Foxside: The Temple of Inari 56 - Rice, Wine, and Spell Slots

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

"I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast..." Rey admits.

And it is WELL past lunch time.

Maybe she's just hungry?

Feed her a bunch of chickens!

That always sates a fox' hunger, right?

[Recaiden]

"Well, then you need lunch!"
The priestess cups her hands together, closes her eyes, and when she brings them apart there's a little table laden with food. Rice, fish, fruits, and as an extra miracle, plenty of chickens and liver.

"What do you know about the necklace, Grant?"
She looks at it (and him) more closely.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't notice your hooves at first."

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

Grant blushes and looks away. His legs are equine but he doesn't have the full lower half like some satyrs, lacking a tail and horse hair.
"It's no problem. This is the Golden Bridle of Pegasus, who's the one with Pirene whose spring I had to drink from. It's a tool of control. I don't much like it."

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

What about chicken livers?

What about fried chicken livers?

Those are, in fact, a thing in some places.

Rey's mouth is already watering.

"Oh wow this looks really good..."

OM NOM NOMMING commences!

She doesn't say thank you, however.

Though she DOES make an occasional comment about how tasty it is.

Nom nom.

Nom nom GLORPH nom nom nom!

Huh.

Was she always a weird wolf-sized fox with burnt wood and branches for a back? Because that's what she looks like all of a sudden.

[Recaiden]

Let's not get carried away combining foods here.

"That sounds like a very specific myth. I'll have to check the library - but for the meantime probably keep the bridle on. It might help you keep control of yourself, you know?"

And no, she hasn't. Very concerning!

"How do you feel now, Rey? You might have gotten a little carried away? Or did you only look humanoid to make us feel better?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

Grant, meanwhile, takes one look at ReyFox and makes a noise most usually expected from young girls and immediately attempts to pet her between her adorable ears.
”Oh my gosh Rey you’re so fluffy~”
It seems that being part horse hasn’t dampened his feelings towards small furry animals after years of not being allowed pets.

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

Nom nom nom swallow.

"What?" Rey replies to the 'only looked human' bit.

Then her ears fold back when Grant speaks up.

"What!"

Then she seems to realize something is wrong and examines herself.

"WHAT!?"

This is apparently somewhat shocking to her.

"OhmygodhowdoIchangeback!?"

[Recaiden]

"Try doing something human-y, like picking up a plate with your hand. And keep how you used to look in mind. You do remember that, right?" The priestess suggests.

She does not try to pet Rey. That wouldn't be polite.

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

Grant blinks in surprise.
”How? What do you mean how? You turned into a guy and back fifteen minutes ago. Just do that again.” Did she just forget how to shapeshift or something?

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

But doesn't everyone like getting petted?

Even some fish like getting petted!

"But that was different!" Rey objects. "I did that on purpose. And-"

The giant fox makes a somewhat constipated face.

"And what I did then isn't working."

Tragic!

Maybe she's just going to be fluffy forever.

She begins pawing at the plate on the ground, which doesn't appear to help at all.

[Recaiden]

No. Many things don't like being petted.

"It would be pretty unusual if you had two different kinds of shapeshifting. Probably changing between two mostly-human shapes is different from this. Here, let me see if I can help."
The priestess puts a hand to her holy symbol, and sets the other on top of Rey's head.
"Dear Inari, I think Rey probably shouldn't be such a fox yet. Undo."
And that should reverse whatever turned her into a fluffy bramble monster. She was right here when it happened, just a moment ago.
...
Unless she was always a fluffy bramble monster and no one ever noticed. Not much to be done about that. But the priestess would at least discover if that were the case.

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

"Maybe you just have to use your fox-ball?" Grant suggests, when the priestess does priestessy things.
Can the gods save Rey from her adorable fate?
Find out next post!

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

UNFLUFFY!

There's now a teenaged girl sitting on the ground.

Who has a fox tail.

And who looks kind of bewildered.

"Ummm..."

Why did her life get so weird all of a sudden?

Everything was fine before!

"Thanks?"

[Recaiden]

"You're welcome. You seemed pretty alarmed by how you had turned into a fox."
The plates and such disappear, their job done.
"How do you feel now that you're back to your normal shape?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

Silly Rey. Your life got so weird all of a sudden because you gave your name to a huldra and then ate it again.
”Well I’d say she’s right to be alarmed, cute or not.” Grant says, standing up.
”I’d be pretty alarmed if I turned into a horse.” Something tells him he can’t though. He’s not what Rey is. Not that he knows what he is, really. Will he end up like Rey, being a girl? It still feels weird to remember she wasn’t two hours ago. The memories don’t seem real. Blasted faeries. Grant can’t even tell if it scares him or not. His best hope is to just try to stay how he is.

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

"Better. Still weirded out?" Rey ventures. "Is there a way to fix Grant? I don't think he got it as bad as I did."

Maybe there's a way to make him less horse-y?

After all, his name didn't get taken.

More weird stuff just got added to him.

[Recaiden]

"Alright, well I'm sure we can avoid turning you into a horse."
"You might go back to normal just from doing enough mundane, non-fey things. And if not, I can probably help reverse the changes, if you can tell me what you were like before." Hopefully he still remembers that much.

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

Grant nods. Help sure sounds great.
”Well I obviously didn’t have hooves. And my hair was brown. Uh, that’s mostly it. Anything else, Rey?” he asks. He hopes he hasn’t got something on his back this whole time that he never noticed.

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

Rey is about to interject that 'he was a huge nerd' but thinks better of it.

He was also a lot scrawnier.

And way more unsure of himself.

The fae magic had done something to his confidence?

Or...

Maybe that was just him thinking he didn't have anything to lose?

Rey isn't sure...

"Umm... I think that's it?" she lies.

[Recaiden]

Don't worry Rey. He's still a huge nerd, and I don't see any sign of that changing.

"Now, it may take some time to get you all the way back to normal."
"First we'll give you an elixir to counteract the water from a fairy well that you were forced to drink."
"Then I'll use my magic to help, fix your hair and legs."
"But then you'll have to keep yourself busy with boring mundane things until all the weirdness is totally out of your system."
The priestess does the same motion that conjured the food, but produces only an empty cup, which she fills with water from a small jug that was on her belt. Then she passes a hand over the cup and turns the water into rice wine. Finally she takes a pinch of magical powder (it's high in iron) and sprinkles it in, and then passes the cup to Grant.
"This may make you feel a little sick, but drink it all down."

"Now, Rey, one thing we should do is sign you up for a beginning shapeshifter's class at the school here. This will only be harder if you forget how to have arms again." Rey needs a lot more than that, having been turned into a huldra, but one thing at a time.

[Deathkeeper]

Sanctuary

Grant seems uneasy, but takes the cup. He takes one sip, and gags. He tries again, and gags again. Holding his nose, he manages to drain the cup, though he immediately plops down, clutching his stomach.
And flushes. You can’t just go giving minors strong alcohol!
”That was real nasty, you know?” he moans.

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

Isn't it rice beer?

Since you make beer out of starchy things and wine out of sweet things.

Rey gives her friend a really concerned look.

But not a hungry look!

That feelings of 'hey I should eat people' isn't poking at the back of her mind.

Maybe eating sufficient chickens (and chicken livers) helps with that?

"He's going to be okay, right?" is her first question. Her second question is, "It would be alright for me to go to school here, then? I won't be able to go back to my old school. They don't allow... abnormal people. And that's even assuming the whole building didn't get gobbled up into the Dreamlands."

It might have.

[Recaiden]

Well you see, rice is technically a fruit. So it must make a wine.

It isn't a strong drink, Grant. Medium alcohol at most. It won't even burn.
"If medicine tasted good, people would drink it at breakfast. That would be terrible."
The priestess crouches down to be nearer Grant's level.
"Yes, he'll be okay. Just needs some time."

She looks over to Rey for a moment.
"Yes, we should be able to fit you in, and the strangeness is no problem. Some of the curriculum is just for strange folks, after all."

We can hope that it helps. Eating chickens is a fox-monster thing to do after all. Maybe it can substitute for eating friends.
"I think it's safe to say your school wouldn't be open anytime soon no matter what."

Grant should find his hand being taken and lifted up. "Now, Grant, try to follow along with my prayer. 'Holy Inari, keeper of the rice...'" It's a bit lengthy, but as he follows along, he should feel his legs going back to human, find his hair returning to normal colors, and maybe having the bridle fall off, depending on how tied-in to his fairy-ness the thing is.

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

Some people just can’t handle their rice juice, Priestess.
Grant doesn’t have any trouble reciting the prayer despite being fairly sure he’s drunk. He immediately jumps up and hugs Rey, wiggling his feet as he steps back.
”See Rey? Toes!” he giggles.
He’s going to need shoes again.

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

Botanically a whole unmilled rice grain is a fruit, just like all other grains. But the fruit is very thin and gets peeled off along with the seed coat before the grain is consumed.

Botany! Yay!

Rey smiles when her friend is restored.

She smiles a bit less when he hops up and hugs her. Rey begins raising her arms to embrace him, but quickly thinks better of it.

Especially since her spirit ball just unconsciously bip!ed into her hand.

Very carefully.

Very deliberately.

She hugs him with just one arm.

The one that isn't holding her soul-eating marble.

"I'm glad you're okay, Grant," she says, genuinely. At least ONE of them made it through this intact.

[Recaiden]

"Now remember, if you want to keep your toes, you have to keep things normal for a while."
The priestess straightens up, a smile on her face.

"Why don't we- err, Rey, what are you doing with that ball?"

[Deathkeeper]

Sanctuary

Grant flushes. That's very red.
"Oh. Right. I uh, guess I'm not immune to your stuff anymore. Whoops. We'll just have to watch that." he says, looking away in embarrassment just like Rey is used to.

[Rebonack]

[Sanctuary]

They should watch that, yes.

Fox proliferation is a serious issue.

"Not using it to eat my best friend," Rey responds, maybe just a little pointedly. She's holding the hand with the ball in it well away from Grant. Good that she's getting more consciously aware of it.

Hopefully Grant will do more than just blush.

Hopefully he'll eventually stop squeezing Rey and step back.

Because this is getting awkward really quickly!

"You aren't and please be careful? Like, I don't want to snack on you. But snacking on you is literally instinctual. I don't want to slip up."

In other words?

Please do not hug Rey regularly.

[Recaiden]

"The blessings on the temple will prevent you from eating anyone here." the priestess chimes in helpfully. "In a metaphorical sense. You could still take a bite out of him. But don't!"

"Still, maybe it would help if you didn't have the orb with you for a while?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Sanctuary]

Grant shakes his head, putting some distance between them.
He wishes he could do something for Rey. Anything. But he also really doesn't want to end up a cannibalistic fox-girl either.
"She can't. It just comes back to her if she throws it away. You'd have to separate them magically. If that can even be done." he explains.