Monthly 24b: Uneasy Lies the head... Aftermath REPOST (Patreon)

Here's the story (Sorry I didn't have time to make it shorter. But,  here's a new image I drew tonight ;-):

Derek stood in the foundation pit, frozen in place, panting slightly. A small gasp that sounded more like a girlish whimper escaped him and it terrified him. 

He tried to slow his breathing by breathing through his nose and he almost swooned. The scents that flooded his nose sent new and overwhelming information into his brain. 

Everything was heightened. Not just his olfactory sense but, his vision was preternaturally keen; colors were brighter, contrast sharper and he hadn’t seen this clearly since he was a teenager. 

His hearing, too was sharper, he could hear the tiniest of sounds from the cooing of pigeons on top of the foreman’s shack to the crunching of the gravel beneath his footpaws.

His footpaws! 

He could feel them, huge and soft, the pads like small pillows. He lifted his hands to look at how they’d changed and they were also huge, puffy-padded abominations. He moved them around, marveling at the spotted gray and white fur that covered them. 

He then became aware of the sensations of his entire body. His giant, fluffy tail that moved, almost of its own volition, in time with his strained emotions. His thick, white hair that flowed down to his heavy backside. He became aware of his large hanging breasts which made him suddenly, startlingly aware of his… lack. 

She gasped again

“Oh, no!” She whispered.

Then, she did swoon. As she felt herself falling backwards, a blue light enveloped her and she felt as though she were falling forever until the darkness claimed her.

____________

“Ah! Good, Princess!” came a calm, kind male voice in the darkness, “You’re awake. Open your eyes slowly. You’ve been asleep for some time.”

She felt at hand gently stroking her forehead and at the same time a soft, female voice close to her ear whispered,

“Oh, my little one. Please come back to us, little one.”

She opened her eyes and found herself looking into the gently smiling face of a dog-man. He looked like a Newfoundland. His fur, once black was greying and his old brown eyes were full of concern. 

“What? Who are you” she gasped, “Where am I?”

“Oh, my dearest,” came the voice beside her again, “Don’t you remember Doctor Lovan?”

She sat bolt upright and pulled herself away until the headboard of the bed she was in stopped her. She looked to her left to see a figure that looked like a cross between a snow leopard and an attractive middle-aged woman. The leopard-woman smiled hopefully at her.

“Who are you?” she felt like screaming but, couldn’t bring her voice above a terrified whisper.

“Now, Princess Joshalla,” said the dog-man,” This is Her Majesty, Queen Joveylla. Your mother.”

“My moth-? No. That’s not possible!” As she spoke she was aware of how odd her mouth, tongue and teeth felt and at the girlish petulance of her voice, “I’m not a princess! I’m-“

“Oh, Joshalla!” came the queen’s voice, on the verge of tears, “say you remember me!”

The eyes that met hers were so sad that Joshalla stopped cold. She had not been an unkind man before and the emotion in the deep green and gold-flecked eyes was so deep, she felt she could not bring herself to be cruel. She stopped and looked around her as the doctor spoke.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It is as I feared. Often with this type of fever the patient loses a great deal of their memory.”

The room they were in was opulent in what Joshalla, with her limited knowledge of ancient history, seemed medieval and perhaps middle-eastern. Ornate wooden furniture, gold braziers and candle holders, and intricately woven tapestries filled the room.

“Will she ever regain her memories, doctor?” Joshalla turned to the sad face again. Queen Joveylla turned back to her daughter and touched the princess’ face. Joshalla surprised herself by not flinching.

“It is difficult to say, Your Majesty,” The doctor shook his giant, shaggy head sadly, “My books tell me that very rarely do the memories fully return. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Joshalla!” The queen took Joshalla’s face in her paws, looked deep into her eyes and began to weep.

Joshalla felt her heart melt at the queen’s grief. There was a movement beside her as the doctor came closer.

“Be easy, Your Majesty,” he said, gently pulling her paws away, “Perhaps this will help. My notes suggest it might. Or, at least it can’t hurt. Here, take this, princess”

He held a gold-trimmed silver mirror to her. Her paws felt ungainly and dextrous at the same time as she gingerly took the mirror. She stopped breathing as she raised the mirror and looked at her new face for the first time.

She gasped at first. For four decades, she’d looked out of her eyes and saw a male, human face that got older, grayer, heavier but, still stayed the same. This new face was startling. 

She studied her new self carefully. She was lost for a while in her large, green and gold-flecked eyes. The cat-like pupils dilated in the dim light of the room. She watched her muzzle move as she chewed her full, dark lower lip with pointed teeth. Bringing her hand to her face she caressed her own cheek for a minute. 

There was a movement beside her and a weight as Queen Joveylla moved to put her face next to her daughter’s, resting her chin on Joshalla’s furry shoulder. Joshalla moved her eyes to look at the half of the queen’s face in the mirror.

“See, my daughter, it is you. Yourself” the queen whispered, hope dripping from every syllable, “Are you not the most beautiful daughter a mother could ever hope to have?”

Joshalla moved her eyes back to look at her own, studying them once more.

Inside she was still Derek, senior foreman for Blount Construction, county dart’s champion, bachelor, human and male. But, here, in this place, she was, to everyone else, Princess Joshalla, daughter to Queen Joveylla, snow leopardess and… a female. 

I might never get home, it makes no sense to fight it, she thought as she turned her eyes again to meet the hopeful face of the queen, besides, she does look too sad to disappoint.

Joshalla closed her eyes for a moment, then reached a decision. She opened her eyes, lowered the mirror to her lap and turned her head a little to face the queen.

“I could learn to be, I suppose?” She said, her voice a little nervous but, not entirely afraid…