Rule, Hippogriffia!
NOTE: This story is set before the imposition of a National Lockdown in England. Do not attempt what Tom does in this story at the moment.
Sara glanced up from her phone and let out a long sigh. She was waiting in a local cafe for her friend Tom Haddington to show up, who had promised to give her a call by noon. It was now 12:30, and he still hadn’t called her yet. Sara needed to speak to him about this ‘gift’ that he had spread to him, and how to deal with it.
Sara Smith was, for her age, a fairly typical young woman in her mid twenties with medium length brown hair and light blue eyes. After a mishap where she found herself temporarily transformed into Sunburst, she decided to finally go on a vacation/business trip to see Tom, the one responsible for her initial transformation. Unfortunately, Sara’s luck wasn’t about to change anytime soon, with her dream vacation becoming a nightmare.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown, Sara was unable to catch a flight home, as all international travel was currently unavailable. This was a big problem for the young woman, as she neither had the time, nor the money to spend the next six months in another country.
Luckily for Sara, Tom lived fairly close to where she was staying, and, being the kind person he is, he offered her to stay with him until she could return home. Not wanting to feel like she was taking advantage of him, Sara decided to help out around the house whenever she could. She also invited him to stay at her house sometime in the future, after the whole mess cleared itself up.
Anyway, Sara was getting worried. Tom certainly would’ve let her know if he was going to be late, so Sara was surprised he hadn’t called. Deciding to take initiative, Sara called Tom’s cell, only for the call to go straight to voicemail. Something was definitely wrong.
After paying for her coffee, Sara decided to head over to Berwick Castle, in hopes she would find Tom there. The local landmark was one of the places they planned to visit, as well as their primary meeting spot. Unfortunately for Sara, in her hurry to get there, she didn’t see the exposed tile in the sidewalk, causing her to fall over.
As Sara rubbed her aching back, she noticed something strange on the ground. Laying on the sidewalk in front of her was a black string necklace, with a pink crystal and some turquoise beads tied to the band. Seeing as it was too interesting to leave there, and that it didn’t seem to belong to anyone there, Sara decided to keep it. Putting it on, she was unaware that the crystal started to glow as she draped it around her neck.
Unbeknownst to Sara, the moment she put the necklace on, her body began to change. With each step she took, her feet began to morph and change, her toes merging into light-purple coloured hooves, causing her sandals to rip off as if they were paper.
As she continued to walk down the street, her lower body began to coat itself with a matching light purple coat, her hips giving a loud crack as she fell onto all fours, her body adjusting to her new quadrupedal stance as the skin on hands hardened into sharp eagle talons, as feathers began to sprout from her upper body.
As if on cue, a long, furred, turquoise tail began to sprout from her tailbone, causing her pants to rip off her now bulkier frame. Sara subconsciously swayed it back and forth in the wind as she passed some confused and shocked bystanders on the street.
Suddenly, Sara felt an odd squeezing sensation in a certain private area, causing him to stop and check himself over. As he adjusted his shirt, the fabric began to harden into the sleek, brass chest plate of the Royal Hippogriff Navy, which was polished to perfection, as expected of the high admiral.
Seeing as nothing was out of place, as usual, he resumed his patrol, a pair of large wings growing through the holes in his armour as a matching helmet appeared on his head. He had to lead his troops by example, so he always took pride in making sure his uniform was always in perfect condition. Aside from a few spots of dirt from a recent training exercise, the armour could’ve been mistaken for a set from a museum.
Rounding a corner, Sara’s mane slowly grew out, matching the colour and style of his tail. He let out a short yawn as his face pushed out into a short eagle beak, and his eyes changed colour becoming a colour matching that of his mane and tail, completing his transformation.
Seaspray examined the area. The town was definitely not on his route. He must’ve gotten distracted while on patrol, which was very odd for him, to say the least. It was not like the Commander of the Royal Navy to get lost on a routine patrol, of all things!
Ignoring the crowd of people who were yelling to one another and taking photos of him, Seaspray spread his wings and took off into the air. He had more important things to do than talk with civilians while on duty. His thoughts were interrupted when one of his troops flew toward him.
“Admiral! You’re needed on the beach!” The soldier called out to him, seemingly rather shaken up, his feathers were all ruffled, and his helmet was crooked.
“What is it, Soldier?” The admiral called out. Seeing as it must’ve been urgent, Seaspray quickly followed the other hippogriff to the beach, where Prince Skybeak was waiting for him.
“Is something the matter, Your Highness?” The Admiral bowed before his friend and commander. “I am ready to serve my country.”
“My daughter is missing!” The prince informed Seaspray. “She told me she was heading North for a school project a few hours ago, but she still hasn’t returned!” Seeing this as a problem, he let the prince continue. “I’ve sent a few scouting parties to look for her, but so far they’ve come up empty handed. It isn’t like Silverstream to do something like this.” Skybeak finished.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness!” Admiral Seaspray comforted his commander. “As Princess Silverstream’s personal bodyguard, I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
With that, he took to the skies. It was his duty to keep the princess safe, and there was no time to waste!