#shapechanging

Ichigo blinked at the cat.

The cat blinked back. 

Then it came up to him and rubbed its body against his leg, leaving a trail of pale fur. A second rub and the cat popped itself into Ichigo’s lap, making a little chirp up at him. 

Ichigo blinked again, and then looked at Tessai. “You are kidding,” he said flatly. Tessai shook his head. 

“Unfortunately, no,” the man said with a sigh. “It is a last resort action, but until Tenchou has recovered enough that he can use kaido on himself easier, he’ll stay in this smaller form. It requires less reiryoku to function.” 

They both looked down where Kisuke, now in the form of a long furred cat, was making himself comfortable in Ichigo’s lap. Ichigo tensed a moment as he felt the prickle of claws against his thigh for a moment. Then Kisuke got settled and started to knead at the jeans Ichigo wore, a deep rumbling vibrating out of that fluffy body. 

“He seems to enjoy your company. Usually, we have to hunt him down and catch him. Which is...difficult.”

Ichigo could imagine it. Cats were hard enough to catch. One with Kisuke’s brains…. “How do you ever find him?”

There was a faint frown. “We typically don’t. So when he came right out to greet you, I was very grateful that you came when I called.”

Like Ichigo was going to do anything else. Tessai calling and saying that Kisuke had a small accident and if Ichigo could come be of assistance? Of course, Ichigo was coming over. 

He did not expect a lap full of feline Kisuke. 

“If you could watch him until I am able to get things cleaned up and repaired, I would greatly appreciate, Kurosaki-san.”

What was Ichigo supposed to do other than agree, now that he was here. Then Tessai vanished, and there was another chirp from Kisuke. Looking down, Ichigo saw that there was definitely plenty of brains in that head still, the look a familiar one. 

Ichigo shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t. 

“Don’t scratch me,” he said. Then he carefully rubbed the fur around Kisuke’s ear. It was surprisingly soft, the long fur almost clinging to his skin as he scratched Kisuke’s head. Absently, Ichigo wondered if Kisuke’s hair was like this. 

There was a startled jolt from Kisuke, then he closed his eyes and the purr doubled in volume. After a moment, he even pressed his head up into Ichigo’s hand. 

Waiting for some teasing, and wondering why Kisuke hadn’t said anything yet, Ichigo went with it. He had noticed that Kisuke rarely touched people. Nor did he let others touch him. It happened now and then. But, like when Ichigo had thanked Kisuke for saving his life the first time, it always seemed to startle the other. 

Now, the man, as a cat, was rubbing his head up into Ichigo’s touch. It startled Ichigo a bit, how eagerly Kisuke pushed into the touch. But….

Ichigo normally only got a feel for others when he crossed blades with them. When he sparred with Kisuke, he got the feel of the other’s determination to win, and to teach Ichigo. Both in equal parts. It sometimes came through even when their swords weren’t touching one another. 

Now, though, as clear as if he was battling the man, Ichigo could feel the hunger there. The need for more touch. 

He wondered if this was just because of the cat body, or….

Ichigo flushed because the idea of Kisuke wanting to be touched led his brain to places he shouldn’t let it go. He wasn’t sure if the other was interested, even if they did flirt. A lot. 

Cat or not, though, Ichigo could understand wanting to have some sort of connection, and feeling that from Kisuke was something he had to fix. 

“Such a brat,” he muttered, trying to not blush as he used both hands to pet Kisuke. The other managed to purr even louder, standing up to push up into Ichigo’s hands. That was something that worked for a bit before Ichigo had to stop and adjust where Kisuke’s pointy little feet kept digging into muscle. 

There was a gleam in Kisuke’s eye, and he flopped onto his side, then wiggled around to drape across Ichigo’s lap, belly exposed.

“This,” Ichigo said as he watched Kisuke’s paws kneading the air, “is a trap.” 

But the other looked absolutely adorable. There were little flashes of little pink toebeans, and Ichigo was weak. He caught one of those paws, rubbing his thumb across the toebeans. They flexed under his thumb as Kisuke continued to knead, as happy a cat as Ichigo had ever seen. 

Then Ichigo took his life into his hand and started to scratch that belly. It was likely a trap, but Kisuke hadn’t taken an eye out yet. 

The other went limp as Ichigo got his fingers into that soft, soft rub and rubbed Kisuke’s belly. He purred more, the vibration of it traveling up Ichigo’s arm. There was a flex of energy, and it warmed Ichigo’s chest because it was the same feeling he got when he and Kisuke were having one of their talks. Just the two of them, discussing something random and just spending time with each other. It was one of the few times he got to feel another like that without having to be in a fight. 

Though this was probably the cutest thing Ichigo had ever seen, and he was happy to rub the cat’s belly until Kisuke gave a large yawn, and wiggled around to go to sleep on Ichigo’s lap. Even then, Ichigo kept rubbing Kisuke’s head, and the feeling of happiness did not fade. 

Having Kisuke sleeping on his lap, just getting to spend this quiet time with him, made something click on Ichigo’s brain. 

Oh.

Looking at Kisuke, Ichigo realized that he definitely needed to ask the other out. Once he was human. 

Ichigo couldn’t decide if he wanted Kisuke to be like Yoruichi or not. Because naked Kisuke would be interesting to see. But naked Kisuke would make Ichigo flustered about asking him out. 

Well, he’d find out sooner or later. 

What had wrought this magical change, Bucky didn’t know, but if it kept him free of HYDRA, then that was all he really needed.

He flew for hours - Or maybe days - just reveling in this newfound freedom, when something attacked him from above. Bucky desperately tried to fight back and get away from the larger bird, but could not quite do it, unused to the form as he was. An arrow flew between him and his attacker, scaring the other bird away. Bucky tumbled, exhausted and injured to the ground, where a red haired woman picked him up.

She soothed him, carrying him in his arms as he hooted up at her pitifully and struggled weakly to get away. People meant danger. 

He’s brought back to a cottage by a lake, nestled in the trees so closely you almost couldn’t see the structure was there. They are met there by a man with a bow and the two of them take him in.

They do not hurt him.

Bucky watches warily, and now even if he knew how to become a man again, he doesn’t wish to, for surely they’d turn on him if he did?

But they help him, heal him, talk to him and around him, like he can understand every word that they say. And he does, but how do they know that?

The archer is a tall man, and she calls him Clint. The redhead is smaller, and he calls her Tasha. And they talk about things that don’t make sense. They talk about shifters and witches, magic and worlds and Bucky’s head is whirling. They must be crazy. He must be crazy. This was some weird fever dream, an escape from whatever HYDRA was punishing him for this time.

Right?

It’s all so impossible that everything that comes after rocks his world. Because a few days later they bring him outside to get some fresh air and their bodies shimmer and twist and their human forms fall away to reveal a pair of river otters that dive into the lake and swim and play.

He watches them, fascinated, and he wishes… he wishes he could join them. Every day he’d spent with them, he’d found no evidence of evil, and every indication that they could be trusted. They’d left him alone for hours at a time, and now he knows why, as they spend time in the water, diving and swimming. Playing tag, he thinks.

At last, they come up out of the water and shake their fur dry, curling around each other in the sun, basking in it, taking a small nap.

And when they wake, they stretch and shimmer and twist again and they’re human again. And he’s watching them in so much fascination, so much yearning for that same sort of closeness and touch, that he doesn’t realize he’s done the same.

Until they smile at him, and hold out their hands and draw him into their home.

“It’s nice to meet you at last,” Clint says, grinning at him with kind and understanding eyes.

“We’ve been waiting,” Tasha says, her smile smaller but no less genuine.

A sample location

On a normal practice journey I will go to the same place.  A place that is a small hall or chapel or meeting room. The ceilings in the main part of the room are about 15 ft high and angled, there are two rows of columns going down the room.  There are about 8 columns in total, in two rows, about 30 feet apart.  They are about 20 feet from each other in their row.  

The columns themselves serve to mark out the center part of the space, the area where the ceiling is higher, on the outside of these rows the ceiling is much lower.  The floor is normally covered in hide and furs of perhaps cow, sheep, or goat, below these furs the floor is wood.  I'm in the middle or towards the rear of the room clenching at the furs in my fingers, sometimes kneeling sometimes lying down. The position I begin my transe in does not dictate the position I will arrive in.  Towards the front of the room is a long trough of fire and coals, around the fire the floor is stone. At the head of the room there are a series of chairs facing the rest of the room.  The center one is wider than the rest with ornate carved legs.  It is hard for me to see the carving, but the texture feels somewhere between a braid and a spiral have been carved.  The chairs in this part of the room occasionally have extremely soft furs on them, rabbit or Fox Maybe.  The columns that support the roof and all of the surrounding structure are made of wood.  The wood feel smooth and Polished over years of handling the soft portions of the grain of worn down much farther than other parts.  On the sides of the hall here are small windows that are rather low, not much light enters through these. There are also frequently benches stored by the windows, when they are not placed in the main part of the room. Most of the light enters through more windows at the top of the hall along the roof, it seems they also serve as smoke vents when there is a fire going.  

There are two ways out of this room. There is the front door in the back of the hall, opposite of the chairs.  It is a set of double doors that open to the outside.  The other way to exit this room is behind the chairs at the front, there are small doors to either the left or the right, that lead to the same back room.  Here there is sometimes a cooking fire and a large kettle.   Various bits of fabric hang from the ceiling along the walls, it seems like there is more back there but I have not yet been permitted to check.  Out the front door is,  not surprisingly is the outside.  

The seasons here don't seem to match the seasons of Illinois. I have seen snow in early May, and green all the way through November. In the nearby area I have yet to see or discern any other buildings.  However on a clear day there are Hills or low mountains in the distance. Not a great distance, maybe about 20 to 30 miles, the highest peak is mostly cliff faced on the left side and curves down on the right, I'm able to see a few other peaks but this is the only one that has any describable features for me.  There are few if any trees here, and the cliff face has visible strata though indistinct at this distance.  

What I Do Once I’m There

Normally when coming to this place, The Lady, or one of her handmaidens / daughters / aspects is waiting for me. On one occasion, while doing what can only be described as a skills test for a magical research project, I was greeted normally and asked to step outside.  She had said to me that

“The place here, is related to how it covers the shape of the Realms.  It covers a structure that cannot be perceived, but that structure can be moved. If you understand how to shift the structure underneath you can shift where and how you are placed. Look there in the distance, see the hills and the sky, now rotate them aside and see what is beneath. “

After a few tries it seemed that the entire world winked out of existence and I was falling through a bright but dense fog.  I could still hear her voice “I have taught you the shape of a great soaring bird, use it.”  Rather quickly I was able to stop falling and glide about.  With the diffuse light, and gentle winds, I was able to get a good look at the shape I was in. I'll have another post about that and my exploration into the nature of the Valshamr.  After flying around for a little bit, I nearly crashed face-first into a large tree, bigger around than anything I've seen in person, the tree is covered in coarse ridged bark, and in my brief panic I had become a human again.   I hear her voice again, “You have other shapes that you know, surely you will not be brought to a stop by landing on a tree.”  In a brief moment of consideration I chose the form of a raccoon. the hands were easy enough and provided better grip than human hands.  The feet soon followed,  I add a tail for balance and a nose for direction, I was soon scaling the side of the tree in relative ease.  My vision was only limited to about 10 to 12 feet in front of me. Eventually I was able to find a small branch to rest.  Once there I faced the tree and placed my right hand upon it as I switched back to my human form. With it there, I said “I wish to go to Freya's Hall”, and did that odd rotation that had gotten me here.   

The whole world went dark, and I was falling again.  The noise was actually the first thing to hit me, before my face hit upon wide beam.  The cacophonous and din of a celebration or gathering was all around.  I could discern some laughter, both men and women, I could hear maybe flutes, maybe some form of pipes, string instruments, drums, singing, and the rhythmic sounds of dancing.  The place I had landed was maybe 50-60 feet off of a floor, below me were rows of tables, running along the length of a great hall, greater than any hall I could have imagined.  I could tell that I was on some form of open rafter or truss in the ceiling, and off to one side.  The hallways Maybe 150, or 200 feet wide, and long enough in each direction that I could not see the end.  This was not a place that I had been before, it was much larger and chaotic.  I slowly backed up until I felt the wall behind me, and imagine those furs that I had landed on at the start.  I fell through the wall and floor, and landed with a thud on soft sheepskin. Sitting up, I see that she was still here,  She greets me “Many places that you try to go will not be what you expect, be careful”.  

Worn out and exhausted I thanked her for her time, and went home.  Once I got back to my body the pain has mostly subsided.  I was only left with the mundane pain and a slight knot in my stomach.  I took a deep breath, and made sure that all my parts are back, I got up and had some tea.    

Thank You

I hope you've enjoyed recounting this journey with me. If you like, I can share more places that I have been. Feel free to message with any questions.  

Always, *Hugs*