“Was, that always there? I suppose in my haste I might not have noticed. Was too busy hiding from that dumb horse.” He sighed and shook his head. “I suppose it’s the only lead I have? Maybe I can find a friendly creature who can send me home.” He sighed once more and then looked back at the cave opening. He squinted a bit as he made out a faint light in the back “Is someone back there?” Joey got a bit closer to the entrance and poke his head in. A rather smoky smell smell filled his nose, making Joey cough a bit.

“Hello!?” Joey called into the cave and waited for a response. His ears twitched a bit as he tried to listen for any sort of noise. After no response, Joey decided to call out again “HELLO!?” He called out again. Joey stared into the cave again and waited.

He spotted the faint light get a bit brighter, almost like it was beckoning him in. Joey gave one more sigh. “Well, what do I have to lose?” He looked down at his legs and pulled up one of the pant legs again so he could see his furry leg once again. “Oh right, THAT.” A small groan escaped him as he let go and let the garment re-cover his leg. Joey shot a quick look around the area behind him once more, and then looked back at the cave. He sighed and shook his head. “In I go..” he grumbled a bit and walked into the cave.

Joey’s footsteps echoed a bit as he walked through the cave. His ears twitched a bit as he heard the clicking of his new claws against the stone floor. “That is so weird…” He grumbled as he made his way through. It was a bit hard to see as he kept moving forward. He held his hands out and ran them along the smooth sides of the cave. Slowly he made his way closer and closer to the light in the back. “Hello!?” he called out again. The smokey smell was slowly getting a bit stronger, making him cough a few times.

“Please, come closer… Amaterasu.” An older sounding, male voice called from around a corner. A slight chuckle came afterwards, as well as another cloud of smoke.

Joey groaned as he heard that name once again; and then burst into another small coughing fit from the smoke. “Please stop doing that. Also my NAME is JOEY!” He gave a small growl of annoyance as he went deeper in. He made his way uninterrupted as he reached the corner where the light was coming from.

Joey peeked around the corner, and gave a slight gasp at what he saw. Sitting in front of a roaring fire, Joey would see a rather large bird. He tilted his head a bit as he looked it over; to Joey it would seem to be a rather large chicken, or a rooster that seemed to be looking into the fire, lost in thought.

It did not look up at Joey just yet; it seemed to take a deep inhale from the rather large pipe that was nestled in its beak.The rooster exhaled the smoke through its nose and a large cloud of smoke was heading right towards Joey, making him groan and cough a few times.

The Rooster finally looked up and noticed Joey as he coughed. “Sorry.” He said and raised his large wings to give them a small flap and blow the smoke out of the room.

Joey coughed a few times as the smoke was cleared out of the small chamber they were in. “No...problem.” He said as a few last coughs escaped him. “Who are you?” He asked.

The bird tilted his head as it seemed confused for a moment.”Hmmmm? So you have not gained her knowledge yet? Interesting.” He took a few small puffs on his pipe. “I will get right to the point then, I am Moegami; the phoenix of fire.” To emphasize this, he spread his large wings wide.

Joey looked over the bird with a bit of awe. It seemed to puff out its white, feathery chest. His eyes slowly move over to it’s red and white wings that seemed to just brush against the cave floor. Joey seemed quite impressed with the majestic bird. “Nice to meet you. I’m..”

“...Amaterasu.” Moegami quickly cut Joey off. “Yes, we have been waiting for you.” He nodded.

“...Joey.” He quickly corrected the bird. He clenched his fists a bit in annoyance, and his ears were flat against his head.

“Now, now.” Moegami said as he gave a little chuckle at Joey’s reaction. “Calm your temper young pup. No need to erupt into a solar flare.”

“Then PLEASE call me by normal name; and not this Amaterasu that everyone keeps referring me to…” he sighed and slowly unclenched his fists and his ears were no longer flat.

“Oh I did, but if it pleases you for now, I shall honor your wishes...Joey.” he leaned forward and even gave a small bow to him.

“Um...thanks.” Joey said and sighed as he gave a bow right back.”So then um, Moegami? How can I return home and fix my body?” To accentuate the point he reached over and pulled up his pant leg again to show the firebird his furry leg.

Moegami tilted his head to the side as he looked over Joey’s exposed leg. A small bit of ash fell out of the pipe as it was tilted.”But your body seems to be fixing itself. This is the Celestial plain; home of gods and goddesses; your home.” He tilted his head back up and blew out a smoke ring.

“No, no, NO!” Joey cried in protest as he dropped his pant leg and made an X across his body with his arms.”This is not my home, and I am not supposed to be some sort of dog...GOD.

“Wolf GODDESS.” Moegami said and pointed one of his wings at Joey and waved it back and forth, much like a person waving a finger. “Goddess of the sun to be specific. Didn’t the other gods mention that? You must have met others before you came to me young pup.”

“Some DID mention THAT detail..” Joey said between clenched teeth. “But as I am sure you can clearly SEE I am pretty much a MALE.” Joey’s left eye was twitching a bit from the stress.

“Oh I am sure that will be fixed as well. Perhaps when you grow your tail? Lose something in the front, but grow something behind you?” He chuckled again.

“I don’t want to be FIXED!”

“I believe that can be said for all canines?” Moegami jokes.

Joey raised a finger, ready to argue back. However Moegami’s joke derailed his train of thought and Joey was frozen for a brief moment. “Is this REALLY the time for jokes?” he finally got out.

“Of course. You seemed to be a bit stressed out. I figured I would LIGHTEN the mood a bit?” after he finished, the fire in the room seemed to get a bit brighter.

It was a bit too much for Joey to look at as he raised his arms in front of his head and looked away. “Okay, ha ha, very funny, ya got me.” Joey huffed. “Could you please lower the light in here?”

‘Of course...Joey.” Moegami chuckled and slowly the light would start to dim down back to normal brightness.

Joey slowly lowered his arms and blinked a few times as his eyes were slowly readjusting back to the light. “Okay..THANK you.” he grumbled and rubbed his eyes a bit. A small sigh escaped him. “Okay, PLEASE understand: I do NOT want to be a wolf, I REALLY don’t want to be a GODDESS..” Joey shuddered a bit in uneasiness as that thought rose up. “...I just want to go home, as a human and DEFINITELY as a MALE. Could you PLEASE help me with that?” Joey pleaded to the phoenix god.

Moegami was silent and looked over Joey for quite awhile. A small sigh seemed to escape the bird as he lowered his head and grabbed the pipe in his mouth with one of his talons. He said nothing and turned the pipe over and emptied a large amount of ash on the ground. “What you..desire is not out of the realm of possibility.” Moegami said as he placed the pipe down on the ground. Moegami looked down at the pipe and with his other talon, Joey would see him pick it up and dump a bit of its content into the pipe.

‘So, you CAN send me home?” Joey asked as he took a few steps closer to the phoenix. He carefully watched Moegami as he tried to make out what he was putting into his pipe. “Is that me way home?” he pointed to the end of the pipe.

Moegami looked up at Joey as he heard his footsteps approach. “Hmm? Oh no, I just had to refill my special herbs, they burned out.” he set the pouch back down and held his wing out. For a brief moment, Joey would see a line of fire shoot out from the campfire and quickly ignite the herbs in the other end of the pipe. Joey rubbed his eyes and then blinked a few times. “Want to take a hit?” he asked as he picked up the pipe and held it out for Joey.

“Um, pass.” Joey said as he quickly raised both hands in front of his body. “I don’t smoke.

Moegami gave a slight chuckle. Joey could have sworn he saw his beak move into a small smirk. “You never did care for my pipe anyway.” he place it back into his mouth and took another deep inhale.

“Um, rrrrright…” Joey said and groaned a bit as he kept watching Moegami. A small sigh escaped him. “Look, can you PLEASE send me back to the mortal realm..” Joey zoned out for a brief moment as he held his head and rubbed it in a bit of confusion. “What the?” he whispered to himself. His eyes darted down to the ground for a brief moment, and then back up at Moegami who looked like he was, smiling? “Home! PLEASE! Help me get home! I will do anything.” he pleased.

A bit of smoke exited Moegami’s nose ‘Anything? Alright then…” He took another deep inhale on his pipe, and then blew the smoke right over at Joey.

“HEY!” Joey cried as the smoke quickly engulfed his head. Joey coughed a bit as he felt the smoke enter his nose and mouth. Joey quickly dropped to his knees and was violently coughing. “That was...unnecessary!” he cried out as his lungs and face were burning a bit.

“Perhaps.” Moegami said with a slight chuckle. “If your throat is parched, I am sure you will be fine with grabbing a drink with Kasugami?”

“That bumbling, drunken sheep!?” Joey cried out. He coughed a few times, and then stared blankly at the floor with an open mouth. “How...did..I?” Joey’s black state of shock quickly faded as his face was starting to itch. “What is..going on here!?” He groaned and scratched frantically at his face.

“It seems you are starting to gain her Knowledge.” Moegami said, rather proudly. “Along with a few more, features.” he chuckled and puffed out a smoke ring

“What do you mean MORE FEATURES!?” Joey grunted as he scratched his face a bit more. However he stopped as he felt his fingers starting to brush against something, familiar. “Oh..oh no..” his eyes widened a bit and he looked at the phoenix. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?”

“Nothing really. Just lending a helping wing.” he chuckled a bit and watched as Joey’s fingers were slowly moving and feeling the white fur that was growing all over his face. “You said you would do anything, and well, we need our sun goddess back to restore balance to the land.”

“I told you I don’t..want..to be...a...GODDESS!” Joey seemed to snarl a bit and clenched his teeth. He could feel some pressure starting to build up in his mouth. He winced as an odd cracking was starting to echo in his skull. Joey grunted and went a bit cross eyed as he saw his mouth and nose were slowly starting to push out.

Joey could only whimper as he saw his mouth growing out more and more. His eyes got a bit watery as a few tears came out. “Oowwwwww.” He moaned as his cry almost sounded like a weak howl.

“Hey hey, just relax pup. It’s going to be alright.” Moegami said as he kept watching Joey change. He walked over and gave Joey a small pat on the back with his wings. A small warmth spread across Joey and that seemed to alleviate his pain

Joey was breathing heavily as he looked up at Moegami. He tried to speak, however his tongue was starting to feel a bit numb as it was growing longer to fit his new muzzle. There was a mild aching in his teeth as they were growing a bit longer and sharper in his new mouth. This nose would start to tickle, and that would make Joey sneeze a few times.

“Bless you.” Moegami said and chuckled as he took a few steps back. He folded his wings across his chest and looked at Joey quite approvingly.

“Thank..you..” Joey said as the numbness was slowly fading and his speech was starting to return. He felt his nose as still tickled a bit. He could just barely see part of his nose turning black. He sniffled a bit and seemed to be slightly congested. Hesitantly he reached over and felt it; noticing it was a bit damp.

One more sneeze escaped Joey’s mouth, making his groin afterwards. “Oh my head..” he groaned as he tried to talk with his new muzzle. He sniffled again and suddenly gasped as his nose was suddenly bombarded with the strong odor of smoke and fire. “What the heck!?”

“Well Wolves do have a stronger sense of smell.” Moegami said and kept watching Joey. He saw the fur was slowly creeping across his almost bald head. ‘“I will say this, you look a bit better with fur than being bald.” A small chuckle came out once again.

“Yeah well it was a lot easier to manage…” Joey grumbled and winced a bit as he tried to speak with his new muzzle. “Oh man this is awkward. A bit of warmth was felt around his eyes and also in the middle of his forehead. “Wait what is happening now!?” he said a bit alarmed and tried to feel what is going on.

“Hmmm, well it seems..” Moegami said as he leaned forward and noticed red markings appearing around his eyes and a circle forming on his head. “..your divine markings are just appearing, that’s all.” he simply stated. “Sorry I have no mirror or water around. Might be a bit before you can see your new beauty.”

“I TOLD you I don’t WANT new beauty. I want my OLD beauty BACK!” Joey was snarling and unaware that he was baring his new fangs at Moegami as he stared at the phoenix. “Now fix this, send me home, and PLEASE get out of my sight!” he huffed.

“Oh? Okay, I suppose I could do one of those things.” Moegami said and chuckled as he started to walk forward and into the fire before Joey. “As you Desire, I will gladly remove myself from your sight.” the flames from the fire suddenly shot up and completely engulfed Moegami.

This caught Joey completely off guard and his fierce expression suddenly turned to one of shock “hey hey! What are you doing!?” he cried out to the Phoenix God.

“Taking my leave. If you want to get out, just follow your nose.” he laughed and spread his flaming wings wide. With a loud WHOOSH, the flaming outline of the phoenix, and the fire completely vanished; leaving him in complete darkness.

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sory this took so long to upload!