//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 
// Story: Flame of the Fateless 
// by Cryptic Keyboard 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 14
Growth


It had been two months since I had posed the question of 'how hard can it be?' 
Truth be told, it wasn't that difficult. It just had one teeny tiny snag.
"Focus boyo focus!" Yiang snapped. That was it. As soon as I had lifted my muzzle from my kill the intangible bitch herself had drove her finger so hard into my butt that I swear it came out my mouth. So it had been two months of 'training' from there on out. Now one could argue that Yiang was helping me and while that might be true; she was also keeping up her regime of being one of the single most irritating spirits I had ever met (although she is the first I've ever met.) So she was being Caspar the friendly bitch. Logical I know.

The training itself had been all about control over my new found - but hardly touched upon - pyromancy. The goal was to achieve ignition as Yiang called it, so far I could spit tiny flames (making sure to say 'Lycan use ember!' In my head) and set fire to common flammable objects found in nature, such as leaves. It had started off quite poorly. Yiang told me that her attack was to 'channel my inner fire', whether or not this was true was irrelevant. The facts were that I had used a much higher level of pyromancy on that day and hadn't even  come close to it since. Heck it took me a solid two weeks just to get the feeling of fire built up in my stomach, another before I could even spit embers.

Just what the hell was it about this that was so complex? I had been firing off spells left and right without so much as the thought of sweat breaking coming into my mind, now I was becoming exhausted after making a small camp-fire. Seriously I found Sky-Dance took less effort than making a lighter worthy flame. But in the words of Yiang 'it will get easier with time boyo'. Yeah well so far it had become easy enough to make a flame to incinerate a wayward caterpillar should it crawl to close to the epicentre of my fire. 
"DAMMIT!" I roared as my fire failed yet again to cause anything more than a minuscule ember. "I can't control it once it leaves my mouth."
"Why not use your horn?" Yiang probed with disinterest.
"I have, try as I might I can't control it in such a small quantity. I need more fire!" I slashed a few blades of grass with my claws. "I need hands. Not four paws that grant me the dexterity of a blind, dumb and deaf infant; but hands that can grasp things and draw signs and do things that hands do!"

Yiang tutted in disgust. "Then stand up fool." I gave the air a look of utter confusion. "Yeah that's right, stand up!"
"The heck are you talking about woman? I'm a quadruped not a whatjamacallit... Antromomorf?" 
"The word you might be looking for is anthropomorphic." Yiang muttered like she was addressing a child. "So you aren't one now, who says you don't have a spell awaiting you that allows such a form to become a reality?"
To be honest she had a fair point. I hadn't even flexed my magical wings yet so who's to say that there isn't a spell like that? Wait, that would be WAY too simple, like Mary Sue simple. I didn't wanna be no Mary Sue! I began to ponder on this matter further while Yiang nagged me to keep practising. Seeing no solution to the problem at the time; I gave into her whims and resumed my practice.



*



I made a breakthrough. I had practised for another two days while continuing to ponder on the matter of how to gain hands and then FWOOSH! I took a breath and with my sigh came a wonderful plume of orange fire! Okay that might be somewhat of an over exaggeration, it was hardly a plume but it was much more than an ember. Better still I had done it without effort and without too much thought. In my eyes I was ready to leave the forest and continue my journey, a journey for hands!
I called it Operation Lyra. Not too sure why though. 

The only snag was I still didn't have a clue as to what I was searching for. I knew I didn't have a spell so I needed another alternative. The gears in my head slowly cranked around until one teeny tiny cog whirred into life and spat out an idea.
"Alchemy!" I whooped in utter glee.
"Say what boyo?" Yiang yawned, had I woken her up?
"Alchemy! I need an alchemist, do you know where I can find one?"
"Why would I know? Get off yer ass and search wolfy."
I nodded hurriedly and started to trot my way to the edge of the trees, I was rushing myself I know but the lure of hands was too strong! So I left the comfort of the forests and headed out to find an alchemist.


*



Turns out that finding my goals is much harder without a sprite floating in front to show the way with pretty sparkles and the occasional utter of 'this way'. I had only just found a village after hours of wandering. It seemed awful familiar though, like the sun was shining brighter above when I looked at the sprawl of houses that were laid out at the bottom of the hill. I slunk through a gap in a white picket-fence to gain entry into the town, keeping my head low and trying to stay undetected. I saw an open window but this time ignored it as to not cause a panic like last time I had entered civilisation. Retaining my low profile movements I used an alleyway to get around the front of the building, the town looked empty right now. All save for one little pony.
A pony with a bright azure coat.

"Sunny?" I thought outwards to the pony. She started to look around quickly to locate the source of the voice, which was in her head so she had trouble. I stepped further out into the street and said again. "Sunny?" This time the pony turned in a full circle, her eyes fell on me like two big shiny orbs. I only just noticed that they had the most pleasant rose gleam to them.
"Lycan!" She squealed in joy before galloping over to me. For a small object she carried a lot of momentum because she hit me like a miniature train. I stumbled as she hit me and latched on like a oversized flea.
"Lycan, Lycan. Lycan!" She repeated. "Looky here! Look!" The little ball of hyperactivity jumped away and spun to show me her flank. It was adorned with an odd marking of some sort. It appeared to be a tattoo of a stringed instrument being painted and carved, only it clung to the flesh as if it were a part of it. Had the filly gotten a marking branded to her?

"Sunny, what is that?" I asked with genuine lack of knowing.
"It my cutie mark you silly!" She gushed back."
"Yer what now?"
She gawked at me. "You don't know what a cuite mark is?" I shook my head. "Its what everypony gets when they find their special talent, it normal relates in some way to the talent or is symbolic of it." She puffed out her chest proudly. "Mine means I'm a handy dandy craftsfilly when it comes to instruments, I found it out about a month ago in workshop class when we were making toys. I started carving and before I knew it I had carved out the structure to a guitar."
I turned my head sideways, that was all? She just had a sudden idea and acted upon it? Jeez if talent was that easy it explains certain 'talented people' quite well doesn't it?
Sunny then leapt around me in a way that seemed improbable for a creature like her. "Then I made another guitar, a tuba and a violin!"
That word clicked something in my brain. Another splutter as the single gear started turning to power thought and memory. Flashes of a previous life and an oddly cheerful duet being played

I had a very odd feeling in my brain. It was like the concept of a violin was normal to me. Had I played one back In Ireland? There was only on way to find out, but first I needed hands.
"Sunny, do you know where I can find and alchemist?" I asked the still bubbling filly.
"Yep!" She beamed.
"Wait really? Seriously?"
"Mmmhmmm, I can take you to him if you want."
"That would be awesome kid." I knelt down. "How about you jump on my back and we get there faster?"
Sunny giggled and leapt onto my back with a girlish squeal of delight. Sure it looked like I was abducting a small child, but it was making her laugh. That was all I could have asked for. Her hooves linked around my neck as she shuffled into a comfortable position. 
"Okay, Aqua is down the road and to the left. If you miss his hut I'll say." Sunny said.
"Righty-O. Hang on kid." I warned.

I flexed my hind legs to loosen them up, I then bolted off at a speed fast enough to make Sunny shriek in terror. That terror was quickly replaced by ludicrous glee as she clung for dear life to the fur around my neck, enjoying every single moment of her five foot crimson roller-coaster. It was good to run again. It had been some time since I had allowed myself to just run without real purpose beyond my own enjoyment. The bonus here being that I was making a child laugh. Fancy that, a wolf making a child laugh. Well just a few months ago I didn't think a wolf could breath fire or talk, or run on air, or interact in a society, or do anything besides growl and hunt to be honest. Learning is fun.

It wasn't long before I came to a point on the road where it spilt away onto a dirt path that in turn led to a smaller shack with a chimney happily spitting out clouds of multi-coloured smoke. An alchemist's hut if I've ever seen one. I performed a spectacular power-slide (that hurt my paws but was worth it) to stop myself from crashing into the front door. I leaned in and Sunny knocked thrice on the door.
"W-Who is it?" Came a call from inside.
"Its me Aqua! I brought a friend who needs to talk to you!" Sunny called back. 
There was a series of clunks, cracks and clatters as the occupant of the hut hopefully made its way towards the door. The frame creaked open to reveal a sooty grey stallion with a pair of goggles over his eyes and a vial levitating in a sheath of orange aura. Oddly, he didn't even flinch at the sight of me.
"Ah its you." Aqua said with a reminiscent glint in his eye. "I was wondering when I would see you again."
I frowned. "What do you mean again?"
"I'm sorry? Did I say something strange again? You must excuse me, I've been experimenting with a few alternative chemicals. Muddles the mind somewhat. Now come on in my friends before I lose track of...."

Something inside exploded and Aqua retreated into the hut, he seemed a bit too clumsy to be meddling with this kind of stuff. I had to stoop slightly to get inside the hut with Sunny still on my back. The inside was almost exactly how I had pictured it. 
Dark, smelly, filled with strange looking equipment that had even stranger goo running through their glass innards and dripping into various tubs and beakers. Aqua was sweeping shattered glass into the corner as Sunny stared wide-eyes at several jars filled with things I couldn't even recognise. Something about the environment made me want to exclaim SCIENCE at the top of my lungs.
"So Aqua, I need a potion..." I started.
"You looking for something to give you hands? That tends to be a hot item." Aqua muttered as he skimmed the shelves for something. "Of course for a creature such as yourself I'm going to need a sample of your fur and blood to make the mixture complete as well as a height measurement, you might also want to find somepony who can make clothes... Errm big clothes might I add."

Aqua ran a tape-measure along my body taking length and height measurements, he then trotted back over to his equipment to scribble down some notes.
"Five feet and seven inches. You're very big for a wolf considering the average in this area is two seven, three at a stretch. Duel horns hinting at magic, could just be an anomaly in genetics... Or a new species. Can you perform any sort of magical tasks?"
I answered by levitating his quill away from the paper.
"Very good, so horns DO allow function of magic. Oki-doki I'm going to need some samples.." He snipped off a part of my fur before I could comply. "Now hold still so I can get a blood sample..."
Aqua didn't give me time to stand still. He jabbed my flank with a syringe and pulled a small amount of blood from me before I could so much as mentally register that he had a sharp object. After sapping my blood he jotted down something on a piece of paper which he then handed to Sunny. 
"Sunny would you kindly take this into town and give it to Artemis? He'll know what it means, make sure to say its an order from me." 
Sunny nodded and headed out of the door back towards the town. Aqua started to mix various herbs, liquids and goo's together in a large drum. He seemed to just lob the ingredients in without taking much time to measure things out or even look at what was being thrown into the mix. Was this guy really an alchemist?
Was he any good?

It took him the better part of five minutes to take a step away from the brew and smile.
"Its ready my friend." He smirked, scooping a small amount into a vial. "This is what I call a Gro-potion, that's grow without the w just so you know." 
I snatched it away and prepared to drink.
"No! For the sake of my home I must insist that you drink that outside!" Aqua said frantically as he pushed me towards the door.
"What's the worst that could happen?" I asked as he shoved me out the door. 
"Drink it and see wolf."

I shook the tiny vial around with a critical eye, it looked like thick liquid silver. I drank it down in one gulp. It tasted like somebody had pissed in my mouth. 
"Jesus Aqua! Is the taste the wor-" 
Something in my stomach popped. I felt pressure building in every single limb in my body as I began to vibrate without pause. My back arched and I heaved up air; all the while the pressure grew.
My legs were the first part of me to snap. They popped out of place as the bones fractured and took on new shape. Even my tissues felt like they were being torn apart then reformed in an unnatural new form. The rest followed just as swiftly. Soon every inch of me was snapping and popping, ripping and shredding, banishing its old form to take on a new identity. The sensation wasn't even painful it simply felt like it wasn't supposed to be happening. I rolled onto my back and flailed my limbs, my hind-legs thrashed downwards while my forelegs smashed the ground next to me.
Hang about, that's not right.

I slowed myself for a moment of breath. The movements had finally stopped. I rolled onto my front and pushed at the dirt, with two long furry arms. The sudden shock of seeing the limbs made me whip them from the ground to fall face first and smack my nose on the ground. Not wanting to look even stupider in front of Aqua I slowly made my way to my feet. I had gotten used to my height before but now, I felt like a giant. Taking baby steps I looked around for Aqua; only to find him when I looked down. He barely reached my knees. 
"Aqua..." I spoke. My hands hit my mouth in shock. Why was the action of speaking with my mouth so strange now? This body just felt, weird. I focused on using my mind to communicate. "Aqua, how tall am I?" I asked this because I just wanted some sort of information about my new form. The now dwarfed pony took his tape measure and took his measurements.
"Eleven feet and four inches, just as I predicted. You have perfectly doubled in height Lycan."

I started to walk, still with baby steps, to get used to bipedal motion after my months of quadruped movement. It wasn't hard but it was sure as hell awkward. The concept of moving one foot at a time just didn't seem right any more. 
"Mirror." I whispered to Aqua. "I need to look at myself."
The pony waved his horn and the air became shiny and solid giving a perfect reflection of my new body.
I really was a lanky bastard now. I still had my crimson fur only it had reduced and become closer to skin while retaining its fluffiness. My face was a strange mix of human and wolf. I still had a snout by the rest was closer to human. My chest was, well as normal as a human chest might look but with added fur. Travelling further down I- HOLY MOLY!
As to be expected every part of my body had grown or reshaped to fit my next physique. Including my private areas.
I now had what looked like a fleshy anaconda hanging between my legs.

Trying to move away from that topic I flexed my new fingers. They were thin built with wicked claws perfect for slashing apart whatever I could reach and with arms the length of an averagely sized person I could reach a good distance away. Finally were my legs. They kept with the look of my body so while they were thin; they clearly had power in them. I didn't need to comment on my tail. It was still bushy and red, that's it really.
Looking at it all I could safely say I liked this body
I noticed that my pack was no longer attached, it was laying on the ground beside me. I bent down to pick up the now tiny grass pack. I plucked the egg from inside, it was starting to glow faintly and noises could be heard coming from inside. It would hatch soon!
"I took the liberty of making you a new pack Lycan." Aqua said softly as he held out a grey fabric case. "It has an enchantment so it will reshape to match your form. It also has the same protection charms that your grass pack did."
"How did you know to make this Aqua?" I pressed, his knowledge was becoming suspect.
"I deal with creatures taking Gro-potions on a weekly basis so I have several packs like this pre-made just in case." He answered smoothly. I guess that made sense. Still, the protection charms wouldn't be so common would they? I kept that little bit of suspicion tucked away for now.

"You may want to take cover, I suspect Sunny will be returning with my order any moment now and she might not want to see your 'endowments'." Aqua said sharply. To make his point just a bit more powerful came the sound of hooves coming down the road. Wasting no time I took cover in some nearby bushes. 
Sunny came trotting down the path a moment later. "I have the stuff Aqua!" She called out. 
"Good work Sunny." He took the parcel that Sunny had been carrying and dropped it into the bushes next to me. "Put that on Lycan, quickly now!"
Taking haste I ripped open the package. Inside were clothes. I raised an eyebrow at the cloth sitting harmlessly in the remains of the package. These were going to fit me?
"I said quickly now!"
Noting his impatience I began to pull on the threads bit by bit, starting with some rather plain underwear, then black formal trousers, a flash white button-up dress shirt, a midnight black blazer and a blood red tie. As I buttoned the cuffs of the shirt and straightened out my tie I couldn't help but feel like some kind of hit-man preparing for his next job. My prior doubts about the attire not fitting had faded. Whatever measurements Aqua had taken he had gotten them spot on.
I flexed my neck and stepped from the bushes with a smile, Sunny went all wide eyed like the first day we had met.

I chuckled dryly and cracked a smile. "Welcome to Lycan two point oh baby."






A/N
For anybody curious I have an image below as to what Lycan looks like now, take away the head-band and mix up the colours and that's the closest I could get for now.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/232/b/e/omians_by_j_c-d5brxke.jpg

Just pop that in the URL bar and see! - Cryptic