Shocked to her senses by the sudden blast of cold water, Cassia flailed about wildly, trying desperately to reach the surface. Managing to untangle herself from her now enormous clothes, she dragged herself across the bottom of the pool towards the edge. Thankfully, she had only fallen into the shallow edge of the water, although it seemed rather deep to her now minature form. She pulled herself out of the water, the claws on her forelegs scrabbling for purchase on the rounded pebbles. While she could move her hind legs, she had no idea how to make them operate in concert with her forelegs in order to raise her body off the ground, much less to walk. She shuddered as she felt a strange sensation at the base of her spine, and without looking, somehow knew that she had a new appendage. She was terrified of turning to take another glance in the water to confirm the change which had occurred, but even without examining her reflection, she could not deny the paws covered in wet, bedraggled fur which were before her eyes.
She was not sure how long she lay there, dripping and terrified, at the edge of Lake Moor, but to her it seemed like hours. Too dumbfounded to even cry, she could not even find the strength to bemoan her own fate. The only thought in her mind was, who would save Kasergrov now?
A cool breeze caused her to shiver, rousing her out of her stupor. She had no cloth with which to dry herself, since her dress now floated on the surface of Lake Moor. Not that she was sure how she could dry herself anyway, lacking hands. Finally drawing her hind legs beneath her and pushing her feilne body up off the ground, she managed to stand on all four paws, which felt to her almost like a human on hands and knees. Thinking of her position in this manner, she gradually managed to walk a few paces, telling her body it was like crawling. Still dripping wet, she turned back to the lake to face what she had become.
What stared back at her was definitely a cat, although a relatively miserable-looking one. Her soaked fur stuck to her sides, she looked like something that...well...that the cat dragged in. Her fur was a deep brown that would have matched her human hair, but her beautiful brown eyes which had so resembled her mother's were now a bright yellow with slitted pupils.
"WHY?" she tried to cry out, but all that emerged from her mouth was a half-hearted yowl. What use would it be to her to have the body of a cat? Whoever had sent her the spell must have been lying, or trying to get revenge on the king by turning his daughter into an animal.
Little did they know that the king could care less what happened to his daughter, Cassia thought bitterly, another softer yowl escaping her lips. She had to find a way to reverse the spell, and then get her hands on some real power, power that could save Kasergrov. Maybe the person who sent her the spell had that kind of power. Maybe she could steal it from them! It would serve them right for having done this to her. She saw something move out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head to see her tail flicking back and forth proudly, despite the slicked-back fur. Her ears, whiskers, and resolve drooped a little at the sight, a stark reminder of the reality she was now caught in.
Nevertheless, she now had a possible plan of action, since if someone had the power to turn her into a cat, they might have the power to end Anders' tyranny. On the upside, she could now move freely without restraint, since no one would ever suspect the princess had turned into a cat. She would have to act quickly, before the spell did anything else to her, but at least she had a goal. Turning unsteadily on her new paws, Cassia decided to...