Things Change So Fast [End]

[carcinoGeneticist]

Since she'd arrived at this strange Warren in the middle of nowhere, things had been worse and worse every day. The heat and sand alone would have been enough the make Clara miserable, but separated from her family as she was just amplified every problem until it was almost completely intolerable.

Everyone here must have hated her, too. She certainly didn't smell great, especially after the sun had been beating down on her. She saw the way they looked at her when she passed, she knew there must have been whispers. The worst of it all was Dorian, though. Of everything else, he was the most terrifying - what had motivated him to buy her? Why had he wanted her? Her father had always assured her that someday, someone would want her as a Doe, but she'd never believed him. And she'd certainly never thought that it would be someone as good-looking as Dorian.

So there must have been something else. All the same, Clara had been careful to trade her meals with others, ensuring that if anything was being slipped to her, it went to someone else.

That might have made her transformation even more horrifying, unprepared for it as she was.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she rummaged in a deep closet of the Warren, looking for something - anything! - that could cure her. She didn't want to be a Doe! Who would want a Doe like her, a Lowlander with a rotten ass? No, no, this just couldn't be happening... Would she be used, and then forgotten, left to go mad as she'd heard happened from time to time? Worse, would she be abandoned entirely? Perhaps the best option was for her to run away before anyone else even knew. She would find that band of Leverets that had sold her to Dorian in the first place, and no one would ever be able to track her down.

But grief was powerful, and the Doe found herself getting more and more exhausted. There was nothing in this closet that could help her, nothing that could change her back into a Leveret. As much as she wanted things to go back to normal, they wouldn't. With a pathetic sniffle, Clara nestled down into the blankets, pushing her paws through the fabric until they came in contact with the floor. There was something else there, something that tingled when she touched it, making her eyelids feel even more heavy, but she ignored it. She was just too tired. She just needed to sleep...

Little did the Lowlander realize just how much worse the situation would be when she awoke.

[The Jenn]

Winnie had gone into their Jack's room to put away laundry consisting of a vest, several light sheets, a freshly-beaten rug, and several washing cloths. She hadn't expected to find a body in the closet when she pushed back the cloth that served as a door. It was so surprising, and the girl looked so dead, that she choked on a scream and jumped back before she even thought about it.

There was only one person that brown in the warren since Talaith left, and that was the creepy, twitchy Lowlander. But this wasn't her. Was it? She didn't have a mane. And she was much smaller. Did Rabbits get different forms, like bipedal? But didn't only Jacks achieve that? And anyway, the girl wasn't a biped.

But she was... larger. A Doe? Oh. Something in her stomach flopped and she turned, hopping away quickly to find someone. Anyone with more authority. She left the mess of laundry on the floor.

Several minutes later, she timidly returned to the room on the heels of their Jack. She hovered in the doorway, waiting for some cue. Dorian promptly ignored her in favor of the sleeping pile of Lowlander in his closet.

That did not look like the same rotting pile of flesh that he'd originally purchased. His eyes narrowed as he leaned in closer, trying to get a better look in the cramped space and despite her sleeping slump. What was her name again? It wasn't coming to him immediately. "Goodness. You've gone and turned a Doe on me, haven't you? Well then, wake up, darling. Let me have a look at you."

[carcinoGeneticist]

Magically induced sleep was a powerful thing, and when Winnie poked around in the closet, the newly-changed Doe hardly even twitched. That would be something she would certainly regret for some time to come. Why didn't she wake up then? She could have hauled ass right out of the Warren, never to look back, and no one would have been the wiser for it. She would have been safe.

Instead, she had to continue to sleep. It wasn't until the sound of the Jack's somewhat deeper voice reached her ears did she begin to stir, pawing at her face as she struggled to regain consciousness. When the movement was met with sharp claws across her face she yelped, more out of surprise than pain, and began fighting with the blankets that she had thrown herself into. The memories of the previous night finally returned to her, the terrible nightmare, and now... Oh, heavens, she hadn't just dreamed it, and the voice that had woken her... Clara had to suppress a shudder as she stared in horror at her own twisted forepaws. Dorian was here now, and he wanted to look at her.

This just couldn't be happening. Another quiet noise escaped her, but she knew she couldn't just keep nestled into the blankets, so she slowly pushed her nose and then head free. Her eyes were wide with fear, her ears pinning themselves back against her skull. From deeper within the closet, the clatter of bones against the walls was clearly heard, a sound that made the Doe wince.

With any luck, her death would be quick.

[The Jenn]

The first thing that appeared from the pile of blankets was her twitching green nose, followed by her wildly crinkled whiskers and her elongated muzzle. Then came the mane, an unfortunately green part of her that nevertheless made her bald head more attractive. Ears, longer and straight... except the bit where they gripped her skull in terror.

Well. Wasn't she an odd thing. What was her name again?

Dorian's own ears pricked up at the sound of her bony rump clattering against the back of the closet. Ahh, yes... yes. The most attractive part of the creature, attached to the most unattractive. That damned Lowland rot.

"Come on out, then, that's a good girl," he cooed as though he spoke to an infant. Just look at those eyes. The poor dear was terrified! Probably didn't understand why she found him so ravishing all of a sudden. The knowledge would come with time, he was sure.