I will say that you did well with the interview, madam," Chablis said to Juliet as she spoke with the Fox Animalian who owned the estate that was to be France's Animalian colony.
At present things were rather warm, which was actually quite comfortable for the Ranitomeya Amazonica Poison Dart Frog Animalian. Though some of that had its issues as while the chateau had been upgraded over the years to include air conditioning, a lot of it was fairly rudimentary in nature as a structure that was built before modern air conditioning was even a dream would have some issues in employing it, but it was surprisingly comfortable enough. The one thing that Chablis found a bit lacking was the lack of humidity, which as an Amphibian Animalian, that was needed, but even that was tolerable. At the same time, given some of the flooding that had hit other places in Europe at the moment, she couldn't really complain.
"I'm mostly glad that the young man that did the interview was professional about it," Juliet answered.
"I got a bit curious about some of the rumors that went around about ghosts after his tour," Chablis commented.
"I can't explain that... while there have been some issues over France's history that could have passed the chateau, there's never been any instance in which there would be someone or something haunting the chateau," Juliet answered, "my guess is that it might have just been a flash of light off of something, as the sun can reflect off of some fixtures and go through large portions of the building."
Chablis nodded. Some establishments she'd worked at in Paris often deliberately played to lighting tricks to enhance the show, and thus had some experience on how "tricks of the eye" could be played, deliberately or not. She, however, remembered on how her conversion and those of the others went...
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"I must say it was difficult to gain access to the DNA for the species Ranitomeya Amazonica," Doctor Stein said as he led Chablis into one of the conversion rooms, "particularly with how that species are running into existence and non-existence on the basis of what species they're attached to."
Chablis nodded and she'd essentially known that the species was one that was debated as to whether they were their own species or part of another. All she'd found had been the scientific name.
"I've wanted to call it the Red Amazon Poison Dart Frog," Chablis commented, "but that's my own name..."
"Well... that could work," Doctor Stein as he readied, "though, I must say that I don't have much information on what a general name for it is. I could pass it on to the biologists studying it."
Chablis nodded as she tossed her shoes onto the floor. They were simple sorts of sandals that didn't require socks and they sort of clopped across the tile before coming to a stop. She then lifted the sleeve up to ready herself for the shot. Doctor Stein did deliver it and included the standard "welcome to Animalia" greeting. From there he left Chablis to transform, and she could feel herself growing warm, even as the door shut behind the Horizon doctor. However, unlike those that became mammalian or avian Animalians, the warmth that Chablis felt was more the result of losing body hair, rather than gaining it. The hair on her head remained and regained the luster of her youth, but the fine hairs on her arms, as well as the hairs in other areas on her seemed to either be falling out or dissolving outright.
"Interesting," Chablis said slowly as her skin, as he seemed to tighten around reviving muscle also seemed to be gaining something that seemed to make the light reflect of it.
It wasn't sweat and it didn't smell bad, but it had the ability to make her skin glisten a bit. As her skin began to turn blue with black spots on her arms, Chablis got some idea on what it was, as many amphibians had a fine layer of mucus that helped protect their moist skin. Poison Dart Frogs were probably no different. It was soon joined by an almost rubbery sensation in her feet and she lifted one to see that like her arms, her legs and feet had turned blue with black spots, she also watched as her feet grew longer, mirroring the digitigrade feet of many other Animalians. However, she grew no claws and her toes actually grew almost as much as her feet did. She managed to climb up onto her feet and felt that there was some gripping pads under her feet, that allowed her actually grip the tile without having to dig into it.
Chablis moved toward the mirror that was in the room and felt herself sway her hips as she walked. She didn’t quite balance on her toes the way many Animalians did, but neither was it fully on her heal the way a normal Human would walk. It was something halfway in between the two and allowed her to move, as she felt her hips and rear swell and strain against the clothing she was presently wearing. They were relatively lose, and she was presently going without a bra, but as her body regained not just its youthful vigor but also the heightened curves that Animalian females had, she knew she didn’t want to bust out of anything and then have to mess with American measurements. The Metric System worked far better. Thus as her curves grew out, they actually made her pants and shirt more comfortable to wear.
As she approached the mirror as it hung on the wall, Chablis also felt her face begin to push forward into the sort of pointed nose and muzzle that all Poison Dart Frogs had, and in an odd way it almost felt like rubber, even with the soft cracks that were heard as the bones in her face re-arranged. At the same time there was also the pushing sensation behind and around her eyes as they swelled larger, while her head didn't grow proportionately with them. She could still blink and actually kept doing so, even as the transformation began to feel quite good in general. She eventually reached the mirror and smiled at her new appearance as a Ranitomeya Amazonica, or Red Amazon Poison Dart Frog as she termed it.
She still had her Human hair, which now curved around the points on her head where her eyes had bulged up and out a little bit. Her hair covered much of her head and face, but she could see the frog's coloration on her muzzle and the space between her eyes. Much of it was a red-orange color, but there was a large black spot on the nose and black bands that went from her eyes along the front of her triangular muzzle above her upper lip. The upper lip beneath that black band was more of a yellow color as was the area that went down underneath her jaw, down her neck and to tops of her breasts which could only just be seen underneath the shirt she was wearing, and she felt good.
"Oh la la," Chablis said with a smile and then moved to walk over to the door. She collected her sandals along the way and then knocked on it, "Okay... my transformation is complete and I feel fine."
Doctor Stein hesitantly opened the door and found Chablis waiting there fully dressed, "I see you didn't have any issues..."
"Most frogs aren't that big... and Poison Dart Frogs in general are pretty small," Chablis answered.
"It wasn't your size I was referring to," Doctor Stein answered.
Chablis followed Doctor Stein out to find that Abella had also finished her transformation and was essentially twirling in the hallway, with a pair of Horizon's staff looking over her with some nervousness. Not so much from fear of aggression as Abella was happily laughing, but more from embarrassment. The Clearfin Lionfish, like all Lionfish had various spines that were tipped by a venomous barb, which in nature deterred most predators, and in becoming that species, Abella had gained those barbs in addition to the largely orange and white coloring that the fish had. The tail fin and the main parts of her arms and legs were practically clear, which let Chablis see the arm and hand bones. The normal dorsal fin, which was located where it was supposed to be on female Fish Animalians was also clear, which gave a striking appearance. The biggest thing, though, was the spines as a pair had grown up from the top of her eyelids, went through her hair, and there were others that framed her shoulders and sides. It ultimately left her in nothing but a pink swimsuit that looked like it had to be tied on in a new way.
"You seemed to have trashed your clothing, Abella," Chablis said.
"Maybe... I didn't think the spines would do all this, though the real thing was more with the tail. I didn't want things being too breezy back there before I became an Animalian."
"Yes, but you will need clothing that will maintain some modesty, particularly when not working," Chablis reminded her.
"The two tailors... Sora and Yuki could probably come up with something that would work," one of the Horizon staff members spoke, "if she can tolerate Velociraptor Dinotopians."
Dezirae and Vere were the next to come out and both thankfully didn't have Abella's clothing problems. Dezirae came close with regard to her wings and tail feathers, but her shirt was naturally open backed and she could adjust her clothing so that her tail feathers didn't interfere with anything or her movements. Though this most of the attention that Dezirae got came more at puzzlement at the fact that while she had selected the blue coloration that was present in the Budgerigar, and particularly those sold as pets, that blue coloration in her feathers was mostly on the chest and going down to the tail feathers. Her head and wing feathers were largely white with black speckles in them.
"I think it looks good," Dezirae commented after Abella had made some comment about the blue being in a spot that would be covered by her clothes, "It makes for a contrast in colors. And when working... we'll likely have less clothes on anyway, and could make for an interesting flying act..."
"Only if someone spots you," Vere teased, "they may be too busy looking at mine."
And Vere, like a true Fallow Deer did still have the white spots on her brown fur, though most of this was on her back and upper arms and legs, which were also covered by her clothing. But Chablis could note the line of white spots that also went up Vere's neck. It was largely one side, as her hair was pulled around to hang over the front of her right shoulder, but it did present how the Fallow Deer looked and Chablis was pleased with that. Belles Bêtes would be on its way soon.
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"Well," Chablis said while coming back from her memories, "that could end up with something that would be good four American tourists on Halloween... A great haunted mansion. You could yowl into a microphone that would amplify your voice and make it sound ghostly. Tourists would love that."
"I'm not the type to scare people," Juliet answered, "I want to be able to care for people... and if I find love, have that love be romantic and for a lifetime."
"To keep your family line?" Chablis wondered.
"More to show my father how to actually raise children and to care for them," Juliet answered.
Chablis decided not to get into that, though with some of the renovations needed to turn one of the old wine cellars that was on a different part of the chateau's attached vineyard grounds there was the assorted work that would be needed to assure that things would be safe and clean and that the show could be done with reasonable vision.
"Will you want to come and supervise the renovations... or at least see how the workmen are doing?" Chablis asked.
"Maybe a little later," Juliet answered, "and only to make sure they don't do real damage to the vineyard's property."