"No-" thought Jessica.

She leaned over to Kyosuke and whispered: "Do you think he can hear us?"

"He doesn't like to brag about his powers." Kyosuke sulked, voice full of disappointment. "It'd be a lot easier if he did."

She kept thinking. "How could he be so stupid? I could just eat the Fruit and be done with it. No. If I came back empty handed he'd kill her right then and there. Unless-"

A light-bulb appeared over her head. "-I used its power to transform myself into a perfect replica of it!"

Ignoring Kyosuke's advice, Jessica decided to whisper her plan to him.

At this point Jessica was painfully aware that every decision she could potentially make was incredibly risky. One wrong move would cost Carter her life. Yet when she was forced to choose between Carter's life and being cured of her lycanthropy there was nothing more tempting than the choice to take a third option. A third option which was at once deceptively easy and extremely dangerous.

Hekkatomb had given her two choices: life and death, each one with its own certain and guaranteed outcome. The one she hovered around was better than either, yet the outcome was completely uncertain. Its success was reliant on variables she wasn't aware of and didn't have any means of knowing. A million questions flew about her mind like a swarm of flies, each one out of reach.

As she trudged through the snow she wracked her brains with what little information she had, yet she found no answers in the cold tundra.

By the time the first silvery branches glittered through the canopy, Jessica had made her decision. She climbed up a boulder, and Kyosuke followed after. The Holy Tree stood before her. Its bark flaked off in sparkling strips scattered over the ground, and its leaves were bluer and more vivid than the sky itself.

There were no shadows on any part of it, not even the undersides of its branches. It was as if it were made from the stuff of the moon. Jessica and Kyosuke continued to climb. It was strangely easy, like the tree itself was inviting her. She noticed a warm light in the corner of her eye.

Then she saw it. The Fruit of Knowledge. Red as the sunset. She tiptoed along a bough and reached out to touch it. It was soft and velvety, yet firm. Kyosuke watched in amazement as he squatted behind her, underneath a branch hanging far too low above him. Slowly, carefully, she put her paws around it and began to pull. Kyosuke dashed over to the other side and tried to help her.

As the Fruit snapped off, the branch sprang up and collided with the rest of the tree, freed from its weight. Suddenly the branch they were standing on swung down so quick she felt the air rush against her ears and her heart leap in her chest. Blue leaves descended like slow-motion rain.

...

The Fruit was lying on the ground. Jessica had demolished at least a fifth of it by now.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"How's it taste?" asked Kyosuke.

Jessica pulled her muzzle out, now smeared in magical orange fruit goo. It had the consistency of thick custard.

"Don't know. Sweet but also kind of sour. I haven't had any kind of fruit since I was little." said Jessica, her cheeks full. "Odd texture. Can't quite pin it down."

She plunged her muzzle back in and kept tearing it apart like a hungry animal. Kyosuke wanted to ask her for a bite. It looked delicious. He hadn't eaten in days and was deeply curious but ultimately decided against it. A single bite, even a big one, probably would have been a twentieth of the Fruit at most, yet he wouldn't want to risk the plan.

Kyosuke didn't have a watch on him, but he was sure at least ten minutes had passed.

"Augh, I'm so full!" Jessica groaned.

"Feel anything yet?" Kyosuke asked.

"Don't know." Jessica said.

Kyosuke bent down and pointed at the last bit left. "You gonna finish that?"

Jessica shook her head. "It's for you!"

"No, no, you need it. Otherwise you're gonna be a poodle your whole life." Kyosuke said, nudging the Fruit towards her.

"I don't care." Jessica said. "All this time you've been telling me about how great a warrior you are. I want you to have it in case Hekkatomb doesn't keep his promise."

Kyosuke thought for a while. Jessica had a point. He'd had more experience with Hekkatomb than he ever asked for. And even though it was just a guess on his part, Hekkatomb was as untrustworthy and unreliable as he was violently unhinged. He didn't seem like a man of his word.

But messing around with magical stuff never led to anything good happening. Back home it was common knowledge you always followed the instructions on a bottle of magic potion to a T unless you wanted to end up with a condition that'd never go away. Just like how you never asked for extra wishes from a genie, it was never a good idea to try and have your cake and eat it too. He didn't know a thing about the Fruit. A single bite short could screw up the whole effect.

That being said, he was still recovering from a beatdown, a rocket crash, and disguising his naked self as a snowman. Clenching his eyes shut, Kyosuke bit down on the mucky bit of fruit flesh, neon yellow and covered in dog spit. Sticky juice ran down his chin.

As he swallowed, the cold left his body. Invisible power coursed through his meridians. Right now he was a thousand times hungrier than he'd ever been, even when he was almost certain he'd starve to death. He wanted more.

And he Fruit he'd just eaten was still there, completely uneaten.

He scooped it up like a delicious basketball and took it close to his face. He opened his mouth wide only for it to scream back at him. "Stop! Stop! It's me!"

Alarmed by the shock of having returned to sapience, Kyosuke tossed Jessica into the air. For a brief moment she could see everything around her: the forest, the mountains, the village, and the road. The clouds drew near. She fell screaming but Kyosuke caught her. Jessica panted heavily. She panted so hard she almost gagged.

"I'm sorry!" Kyosuke said.

"Don't ever do that again!" Jessica barked.

...

The two made their way back. Jessica was heavy. It was a thought which occupied Kyosuke's mind for almost the whole journey, one which he - having learned from experience - gladly kept to himself. There were times Kyosuke had to ask if she were okay with being placed on narrow ledges so Kyosuke could climb down with both hands free and pull her down afterwards. Once Kyosuke had to ask Jessica whether or not she was alright with being rolled down a muddy slope that would probably end up with him unceremoniously sliding to the bottom of a deep, frozen gully had he carried her.

It was deeply embarrassing, arguably more so for Jessica.

But it was necessary. Sure, she could try and turn herself human again. But what were the odds of her being able to turn back into a fruit? Neither of them had any idea. At this point they'd taken enough risks anything below a 100% chance of success was out of the question.

Having spent the next thirty minutes underarm, Jessica began to appreciate having legs to walk on, whether she had two or four.