Elkay had reached the location marked by the coordinates given and wasn’t too surprised by what he saw. He was in a very calm, secluded clearing in the middle of a forest filled with mostly leaf-less trees, and the only building nearby was a small shack, which, surprisingly, did actually have proper plumbing in it, as well as a cupboard of first aid gear and some other useful things, based on what Elkay could see through the window.
Sitting on a chair behind the shack was the being who had invited Elkay to this strange, forested area. The being in question, a clearly female Ksithan, had heard Elkay’s heavy, Rethan footsteps but hadn’t moved in the slightest. Curious, Elkay edged over towards her, and realised there was a second chair waiting for him. Between them was a small table with a handful of… choice items on it.
“Good morning, Phovos.”
“Good morning, Elkay. Sit down, please.”
Elkay did as he was told. Phovos sat up straight, but Elkay had just noticed that she was wearing a blindfold, which she was now removing.
“How you feeling?”
“Curious…” Elkay admitted. “What are you doing out here?”
“This is where I come to feel… at one with my base instincts. Because it’s my base instincts that mostly control how I, well, exist…” Phovos put her blindfold down and handed Elkay a much longer strip of fabric. “That’s what we’re doing today. Please put this on.”
Again, Elkay did as he was told. He closed his eyes then wrapped the fabric across his face, tying the fabric just below the armour on the back of his neck. As he did so, he could sense that Phovos had stood up and was standing in front of him.
“So, what can you feel right now?”
“I would like to ask a question before we do anything. What is the purpose of this?”
Phovos sighed, checking that Elkay’s blindfold was on properly, then sat back down in her chair. Elkay could here ruffling as she put her own blindfold back on.
“Our god-given powers are… hard to explain and, from what I’ve seen, only kinda work in the same way. They’re reactive, protecting us from the horrible world around us. Our abilities defend us from the effects of our universe’s four deities, because they were given to us by the One Above, the blessed Allmaker Herself.”
“I am certain that my abilities are caused by the serpent Yisini’s experimentation on me.”
“With intervention from the Allmaker. Probably because you talked Arkadin down to a standstill and the Allmaker wanted to reward you for that. But that doesn’t really matter because the whole “how you got your powers” answer is different every time. What is more important is learning to control them so you don’t get hunted down like the freak you are. Especially since your brother is currently… well, I have no idea what’s going on with your brother…”
Elkay tutted, knowing exactly what Phovos was talking about. She was also a very sudden reminder that he needed to give his brother a call.
“So this is… tied to instinct?”
“Yep.”
“I should have guessed as much, but how can you control it if it is based on-”
“Sssshhhh…”
Both Phovos and Elkay fell silent. The wind had picked up, suddenly and harshly. The temperature around them dropped. Elkay felt cold at first, but that feeling quickly went away, and he felt as if the weather hadn’t changed at all. Rubbing his fingers against his skin, Elkay realised that he had… fur?
With a hint of panic, Elkay removed his blindfold and inspected his body. His skin was now covered in soft, fluffy fur while his armour had softened, a layer of what felt like leather covering him.
“What… what the…”
Phovos peered at Elkay from underneath her own blindfold. She was smiling. Her own body had undergone a similar change. Her scales were completely replaced with fur and her existing fur was much thicker.
“It’s interesting, isn’t it?”
“I barely even… felt this change happen…” Elkay stuttered. He didn’t feel cold but he was certainly worried and confused. “How do I change myself back?”
“That is what we need to work on!” Phovos beamed. “The whole point of me inviting you to train here. You need to make your base instincts believe what your upper level brain wants to believe.”
Elkay blinked, more confused than worried now. “That… makes little sense.”
Phovos got up and patted Elkay on the shoulder. “I know, I know. But we’ll work through this. Together.”
“I appreciate that, Phovos…” Elkay muttered, bowing slightly in a mark of respect. Phovos though just continued to smile.
“Don’t be like that. I’m just glad to have someone I can talk to about these things! Been an insanely long time since I last met anyone like myself!”