DragonBonds

Return

It had been just moments until a bright light re-emerged from the spot in the middle of the symbol, forcing Merlot to once again turn away from it. The black and white cat stood there for a second, waiting for what felt like forever for the light to dissipate. Once it did, out fell Andi, who Merlot had to swoop in and catch.

She held the ringtail close, pulling them onto the ground as they lay there, mostly unconscious.

"Andi? Andi are you alright?" She couldn't help the fear that rose up, but she tried to remain as calm as possible as she kept her eyes on Andi.

Meanwhile, the ringtail, who was only semi-conscious, was feeling a whole lot of things at this point. They couldn't really pinpoint exactly where from until a voice echoed in their head.

<Oh, I have missed this place.>

<Whuh.... How can you see it? My eyes are closed.>

<I can see everything regardless of eyes.>

<Creepy.>

The ringtail's eyes slowly fluttered open, and they looked up at Merlot, who instead of afraid, smiled warmly down at them as they woke up. She held the ringtail close to her and rocked them gently side to side.

"It was only a few moments but gosh I was so scared... I'm so happy to see you out okay."

"Mhhm..."

Suddenly, the ringtail let out a squeak as sharp pains started hurting them all over their body. The most notable spot was their midback and head, and they tiredly drew their hands up to their face and held them there. Merlot carefully, but quickly, maneuvered Andi into a position where what was going to happen would not be obstructed just in case it ended up hurting them more.

At least Merlot was right that it would've hurt had Andi stayed in her lap. The sharp pain in their back grew worse and worse and their whole body started to tremble until two huge, prismatic wings pulled out from their back and carefully flapped themselves before folding against their back. The relief the ringtail felt from that was short-lived, as only a moment after that was finished, the pain in the skull grew even worse, and they dug their claws into their head to try and balance it out, to no avail. suddenly, two long, spiraling horns erupted from their head, covered in the same prismatic scaling as the wings.

The big stuff was finally over, and Merlot held Andi close, trying to give them some form of comfort. The next change was more subtle; the hair that was split from the horns towards the front became prismatic hair, and they shifted their sitting position to scratch clumps of fur off of their paws. What replaced this fur was bright, colorful scales, set like paw guards on their feet.

Merlot kept a hold onto Andi and started rocking them ever so gently to try and alleviate any remaining pain, and once she figured they were okay, she took their shoulders in her hands and pushed them back to look into their eyes,

The color had finally settled on the bright magenta-purple of Alabaster, and Merlot smiled.

"Welcome to the Colvis, Andi. You're one of us now."

The ringtail took a moment to gather their bearings after all they had just gone through and looked at all of the new parts they had just gained.

They, in particular, really liked their wings, because now they could fly with Cloud.

"Alabaster?" Merlot hummed. "Do you know what we're doing? What you're doing on this side?"

Even though they expected it, it was still somewhat jarring that Andi felt like their mouth was no longer theirs, and began to move on its own.

"Zephyr is here and is trying to cause incredible amounts of chaos. I know. I've been watching." Alabaster retreated once again, and Andi shook their head, the disorientation making them a little dizzy.

"Yeah, I know," Merlot said with a chuckle, giving them a pat between the horns. "You'll get used to it eventually. It all comes with the territory of being a Bonded."

Andi bit their tongue just to make sure they had control over it, and they nodded.

"It was for Cloud. I did this for him. We can get him back like this, I'm sure of it."

Merlot gave them a pat on the shoulder and helped them up onto their feet.

"How would you like me to teach you how to fly?"