Uncovering the Unknown

"This is the world of Ornaphyl, although the humans used to call it Earth, no matter how trashy and bad that sounded. We are in the Jinko forest in the state of Kin, in the country of Shtevia. Each state is ruled by a queen, then all of the queens within the each country are ruled by an empress, and an inhuman one at that. Humans are at the lowest of class here, having much less rights than the animalkin and beastkin.

"There are many different races of kin, such as hybrid kin, which will vary through each species of animal, any kind of kin or race that doesn't include magic are animalkin, then others such as immortal creatures with magic or some kind of special ability, are beastkin. Some traits of animalkin may have some kind of transformation through species, but just because they can do this does not mean they are beastkin, especially if it's the hybrid race, such as me. If you are more of less of one side as a hybrid, you will have different abilities, halfling hybrids can transform to look as full human, or full animal, but not in between. If someone is more animal then they can they might have the shape of a human but with animal skin or fur, animal ears and if they have it, horns or antlers, wings, a tail and their feet and hands may resemble the animal.

"As an example, I am more human than cat, so I cannot transform and stuck with just ears and a tail. But there are some that may still be more human but can transform from having ears and a tail to look fully human." Kameko explains after finishing her bowl of stew that she'd dished up. I am just about done with my bowl as she finishes speaking.

"What would dragonkin be?" I ask through a mouthful of stew, I frown in confusion when Kameko's eyes widen in what seemed to be bewilderment. "What?"

"Dragons are rare, they're immortal beastkin, they are high empresses of most of the countries." Kameko says in a high pitched voice. "There are hybrid dragonkin which are more common, there are many different races of those."

"Are there like, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, fairies, and other creatures like that?"

"Yes, but there are no werewolves, those are just hybrid wolfkin. Vampires, shapeshifters, spell-casters, elves, elemental summoners, crafters, those and many more are beastkin." Kameko says, standing up, I hand her my bowl which she places on top of hers', then she walks towards the kitchen to place them in the sink.

"Oh, earlier you said that you're like, antisocial of some sorts, you don't really seem to be that way to me." I say, standing up and pushing my chair back against the table. Kameko's tail flicked hesitantly from side to side.

"Well, I don't know why but.. you put me at ease, I don't feel the urge to flee like I normally do with others, well besides my sister and mom." She mumbles as I walk up behind her. "Normally if I found someone in the woods with your condition, I'd just run away. But.. I don't know why but seeing you like that made me feel guilty, like it was my fault, or I was responsible for helping you."

I am now right behind Kameko, I feel her shiver slightly as she realizes I was that close but she continues to stand in front of the sink unmoving. I lift up one of my hands, bringing it up and resting it on Kameko's head, her ears twitches.

"Where are your mom and sister?"

"Well, they live in the village, but they're not biologically related to me. My sister, Opal and I have know each other for as long as we can remember, we used to live on the streets of the city together. Opal has always been a great hunter, so she provided for the two of us. I'm a Maine Coon catkin, but Opal is some other kind of catkin. Eventually we left the city and ventured into these woods, that's where Charlotte found us. She raised us as if we were her own, although at times she could be a bit demanding." Kameko says, swiveling her ears to the sides. "They live in the village together now, I left to live alone but, they bring food and resources to me once a week, they respect my personal space. They don't tell the rest of the village where I live, because there is one beastkin there that really bothers me. He is always harassing me and scares me, that's the reason I left in the first place."

As I slip my hand off of Kameko's head, she turns around to face me, her ears were perked with determination. "I feel like we have some weird connection, I just feel it even more than before,like.."

"Well yeah, I was saying before you reminded me of a cat in my old world." I interrupt, " And.. oh, I want to try something." Stepping backwards, I close my eyes, feeling a strange surge run threw me. It reminds me of the waves of the ocean, beating me threw the water and air. My skin tingles and I feel as if my shape is warping and moving without my control, yet I was. I hear Kameko gasp as I open my eyes. I look down at myself, inspecting my hands. I am covered in a sleek, orange fur, yellow and white markings trailing down from my neck down my stomach. Feeling my head, I realize a have large tufts of fur on my cheeks and two large ears and a long, thin snout. Turning around, a fluffy tail appears between my legs, flicking as I jolt my muscles.

"You... you look like a fox." Kameko stutters in surprise as I continue to examine myself. "But.. that wasn't the kind of transformation animalkin do, and.. that symbol on your forehead. I can't be sure but, it reminds me of a shapeshifter."

"Cool, I'm gonna try again." I say, swiveling my ears from side to side, then closing my eyes once more. This time I try to think of a specific animal or person to shift into. As soon as I pick something to turn into, I begin to feel the strange warping feeling as my body changes and mutates. Opening my eyes, feel feathers lining my arms and body, covering me. Examining myself, I smile, feeling my sharp canines with my tongue. A harpy is what I became, although instead of a bird tail I have a long, dragon like tail that has a thin line of feathers running down each side. The feathers were the same red as my human form hair, they only covered my back, arms and head fully, making my chest and stomach almost completely bare. My legs where covered in thick scales that turned orange once you got to my feet, which looked like giant raptor talons.

"Why that?" Kameko stutters, her face slightly blushing. I step forward, bringing my face close to Kameko's, then I smile, showing my teeth, while doing so I lick my lips and canines. She steps back, her ears going back in fright.

"For fun." I turn around, changing back into human form. "I'm going to go explore the forest, after all I'm not tired, I'll be back in the morning."

"You've never been here, how would you know how to get back?"

"If worse comes to worse I can just shift into a bird and look around for your house." I say taking several steps towards the door to outside. Kameko looks as if she wants to say more to me, but she keeps quiet as I unlatch the door's locks. "See ya in the morning, kitty."