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The main duo get invited over for dinner while the secondary duo experience their own sweet dreams.
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Kazem raised an eyebrow at the sight of a mergich fisherman kneeling before Farishta. “Uh... what? Why?!”
The mergich glassmaker immediately stopped their work to bow before her as well.
Farishta’s tail shot up in surprise. “Oh… thank you for the warm welcome!”
Once the mergich fisherman and glassmaker stopped showing their respects, they gave the mergich merchant a nasty glare. He just simply sat on his rug and watched on with a look of indifference.
“Bijan!” said the glassmaker, putting her hands on her hips. “You blasphemer! You ought to show some more respect for one of the exalted walking among us!”
The merchant grumbled before clasping his hands together, closing his eyes, then slightly bowing towards Farishta. He didn’t say a single word as he returned to sitting with his tail swaying behind him.
“Sorry about that…” said the fisherman, rising back to his feet. “He’s just an old and grumpy man. I doubt he truly meant any offense, your grace.”
Kazem looked left to right with his face contorting in confusion. “Exalted? Your grace? The fuck is going on now?”
Farishta smiled and let out a nervous laugh. “I… I don’t know, Kazem…”
The fisherman slightly bowed again, holding an arm across his torso in a salute of sorts. “Uh… what brings you all the way to the mergich quarter, your grace? We rarely see the monks leaving their monasteries these days, much less one of exalted blood!”
Farishta blinked several times. “I traveled here all the way from Ashbourne, actually! I’m on something of a pilgrimage to find more of my kind, so I’m a bit… bewildered at the moment…”
The fisherman’s ears folded against his head as his eyes went wide. “Was it the old man? Once again, you have our sincerest apologies for that stupid blunder!”
Farishta gave him a nervous smile and sighed. “No, no! It’s not any of that! None of you have offended me, so don’t you worry!”
“Oh, thank the gods!” said the fisherman as he put a hand on his heart.
As Kazem stood next to Farishta’s fluffy belly on her open palms, he reeled the moment it suddenly started making audible growling sounds followed by a light gurgle. “Ah. I see that someone’s hungry...” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I hope this crap doesn’t delay our dinner plans.”
Farishta lifted him a bit closer to her face. “It won’t! We just need to get this all figured out… whoever they think I am!”
The fisherman’s tail perked up. “In that case, my wife and I would be delighted to have you as a dinner guest tonight! I think talking over some fresh seafood and some fine wine would help clear up any misunderstandings!”
Farishta beamed up at his words as she stood on the tips of her toes. “Oh! That would work out wonderfully for myself and my human companion!” She leaned towards him, nuzzling his back with her cold nose and whiskers. “Isn’t that right, Kazem?”
Kazem grumbled and looked around at the abnormally large yet shanty structures in his immediate view. “I don’t know. I guess? I’m not one to turn down a free meal though…”
The fisherman made a triumphant pose with a more cocky grin spreading across his face. “Excellent! Just follow me, and we’ll show you some proper mergich hospitality!”
Farishta smiled and nodded before following the man with a pep in her step.
Meanwhile, Kazem shook his head and grumbled to himself. “No rest for the wicked.”
~~~~~
Alice rubbed her eyes and yawned before gradually opening them. She looked down to find trees and bushes only a fraction of her overall size as she sat on the ground with her legs crossed.
“What in the…” Alice said, glancing down at herself before her jaw went ajar. “AHH!”
Her new form resembled a mergich rather than a human. Oddly enough, this included her fingerless gloves and fancy footwear, just upscaled to accommodate her new size. Alice promptly stood up, dusting off her fine clothes with clawed fingertips, then her face scrunched up once she saw her large and fluffy tail sticking out from a sizable hole in the back of her dress.
She looked straight ahead, spotting another titanic figure a short distance away. “Ah! Is that… is that you, Vali? VALI!”
The mergich man slowly approached her, sneering. “How fascinating.”
“What’s happening?” Alice asked, holding up her hands. She saw pink padding adorning her palms and fingertips, making her eyes go wide. “Oh my goodness! The last thing I remember is dozing off as I awaited your return, Vali! Why am I a mergich now?!”
“It’s the ouroboros artifact…” he answered, crossing his arms. “Those damn things have always interfered with the natural order of the world wherever they’re found.”
Her head perked up. “You mean that... snake necklace… thing?” She paused to place her hands on her cheeks. “IT TURNED ME INTO A MERGICH?!”
Vali grumbled. “No… calm down. None of this is actually real. It’s merely an illusion.”
Alice’s ear folded against her head. “Huh?”
“It’s a dream.” he said, gesturing at the surrounding woodlands with one hand. “If anything else, this is my fault. I didn’t want to disturb you and took a nap right next to you. So now this cursed artifact is interfering with our resting souls and the veil of reality itself… resulting in…” He paused and pointed at Alice’s newfound mergich form. “Whatever this is.”
She scratched her chin with a clawed finger. “That doesn’t make any sense. I mean… I guess it makes some sense if this is just a dream, but… is it my dream? Your dream?” Her heart skipped a beat as she placed a hand on her chest. “Am I even real?!”
Vali chuckled. “I wouldn’t say this is real, but it’s not really fake either. Maybe it’s something in between. Well, assuming there’s even a word for that in our shared tongue. Hmm…”
Alice’s tail involuntarily swayed behind her. “Dreams?”
He scoffed. “I guess that's the obvious answer.”
“But I still don’t understand…” Alice said, looking away from him. “This all looks and feels so real!” Before Vali could reply, she placed a hand on his chest, feeling the icy and glasslike material of his armor glide against her hand’s paw padding. “Oh… oh my…”
Vali grimaced as she started feeling up his other armored segments, such as his shoulders. “For better or worse, we don’t have time for this. I meant to take a quick nap. Now I wish we could wake up of our own will and keep moving, but this just goes to show how dangerous these artifacts can be if they can trap us inside some sort of combined dream.”
“Why not enjoy it while it lasts?” she asked, giggling a little bit before she took a step back. “This is actually kind of cool!”
“You were just freaking out about it mere moments ago…” Vali replied, growling a little.
Alice began walking away with her fluffy tail happily swaying behind her. It even had a large, pink bow at the very tip. “If you say everything will be fine, and you’re still here to protect me… then I have absolutely nothing to worry about, Vali, whether it be a dream or not!”
Vali sighed and started following in her footsteps. “Ugh. Right… what am I even gonna do with you?”
“We can do whatever we want, really!” she said, twirling on her toes. She then followed a trail of smoke rising from nearby, walking along the road. “Because… well… there’s no actual consequences to any of this, right?”
His face scrunched up upon hearing faint human voices. “Well… yeah. I suppose so.”
Alice’s large body made a light thump against the dirt road as she dropped onto all fours. “That’s all I need to know!” she said, laughing a little. Her tail swayed behind her as she held up a hand, unsheathing the claws on her fingertips and playfully swatting them in the air. “Rawr! I’m a big, bad cat!”
Vali let out another low growl. “What are you… oh, of course.”
The two suddenly found themselves in front of several humans and their horses. The humans surrounded a fire pit on the side of the road as they rested, but the mere presence of the mergich rendered them paralyzed with fear compared to their previous chatter and merriment.
Alice made a low purr at the sight. “Ohoho… is that what being a mergich feels like?”
“Sometimes.” Vali said, crossing his arms. “But it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t abuse the power that the gods grant you over others.”
She practically pouted at his words with her tail slumping to the ground. “Aw. Why not?”
“Mergich are protectors and stewards…” he replied with a sigh. “Our more… predatory urges are meant to keep the balance of nature in order. Nothing more, nothing less. I personally try not to hunt or kill when it’s not necessary for my survival.”
The humans continued to watch and listen to the two with complete shock and bewilderment.
“What in the blazes are you mergich even talking about?” asked an older man, recoiling.
Another human man stood up from the log he previously used as a seat. “Who are you? What… what do you want from us?”
Alice made a wry, catlike smile. “I’m your new queen!” she said, sticking out her tongue slightly. “I want you to feed me treats!”
Vali gave her a dirty look before kneeling to the ground and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s not terrorize innocent people…”
Alice’s tail shot up as she scowled. “But they’re not real! Like… you just said they weren’t real!”
“I still don’t like it.” he muttered, looking away from her. “Even if it’s… imaginary. Ugh. The worst part of being aware that I’m in a dream is whenever I can’t wake up from it...”
She finally stood back up with Vali joining her. “Then why can’t we have some fun then?”
He almost snorted. “Define fun.”
Alice stood on the tips of her toes and leaned against him with her tail slowly swaying behind her. “We could like… stomp around… and explore things…” She lifted a foot in the air as she completely leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and torso. “Discover some stuff about each other. Wouldn’t that just be… dreamy?”
His face scrunched up. “What has gotten into you, young woman? Are you drunk?”
She giggled before finally leaning back to look into his eyes. “I actually do feel a little light-headed or sleepy, Vali. It’s your fault, really!”
“Right…” he said, sneering.
“Why don’t you just carry me?” she said, fluttering her eyes at him. “Take me away, Vali!”
He gave her a blank stare. “As you wish...”
With a grunt, Vali practically swept the woman off her feet with a few simple maneuvers. Soon he carried her with both arms, leaving her stunned by just how quickly he managed to pick her up.
“Oh my!” she said, bringing a hand to her mouth. “I… I wasn’t actually expecting you to do it!”
Vali resumed walking away with the woman in his arms. “Hmph. Be careful what you wish for.”
She blinked a few times. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I might be carrying you all the way to Valentia...” he said, the landscape shifting around him to such a point that a boreal forest appeared out of thin air to replace the more temperate one. “There’s a monastery near there. They might know what to do about this cursed ouroboros amulet if I can’t simply destroy it myself.”
Alice squirmed within his grasp, adjusting her position. “But… aren’t we still in a dream or something? Why don’t we just play around together?”
“No time.” Vali replied, narrowing his eyes. “The longer this journey takes, the more risky the endeavor will be since dangerous people would love to get their hands on the ouroboros artifact...”
“Are you even listening to me?!” Alice asked, scoffing. She sighed and squinted her eyes as light snowfall started descending from the sky. “Oh, Vali… you’re so… stubborn. And so… strong.”
Alice then leaned into Vali’s chest as he continued to carry her into the unknown.
First Chapter
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Chapter Selection
First Chapter
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Chapter Selection
Kazem raised an eyebrow at the sight of a mergich fisherman kneeling before Farishta. “Uh... what? Why?!”
The mergich glassmaker immediately stopped their work to bow before her as well.
Farishta’s tail shot up in surprise. “Oh… thank you for the warm welcome!”
Once the mergich fisherman and glassmaker stopped showing their respects, they gave the mergich merchant a nasty glare. He just simply sat on his rug and watched on with a look of indifference.
“Bijan!” said the glassmaker, putting her hands on her hips. “You blasphemer! You ought to show some more respect for one of the exalted walking among us!”
The merchant grumbled before clasping his hands together, closing his eyes, then slightly bowing towards Farishta. He didn’t say a single word as he returned to sitting with his tail swaying behind him.
“Sorry about that…” said the fisherman, rising back to his feet. “He’s just an old and grumpy man. I doubt he truly meant any offense, your grace.”
Kazem looked left to right with his face contorting in confusion. “Exalted? Your grace? The fuck is going on now?”
Farishta smiled and let out a nervous laugh. “I… I don’t know, Kazem…”
The fisherman slightly bowed again, holding an arm across his torso in a salute of sorts. “Uh… what brings you all the way to the mergich quarter, your grace? We rarely see the monks leaving their monasteries these days, much less one of exalted blood!”
Farishta blinked several times. “I traveled here all the way from Ashbourne, actually! I’m on something of a pilgrimage to find more of my kind, so I’m a bit… bewildered at the moment…”
The fisherman’s ears folded against his head as his eyes went wide. “Was it the old man? Once again, you have our sincerest apologies for that stupid blunder!”
Farishta gave him a nervous smile and sighed. “No, no! It’s not any of that! None of you have offended me, so don’t you worry!”
“Oh, thank the gods!” said the fisherman as he put a hand on his heart.
As Kazem stood next to Farishta’s fluffy belly on her open palms, he reeled the moment it suddenly started making audible growling sounds followed by a light gurgle. “Ah. I see that someone’s hungry...” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I hope this crap doesn’t delay our dinner plans.”
Farishta lifted him a bit closer to her face. “It won’t! We just need to get this all figured out… whoever they think I am!”
The fisherman’s tail perked up. “In that case, my wife and I would be delighted to have you as a dinner guest tonight! I think talking over some fresh seafood and some fine wine would help clear up any misunderstandings!”
Farishta beamed up at his words as she stood on the tips of her toes. “Oh! That would work out wonderfully for myself and my human companion!” She leaned towards him, nuzzling his back with her cold nose and whiskers. “Isn’t that right, Kazem?”
Kazem grumbled and looked around at the abnormally large yet shanty structures in his immediate view. “I don’t know. I guess? I’m not one to turn down a free meal though…”
The fisherman made a triumphant pose with a more cocky grin spreading across his face. “Excellent! Just follow me, and we’ll show you some proper mergich hospitality!”
Farishta smiled and nodded before following the man with a pep in her step.
Meanwhile, Kazem shook his head and grumbled to himself. “No rest for the wicked.”
~~~~~
Alice rubbed her eyes and yawned before gradually opening them. She looked down to find trees and bushes only a fraction of her overall size as she sat on the ground with her legs crossed.
“What in the…” Alice said, glancing down at herself before her jaw went ajar. “AHH!”
Her new form resembled a mergich rather than a human. Oddly enough, this included her fingerless gloves and fancy footwear, just upscaled to accommodate her new size. Alice promptly stood up, dusting off her fine clothes with clawed fingertips, then her face scrunched up once she saw her large and fluffy tail sticking out from a sizable hole in the back of her dress.
She looked straight ahead, spotting another titanic figure a short distance away. “Ah! Is that… is that you, Vali? VALI!”
The mergich man slowly approached her, sneering. “How fascinating.”
“What’s happening?” Alice asked, holding up her hands. She saw pink padding adorning her palms and fingertips, making her eyes go wide. “Oh my goodness! The last thing I remember is dozing off as I awaited your return, Vali! Why am I a mergich now?!”
“It’s the ouroboros artifact…” he answered, crossing his arms. “Those damn things have always interfered with the natural order of the world wherever they’re found.”
Her head perked up. “You mean that... snake necklace… thing?” She paused to place her hands on her cheeks. “IT TURNED ME INTO A MERGICH?!”
Vali grumbled. “No… calm down. None of this is actually real. It’s merely an illusion.”
Alice’s ear folded against her head. “Huh?”
“It’s a dream.” he said, gesturing at the surrounding woodlands with one hand. “If anything else, this is my fault. I didn’t want to disturb you and took a nap right next to you. So now this cursed artifact is interfering with our resting souls and the veil of reality itself… resulting in…” He paused and pointed at Alice’s newfound mergich form. “Whatever this is.”
She scratched her chin with a clawed finger. “That doesn’t make any sense. I mean… I guess it makes some sense if this is just a dream, but… is it my dream? Your dream?” Her heart skipped a beat as she placed a hand on her chest. “Am I even real?!”
Vali chuckled. “I wouldn’t say this is real, but it’s not really fake either. Maybe it’s something in between. Well, assuming there’s even a word for that in our shared tongue. Hmm…”
Alice’s tail involuntarily swayed behind her. “Dreams?”
He scoffed. “I guess that's the obvious answer.”
“But I still don’t understand…” Alice said, looking away from him. “This all looks and feels so real!” Before Vali could reply, she placed a hand on his chest, feeling the icy and glasslike material of his armor glide against her hand’s paw padding. “Oh… oh my…”
Vali grimaced as she started feeling up his other armored segments, such as his shoulders. “For better or worse, we don’t have time for this. I meant to take a quick nap. Now I wish we could wake up of our own will and keep moving, but this just goes to show how dangerous these artifacts can be if they can trap us inside some sort of combined dream.”
“Why not enjoy it while it lasts?” she asked, giggling a little bit before she took a step back. “This is actually kind of cool!”
“You were just freaking out about it mere moments ago…” Vali replied, growling a little.
Alice began walking away with her fluffy tail happily swaying behind her. It even had a large, pink bow at the very tip. “If you say everything will be fine, and you’re still here to protect me… then I have absolutely nothing to worry about, Vali, whether it be a dream or not!”
Vali sighed and started following in her footsteps. “Ugh. Right… what am I even gonna do with you?”
“We can do whatever we want, really!” she said, twirling on her toes. She then followed a trail of smoke rising from nearby, walking along the road. “Because… well… there’s no actual consequences to any of this, right?”
His face scrunched up upon hearing faint human voices. “Well… yeah. I suppose so.”
Alice’s large body made a light thump against the dirt road as she dropped onto all fours. “That’s all I need to know!” she said, laughing a little. Her tail swayed behind her as she held up a hand, unsheathing the claws on her fingertips and playfully swatting them in the air. “Rawr! I’m a big, bad cat!”
Vali let out another low growl. “What are you… oh, of course.”
The two suddenly found themselves in front of several humans and their horses. The humans surrounded a fire pit on the side of the road as they rested, but the mere presence of the mergich rendered them paralyzed with fear compared to their previous chatter and merriment.
Alice made a low purr at the sight. “Ohoho… is that what being a mergich feels like?”
“Sometimes.” Vali said, crossing his arms. “But it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t abuse the power that the gods grant you over others.”
She practically pouted at his words with her tail slumping to the ground. “Aw. Why not?”
“Mergich are protectors and stewards…” he replied with a sigh. “Our more… predatory urges are meant to keep the balance of nature in order. Nothing more, nothing less. I personally try not to hunt or kill when it’s not necessary for my survival.”
The humans continued to watch and listen to the two with complete shock and bewilderment.
“What in the blazes are you mergich even talking about?” asked an older man, recoiling.
Another human man stood up from the log he previously used as a seat. “Who are you? What… what do you want from us?”
Alice made a wry, catlike smile. “I’m your new queen!” she said, sticking out her tongue slightly. “I want you to feed me treats!”
Vali gave her a dirty look before kneeling to the ground and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s not terrorize innocent people…”
Alice’s tail shot up as she scowled. “But they’re not real! Like… you just said they weren’t real!”
“I still don’t like it.” he muttered, looking away from her. “Even if it’s… imaginary. Ugh. The worst part of being aware that I’m in a dream is whenever I can’t wake up from it...”
She finally stood back up with Vali joining her. “Then why can’t we have some fun then?”
He almost snorted. “Define fun.”
Alice stood on the tips of her toes and leaned against him with her tail slowly swaying behind her. “We could like… stomp around… and explore things…” She lifted a foot in the air as she completely leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and torso. “Discover some stuff about each other. Wouldn’t that just be… dreamy?”
His face scrunched up. “What has gotten into you, young woman? Are you drunk?”
She giggled before finally leaning back to look into his eyes. “I actually do feel a little light-headed or sleepy, Vali. It’s your fault, really!”
“Right…” he said, sneering.
“Why don’t you just carry me?” she said, fluttering her eyes at him. “Take me away, Vali!”
He gave her a blank stare. “As you wish...”
With a grunt, Vali practically swept the woman off her feet with a few simple maneuvers. Soon he carried her with both arms, leaving her stunned by just how quickly he managed to pick her up.
“Oh my!” she said, bringing a hand to her mouth. “I… I wasn’t actually expecting you to do it!”
Vali resumed walking away with the woman in his arms. “Hmph. Be careful what you wish for.”
She blinked a few times. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I might be carrying you all the way to Valentia...” he said, the landscape shifting around him to such a point that a boreal forest appeared out of thin air to replace the more temperate one. “There’s a monastery near there. They might know what to do about this cursed ouroboros amulet if I can’t simply destroy it myself.”
Alice squirmed within his grasp, adjusting her position. “But… aren’t we still in a dream or something? Why don’t we just play around together?”
“No time.” Vali replied, narrowing his eyes. “The longer this journey takes, the more risky the endeavor will be since dangerous people would love to get their hands on the ouroboros artifact...”
“Are you even listening to me?!” Alice asked, scoffing. She sighed and squinted her eyes as light snowfall started descending from the sky. “Oh, Vali… you’re so… stubborn. And so… strong.”
Alice then leaned into Vali’s chest as he continued to carry her into the unknown.
First Chapter
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Chapter Selection
Category Story / Macro / Micro
Species Snow Leopard
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 71.5 kB
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