*before I forget, this story is inspired by a drawing of Haukaiu by Jay Naylor which I found
at <galleries.adult-empire.com>*
As you walked through the woods, Devan described Kinzu, the main village of the Kinzu
Tribe, to you. Most of the houses were log-and-stick huts with clay roofs to keep water
out, while public buildings were constructed from carved stone. The largest building was
their temple. You asked him what their religion was and he stated, simply, "Christianity,
what else?" So these creatures had to have had communication with outsiders. However,
they called God, "Háiku (HAY-KOO)." Devan and his family lived on a small farm just
outside of Kinzu and his father was the leading supplier of wheat for the village who,
therefore, made considerable money. As you approached the house, Devan said,"You'd
better stay here until I find out if you can stay for supper." He then ran into the house.
After a minute or so, here came Devan with two more, older otters and one child otter.
They rushed out to meet their company, but when they saw you, their faces were nothing
if not shocked. Trying to remain chivalrous, the male otter introduced himself and his
family.
"Hello," he greeted,"I'm Tomás (TOE-MAHS), and this is my wife Kendra." You accept his
extended hand and tip your hat to the female. "Obviously, you've met our oldest son,
Devan. And this is our youngest son, Nicholas. Our middle son, Fisk, is at the temple for
service. It is an honor to have you for supper as our new neighbor. I hope you will spend
the night with us afterwards. I'm sure Devan would like to show you the town and it would
be the least we can do to help you settle in." Not wanting to intrude, you gratefully decline
his offer, but he insists and you finally agree.
"I hope you like fish, clams, bread, and berries," Kendra asked.
"Oh, yes! Thank you!" you say. Following the family inside, you sit and talk with Devan
and Tomás while the fish cooks. Once it is ready, you all eat a hearty meal, after which
you thank Tomás and Kendra for their hospitality. Then, Devan asks,"Would you like to
come see the village?"
You reply,"Yes, thank you." He leads you off down the trail again for another half mile.
Once the city is in sight, he starts to tell you what all the buildings are.
"There's the village hut (which you later find is like a community center), and there's the
marketplace," he points to a large, circular, white-stone building that sits in the center of
town,"There's the safe-hut (which is like a fort), and there's the main temple," here he
shows you a large step pyramid with multiple otters running in and out. As you enter the
village, however, everyone stops. Watching you suspiciously, they all slowly return to their
chores, but you are never out of somebody's careful eye. Completely oblivious to this, or
otherwise ignoring it, Devan leads you to one of many huts in the village. He knocks on
the door and a jaunty voice calls,"Come in!" Entering, you see that the hut has been
divided into two floors. The first floor was also divided, but not with a wall. Whoever
Devan has taken you to meet is obviously the village medicine-man or something to that
effect, because the side you enter in had shelves and shelves of herbs, liquids, books,
and strange insruments centered around a large cauldron. The other side of the room
was a sitting area/kitchen. Upstairs, you guessed, was his bedroom.
"Ah! Devan, my boy! How are you?" exclaimed a large, heavy-set otter.
Devan bowed to the otter and said,"Very good. Güto (GOO-TOE), I'd like to introduce you
to Steven O'Connor, he just moved into the human house by Big Rock Pool."
Noticing you, Güto simply said,"You shouldn't have brought him"
"I mean no disrespect, sir," Devan said,"But why not? Surely the villagers won't attack
him!"
"No," Güto said,"We don't attack unless attacked, you know the otter code. But there are
certain spells placed on all otter villages that prevent humans from discovering us and
revealing us to the world. Look!" He pointed at you and Devan gasped.
"What?!" you ask, terrified of what's happening that you don't know about. Güto shows
you a full-length mirror. Looking yourself over, you find that your ears have moved to the
top of your head and rounded off like theirs. "What's happening to me?!"
"You are being tranformed into an otter," Güto said,"I wish there was some way I could
stop it, but the spell is permanent. It was put in place to protect our secrecy, but even
though you appear trustworthy, the spell does not distinguish. By tomorrow morning, you
will be an otter."
"But I don't want to be an otter!" you say,"I don't mean offense to you, but I want to
remain human!"
"It's irreversable," he says.
"How could this get any worse?" you ask no one in particular.
But Güto answers,"Actually, the spell may also change your gender or age, but those are
only 50% possibilities."
"What?!" you burst out,"Not only is my species going to change, but my gender and age
could change, too?!" You look in the mirror again, in just the time you were talking, your
face already resembled an otter's and brown fur grew on your body. The transformation
kept speeding up. Soon, you were fully furred. The fur makes your clothes tight, and it
must be noticable, because Devan says,"Take them off, you won't need them any more."
You do as he says and the changes quicken. Your hand and feet become clawed and
webbed. Your fur pattern matches Devan's with dark brown hair on your back and limbs
and light brown fur on your front, groin, and face. You feel pain at the base of your back
and, looking there, you see an otter tail. Your black, short-cropped hair disappears and
you are left with just fur on your head. Now you are an anthro otter, just like all the others
you have seen. But other than the species change, you're the same. "I thought you said
my age and gender were going to change?"
"They may," Güto explains,"They may not. We won't know for a while, those side effects
are delayed." You try to get used to your new otter body. Then, you feel something odd.