Created in collaboration with Thailong !

His ends: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33415534/

And: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33415559/

~~~~~~

“I did try to reconcile, to reflect,” Ning stated. “But humans are just,” she paused, and as she tried to find a word, she glanced between Lehua and Chester. “I can’t find a word for it. The best I can think of is either ‘unreachable’ or ‘irredeemable.’” Her mind, immediately, wandered back to that fateful morning, when her true form broke out, that being her tigress self. She thought of her former parents, her former classmates, her former teachers, that particular vice principal, what she did to them. Then, with a practiced ease, she pushed those thoughts away, back into nothingness.
“I can understand that,” Chester said, placing a hand over hers. “Remember, dear, our histories aren’t that different.”
“I know,” she replied. She thought for a moment about all the humans she’d transformed since then, and found that she did not regret any of it. “Honestly, I turning humans into something else makes me feel better.”
Lehua and Chester shared a glance. “Well,” the latter said, “I can’t really say that I disagree with you.”
Ning looked over her shoulder, out the window. “I want to go outside. Anyone else?”
Lehua and Chester stood up at the same time. “Yeah,” Chester replied. “Let’s get some air.”
Ning then stood and led them outside, into her garden. It was laid out in a way that, from any of the backdoors that led into it, one could see almost everything in it, from the pool in the center to the trees of various species lining the perimeter. The weather was fair by the region’s standards, the sky mostly overcast. The wind was starting to pick up at that time as the approaching storm came ever closer. The sound of very distant thunder brought into Ning’s mind the memory of drawing that picture that brought out her true form, which was, to that day, hanging on the wall above her drawing desk. And then her mind wandered further, to a rough estimate of how many humans she’d transformed over the years.
“You’ll do what again?” Chester asked.
“Huh?” Ning replied. “Did I say something?”
Chester shook his head. “Nevermind.” He looked to the southwest and west, where the clouds were getting ever darker. There was another thunderclap. “It’s been a while since we’ve had any interesting weather, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Lehua said at the same time that Ning agreed with “definitely.”
“Ning?” Chester asked with worry, noticing that she was starting to space out again.

* * * * * *

The wind was howling outside, the rain pounding. Lehua had since gone home, and Ning was laying down on one of the couches, Chester sitting on another one, watching her worriedly. She kept murmuring about how school and her parents were destroying her mind, and that she wasn’t being given enough time for art. It was clear to Chester that she was having another one of her more severe flashbacks, but he had no idea what to do other than wait it out. Then she moved to muttering that humanity “didn’t deserve a chance at existence.”
“Ning,” Chester whispered, deeply concerned about her. He wouldn’t dare touch her whenever this happened, especially as there was no telling what would happen if he tried to pull her out of her state, so he just sat by her, waiting, while she muttered about her parents hating her.

* * * * * *

“Chester,” she whispered, reaching out before her, expecting her hand to meet him, but it only met empty air. “Chester?” She murmured. It took a moment for her to realize that she was in her bed. The weather outside continued to grow in severity.
“I’m right here,” he said from behind her. Ning turned over to see him standing beside the bed, holding a glass of something, but her vision was too hazy to tell what it was. “Warm milk,” he said, holding it out to her. “You were having a nightmare,” he added as she took the glass.
“Was I?” She took a sip of the milk. Sure enough, it was lukewarm.
“Yes. You kept muttering about something hurting you, and something about being pulled away from your art.”
“Oh,” she murmured, taking another sip. “Yeah. The nightmares are happening again. I’m going to have some trouble sleeping for a while.”
“I can help in more ways than just that,” Chester stated. “Maybe all you need is company.”
“Yeah…” she trailed off for a moment before saying, “honey, are you okay with being a pillow, just for tonight?”
Chester nodded once. “Yes, if that’ll make you feel better.” He extended his hand to her, and she put down the glass, then took his hand in both of hers. He felt his hand go soft, everything inside of it turning into stuffing, while his fur turned into woven yarn. The conversion quickly spread up his arm and fanned out from there, and his limbs and head started to pull into his torso. He was forced to look up as his neck was erased, and his torso thickened as his clothes became sown onto him, then he began to shrink. His tail partially retracted, but it mostly remained.
“Thanks, honey,” was all Ning said to him as his eyes turned to hard plastic, and he flopped onto the bed. The room was instantly cast into darkness as Ning turned the lamp off, and Chester felt himself get moved, then the weight of Ning’s head on his back, and then Ning’s arms beneath him.