miniature lightning burst and knocked her backwards,” Lykou said. Then apparently something similar but even bigger happened when she and Kuna broke me out of the weird _thing_ I got stuck in that turned me into, y’know… a four-legger.”

“Very strange,” Aelana replied, scratching her head thoughtfully. “Ah’ve heard o’ that kinda magical feedback, but havenae seen it in a long time. Usually more o’ a Sylthean thing, ‘n’ only under certain circumstances.”

Daisy made an impatient half-squeal, half-groan. “Lanaaaa, we _NEED_ ta meet this lass!”

The lepne sighed and rolled her eyes a bit. “We bin over this Daisy. Ah’d love that too, but we canne jest go travelin’ sa far frae Clovaria, ‘n’-”

“Ah ken, they cannae backtrack like that,” the wolpertinger begrudgingly agreed. “But there must be _somethin’_ we kin do.”

“Ah’ll think oan it while we’re researchin’,” Aelana conceded, then turned her attention back to Lykou and crossed her arms. “So yer all wilder-shaped ‘n’ Gleam’s developin’ strange magical shite. Anythin’ else happened in the past day or two?” she asked in a tone somewhere between amusement and concern. “Never a dull day with you two. Or three now, ah s’pose.”

Lykou laughed half-heartedly and flopped back again. “Not yet, but tomorrow’s another day. Who knows what’ll happen next?” he said, then sighed. “I just want to get home, dammit.”

“Especially so I can maybe consider talking to Ku ab-” his external voice started to chime in, but he immediately interrupted it, “AAAANYWAY SO HOW ARE THINGS IN CLOVARIA?”

Daisy giggled. “Ye remember we already ken aboot that, right?”

“I know but it’s still a sensitive subject,” Lykou said, blushing with a wry smirk. “Trying to keep it out of mind at least for now.”

“Ah suppose it could get rather distractin’ at times,” Aelana admitted. “Maybe havin’ Gleam aroond kin help a bit.”

“Yeah, except she keeps getting curious about sexuality and relationships,” Lykou said. “We- by which I mean mostly me, since Ku’s shy about it- had to explain certain things to her.”

“Ohhh, that must’ve been fun,” Daisy teased with a big grin, then nudged him playfully. “We talkin’ practical demonstrations or-”

“DAISY!” Aelana blurted out, flushed. “Really!”

Lykou snickered as well. “No, although she keeps wanting that. She did finally learn about, you know… ‘handling things’ herself though. Told her she can just let us know she needs some alone time and we’ll give her space.”

“And conveniently leave the two o’ ye alone together, too, aye?” Daisy said, waggling her brows.

“Daisy, ah swear-”

Lykou couldn’t help but snicker some more and blush. “I mean yeah, technically.” He sighed. “Though as nice as it can be, it can make things worse, too.”

“Too tempting to go off and have some fun, which will jus-” his mental voice started again, before he interrupted it, “GAHIgnorethat!”

Both Aelana and Daisy couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “Aye, ah imagine it’d make certain things a bit harder to ignore if yer indulgin’ in them ‘benefits’ lad.”

The konuul groaned and rolled his eyes up. “Don’t I know it…” He rubbed his face. “At least if there’s one useful thing about being in a weird animal form right now, it’s that it makes the idea of indulging in that stuff a bit too weird.”

“Does it?” Daisy asked sincerely. “Ah dinnae see w-”

“AHEM,” Aelana interrupted, clearing her throat aggressively and blushing.

“What? Does he think ah’ve never-”

Lykou glanced up and gawked at Daisy. “Wait, you- with a-”

“And why not, hmm??” the wolpertinger said defensively. “Ah’m not all mischief and nonsense, despite what ye may think. Ah kin-”

Again, Aelana cleared her throat more aggressively and glared daggers at her other half, blushing furiously. “Shut it, Daisy, or-”

“Wait no, now you’ve got me curious,” Lykou insisted, sitting up and eyeing them with a somewhat bewildered and fascinated expression. “No offense Daisy, just… not only your shape but you’re, well-”

“Aye, ah ken,” Daisy said, rolling her eyes. “Ah’m big. Ah kin change that tho. Jest cus this is mah default form dosnae mean ah cannae take others, jest like Lana.”

“Oh. So you didn’t… like that,” Lykou said. “I was gonna say-”

“Doesnae mean ah haven’t, jest been a long time since we’ve met someone that’d match,” Daisy said with a smirk. “Anyway thas na ta say ah dinnae take strange forms fer fun.”

Aelana sputtered and shouted incoherent half-oaths at the wolpertinger. “WILL YE SHET YER-”

“Ye should ask aroond aboot the legend o’ the talkin’ sheep o’ Grennil Down next time yer in Clovaria,” Daisy said with an all-too-pleased-with-herself expression, savoring the way Aelana was completely losing her composure. “Or tae sultry snek o’ the Crooked Loch, or the forest o’ friendly vines, or-”

“Uh...huh,” Lykou replied, unsure how to respond. “That’s… I mean… wouldn’t that…”

Daisy snickered. “What kin ah say? Some folk are a wee bit odd. ‘n’ odd’s fun.”

Aelana let out a long, drawn-out groan and flopped unceremoniously on the ground, covering her face. “Ye were never ta speak o’ that shite, dammit! Tis still half my body even if yer tae one out, ye ken! That shite was embarrassin’ as-”

Lykou couldn’t help but snicker. “I mean, hey, weird as fuck sure, but as long as everyone involved had fun. And I assume it still felt good for both of you, right?”

“Not. Tae point,” Aelana grumbled, then shot him a quick piercing look. “None o’ this leaves yer heid, y’got it lad?”

“Fair, fair,” Lykou conceded, chuckling some more. “I won’t tell anyone. Just curious how that’d even work.”

“Best not ta think aboot,” Aelana said, sighing. “Yer right not tae-”

“What, experiment? Have fun?” Daisy interrupted. “Nae like he’s really a wild animal, jest cus he’s shaped like one. Could be fun.”

“I’m gonna take a hard pass on that one,” Lykou assured them both before Aelana could fuss at her. “Sounds way too awkward and surreal. I’d rather be back in my normal body for real before I go, uh… risking making my crush on Ku even worse again.”

“If ye say so,” Daisy said with a shrug. “Ye never ken what ye might like tho.”

Aelana glared at her. “Nae everyone’s a damn degenerate loon like you.”

“Ah, alas, tis true. Nae everyone kin be as interestin’ ‘n’ fun as me,” Daisy said, bringing her paw to her forehead dramatically. “But ah make do.”

“Do us a favor ‘n’ make don’t,” Aelana grumbled, then sighed. “Right, with that little tangent oot o’ the way…”

“Hang on, as long as we’re on the subject,” Lykou said, grinning. “What about you? I guess I never thought to ask, but I guess you must have, y’know… urges, too. Surely you don’t let her have all the fun for both of you.”

Aelana glared at him for a moment, then sighed and rolled her eyes a bit. “...only cause ah like ye lad, aye. Ah have my… indulgences,” she said quietly. “Nae often, but-”

“Let’s jest say she’s been gettin’ along pretty weel with oor new friends,” Daisy teased with a wicked grin. “She’s had a lil fun with Effie, ‘n’ Finlay’s even joined in once.”

“Alcohol was involved!” Aelana blurted out defensively, growing more flustered.

“Which dinnae hardly affect us!” Daisy retorted.

“Why are ye testin’ me so severely today, dammit?!” Aelana snapped.

Daisy rolled back into a snickering fit.

Lykou couldn’t help but laugh too. “Lana, no offense, but like I always tell Ku, it’s your reaction that makes it fun.”

Aelana grumbled and rubbed her face.

“Oi, consider tis revenge fer keepin us pent up fer so damn long,” Daisy said, with a vengeful grin. “We have to share a body ‘n’ all its needs, ye ken. Ah may be a wee bit wild, but it beats bein’ a prude.”

The lepne crossed her arms and looked away, still blushing. “Aye, fine, fair. Ah’m sorry ah neglected… those things, fer so long,” she said, then sighed and smirked faintly. “Admittedly ah didnae realize how much ah missed… bein’ like that with someone else.” After a moment, she narrowed her eyes and shot Lykou a playfully piercing look. “Yer havin’ too much fun with this, lad. Mibbie ah shouldnae have dissuaded Daisy frae playin’ games with yer dreams again. Maybe we kin take a peek at some o’ them fantasies o’ yers-”

“N-no need, let’s not,” Lykou said, immediately blushing and tensing up. “I uh-”

“Aww c’mon lad,” Daisy said, nudging him playfully. “We kin practice workin’ up yer courage to confess ta Kunaaaa~”

“I told you, n-not yet!” Lykou said, folding his ears down. After a moment, he grinned sheepishly. “Although… I suppose if you wanted to bring that dream-Kuna out so I could... practice uh… kissing him…”

Daisy and Aelana shared a look, then burst into a small laughing fit. “Lad, yer hopeless,” Daisy teased. “Just go fer the real thing already!”

Lykou groaned and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms stubbornly. “I’m not risking it till Lakefire.”

“Weel, ah think yer gettin’ claise ta wakin’ soon anyway,” Aelana said, glancing up at the ethereal space around them, noting the darkness on the horizon subtly starting to creep closer. “So we might as weel say bye fer noo.”

“Awe, damn!” Daisy complained. “T’was jest gettin’ fun dammit!”

“Cannae be helped,” Aelana said with a shrug, then turned back to the konuul. “Stay safe, Lykou. ‘n’ fer goodness sake, watch what yer doin’ in strange ruins!”

“Heh, yeah, I know,” Lykou said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Kind of hoping somewhere in there we’ll find a way to turn my body back. Thanks again for helping with the, uh… inside bit, I guess.”

“O’course lad,” Aelana said. “If ye dinnae find a way ta fix yer body in a day or two, one o’ ye call us in again ‘n’ we’ll see if we kin help figure it oot.”

Lykou nodded. “Will do. Oh hey, before you go though, did you ever talk to Ink again?”

Aelana frowned. “Nae. She’s been hidin’ fer a bit.”

“Or upty somethin’,” Daisy added flatly. “We’ll be watchin’ fer her tho.”

“Still need ta have some words with her aboot tae whole Kryckwood shite,” Aelana added.

Lykou shuddered. “Yeah… feel free to smack her extra for Ku and I.”

Aelana smirked. “Sure thing, lad.”