A New Transformation

The leaves rustled from Gideon’s passage as he bounded through the underbrush, in pursuit of the most interesting thing he had seen in his life.

Oh it wasn’t because of the lavish nine tails on his quarry - though that certainly made the strange beastling all the more intriguing.  The strange glow at his ear tips also wasn’t the reason, though Gideon would have loved to know how that occurred too…

No, it was the strange form he had seen the other in for just moments - nearly an hour ago.  All Beastlings could assume a two-legged form, of course.  Gideon had done it himself on occasion.  Sometimes you just needed more fingers to work with, after all, and their shifted forms gave them that (well, and for the Vesperus, it gave them hands, period, something they didn’t exactly normally have!)  But the form this one had taken had been different - the head had changed.  It had been flatter, no snout in sight, and to boot, most of his fur had vanished too!  It was bizarre and fascinating, and Gideon was consumed by questions he wanted to ask.  First of all how had the other beastling done it - was it like some kind of advanced version of the thing he could do?  What was the benefit of it?  That flat face didn’t really seem like it was good for recognizing scents, after all…  Maybe it had other advantages though?  All that skin also seemed so cold to just have out…  Gideon just wanted to know what made the form worth it, once he knew how…

Finally, the other beastling drew to a stop, and Gideon managed to catch up to him, lavender eyes bright and eager.

“Why have you kept following me?” the other growled.

Gideon didn’t mind that - it was a fair enough question.  He tugged some leaves off his tail.  “I saw the other form you had,” he said.  “The one with the flat muzzle, and the… all the skin.”

The other beastling crossed his arms, waiting for more.

“I wanted to ask how you did it,” Gideon said, resting on his haunches a moment.  “And… well, why?”

“...why…?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like the flat face would be all that useful for smelling things, and all the exposed skin seems…”

The other beastling heaved a weary sigh.  “All the skin is usually covered by clothes,” he said.  “And the face has… other benefits.  Smelling isn’t the only important thing.”

What an odd thing to say…  “What other benefits?”

He growled, seemingly annoyed that this kept going.  “I figured it all out myself, you should try it too.”

Gideon crossed his arms, annoyed.  “Well that’s not exactly a helpful thing to say.”

“Wasn’t intended to be.”

They glared at each other for a long moment.

“What if we competed in something…”  Gideon was slow with the suggestion, but he knew many others of his kind tended to be competitive.  He might not be inclined that way, but it was probably the best way to lure this one into actually telling him something useful.  “If I win, you tell me how to do this and what led you to learn it…  If I lose, I leave you alone.”

The other considered the offer before huffing a grunt of agreement.  “Not a great deal for me,” he groused.  “But I’ll take being left alone.  What competition?”

Gideon bared his teeth in a grin.  “A race, in these forms.”  He tended to be faster than most other vulpels, and this one especially did not seem all that fast to him - if he had his guess, he’d bet the grumpy beastling’s skill lay in combat and strength.  He was larger, so he’d outpace him for the early parts, he’d bet, but he probably couldn’t keep pace over time if the target was far enough away.

The other didn’t look pleased by the answer.  “Where to?”

Gideon’s ears and whiskers twitched, thinking.  Well, there was a stream a few miles away - that would probably serve well as an endpoint.  “There’s a stream this way,” he said, pointing south.  “Only a few miles.  Whoever is first to it is the winner.”

Another huff.  They lined up next to each other.

“Three…  Two… One… Go!”  Gideon had counted them down of course.

On the mark, they both took off.

Initially, the larger male outpaced him.  Gideon wasn’t bothered by that - he had expected it, after all.  He kept his pace steady, waiting for the point where the other male would falter.

It came near the three-quarters mark, when he would have increased his speed anyways.  He’d kept the other in his sights the whole time, but now, he put the effort in.  His legs pressed harder into the ground beneath him, and he went from comfortably behind the other beastling to neck and neck with him, drawing growls.

Wasted breath, Gideon thought, a cheeky grin crossing his face.  He didn’t return the growls, pressing on, soon outpacing the other male.

As the stream came in sight, they both raced towards it, but Gideon was the first to touch it, paws making a splash.

The other beastling dropped to sit, panting somewhat.  “Ugh…”

“I’ll give you a moment,” Gideon said, still grinning.  “But then… let’s talk.”

The other male growled, but he took a moment to drink from the stream.  “Fine.  I’ll start with the how, then…”

Gideon listened with utmost attentiveness as the male began to explain - and he had far more to explain than just how to take a different form, evidently.