Amy had removed every bit of jewelry except for one. She found it particularly heartbreaking to let it go. The bracelet had engraved silver pictures of many animals, with several different-colored gems in it.
"Come on, Amy," Lina said. She was still holding her arm up and Amy saw the bleeding had thankfully stopped already. She hadn't cut her too deeply. "Come on, take it off and let's go!"
"All right already, don't have a cow, Lina," Amy said. With a little force she was able to slip it off and put it back with the dozens of others. "Can we at least get mrreow some new clothes?" she asked. "I'm feeling very uncomfortable."
"What did you say?" Lina asked dizzily. "I kind of blanked for a second." Amy looked at her friend, but she showed no sign of concern. Amy repeated her request and Lina relented, giving her a ten-minute time limit. The two girls found the clothing section and were amazed at the variety of clothing items there were. Among 4, 6 and 8-cup bras, Lina noticed things such as hoof-guards (labeled for rough terrain and racing), two, three and four-fingered gloves, sunglasses made for two pairs of eyes, very, VERY long turtlenecks (which, upon closer inspection, Lina discovered were called "giraffenecks"). She was idly scratching an itch on her ear and staring at a few customizable caps with punch-out horn holes when Amy returned from the dressing room.
She was wearing a new pair of jean shorts which showed off her leg stripes and even had a sewn-in hole for her tail. Lina had to admit, she made quite a cute cat-girl. "But I still think it's suicide walking out that door into broad daylight like that."
"They'll just think I'm in a costume," Amy said. "Weird, yeah, but unless anyone gets real close they're not going to freak out." Lina felt another itch, but this time in her rear. She resisted the urge to grope under her waist and scratch it with Amy around. Meanwhile, Amy became interested in the caps, and found a beige-and-blue one with a blackbird on it. She popped it on her head. Apparently it had been designed specifically for her kind of ears, as they poked out at the proper angles from the fabric. She grinned broadly, showing off her fangs. "Wrrraat do yo think?"
"It's a little much," Lina said. She was now being very distracted by the itch, which had turned into full-blown stinging. "Though you could use some more color."
Amy chuckled as she pulled her black and gray-streaked hair through the adjustment strap in the back of the cap, making a short ponytail. Her smile faded all of a sudden, however, when her gaze returned to Lina. "Urrr...Lina, did you...touch anything in here?"
"No. Well, I put back those necklaces that you picked up in the other aisle." There was now a good amount of pain coming from above her butt now, and Lina was beginning to panic. She couldn't think of what might be causing it, but with Amy watching her she didn't dare stick her hand down the back of her pants.
"Your ears are different," Amy said in a concerned way. "You sure you didn't do something?"
"I...no!" Lina stammered. Her hands flew up to her ears, which were still itching, and found them to be much larger than they should be. "What the hell?" She located a mirror close by, and gasped at what were apparently two long, pointed ears sticking sideways out of her brown hair. She scratched one of them to relieve the itching, and felt stubby hairs starting to grow on them. "What's happening to me?!"
"Calm dowwwrrn!" Amy mewed. "Just keep your cool and you'll be fine." She grasped Lina's arms and gave her a look of sympathetic understanding. "It mrrwwon't do you any good to fight it. We'll probably be able to change it back, whatever it is. Just don't panic."
Lina barely heard any of this, as the pain in her pants became too unbearable. Grabbing the waist at both sides, she shoved them down, granting a satisfying relief from the pain as well as a freezing draft from the open air. She had accidentally pulled her underwear down as well.
Amy backed off a few feet in surprise. "I'm sorry," Lina said, blood rushing to her face. "It was just so...pain...ful..." Her voice trailed off at what she saw next. A short, thin tassel was hanging between her legs. She watched in horror as it slowly grew in length. The black and white fur, as well as the thick brown tuft at its end told her exactly what this was. A few waves at the twitching of some new muscles in her back confirmed it.
"My God, I've got a tail!" she shouted, jumping at the realization.
Amy studied Lina with both surprise and bemusement. She watched as Lina's skin began to bleach with sprouting white fur. "What are yooou waiting for?!" Lina gasped to her friend. "GET HELP!"
Amy stood in place for another second, not wanting to miss a second of this amazing sight, but then saw the frightened look on Lina's face and decided to obey. She jogged up the aisle as Lina collapsed into a half-clothed heap on the cold floor, watching her hands thicken, their five digits melting into three.