While part of Colin wanted to “uplift” his friends into fellow dragons regardless of their say-so, Colin figured it’d ultimately be more interesting to give them all different forms.
He looked over at Alister, who was biting into a sandwich, his eyes wandering in a way that suggested his mind was still elsewhere. Of the three, Alister had been the only one Colin knew to even be into furries, much less have a fursona, so starting with him made the most sense.
Still, he wanted to make his friends more unusual, more stand-out, if they weren’t going to end up dragons, and he couldn’t think of anything too special about Alister’s fursona, a brown wolf with black “hair,” typically dressed plainly in a nondescript jacket and jeans.
Colin first thought to ask “does your fursona have any special powers or abilities,” but quickly realized this would be answered with a “yes,” regardless of what it was before. Ugh. He mulled the question over, trying to think of a way to get that info without asking a yes or no question.
‘Is there a-’ No. ‘Do you have-’ No. ‘Will you-’ No- Wait. ‘Will you tell me if...’ It was technically a yes or no question, but it only forced them to answer what he wanted to ask, hypothetically, it shouldn’t change the answer he was looking for.
“WIll you tell me if your character has any sort of powers, Alister?”
“Yes,” came the expected response. “He doesn’t. I’m not about trying to look cool, or anything like that. The only thing about me that I want to stand out is my art.”
‘Good, it worked,’ Colin thought. ‘Guess I’ll just have to come up with something for him, then.’
Sure, Colin could have asked Alister what sort of superpower he might have wanted, it was a common enough conversation starter among geeks, but Alister’s comment got him thinking.
“Alister, are you a wolf anthro with the ability to literally slip into shadows and become one with them at will?”
As the “yes” left his lips, Alister’s skin began to grow thick brown fur all over. A thin tail wormed its way out between his T-shirt and jeans, rapidly being covered in the same fur. His shoes vanished, revealing his feet growing leathery pads and fur, as his toes curled to resemble paws. His hands gained similar pads along with the fur, his nails turning black and becoming vaguely paw-like. His jaws stretched forward, his teeth sharpening, while his nose turned dark and wet. His ears rose to points, shifting around idly as his change finished. His clothes slowly vanished.
“How’d you know about my Shadow-Form?” Alister suddenly stammered. “And more importantly, why are you saying it in front of everyone else? I don’t want people thinking I’m some kinda supervillain or something?”
Colin hadn’t expected that reaction. The other people at the table WERE looking a bit surprised at this sudden revelation. But that wouldn’t last long.
“You told me yourself, remember?” Colin said with a smile. “Besides, an anthro with a Shadow-Form is just about as unusual as a human with a double jointed elbow, right? Not everyone has it, but nobody makes a big deal about it.”
“Yes…” Alister frowned. “Right, my bad. I don’t know why I was getting so worked up.”
‘One down,’ Colin thought to himself. He turned to look at Sally. “Hey, are you into furries?”
“Yes.”
‘Agh!’ Colin did his best not to show his frustration. After handling Alister’s situation so smoothly, he asked another yes/no question when he didn’t mean to. ‘Oh well. I was gonna make her an anthro either way.’
“Heh, what a coincidence,” Colin said aloud.
“Well, I mean, do you really think it was a coincidence I wanted to hang out?” She suddenly winced. “Er... saying it like that, makes it sound like I’m friends with you out of som benevolent racisim, and I don’t mean…”
Colin chuckled. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it. So, what’s your fursona then?”
“A queen honeybee,” she said quickly, eager to change the subject. “With a distinctly regal attitude and appearance.”
“But isn’t that just how you are in real life? With the ability to fly despite your size?”
Another dull “yes” was heard as Sally’s skin turned black, becoming firm and tough chitin. Her waist suddenly became inhumanly narrow, her hips and chest, in contrast, both swelled up significantly, giving an exaggerated hourglass figure. Above her rear, where the tail had formed on other anthros, a round, thick, bulbous segment appeared, ending in a barbed stinger. Hair or fur, in alternating lines of yellow and black, quickly sprouted all over the segment. Her arms and legs both suddenly looked quite thin, and small claws appeared on her fingertips.
Then, to Colin’s surprise, her clothes, rather than tearing or vanishing, began to change with her. Her shirt and pants shifted from black and blue, respectively, to a deep shade of purple, before weaving together into a single piece of clothing. The two pant legs joined together, then puffed out, becoming the skirt of a large ball gown, with white sash trim. The neckline of her dress drifted slowly lower, exposing her ample cleavage, as did the back, both the increased opening showing more of the black and white hair. The sleeves and upper portions of what had been her shirt shrank back, baring her arms, and allowing for a second pair of arms to slowly grow out under the first, equal in size and shape. A set of four shining, translucent insect wings unfurled from the opening in the back of her dress, buzzing softly a moment before settling down. Four deep purple opera gloves wove into existence around each of her hands, reaching up to her elbows. A fluffy white boa, and a golden necklace with a ruby, both appeared around her neck, and a golden scepter suddenly appeared by her side.
Her eyes seemed to suddenly turn entirely blue, before splitting into dozens of smaller pieces, becoming large compound eyes, the light reflecting off them creating the illusion of a pupil. Finally, her hair turned from brown to a near-literal platinum blonde, while a pair of antennae sprouted from the top of her head, with a gleaming tiara appearing in front of them.
Colin hadn’t expected anything like that at all. Nothing in the way he worded that question would have led to results that dramatic, as far as he was concerned. Was this something to do with her then? Was she just a lot more in touch with her feminine side than he realized, even if she didn’t show it in public?
“Yes, I didn’t think I should mess with perfection,” she said with a laugh. Then she looked at Colin. “Not that I don’t mind you appreciating my beauty, but it’s rude to stare, Colin.”
“Right, yeah, my bad.” Colin quickly muttered. He’d need to figure out more about the ins and outs of how his power manifested. But he didn’t want to put off leave Rex out of all this.
“Hey Rex, if you could be any animal, what would you be?”
Rex rolled his eyes slightly. “This question again, huh? I get it, I’m the only one here who isn’t some kinda animal, no need to make a big deal about it.”
“Be a dear and humor him, Rex,” Sally said, one hand resting idly on her scepter, another raising a piece of french toast to her mouth. “We all know how a dragon can be if they don’t get what they want.”
“Heh, right,” Rex chuckled. “Well, I ran a crow-folk illusionist last campaign, and I always thought they were pretty cool and intelligent. If I had to be an anthro, that’d be a fun pick.”
“Aren’t you a crow illusionist already, though?”
Rex droned an agreement as black feathers sprouted from his skin, layering over each other to cover it almost completely. The exceptions, his hands and feet, were just as quickly smothered in black scales, the nails vanishing as short talons took their place. His feet changed much more dramatically than his hands, his toes growing long and narrow, one moving to the back of each foot, while the foot itself became far thinner. His clothes began to disappear, allowing full view of the tail feathers fanning down from his back. His ears shrank back, as did his nose, his nostrils becoming part of the black beak stretching forward from his mouth. His blonde hair shrank away, leaving him “bald.” Finally, from his shoulder blades, two arms slowly grow, rapidly covered by the newly-grown feathers, becoming a set of fully functioning wings.
“Yeah, I’ll admit, it wasn’t my most original character choice,” Rex shrugged, “but it gave me an excuse to use my abilities to spice up the game!”
“Hey, I’m not complaining, it was a cool run,” Colin said, not really remembering, but wanting to play along.
He smiled, looking over the people seated with him at the table. This was a great start to his fun and games. A fully party of powerful anthros. But what to do next…?