Narinder wasn’t the biggest fan of Silk Cradle.

Don’t get him wrong. It's a lovely place if you happen to be an arachnid or other such insect type Follower, but for a feline such as him, the silk and webbing everywhere got caught on his fur and clothes CONSTANTLY. He had to hold his arms at his side to keep from getting caught on a stray strand of silk as he walked down the dimly lit road. The sun was begging to set and not many Followers were travelling the roads, save for the occasional soldier.

Narinder had already had a pretty long day, having to observe and monitor the Followers for Lambert to pick out any dissenters, but now that the work was done, he figured he’d drop by Shamura’s den to hang out and chat. Now that he was actually in Silk Cradle, he was starting to regret his choices. He was debating turning back and just going home to get some grub and clean himself up, but he soon entered a large clearing in the silk-laden forest and stood before a massive stone gateway, which was flanked by two spider soldiers wearing thick leather armour with purple regalia.

Upon the soldiers seeing Narinder enter the clearing, they relaxed their stances and stepped aside from the gateway. Narinder nodded to the soldiers, who returned the gesture, before walking up to the massive stone gate and gently pressing his hand against it. The dark runes along its surface flared up in a purple glow, which was followed by the sound of gears and cogs turning as the gate slowly grinded open. Narinder slipped through the opening and began making his way down a massive staircase as the gate closed behind him.

Hanging on the ceiling were numerous lanterns filled with fireflies and shimmering crystals, which bathed the halls of the tunnels in a pale blue glow. They offered no warmth to the already chilled air, so Narinder decided to keep his white and red cloak on as he continued down the tunnels towards Shamura’s private study.

Meanwhile, Shamura was on the verge of passing out.

They had been working and experimenting with some Relics that had been given from Chemach in exchange for some Follower Meat (what she does with that meat is anyone’s guess). These experiments had been ongoing for the last two weeks, and Shamura was struggling to pick apart what divine powers had been instilled in each mundane object. There was a dice which seemed to restore someone’s vitality with a simple roll, a shoe (?) which seemed capable of firing off blasts of magical energy when in contact with tarot cards, and Shamura’s latest endeavour, a peculiar effigy of a figure which was inscribed “Galvar ''.

This charm seemed capable of increasing the size of its bearer by nearly double for a limited period of time (typically an hour according to tests run on volunteers and animals), yet the charm itself was fragile and splintered itself apart after every use. Shamura and their team had been trying to find a way to utilise the charm’s energy without it splintering, but so far all attempts have failed. Now, Shamura was looking for ways to distil the charm’s energy into a more stable form so that it could be utilised by soldiers for a quick power boost.

Shamura hummed to themself as they gently placed the charm into the specially made syphon, which uses frequencies bounding off of crystals to leech magical energy out of objects, and placed a mug of Camellia Tea in the opposite chamber, so that the energy would connect between the crystals and (hopefully), mix the magical energy with the tea. With all of the components in place, Shamura backed up from the chambers and walked up to a panel next to the syphon. They gently turned a dial on the panel to the right, which caused the crystal above the charm to hum as it was slowly rotated.

Shamura turned the dial in quick bursts, hoping to find the correct frequency. The crystal continued to hum and rotate in place, yet once Shamura had almost rotated it fully it began to sing, causing the syphon to vibrate. Shamura stopped turning the dial and walked over to the syphon with the mug. They began turning the crystal in that on as well, which emitted the same dull hum as before. Upon turning the dial to the same notch as the first one, the crystal began to duet with the other syphon, filling the study with a gentle song that echoed off the walls. Shamura stepped back as the two crystals began to glow from the magical energy being transferred between them. Small white wisps emerged and flew between the mug and the charm, making quiet whooshes as they flew past Shamura. After a moment, the wisps stopped appearing and Shamura took that cue to remove the crystals from the syphons. The singing died down and the crystals went back to their inert state.

Shamura walked over to the charm and picked it up. It felt lighter and had lost its warmth that most of the other Relics had. Shamura took that as a sign of success and went over to the other syphon with the mug. They reached in to pick it up, but quickly yanked their hand back from the heat. It was red hot, as if the tea had just been freshly poured, so Shamura grabbed a set of tongs nearby and picked up the mug with them before setting it down on the nearby desk. After replacing the tongs, Shamura walked back over to the mug.

Suddenly, a small tinge of pain hit their forehead and Shamura winced. They closed their eyes while waiting for the pain to dull, yet upon opening their eyes they were met with a confusing scene.

"What am I doing in my study?” they said to themselves. “It's late. I should be at home right now. Where is everyone else? Did they leave?” they continued to ponder.

These thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door. Shamura grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, revealing Narinder in the dim hallway.

“Ah Narinder. A pleasure to see you at this hour.” Shamura greeted politely. They stepped aside and let Narinder in before closing the door behind him.

“It's rare to see you working this late Shamura.” Narinder said. “Have you been busy with that Relic research that Lambert put you up to?”

Shamura stared at Narinder blankly. “Relic research? Right I was doing that…” they said as their eyes drifted off towards the piles of Relics in the corner. Narinder could tell something was off with them, but it was only confirmed when a speck of black blood dripped down from Shamura’s face. They quickly turned around to face Narinder and reached their hand up to their face. From their nostrils was a stream of blood, which rolled down their face like a black serpent.

“Ah. I suppose I’ve blanked again.” they said as they rubbed their bloodied hand against a nearby rag. “I will go fetch my medicine. Feel free to remain here for the moment. I’ll be back shortly.”

Narinder nodded as Shamura walked to the door. He began looking around the study and saw the mug of Camellia Tea sitting on the desk, smoke rolling off its surface and filling the room with a pleasant smell of flowers. Shamura saw Narinder eyeing the mug and looked back towards him.

“Feel free to help yourself to that. It looks fresh, so I probably haven’t drinked it.” they said as they opened the door.

“If you say so.” Narinder said as Shamura closed the door behind them and headed down the hallway to the medical cabinet. He walked over to the mug, the aromatic scent making his nostrils flare up, and picked it up. He brought it close to his face, making sure to raise it gently so as to not splash boiling hot water on his face, and started drinking the tea. It was delicious as always, and the heat was intense, but nothing Narinder couldn’t handle. Once he had three sips of the tea, he set down the mug to let his mouth cool down.

The tea warmed Narinder up as he began looking around the study at some of the Relics. He recognized Galvar’s Charm inside of a strange machine, but when he went to pick it up to examine it, he was surprised by how light it felt. The tea had really warmed Narinder up, as he started to feel sweat forming on his forehead. He wiped away the droplets using his wrist, but was surprised when he felt like he was getting warmer by the second.

“Something feels off” he said to himself as he tugged at his collar. He had dressed warm for the chilly autumn evening, wearing a long ornamental crimson robe with pants, a leather belt around the waist, and his cloak over his shoulders, but the tea had warmed him up so much he undid the clasp on his cloak and set it on the nearby chair. The heat did not dissipate, so Narinder could tell something was wrong and he sat down to relax. Maybe he was just anxious about Shamura? His eldest sibling tended to blank a lot as a result of their injury, so he was used to it, but it didn’t make seeing it happen in real time any better. Narinder focused on controlling his breathing, but when he exhaled, his robe felt… different.

His robe usually had a fairly decent gap between his body and the cloth, but as he exhaled he could feel the tips of his fur pressing against the inside of the robe. Narinder grasped at his robe and noticed it seemed to have less slack, almost as if it had shrunk, but that was when he saw his hand. His black furred fingers seemed to be getting larger by the second alongside his palm and wrist. He could see his bracelet getting closer and closer to his wrist by the second and saw the gap between his sleeve and hand gradually getting wider. The heat continued to flow through his body as Narinder began to panic.

Was the tea drugged? Was Shamura testing some sort of experimental medicine using the tea when they blanked? These thoughts raced through Narinder’s head as he began looking around for clues, all while his hands and arms seemed to be getting larger by the second. His eyes darted over to the strange machine the Charm had been in, and that’s when he saw the crystals, which he knew were capable of moving around magical energy. He looked at the charm, then at the other identical syphon across from the original, and the desk the tea was on, which was right next to the second syphon.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened.

Narinder was relieved that he wasn’t drugged, but now he had to cope with the fact that he had drunk an experimental magic laced tea that was not showing signs of stopping and was making his clothes feel tighter by the second.

“I need to get Shamura. They’ll know how to-” he was interrupted by a loud snap as his leather bracelet on his left wrist snapped off his wrist and fell to the floor. The one on his right followed suit as his hands and arms kept getting bigger. Narinder could feel his fur pressing against his sleeves and robes now as his skull necklace started to get tight. He stood up from his seat to start making his way to the door, but was caught off guard by his increase in height. He looked down and saw his paws were starting to expand as well, causing his robe’s skirt to rise up and reveal the top of his feet. He felt his black beaded anklet around his left ankle pressing against his skin as his paws and legs continued to grow. He slowly raised his right foot to move forward and began to raise his left, but at that moment his anklet gave out and snapped, releasing its pressure but causing the beads to spread out on the ground in front of Narinder.

As he put his left foot down, he accidentally stepped on the beads and slipped, causing him to lose his balance and fall to his knees. The ground seemed to be getting more distant as Narinder felt his pants pressing against his bare legs. His paws were out behind him and he curled them in an attempt to try and regain control over his body, but they responded by continuing to grow and causing a small tear around the ankle of his pants. Narinder looked back down at his hands and was shocked to see how big they were, with a noticeable 6 inch gap between his wrist and sleeves that was non-existent before.

His back and chest began to press against his robes. Narinder was struggling to get up as his legs were constrained by the now tight pants, which began to tear at the calves from the pressure. His sleeves followed suit, as the wrist began to rip from the increased mass taking up their space. Before Narinder could regain his composure, his skull necklace pressed tightly into his airway. He lost his breath and reached up his large hands to his neck. The clasp was too small and delicate to undo with his current state, so he managed to dig his fingers into the band itself and yanked with all his might. The necklace snapped and fell to the floor, giving him a chance to breathe. He was saddened that he had to break a gift from Lambert, but his guilt was replaced with surprise as he felt a large tear along the back of his robe.

His robe was now many sizes too small for him by this point. The crimson fabric was drawn taut over his body and started to give way, but his body continued to expand. Rips and tears formed along the back and sleeves while his chest began to push into the fabric with greater force. The neck of the robe was beginning to close in, but that was when the front of the robe split down the middle from the neck. Narinder looked down and saw his toned chest was continuing to grow, causing the tear to widen further. He felt flustered as more of his chest and stomach started to emerge through the tear while his sleeves tore at the shoulders.

Narinder managed to bring his legs out in front of him, but was shocked to see his calves were completely bare, as his pants had torn away and were beginning to rip at the thighs. His skirt was nearly up to his knees now, but luckily it had enough slack to not constrain his legs further. The same could not be said for his pants, as he heard a loud snap and felt a cool breeze around his waist. He looked down on the ground in front of him and almost yelped when he saw the button for his pants on the ground. He was comfortable confiding many things with Shamura and his siblings, but he was NOT that comfortable. He brought his legs together under his skirt as he felt the thighs of his pants begin to give way.

More rips filled the air as Narinder kept getting bigger. He felt his belt squeezing his stomach as he desperately tried to fiddle with the latch to loosen it. His robe was nearly hanging off of him by this point, with only his sleeves and the lower torso of it intact. The skirt rose up to his knees now and he was having a harder time keeping it down as he felt the seat of his pants tear open. He had grown so much that he could feel the tops of his ears touching the ceiling, even though he was sitting on the floor. Eventually, he managed to loosen his belt enough to prevent it from popping off, but the top part of his robe was reaching its imminent demise.

Narinder could feel the heat begin to dissipate from his body as the growth seemed to slow. He managed to regain control of his breathing as his body finally stabilised. With a sigh of relief, he was about to try and move when the door opened and Shamura came back in while looking over a clipboard.

“Oh Narinder. You probably shouldn’t drink that tea because I was using it for…” Shamura drifted off as they looked up and saw the now large Narinder sitting at the opposite end of the study. “Well, it looks like I’m too late.” Shamura said defeated.

“TOO LATE!?!!? LOOK AT MY CLOTHES!!! HOW AM I GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO LAMBERT?!?!” Narinder shouted, his face nearly as red as his now tattered robes. He was angry to say the least, but when his eyes met Shamura’s, he saw the shame in them and his expression softened. Narinder let out a sigh. “Look. I know it's not entirely your fault, but do you know how you’d be able to reverse this?”

Shamura set down their clipboard and thought for a moment. “Well, we could utilise Shunrue’s Charm to potentially reverse the effect,” Shamura explained before they leaned in to get a closer look. “Although, you seem to be slightly smaller than the average Galvar’s Charm user. Could it be because you only dran-”

As if in response, the heat returned with a flash and Narinder felt his body shoot upwards, promptly slamming his head into the ceiling. The remaining top part of his robe was torn to pieces while his skirt rose up to his thighs. A loud snap came from beneath and Narinder looked down to see the remains of his pants fall out from underneath the skirt. His face burned bright and he pushed his legs together before burying his face into his hands. Shamura was dumbfounded, but quickly regained their composure.

“I’ll, uh, get the Relic ready.” they said.

Some time later…

The front door of Lambert’s quarters slammed shut, which startled them as they were working at their desk. They walked out into the main hall and saw Narinder, wearing his cloak and a very loose fitting skirt while holding his necklace.

“Narinder? Are you okay? What happened?” Lambert asked as they ran up to embrace their husband. Narinder returned the gesture before gently pushing them away. Lambert looked over his bare body and noticed his lack of pants under the skirt. “Narinder… you aren’t wearing anything underneath?”

“I uh… need to take a shower.” was all he said before walking into the bathroom and closing the door.

Lambert was confused, but decided not to push it. If Narinder didn’t want to talk about it, it was probably for the best.



My first attempt at posting a TF story out into the wild. I've written a couple in private before, but here is a simple one to start out with.

I realized long ago that if I want to find more SFW TF stories, I'll have to make them myself.