Alec weighed his options carefully, but ultimately decided the safest thing was just to go with the original plan. Find some minotaurs. Get some milk. Finish this quest. Get back to normal.
While the bed was comfortable, Alec's dreams were less pleasant. Everything he'd experienced in this world came back to him, as a twisted nightmare. Having his way with his own body while he was a harpy. Going completely feral as a nekomata, prowling the countryside for virile men. Getting stuck permanently as one of those cow-women, staring mindlessly at the grass, being bred...
The nightmares were vivid enough he had to pat himself down in the morning and make sure he was still human. Afterwards, he bathed, got dressed, and met back with the others.
"I guess we're headed east, to that valley with the minotaurs now?" he asked.
"We were just over this," replied Andrea. "They're locked down. No visitors. And even if they made an exception, you're asking for a pretty weird and perverted favor, at a pretty bad time."
Alec shook his head. "Well no. See, you're forgetting about my skill. It's not going to be me asking, I'll just possess the first minotaur we see, and take things from there. I just need help guarding my body while I'm out, it'll be fine."
Andrea started to object, but Vivian chimed in. "It does seem like the simplest solution. Just so long as we don't end up being chased by a whole pack of angry minotaurs."
The group sprang for horses in the end, along with a small cart to move Alec's body in a hurry if they had to move while he wasn't in it, and headed out to the east, on a surprisingly uneventful journey. Near sundown, passing through the valley, they came upon the edges of a very large and imposing palisade. Getting off the cart and sneaking up for a closer look, there was a large gate flanked by half a dozen very large and imposing minotaurs.
They looked about like Alec expected they would. Huge musclebound men, easily eight or nine feet tall, with the heads and hooves of bulls, and each carrying an axe so large Alec probably wouldn't even be able to lift it. It seemed like none of them wore any clothes, which made it very easy to see that all the minotaurs were men.
"Doesn't look like we'll be milking any of these..." he whispered.
"Of course not." Andrea rolled her eyes. "Minotaurs have very strict gender rolls. The women all stay at home, while the men head out looking for trouble."
"Well... the plan will still work. I'll just possess one of these, head inside, and... I guess find a minotaur to milk and a bucket."
Andrea stared back. "OK, assuming you don't cause a scene abandoning guard duty and get in there, I don't see how this plan's going to work. Are you just going to walk up to someone and ask, 'hey, mind if I milk you?' Who's going to agree to that?"
Vivian quickly turned back to check on the horses, hiding a very bright blush.
"Look, I'll work something out, OK?"
"And then you have to get back out here, with the milk. Just going to report back to guard duty with a milk pail in one hand?"
"I'll find a canteen or something! Here, see that little tree in the corner? If I can't get out with the milk, I'll just toss it over to there We should be able to grab it and leave no problem."
Andrea shook her head again. "I'm telling you, this isn't going to work..."
Alec however saw the gate was opening, with two more minotaurs coming out to start a new shift. Not wanting to miss the chance, he pointed at one of the minotaurs who was heading back in, and quietly said "possession."
His head swam as his perspective shifted, and he stumbled a bit, doing his best to play it off as being really drowsy. Leaning on the handle of the axe for a moment, he got his hooves under him and kept walking. It was weird being this large and powerful, and he was almost overwhelmed by all the scents his new massive nostrils were pulling in. He still felt a bit light-headed, and was having a hard time focusing. All his thoughts felt fuzzy and unfocused. He wondered if the minotaur was really that tired or they all felt like this all the time. Either way, he started plodding along, hoping the others would keep his body safe.