The Change
Daniel struggled to do this, but, he took in a deep breath. His whole body started to feel… warm. A comforting warmth, in fact, that spread from his navel to the rest of him over a manner of seconds. Then, he felt himself start to vibrate; his body shook, yet the tremors weren’t painful or unpleasant. Then, the warmth grew, like it was enveloping him. And within a short burst, everything swirled around Daniel and everything… changed.
Daniel suddenly found himself shrinking down, going from standing on two legs to dropping onto all fours. His body shifted, all in what seemed like an instant. By the time Daniel realized it - he’d opened his eyes, of course - he was now lower to the ground and standing on all fours.
He was no longer a human.
“Wh-what the…” Daniel couldn’t even begin to form a complete sentence.
The kitsune within him snickered. “You are now blessed with the power to assume my form, or a form like mine, I suppose would be more accurate.”
Daniel stood there, almost frozen in place, staring forward while he started to adjust to this. The first thing he noticed - besides the whole standing on all fours and being lower to the ground part - was that his senses were… sharper.
He could hear better, for starters, well enough that he could hear cars in the distance and plenty of other nighttime noises as if they were right in front of him. His vision was keen, sharp enough to see yards away without too much trouble, and of course, his sense of smell was much stronger, for the scents of all things around him practically invaded his nose.
It was overwhelming, almost to a maddening degree, yet right when Daniel started to feel that sensation of these things being too much, they seemed to weaken drastically in an instant.
“Sorry about that,” the kitsune said. “I forget how different it is for humans. You aren’t used to having the same senses I am. You will adjust in time, I promise.”
Daniel shuddered. “What… how did…”
“I did,” the kitsune said. “I weakened your senses, to help you learn to better adjust gradually rather than at once.”
“Oh.”
“My ability to suppress things is limited,” the kitsune said, her voice calm and reassuring. “I cannot force you to do anything, I’ll say that again. Just know I can offer help where possible when you have assumed this form. Ah, and another thing to be aware of: you are now invisible to humans. Your body is physical, and yet, you are also on a separate plane of existence. Meaning, before you ask, that you can see and hear and experience the world around you, but none will see you, none will hear you, and nothing can harm you.”
Daniel breathed in deep and let this reality wash over him. It was a lot to take in at once.
“The only beings who can see and communicate directly with you are those like me, or those like you,” the kitsune said.
“Other people with kitsune inside them?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, or another being similar,” the kitsune replied. “Come now, Daniel. The best way to experience this is to live it. Don’t dawdle around; go. Move, run through the city, see what it means to be gifted by a kitsune. I’ll be here.”
Written by Hollowpages on 14 September 2019