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Kitsune Lina Suscipsions Confirmed
"Hey Lina," Gourry called out. "What's the matter?"
"I...must have caught something," Lina said, subdued. Zelgadis arched an
eyebrow, "Uh oh, that probably gave too much away." Fortunately he didn't
ask any questions.
"It's not..." Gourry twiddled his fingers, embarrassed. "...that time
of month...is it?"
"No," Lina smashed an uppercut into the swordsman's chin. "It is NOT
that time of the month! I wouldn't even bother casting spells if it was."
"So what exactly did you catch?" Zelgadis asked.
"How should I know?" Lina demanded. "Look, let's just get back to
travelling and maybe it will go away." Amelia shook her head, pityingly, Lina
was still hoping it wasn't lycanthropy.
"Yeah, she doesn't seem sick," Gourry noted, wearily.
"Nasty burn on your hand there," Zelgadis pointed to the circular mark.
Lina blushed and hid her hands behind her body.
"Come on now, those people in the inn were bad enough," Amelia lectured.
"We're supposed to be her friends, we shouldn't be hounding her like this."
"Yeah, did you want people poking at you when Rezo made you a chimera?"
Lina demanded. Zelgadis arched his eyebrow again, "Damn it, I gave him too
much again."
"Point taken, but if she can't cast magic, she shouldn't..." It was
obvious that he had come to the conclusion that the situation was a little
more permanent than Lina or Amelia wanted them to know.
"I shouldn't what?" Lina asked, dangerously.
"Shouldn't keep travelling with us," he continued addressing Amelia,
merely glancing at Lina. "She might get hurt."
"Yeah she's not that much without her magic," Gourry agreed.
"Excuse me, I'm right here!" Lina shouted.
"I'm aware of that," Zelgadis said. "What's your point?" Lina winced.
"Okay, THAT is enough," Amelia shouted. Everybody looked at her
surprised.
"Now, I have some things to do in this city any way, you two might as
well go on to the next town and we'll meet you there tomorrow."
"You want us to split up?" Zelgadis asked, not really expecting an answer.
"Lina needs some time away from you two to settle down, and you both need
to find some manners, so yes, we'll meet you at the Dragon Ball Inn,
tomorrow. Okay?"
"Do I get any say in this?" Lina asked.
"We'll see you there then," Zelgadis agreed, reluctantly.
"Fine, come on Lina," Amelia responded. The princess grabbed Lina's arm
and walked determinedly out of the alley.
"She's mad," Gourry said, unnecessarily. "Hey Zelgadis, did you ignore
her again?"
"What are you talking about?" Zelgadis asked, still trying to figure out
what the girls were hiding. "Why would I ignore Amelia?"
"Oh, so you know she has crush on you then?" Zelgadis facefaulted
"WHAT?!" "Would you let go of me, Amelia?" Lina demanded.
"You should have told them," Amelia said. "It's neither just or fair to
keep this from them."
"I'll tell them, okay," Lina promised. "Just stop acting like I can't
make my own decisions! I'm still me, I just can't cast...anything."
"Let's get some shopping done, and not think about it for a little
while," Amelia suggested sweetly.
"Your still doing it," Lina said. "And what are we shopping for anyway?"
Then they stopped in front of an armorers forge. "Oh." "They were hiding something," Zelgadis muttered.
"Who were hiding something," Gourry asked as they walked along.
"Amelia and Lina!"
"Oh, where are they anyway?" Zelgadis reached up and nearly tore some of
his wire hair out.
"They stayed behind to do 'things' at the last town," Zelgadis said
through gritted teeth.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Gourry nodded. "I wonder why Lina can't use
magic."
"I wonder that as well," Zelgadis agreed. "But it appears that we'll
have to wait a little while for answers." "Amelia, we really don't have to do this," Lina pleaded. Her hands and
feet were manacled together forcing her to curl into a ball. Her clothes and
new supplies were set off to the side of their camp site. They were about an
hour away from the main road. "You and I both know that I won't be dangerous
until the full moon."
"Have you ever met a werecreature?" Amelia asked.
"Other than burning them to a crisp, no," Lina admitted.
"Neither have I," Amelia said. "I'd rather not take the chance."
"These things hurt you know," Lina complained.
"Yeah, that's probably the silver threaded through the iron," Amelia told
her.
"The what?" Lina was conscious of her hair standing on end, and an
itching sensation at the base of her spine.
"Well, the sun's going down," Amelia noted.
"I...oww...noti...err...ced.." Lina responded. Amelia whirled to see
Lina in the middle of a transformation. Amelia gasped as she saw a short
lengthed red fur erupt over Lina's body. Her teeth lengthened, and her ears
grew large, pointed and coated in black fur. All the while a bushy red tail
with a white tip was growing as her legs were changing shape. It sounded to
the princess as if her mentor and friend was in a lot of pain, but she was
afraid to approach. Even if she could bear to get near the obvious were
creature now, she couldn't think of anything to do.
The process took nearly a full two minutes, and left Lina panting and
exhausted on the ground.
"Miss Lina?" Amelia asked cautiously.
"I'm...still me..." Lina gasped wearily, voice hoarse. She looked up and
Amelia saw that the face was still mostly human, just covered in fur with
reflective eys and long canines. The black furred ears, drooping dejectedly
at the moment, were the most obvious inhuman feature. In fact the whole
seemed more cute than frightening. "The reports are right."
"I guess so," Amelia agreed. "So on the new moon you'll be a
normal...uh, fox I guess...Most nights you'll be like this, and on the full
moon you'll..."
"Be a rampaging infectious monster..." Lina finished. Then she started
crying.
"Miss Lina, it's okay," Amelia gingerly reached over and patted the
sobbing fox-girl. "We'll find a way to cure you."
"Just get me out of these manacles and stop trying to cheer me up," Lina
asked, half-growling. The sound was more resigned and depressed than angry.
Lina couldn't help but notice Amelia's reluctance to approach her.
"You shouldn't give up Lina," Amelia tried to comfort her friend as she
hesitantly unlocked the manacles. Amelia winced as she saw the rashes the
silver threaded metal had made on her friend's wrists and ankles. "Zelgadis
hasn't given up, and he's been a chimera for years. You've only been a
were-fox a couple of days."
Lina only paid half attention to Amelia's commentary as she got dressed.
The red-head had to cut a hole in the back of her breeches to let the tail
out, and her shoes didn't fit over her fox-like feet. Otherwise everything
was relatively normal.
"The chimera curse is unique, lycanthropy is documented," Lina sighed, it
came out a whuff. She felt the steel of the short sword she had just bought
that afternoon, and glanced at the studded leather armor and greaves. She
was going to have to get used to those. "There is no cure, and you know
that."
"We don't know that Lina..." Amelia started. Then Lina's tail began
twitching wildly.
"The only thing I can do now is find out who did this to me!" Lina
shouted.
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