“Crap.” Chuck thought to himself as he walked back to the guild. He didn’t want anything to do with royals. That meant kings and queens and probably trouble. Feli turned out to be ok, but he had seen too many shows about corrupt kings or royal factions fighting with each other. He also didn’t want to be roped into some kind of suicidal quest because someone thought he was a hero. Feli’s mission was bad enough. Chuck didn’t know how to deal with royalty either. Feli had been pretty laid back but actual kings and queens would be something else entirely. His head hurt just thinking about it. Chuck had his head down, deep in thought, and when he looked up realized he must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. He looked around but nothing seemed familiar. Sighing, he accepted the fact that he was lost again. This day wasn’t going very well so far.

Since he wasn’t needed back at the guild, he decided to just wander around and take in the sights. He could always ask for directions later. He had his shotgun and had brought his backpack with him in anticipation of getting the reward from Lux. It looked like he had accidentally wandered into a seedier part of town. There was less traffic, people wore decidedly cheaper clothing, more beggars were around, and the buildings were a little run down. The streets were still kept fairly clean though. He stopped by a group of scraggly cat and dog type children who looked hungry but still adorable. “Definitely cuter when they are little fluff balls than when they grow up to be ferocious looking beasts.” Chuck thought to himself as he opened his bag and took out some jerky. “How are you kids today? Does anyone want some food?” Chuck said, showing them the jerky. They all eagerly took some and started wolfing it down. He had to restrain himself from reaching out and patting their furry heads, they weren’t pets after all.

“Cute, aren’t they.” A voice said from behind him. “Definitely…eek.” Chuck started to reply, turning to face the voice when he almost screamed. Standing entirely too close to him was one of the bat people. It had short gray hair covering its thin body, pointed fangs, beady black eyes, and its leathery wings were wrapped around itself like a cloak. Chuck stepped back in a panic, almost reaching for his gun. “Oh my, I’m sorry for startling you.” It said with a grin, showing more of its fangs. “It, it’s fine. You just surprised me.” Chuck said stuttering and trying to calm down. “To think the mighty hero would be surprised so easily.” It said with a chuckle. “I’m no hero, just an otherworlder. How do you know who I am anyway?” Chuck asked suspiciously, looking around and expecting a trap of some sort. “I’ve been following you since the guard station. Aren’t you the one that wanted to meet or maybe this body isn’t to your liking.” It said and started transforming before his eyes. It shrunk and morphed into a yellow feathered bird person.

“Is this form better?” It asked smiling. “You’re a shape shifter!” Chuck exclaimed, suddenly getting nervous for a different reason. “That is correct. My name is of no consequence but Kizx told me why you are looking for us so I decided to do some investigating. There is one in our clan that might be interested in your offer but I need to make sure you are sincere. There are many that would use our ability for evil which is why we don’t like to show ourselves. I am sorry to say there are even clans that put money ahead of everything, even their honor but that is not us.” The shape shifter explained, looking intently at Chuck. “I understand but I don’t really know much about shape shifters. Can you really transform into anything I can think of?” Chuck asked hopefully. “We can change into anything you have seen, within reason. We cannot change into anything significantly larger or smaller than our original bodies and things from your imagination are too vague. If a shape shifter touches you, it can plumb your memories for suitable targets. The shape shifter will only resemble the target however, and will not have the target’s memories or be able to act like the target.” The shape shifter continued.

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Chuck thought a little bit about the possibilities and then had an idea. “In my world we watched shows for entertainment, would it be possible to change into someone from those shows? You can touch me if you like. Think of it like an experiment.” Chuck said excitedly. “Hmm, I’m not sure but I suppose I can try. Is there someone in particular? Just think about them when I hold your hand.” The shape shifter replied, grasping his hand lightly. Chuck thought about a famous actress who had been in his favorite movie. It didn’t take long before the shape shifter started morphing and soon was an exact copy of the actress, even wearing the same clothes from the movie. “Wow, that is amazing!” Chuck exclaimed happily. The shape shifter, now actress, was examining its new body. “This is certainly an interesting form. Very weak though.” It said, still going over its new body.

Chuck had another wild idea but he didn’t know if it would work. “Can we try it again? I want to test something out. I will think of a different person this time.” Chuck said, holding out his hand. “Ok, but this is the last time.” The shape shifter replied, grasping his hand. This time it took longer until it finally started changing. It turned into a human sized copy of an anime cat girl and actually still looked animated for a second before changing again into a real life version. “Amazing! I can’t believe that actually worked.” Chuck exclaimed, looking the cat girl over. She was even wearing the maid outfit from the anime. “That was difficult, what did I just copy? Is this what beast kin look like in your world? They are much weaker.” The shape shifter said examining herself. “Something like that.” Chuck replied grinning stupidly. “In any case, you seem to have good intentions, even if your memories show you are a little perverted. I will let you two meet and hopefully you get along. They will get in contact with you soon.” The shape shifter said, turning back into a bird person. Chuck was a little embarrassed to have his memories looked at and didn’t think he was any more perverted than other teenage boys, but this world might have different standards. He didn’t want to be branded a deviant or something so figured he better rein himself in. Chuck was just happy to be meeting with shape shifters and to have passed the test.