TF/Petrification/Weight-gain commission for  Nystre!

While exploring a ruined temple, Nystre finds itself transforming into a massive, blubbery statue of a dragon...

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Jam to Stone
By: Indi

A curious, purple paw pushed aside the cracked lid of the shattered chest, revealing nothing but splinters and rusted metal. Another bust.

“Nyaa!” Nystre let out a frustrated meow and batted away the lid. “An hour of searching and I haven’t found a thing! No jewels, no coins, no loot at all. Not even bad loot!” The jamcat grumbled a bit more before turning its back on the latest disappointment, body wobbling from the jam within.

Nystre had heard so many warnings about traveling to the distant, abandoned temple. It had assumed there’d be some kind of treasure there, something valuable to sneak off with and sell for a ton of gold. Instead there was nothing. It hadn’t even seen a single monster or trap, either. Giving up wasn’t an option, though. It had to return home with something, if only to prove it’d been there.

The columns along the corridor Nystre was wandering down were getting increasingly elaborate, giving the jamcat hope. A large chamber was up ahead, Nystre’s last chance for success.

When Nystre entered the room it turned out to be even larger than expected. Wide and tall, as if some huge monster had lived there. Nystre was convinced even a dragon would have no problem gliding around in it a little. Reflecting pools lined the sides of the room, shallow but crystal clear. Torches kept the place well-lit, but also revealed a lack of ornamentation. Well, aside from the stone statues.

They were scattered about chaotically, some intact but many broken. They weren’t made of marble or decorated fancy at all, just a simple gray stone. All were of dragons—portly dragons. Nystre couldn’t spot a single lean statue amongst the collection. But the oddest thing about them was their posing. Most were in motion, as if running towards the exit or cowering on the ground. Some looked like they’d tripped, others were sitting atop round stone bellies. The expressions on faces ranged from fear to desperation.

It was all a bit unsettling.

Nystre set aside its concerns and moved onward, avoiding the statues when possible. Towards the back of the room was a pile of rubble, and as Nystre looked it spotted something shiny in the middle of it all. It was purple—maybe a jewel?

The jamcat hurried over, its suspicions confirmed as it closed in. The source of the gleam was a huge, spherical jewel, an amethyst of some sort. So obsessed with the treasure, Nystre didn’t notice the rubble around it belonged to some kind of enormous statue, one grand enough for the room it’d once stood in.

“It’s perfect!” Nystre cheered as it rested its paws on the majestic jewel. “It must be worth a fortune. Why would anyone leave it behind after snagging literally everything else?”

As if in response, the jewel glowed and pulsed. Nystre took a step back, unsure if the strange reaction was worrisome or not. It braced itself just before a beam of light shot from the jewel and right into the jamcat’s middle. Nystre was tossed backwards onto the floor by the blast, bouncing and rolling into the remnants of a giant stone tooth. Somewhat sore but uninjured, Nystre groggily stood

It felt lightheaded, but brushed the sensation off as a simple effect of getting tossed. As it removed a paw from holding its head, it froze. The paw was gray—as gray as all the statues in the room. The markings of its pawpad remained—just in a lighter shade—but the normal purple and blue were gone. As Nystre stared in confusion the gray spread up its arm and then across its whole body, no spot left unchanged. Even its hair became gray.

The first thought that came to mind was petrification, prompting a nervous meow from Nystre. It had to leave, and hope just getting away from the jewel would be enough to slow or halt the transformation.

Suddenly the jamcat’s belly ballooned outward. It stumbled from the unexpected expansion, but its newly enlarged middle didn’t wobble as much as it should have. Though Nystre’s belly appeared soft and round, it felt firm. There was barely any give, as if the jam had hardened. Nystre didn’t have time to ponder the situation, as both its legs and arms abruptly blimped up next.

Nystre was growing thicker all over, and heavier by the second. “Not good! Gotta find a way to...to stop it. Gotta…” Talking was proving difficult, both from its head spinning and a numbness building in its jaws.

It was trying so hard to think of a plan, but the harder it thought the more scatterbrained it seemed to get. Nystre would think back on a time a friend had talked about curses, but the instant it did the details would get fuzzy. It’d forget which friend the memory had involved, when it’d happened, where it’d happened. Soon it would be back to square one, having forgotten something important without even realizing it.

Not only was Nystre getting fatter, but it was starting to change as well. Its paws shifted, slowly looking more and more like claws. Nystre could only watch as its pawpads faded away and thick, scaled fingers appeared.

Its body was losing its luster, the patterns of scales clearly forming all over, already stretched out by the pounds being constantly added to the transforming jamcat’s frame. It’d had curves before, but now it was fat—no, fatter than fat. Nystre’s belly was a mound, its arms chunky, its neck so thick it was on the verge of vanishing. Nystre was almost afraid to move, because then the incredible amount of weight it had gained might be even more apparent. Or worse, it might encourage the little voice in the back of its head insisting there wasn’t anything wrong with being big.

A pair of horns rose from its hair. Muzzle was extending, like being pulled by some unseen force and molded to fit a new purpose. Its dainty little cat nose lost all definition, reduced to the simple nostrils of a dragon. Around the new muzzle cheeks and chins jiggled stiffly as they swelled into existence. Nystre could see it growing out of the corner of its eyes, feel the heft as it turned its head—a once easy task that now took effort. When it tried to meow nervously, only a weak roar came out.

Why had it thought it could meow again?

Nystre’s tail had always been thick and round, a wobbly mass almost as big as the rest of its body. While it’d only gotten thicker since being zapped by the jewel, it was also gaining considerable length. The added weight caused it to fall to the floor, wiggling lethargically like a blubbery snake growing out from behind Nystre.

Its new tail was...was nice? Strong and firm, to keep it in place. Wait, no, that wasn’t right. The massive tail, the massive belly, the massive everything...they were impeding Nystre, preventing the jamcat from getting home. But wasn’t the dragon already home?

Nystre held its round head in its plump claws, groaning as it mostly squeezed firm cheeks. It couldn’t concentrate, no matter how much it tried. Thoughts were slipping away, and there were moments where the jamcat completely forgot where it was for a second or two. Worse yet, its thoughts were getting confusing, conflicting. It felt like it needed to leave, yet there was also an urge to stay. Staying in the room was safe. Staying in the room was good. Leaving was unacceptable. Leaving was disobedient.

Vertical growth joined horizontal growth. The steadily transforming Nystre was getting taller, the last vestiges of its original jamcat body further molded to match a dragon’s. Yet its height was still nothing compared to its width. Its middle was massive, but so was every other part of it, having swelled to match the thickness of its tail. Not a single part of its body remained lean. Though Nystre had gotten considerably blubbery, it barely wobbled or jiggled at all.

Amidst the confusion Nystre managed to stumble around a bit, its movement sluggish. It neared one of the pools of water, but the reflection that stared back was practically unrecognizable. Its weight, its size, its overall shape—everything was so drastically different. It was obviously transforming into some kind of fat dragon, and none of its original features had been retained.

The reflection might as well have been someone else.

Nystre’s head spun again, hit by a harder daze. When it looked back at the pool there was still confusion, but not nearly as much as before. It wondered why it had vaguely feline features, and why it was so thin. At least it was slowly returning to normal. What Nystre really needed to worry about was the jewel.

In a daze, with its gaze drifting, Nystre started waddling towards the jewel. Its steps were heavy in both movement and sound. Each claw hit the floor with a thud, like hammers hitting stone. Nystre’s tail was dragging behind it, another weight for the dragon to lug around. It was still growing fatter, taller, bigger. Its body was solid and barely mobile, a lumbering statue in the making. There were moments when Nystre seemed to hesitate, a missed thought resurfacing, but then the hint of rebellion would be quashed and it would continue on its way.

By the time Nystre reached the jewel it had to crouch down to reach it, its belly so huge it slammed into the floor in the process. With a few wide sweeps of its thick tail it swept away the debris to make space. The only hint of Nystre left was its hair. Even its distinct markings had shifted around and warped to match its new form.

Its memories were gone—they weren’t necessary. The only thoughts it had were related to the jewel in its grasp. It was beautiful, and important. So important. More important than anything else. It needed to be seen, needed to be admired. As its pedestal, the dragon that had once been Nystre would be dedicated to that, and only that.

The dragon slowly leaned forwards onto its enormous belly, which groaned and creaked as it expanded. Holding its claw out with the jewel nested comfortable in its palm, the dragon struck a suitably impressive pose and then froze in place. From then on, the only movement was the bulk still being added to its sizable form.

The noise of the growing statue echoed loudly throughout the room. It was becoming more of a boulder than a statue, a small draconic mountain trying to make the spacious chamber feel cramped. Debris was either pushed away from its mass and into the pools or crushed. A few unfortunate statues were toppled over by the gradual expanse of stone belly, shattered and ground to dust beneath the dragon’s mighty bulk.

It became harder to distinguish where the statue’s middle ended and limbs began. They were round and thick, with stone claws slightly sunken into them. Its head was the same way, laying upon heavy rolls that were technically a neck but seemed to flow right into the body. Massive cheeks pushed into a plump muzzle that managed as best a grin it could in the circumstances. Even the tail behind it was so bulky it didn’t look like it could ever have been wagged had the statue been a living creature.

Eventually the groans quieted, and the statue’s transformation was complete. Any new trespasser wouldn’t even begin to guess the statue had once been a living creature, or not a dragon at all. Certainly no one would realize it had been Nystre. Instead they would see it as an impressively-carved statue, strangely realistic in its depiction of a blubbery dragon. There’d be nothing to deter adventurers from accidentally wrecking it while trying to secure the jewel in its claws. Just like what had happened to the statue before Nystre…and the one before that...and the one before that...and the one before that.