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Kyy caught up to Quin and his friends just outside the club, panting as he fought to catch his breath. The thumping bass beat of the club had faded to a distant hum, nothing more than a vibration on the edge of their consciousness. It was a chilly, clear night, the stars were bright, and Quinten and his friends were silver phantoms in the starlight, all four staring in the direction of the forest.

"What is it?" Kyy asked as he got closer to the small group, pausing as they all turned to look at him as one. Gone was the happy cadre of laughing friends in a dance club. Now all four were deadly serious, grim expressions staring at the cheetah as if to say "you don't belong here."

"...The forest is in danger," Quinten said after a moment. "Shy has brought me news." He turned, and the familiar shape of the tawny-furred hyena emerged from the darkness, staring at the cat with golden eyes. After a few moments, the beast huffed in dismissal, turning back to Quinten.

"Go," Quin gestured. "Shiro and Inger, follow Shy. Nido, Kyy, you remain here at the club."

The raccoon and white labrador turned, wordlessly stepping into the shadows, and Kyy gaped as they melted. Fur, clothing, and flesh blurred, losing the distinct shape and appearance of reality. Like paint, their bodies ran and melted, their forms pouring down onto all fours, their half feral bodies already run off after the hyena.

Kyy gaped in shock, there had been no way to tell. He'd been pressed up against Shiro for half the night, and he'd felt his fur, his warmth, his... pulse. Now the last shadowed glance Kyy got of the raccoon was him racing off on all fours as the large, feral raccoon Kyy had seen atop one of the pillars in the heart of the forest the previous night.

"You..." he turned to look at Quin and gaped, "He... was one of your tattoos!"

"Oh, of course," Quinten said airily, waving Kyy off. "They're my friends and companions, not mere beasts. There's no time to discuss this,now however. I really must get to the forest."

"I can take you," Nido said, the purple rabbit turning his gaze away from the distant shadow of the forest on the horizon. "We need to get back quickly."

"No, you need to remain here," Quin shook his head. "My presence at this club was public knowledge. They planned this for when we would be away, thinking I would be too distracted," he frowned. "But... this could also be a diversion to draw me away from here, too. If this is indeed a trap, you need to stay here to defend the club. I can't trust anybody else with this, bun.

"I... fine," Nido growled, turning to eye the club entrance. "I fear it will take too long to get there on your own."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that..." Quin replied, shooting Kyy a look. "But I need to go now."

"Can I come?" Kyy asked, stepping forward, "I...if the forest is in danger, I can't stand by. I want to help."

Quinten didn't respond for a moment, staring intently at the cheetah. "Are you sure, Kyy? This will be dangerous, and you may find yourself making some very powerful foes. If you help Nido watch the club, I can protect you, give you plausible deniability. But if you come with... well, some bells cannot be unrung."

"I..." Kyy chewed his lip, thinking it over. Did he want it this badly? He'd known Quinten for only a few weeks, but in those short weeks he'd felt a pull to the rabbit and his forest that he could not deny." "I'm... really scared," Kyy admitted. Then his expression tightened and he moved closer, thumping one hand against his chest. "But for the first time in my life, I'm starting to feel like I might have a place where I... where I belong. You've shown me nothing but kindness since I met you, and I owe a debt to the forest for this night. I want to help."

Quinten stared at the starlit feline for a moment, deep in thought. After a few moments, he finally spoke up. "...Good. You're honest. If you had given me false bravado I would have sent you home outright. Very well, then, Kyy," Quinten smiled and pushed his dreadlocks back over his shoulder. He then stepped forward, and pushed his hand against Kyy's body. The cheetah gasped as something slick and wet splashed across his fur and he looked down in time to see ink spreading out from where Quinten's hand rested against his stomach.

"What..." Kyy uttered in confusion, only to be silenced as his body spasmed. He staggered back, falling to one knee, gasping in shock as the ink in his fur rose up, washing across his body, oozing about his chest and sliding along the spine. Lifting his head, Kyy looked into Quin's green eyes in confusion, but something strange was happening. Kyy felt his chest expanding, his stomach elongating, his bones snapping and grinding against one another as they shifted into shapes they were never meant to be in. The cheetah tried to speak, to ask Quin what he was doing, but the hare clasped his muzzle shut. His other hand brushed his cheek, pulling more ink from his fur and working it over his face, the slick liquid oozing up and over his eyes and around his ears.

Kyy's voice was cut off, and he mewled in shock as his head twisted, the ink oozing down his body. His arms twisted and changed as the ink rolled down his arms, his shoulders reorienting themselves into a quadruped shape, his hands bulking into large paws. His body twisted, his legs and haunches shifting, growing into large, bulky back legs.

He continued to expand, stretching, arching new muscles as they grew and twisted into new configurations. It was invigorating, overwhelming,maddening, and fantastic all at the same time! Throwing back his head, Kyy yowled, his voice echoing off the nearby buildings. Lowering his head, he closed his muzzle around his new tusks, and gasped as he felt them press against his lips.

Staggering onto his new hindpaws, Kyy lowered his head and stared at his reflection in a puddle, taking in the length of his large, muscular body. The midnight blue fur, speckled with stars still gleamed in the night sky. He still resembled a cheetah, but only in the sense that a monster truck resembled a R/C toy. He saw a bristly crest of thick fur running back from between his ears along his spine, and his muzzle was stockier, built not to bite into a cheeseburger but to crush his prey's throat. Falling back onto his forepaws, Kyyanno swayed uneasily, his thick, long tail twitching and shifting to keep his balance.

Quinten smiled, his fur changed yet again. He was now a melange of autumnal colours, his ears and facial fur a deep orange, fading down to a lighter shade across his torso, finally lightening further to a dull yellow down his legs. His arms were the crisp, bright red of autumn. In contrast, his dreadlocks were purple, hanging in thin coils around his head and shoulders. Trying to speak, Kyy mewled and stopped, working his jaw before trying again but words would not come to him, only the bestial growling hiss and mewl of a big beastial cat.

Quinten chuckled, shaking his head. "You'll get used to it, friend. Come now, we have no time to waste." Kyyanno nodded, and looked off into the horizon, in the same direction that Shiro and the others had gazed.In the distance, the forest's presence loomed larger than life, calling to him. He focused, and he could feel it--a foreign presence, a heat unnatural for this time of year, stomping boots, chopping machetes, unnatural chemicals, shouting men. Snarling in outrage, Kyyanno lowered his haunches and bowed his head, offering himself to the hare. Without a word, Quinten swung a leg up over Kyy's back and settled down atop the cheetah's back. With a glance at Nido who waved goodbye, the cheetah turned and sped off, muscles bunching, speed building as he effortlessly raced through the dark streets of the town and up the hill toward the forest. Kyy's soul sang with joy as he ran like never before. It felt amazing. His body was so powerful, the speed was truly breathtaking. He laughed with joy as he navigated the twists and turns of the city roads, leaping effortlessly over the few cars still driving at this late hour, moving so quickly that they seemed to be standing still in comparison. As they reached the entrance to the forest, Kyyanno almost felt a twinge of regret that they hadn't been farther away.

It was no matter, however, he still had more distance to cover. Trees flittered past him on either side, Kyy zigging and zagging from side to side. Cheetahs were not meant to be so good at lateral movement, but he had no trouble dodging around trees, the distance between him and the smouldering wrongness melting away in seconds. Leaping over a fallen log, Kyy raced out into a clearing in the forest, his eyes quickly taking in the scene: a flickering fire, machetes and submachine guns laying discarded on the ground, and figures fleeing in every direction. Shiro was standing next to the fire, one foot firmly on the neck of a female sparrow struggling against her bonds of ink, more pouring out of his paws to smother the flames. Shy and Ingersol leapt around the clearing, a brown and white blur slamming into each of the fleeing bodyguards, knocking them to the ground and leaving them covered in ink, before leaping to the next intruder. Kyyanno's eyes flashed as he saw a red panda in a suit near the edge of the clearing bend over to scoop up a submachine gun, turning and raising the weapon. Roaring with outrage, Kyyanno charged forth and slammed into the panda, claws flashing as they tore through the metal of the weapon like a knife through butter, pinning him to the ground with his paws, and clamping his jaws around the man's throat, just hard enough to break skin. Quin scritched Kyy between his ears, and swung his leg over Kyy's back, jumping off , walking over to the two prisoners. Staring down at them for a moment, the hare paused for a moment before speaking, rage seething through his every word.

"So. Mr. Tarniti. Ms. Hanglint. I see you decided that the best way to persuade me to sell my nature reserve to you would be to burn the fucking forest down." The hare leaned against a tree and tapped his chin, sizing them both up. "After all, if my forest and nature reserve was nothing but ashes, I'd have nothing left to protect and would be forced to sell to stay afloat..."

Quinten spat on the ground, a small drop of boiling ink landing next to Mr. Tarniti's face, sizzling angrily. "Too bad for you that my sentries alerted me. You could have just walked away and I'd have left well enough alone. What your friends in the mafia do is no concern of mine. But no, your greed blinded you to the point where you couldn't. Stop. PUSHING." Quinten shook with rage, glaring at the remnants of the fire. "Your souls are too corrupted by avarice to join the woods... if I tried you'd spread your sickness through the whole forest."

"FUCK you!" the man suddenly shouted, struggling against Kyyanno's hold. "You sanctimonious prick! You think you're so much goddamn better than us but you're a fuckin' killer JUST LIKE ME! You don't think I can't put two and two together? You think I didn't notice the constant stream of kids, hobos, and other shitheads disappearing without a fuckin' trace? You think I didn't figure out exactly where they disappeared? You think I haven't sent my evidence to every goddamn newspaper in town?" The man chuckled grimly, choking a bit as Kyyanno's jaw tightened around his throat, a low growl rising from his chest. "By this time next month, you're gonna be in shackles. Can't protect this stupid park when you're in a cell, you prick... by the time we're through with you , this place is gonna be a fuckin' parking garage!"

Quinten paused for a moment, then chuffed. "...Yes, that would be a problem, wouldn't it. Shiro, I'll keep watch over Hanglint. You know what to do." Shiro nodded at Quinten, darting off into the woods with nary a whisper of noise. Quinten turned back towards the man and exhaled slowly through his nose, a grim look on his face. "Now... what can I do with you lot." Quin stepped around the clearing, gazing into the eyes of each one of Mr. Tarniti's bodyguards, nodding grimly. "Yes... all of you are no better or worse than the rest of humanity. You lot will do perfectly fine as part of the woods." Satisfied, he padded over to where Ms. Hanglint still struggled against her bonds. She tossed her face back and forth, trying to avoid her gaze, but he grabbed her beak and forced her to look into his eyes, gazing into her soul. "...Oh... Oh, you poor thing. Everything you've done... you've done out of love for Mr. Tarniti." A flash of grief colored Quinten's face for a moment, before he sighed and looked away. "You truly are the best and the worst of all of your companions here." Sighing, he gestured with one paw, and the ground beneath the struggling bodyguards came to life, ink welling out of the soil. A chorus of screams welled up through the forest as the struggling figures were pulled into the ink, vanishing into the earth. "With those out of the way, that only leaves the leader, now." Kneeling down next to Kyyanno, Quinten looked down at Tarniti's face, staring into his eyes. "...Yes, you truly are too far gone to redeem. You're far, far too dangerous to be allowed to join the woods." Sighing in regret, Quinten shook his head. "Kyyanno. Kill him."

Without a thought, Kyyanno clamped down his jaws, feeling his teeth breaking through the skin. A warm, coppery liquid filled his mouth as he felt bones crunching and shifting around his jaws, the panda screaming in agony. With a twist of his neck, Kyyanno pulled, Mr. Triniti's screams turning into a gurgle as the night cheetah ripped out his throat. As blood dripped off Kyy's muzzle, he threw his head back and yowled, filled with the thrill of serving justice to the villain that had tried to harm his forest. Quinten smiled grimly, and then waved one hand, ink welling up around the panda's corpse and swallowing it into the earth. "You may not be able to join the forest, panda, but your flesh can at least feed it."

His job finally done, Quinten seemed to deflate, his shoulders sagging as exhaustion finally caught up to him. "Well, that has gone and ruined Halloween," Quin muttered, watching the lumps of ink around the clearing starting to shrink and shift. "I suppose there is one silver lining to this whole shitshow."

He turned to look at Kyy, and the cheetah sat down, staring at him in confusion. He tried to speak, wanting to know when he could be turned back. They had a party to get back to after all, and he wanted to spend more time with Eccitaze, and enjoy the rest of Halloween. Quin paused, seeming to understand Kyy's desire, and a sad, melancholy smile crept across his face. "You want to return to your original form, don't you, Kyyanno?"

Quinten stepped forward, squatting down next to the were-cheetah, a paw gently caressing his blood-stained muzzle. "Oh, my sweet, sweet summer child... I told you before we began. Some bells cannot be unrung... and this is one of them."

The ink puddle around Quin's feet shifted, flowing up and forward, dark ink pooling and dripping down the length of his dreadlocks, welling forth underneath Kyyanno's paws. Kyy stumbled back a few steps, unsure what was going on, uncertain what Quinten exactly meant. "My friend... my dear, precious night cheetah..." Quinten murmured, as the ink spread into a pool all around him. "The forest gives such beautiful, priceless gifts, but it demands a terrible price in exchange. The gift you have accepted tonight is one that extracts a toll like none other." The pool of ink changed, its shade changing from black to the same deep navy blue of Kyyanno's fur, and the cheetah looked down in panic as he began to sink into the pool. "Welcome, Kyyanno, to your life's true purpose... a destiny that you were inextricably tied to ever since the moment you first set foot in this forest." Kyy thrashed around, trying to escape, but it was useless. As he sunk further and further, depth vanished, his body twisting and falling, and within a few moments Kyy's head sunk into the pool, sliding, moving, darkness consuming his vision. Light slowly returned as he found himself curving up around one of Quinten's legs, moving over and through his fur as ink to stalk as a cheetah across the hare's stomach. He crossed his chest and coiled his way down the hare's arm, body shrinking, adjusting in size until the tattoo that he had become could fit on the back of the hare's hand.

"I know how you must feel right now. Betrayed, confused, angry, terrified... Jay, Shiro, Nido, and all the rest of your new family all felt much the same when they first realized the price of their gifts." The hare stared down, his eyes bright, his body and thought now in control of Kyy's form and shape. "For what it's worth, I, and they too, are all glad you walked this path. In time you will adapt, and you may eventually learn to temporarily regain your old form... but for now, you need to rest and watch." Kyy's mind was ablaze, thoughts screaming one single word: "Why!?" The hare brushed the fingers of his other hand across the cheetah's image, stroking him gently, and murmured his response.

"This was always your fate, Kyyanno. You trespassed the forest, after all... and nature shall not be gainsaid when it demands its payment. For what it's worth, this is a far lighter punishment than what the forest originally demanded of you. You are special, Kyyanno... you have shown respect to these woods like precious few others. It is only fitting that you become one of its guardians, and serve it alongside your new friends. This way you retain your soul and being, your individuality. You can continue to think, to go out in the world instead of being rooted to a single spot, at the whim of nature and wind. Or reduced to a simple beast, as our other guests were this evening," he turned and gazed at the confused, wet bunch of bedraggled squirrels, rabbits, and other small woodland creatures, pulling themselves up out of a nearby pool of ink that filled the clearing.

"I know you must feel like you I took advantage of you, Kyyanno... but all I have done has been to spare you from a far worse fate, and give you the opportunity to maintain some modicum of control. Now you can help me protect the forest, but I am afraid... your old life is sadly no more."

As Quin started off amongst the trees, arms by his side, Kyy settled down as he slowly adjusted to his new reality. As he roamed the hare's body, he pondered the soothing, gentle words of the druid, and his anger slowly faded as he realized the truth. Thinking back on the events that had led him up to this point, he saw a life that until now had been one of constant frustration, bristling against the constraints of society. He had always sought the quiet of a nearby forest as solace from the doldrum of day-to-day life, and it was that desire to be part of nature that had sent him walking down that beach only a few short weeks ago.

And now he truly was part of nature. He could feel every blade of grass, every vine, every flower, every tree, every patch of moss. He could feel the vague peaks of Sandy and Manny a few clearings over as they slumbered, their minds slowly fading as they joined the forest. He could feel Shiro miles away, alone in an office, his paws deftly working the keyboard of a computer, deleting evidence and doing his duty as guardian. He could feel Nido in the club, sitting alone in a booth and watching over his charge, ready to leap into action to protect Eccitaze and those others unknowingly tangled with the forest. He could feel the rest of his brothers and sisters, gathering around him, welcoming him into their fold. It felt... right.

As Kyyanno curled up in the small of Quinten's back and lay down to slumber, he realized that he had finally found peace. As he faded into a deep sleep, one final thought flickered across his mind, putting a small smile on his beastial muzzle.

"Welcome home."