Chapter Text
Lloyd was standing in an empty meadow. It was night. The air was cold, but not in an unpleasant way. He blinked, and glanced at his surroundings. All he could see for miles was green grass and wildflowers gently waving in the wind. He didn’t take much notice of how his eyes could see in the dark as if it were broad daylight, or how his ears twitched at the sound of a distant field mouse scurrying across the ground.
“Lloyd…”
He flinched, and turned around. There was a dark figure standing behind him. Scratch that, there were many dark figures standing behind him. At first they were merely shadows, but they soon materialized into physical forms. They had horns, and hooves, and thick black fur that covered their entire bodies.
Lloyd backed away as he immediately recognized what these creatures were. “Your… oni…” he whispered shakily.
The one that had spoken bowed its head. “Yes, but do not be afraid,” it spoke softly, “we are not like the oni you have encountered before.”
It approached him slowly, and sat on its haunches in front of him. Physically, Lloyd could see that was true. This oni’s eyes were emerald green, not purple, and the markings on its face were gold instead of white. It was also wearing a jeweled crown around its horns, and a beaded necklace around its torso.
Still, Lloyd remained on edge. “Why are you here?” he asked.
The oni tilted its head to the side. “You called us here, youngling… why do you fear this part of yourself?”
Lloyd looked down at the ground. “I don’t know what you're talking about.”
“Don’t be like that,” it huffed, “your oni half is nothing to fear, it is a natural thing you should embrace.”
Lloyd clenched his fists. “How can you say that?!” he snapped, “I’m not an oni, I’m a human, if I give in to the darkness I’ll be just like… just like…”
Tears began to form in his eyes. The oni placed a gentle paw against his cheek, and nuzzled his forehead with its nose. “You are not your father Lloyd, I promise… and you don’t have to be scared of yourself anymore either.”
It took his hand, and led him towards the rest of the group. The other oni sniffed and rubbed against him as he passed by, but backed off after a low growl from the oni leading him.
The oni gestured for him to sit, and he did. “Feel the earth around you,” it said.
Lloyd grabbed a clump of dirt in his hands, then looked back at the oni expectedly.
It chuckled and shook its head. “Not quite… close your eyes, like you're meditating.”
He obeyed, and took in a deep breath. The wind seemed to stop in its tracks as the night grew silent.
“Good… now… search inside yourself,” the oni said, “feel the oni part of you, let it be free.”
His eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated. It felt strange, he had tried to hide his oni side for so long, yet now he was allowing it to take over him. But it also felt… right.
The change started at his head. His teeth morphed into fangs that jutted out of his mouth, and his nose became more feline. His ears grew longer, and longer, until they flopped down like a rabbits would. He winced as his horns began to break through his skin, the feeling itchy but surprisingly not too painful.
“Ah yes, I’d advise you not grow your horns all at once… the process can be quite uncomfortable,” the oni said with a sympathetic look.
Next his hands shifted into paws, while his nails became shape claws. He flexed them, getting an odd sense of satisfaction from retracting his claws in and out. His feet turned into cloven hooves, easily the weirdest transformation by far in his opinion. A long tail with a tuft of blonde fur at the end poked out of his pants.
Finally, black fur sprouted and grew to cover his entire body, all across his face and back and limbs. His hair became more fur-like as well, and spread until a large puff of blonde fur covered his entire torso.
Lloyd opened his eyes to see the oni grinning at him in delight. “Well done!” it cheered, “how do you feel?”
He stood up, shaky on his new hooves. “I’m… I’m… really furry…” he said, rubbing his paw against the thick fur around his neck.
The oni laughed. “Yes, that is one of the many differences between us and our evil brethren, we are much, much hairier.”
“Wait, I have so many questions,” Lloyd said, still examining his new body in amazement, “I thought all oni were destructive, and I thought the oni we fought were the only oni that existed, who are you guys?”
The oni opened its mouth to reply, but stopped. It backed away from Lloyd. “I’m sorry… we must go.”
“Wait, what?”
The oni surrounding them turned into shadow and slinked back into the darkness. Lloyd yelped and drew back as the oni’s form dissipated and floated away from him.
“No, wait, come back!” he yelled. His vision grew blurry as he tried to swipe at the cloud. “Don’t leave me!”
“Don’t fret youngling,” came the oni’s echoey voice from inside the cloud, “we will see each other again soon.”
The shadowy form disappeared, as did the rest of the world around him. He screamed as he was sent tumbling downwards, his consciousness slowly fading into black.
-
Lloyd awoke with a gasp. He sat up stiff straight in bed. The sun was shining in through the window, and he could hear chatter coming from outside the quarters. Everyone else must have already woken up.
He looked down at his hands. Normal human hands, check. He ran his hands through his hair. No horns, check. He threw his blankets off, letting them fall to the ground in a pile. No hooves, check.
He climbed out of bed with a yawn. He had to admit, he was disappointed that his transformation had just been a weirdly vivid dream. Though… not evil oni’s who were also kinda furries wasn’t a thing he ever imagined his subconscious would make up. So… maybe not just a dream.
He’d ask master Wu about it later. For now, he was craving for some breakfast.