Chapter 3

Qiao Ai was thirsty. The itchy dryness in her mouth was the first sensation she felt when she woke up. The thirst made her open her eyes, and she saw a cave. The walls were darker then normal stone, and the floor was covered in what seemed to be grass, even though doing so seems like it would've taken a lot of time and effort. It seemed to be a cave used by someone as a house, and if Qiao Ai had been more clearheaded she would have felt something wrong with the situation, because why would a being so callous as that star be so considerate as to start her off with her own house?

But she wasn't, her brain was foggy and disorientated, and so she decided that the cave would be a good place to stay once she had sated her burning thirst.

Staggering up to her new four feet, Qiao Ai thought it would take her a while to get used to this new body and move. However, the moment she took her first step, it was as if something clicked into place, and she was moving as fluidly as water. It felt natural to her, as if this was how she had always moved and not her first time on four feet instead of two. Qiao Ai felt free in this new body, on four legs, and she couldn't really figure out why. She didn't mind though, the fresh clean snow outside was calling to her parched throat, and her full bladder was urging her on.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the snow to create dazzling light. The temperature, however, was still mild. I scampered outside, jogging to and fro to find the thinnest layer of snow for my small body, which was probably only half a meter tall, and a meter long at a rough glance. Finding a thinner spot, I tentatively press a forefoot on to find it slightly cool against my little paws, but still firm enough to grip the ground. I ran on the snow, looking for a puddle of melted snow to drink out of. After looking for a few minutes, I see one and race towards it. It isn't very deep, probably just enough to lap up with my tongue.

And so I did just that, human manners be damned. I don't care if it's dirty or whatever, clear and cool water does wonders. I felt refreshed once I had finished drinking, the puddle now quite decreased in size. I think I'll come back here again next time if I can remember where it is. With one need fixed, my attention instead shifted to other, less sanitary needs. Glancing back at the puddle to remember it's location, I once again ran off, this time looking for a patch of ground with no snow. My mind is filled with the question on how I'm supposed to pee like this? Do I just go doggy style? Squat like a cat? I've never even seen foxes before as they don't live in Australia, how am I supposed to know how they pee?? Whatever, I guess I'll just go with the flow and do whatever feels comfortable. At least it isn't a number 2.

Finding a spot for this turned out to be way harder then I'd thought, but eventually I found a patch of rocky ground with no snow to do my business. I'm not going into detail, but it was actually pretty natural, no issues or anything. didn't even need to wipe. Humans sure have it hard in that regard, huh. Speaking of humans, once I'm back in the cave, I should probably figure out how to humanize. While I'm thinking this, I've already started running back in the direction I came from, hoping that I remember where exactly that cave was. I was too excited to be outside earlier, I forgot to check what the opening looked like.

When I got back to the now much smaller puddle, I slowed down, looking for the footprints I had left on the ground on my way over. They were still visible, but probably not for long, as there appears to be thick, heavy clouds heading over in this direction and I can smell the air getting crisper. I might need to look for some food in advance, because if it snow then I'll probably be out of luck. There are shrubs everywhere though, so I'll just grab a selection of berries in a leaf and figure out if they're edible later.

Going up to a few bushes, I left the berry bushes I found that were suspiciously full alone. If the birds won't eat it, then neither will I. Instead, I went for the bushes that were rather bare near the top but had fruit at the bottom. Using my mouth to rip off a large leaf, I collected a large amount and slowly made my way back to the cave. This probably took around half an hour, and by the time I was back the blue sky was gone and instead a wall of grey was looming over me. The temperature had chilled and I was now rather glad the cave had all this grass.

At this point I started feeling rather hungry, so after putting the berries on the ground I sorted them into four piles. I have no Idea how long I'll be stuck inside, so I should save some for later meals. I tentatively took a berry from the smallest pile and put it into my mouth. Pushing it to the side with my tongue and crunching down, the berry tasted amazing. It was shaped like a blackcurrant, but tasked kind of like grape. These would probably make amazing wine, as there was no big seeds, and it was super delicate. I quickly managed to finish the small pile, and looked wistfully at the other three. I can't eat them now anyways, so instead I might as well turn my attention to my other task of figuring out how to turn into that humanoid form.

I have no idea where to start, but I decided I might as well try just commanding myself to do it. "Change to humanoid form!" It didn't work at all, even when I changed the wording or repeated it, and I just ended up quietly talking to myself in a cave. Kind of dumb, but after a few minutes I figured out that wasn't working and switched tactics. I closed my eyes, and imagined my body stretching. My short little legs extending into arms and legs, becoming upright, my snout forming into a human head, and the tail... staying there I guess?

And all of a sudden, I was snapped out of my reverie by the feeling of falling flat on my face. Luckily onto the grass, but still... "Ow. My nose hurts... wait, my nose?" I instantly looked down, to find a naked human body! I did it! I wasn't even cold, even though I was butt naked. My body seemed pretty good too. I was fairly sleek, the same as in fox form, but my breasts were rather generous. Maybe a DD cup? That might not be a good thing, because I highly doubt bras exist here. Back pain ahoy. Other then that, my skin was a fairly dark sable colour, and I had dead straight hair that went right down to my waist. The hair was black, and also the colour of my hair was the tail that was still right above my butt. While standing up, I twisted back to see it swaying, expressing my pleasure. Seeing the tail, a sudden thought strikes me, and I lift my hands up to try grab for human ears on the side of my head.

"Yeah, they aren't here." Instead, lifting my hands up on top of my hair, I found them resting in fox ears. Accidently touching one sent a shiver down my spine and I yelped involuntarily. "Note to self, don't touch the ears. Those are sensitive. Also, why am I not cold? I have no clothing to warm me up and I'm on a snowy mountain. How weird." Pondering out loud my thoughts, I was disappointed there was no mirrors or water around to check what my face looked like. Overall however, I was rather pleased with how this worked out. Humming a random little melody, I walked around the cave, gathering the grass into one big heap for me to sleep on, as well as putting the berries to the side. Once done, I flop onto the grass.

"Should I stay human to sleep or not? On one hand, being in this form is familiar to me, but on the other hand I'm naked and this doesn't feel safe. Hnng, what should I do?" I spend a while pondering over my dilemma, before eventually deciding. "I'll say like this just for today. After tonight I won't have many opportunities to be in this form, so I'll stay this way while I can. Besides. What's the worst that could happen?" Satisfied with my one sided argument, I shuffled into the most comfortable position I could and went to sleep.

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When I came too, the first thing I noticed was the sound of heavy breathing. It wasn't my own. The next thing I noticed was the presence looking above me. Just as anxiety was starting to creep in and I tried to open my eyes, I heard a deep, smooth very masculine voice behind me.

"Who the hell are you, and why are you in my cave?"

My eyes flew open, and I saw a huge snow leopard with the carcasses of 3 animals near the entrance of the cave. It looked angry.

"K, KYYYYAAAAAA!!"