Author's Note: Here's a new story, thought up of sorta randomly, but also semi-inspired by a chat between me and a friend. Enjoy~ And. . . I so need a good proofreader. . .
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Perfect! Or so I thought.
In my hand was my recently completed project, a purple potion. It was designed to allow the one who ingested the potion to be able to blend in with their surroundings. I was inspired by a lizard I once saw that changed its own scales to blend with its environment and realized it could be useful; thus, I went to work. Sure, it would be a bit odd, but it would be very handy in battle, especially for those such as Lass and Lire, who could attack from long range. And of course, me.
The potion let off a faint, purple glow as I walked around the castle, looking for someone. Was everyone purposely avoiding me? I dispelled the thought as I spotted Ronan, though.
"Hey, Ronan, c'mere!" I called out.
"Huh?" Ronan glanced over at me, then at the potion and began to look a bit nervous. Before I could let him escape, I was next to him and thrust the potion into his hands.
"Drink this!" I told him.
"B-But-" Ronan began.
"Now!" If I had to, I would use force.
Hesitantly, Ronan pulled the stopper out of the bottle and took a tentative sniff of the contents. I tried not to laugh at the face he made before he placed the bottle's opening in his mouth and threw his head back, gulping the contents down in one swig.
Gagging, Ronan gave me the now-empty bottle back. "Here. Now what?"
"Now we wait," I said, and proceeded to watch Ronan for any signs of change.
After a few minutes, nothing had happened. It didn't work?
I let out a cry of frustration. "It didn't work!"
Ronan looked happy that nothing had changed. "I'm sorry it didn't work Arme."
"Hmph." I glared angrily at the floor.
The only way I knew Ronan was leaving was by the sound of his footsteps and his shadow receding. Wait, what was that part of his shadow? It looked kinda thin and long, and kinda swayed a bit.
Looking up, I thought that it was probably Ronan's cloak, but then my eyes widened in surprise. What was that sticking out from underneath Ronan's cloak?! Was that a. . . a tail?
I simply stared, dumb-struck, as Ronan turned a corner, obviously oblivious to his new extension.
"Don't let the flies in," I heard someone say.
"Huh?" I then realized I was gaping and immediately closed my mouth, embarrassed. "Lass?"
Said Striper appeared in front of me. "At your service. So, may I inquire about that thing behind Ronan?"
"Uh," was what I said.
"Jeez, what'd you do to him Arme?" Lass asked.
"I-I don't know!" I exclaimed.
"What were you trying to do then?"
"I was hoping he would be able to blend with his surroundings!" Saying that out loud, I realized how stupid it must've been.
"Camouflage? Interesting."
I didn't answer as I began to go off after Ronan. Someone was gonna notice. And, of course, I would be to blame, so I had to go explain myself when necessary. Luckily, Lass followed, in case. I wasn't too keen to be on the receiving end of someone's attack.
Turning a third corner, I saw Ronan, who was talking to Elesis the hot-head. I noticed that Elesis hadn't noticed the tail, and neither had Ronan. In fact, the tail was pretty slim, dark-blueish in color, and it was actually hidden from Elesis' view due to Ronan's tall figure and the fact the tail wasn't poking out or anything. It was kind of curled a bit. How Ronan didn't notice it though, I had no clue.
"So I was thinking that we may need to check out the Outer Wall in a couple weeks," Ronan said.
"Wouldn't it be better to concentrate on finding the Harpy Queen?" Elesis asked. "I mean, if it's a possible incoming invasion of Harpies, we should strike their commander."
"Excuse me," I said, interrupting. The two knights turned to look at me.
"Yes, what is it Arme?" Ronan asked. He seemed a bit nervous again at seeing me. No doubt that he thought I had another potion for him.
"No potion for you again Ronan, but-" I began, but Elesis interrupted me.
"You gave him a potion?! What'd it do!" she cried. I forgot that Elesis had the tendency to try and take Ronan's place in my, erm, experiments.
"It was supposed to hide him from the view of monsters," I explained, deciding not to explain the fact it was supposed to change his skin color.
"Well, it didn't work!"
"Oh, really?" I said sarcastically. "I couldn't tell!"
Finally, Ronan said something. "Wait, if that didn't work, then what happened?"
"Well-" I began, but Lass cut me off.
"It looks as if you didn't finish after you went to the ba-"
"Lass!"
"What?"
Ignoring Lass, I said, "You have a tail."
At first, neither Ronan nor Elesis said anything. Then Ronan said, "I have a tail?" He turned around, but the tail followed, so Ronan couldn't see it. He kept turning around, failing to see it.
"Idiot!" I cried and snatched his tail, causing Ronan to jump. "Look!" I could feel that the tail was furry, warm, and twitching slightly. I immediately let go but Ronan grabbed it.
"What!" It suddenly seemed as if Ronan was now aware of his tail. "It feels so weird!"
"Is it real?" Elesis asked, and she grabbed Ronan's tail, tugging it.
"Yes it's real!" Ronan cried. "Don't pull it!"
"But it's soft," Elesis said, and then she sorta hugged it. Huh.
"Let go, please," Ronan said. Elesis didn't seem to hear him, but ended up tugging on it again.
Ronan then, somehow, flicked his tail out of Elesis' grasp, hitting Elesis. She yelped in surprise.
"Sorry," Ronan muttered, but he looked a tad annoyed.
"So, can you fix it, Arme?" Elesis asked, rubbing her face where the tail made contact.
"Yeah, of course, I just have to do a bit of research," I answered. I noticed the tail was moving around a bit, as if experimenting its own movements.
"Can't you just cut it off?" Lass suggested. I almost forgot he was there.
"What, no!" Ronan cried.
"You're just a big sissy," Lass teased, causing Ronan to cry, "Am not! It's like, a part of my body so it'd be like chopping off an arm!"
"More like your d-" I stepped on Lass' foot before he could say any more.
As Lass was hopping up and down, I told Ronan, "Try and keep that tail hidden, we don't want to scare anyone, like Amy. I'll be looking for a cure, but I don't think it'd take too long."
"Good, it feels. . . so weird," Ronan said.
Just then, Lire came by with a rolled-up parchment in her hands. Luckily, Ronan managed to tuck his tail in his cloak.
"Hey guys, could one of you help me with this?" Lire asked.
"Uh, what is it?" Elesis asked.
"It looks like there's a bit of a disturbance at Partusay's Sea. There have been reports of ships being attacked by Armored Lobsters, and they want a couple of us to handle it," Lire explained.
"Sorry, but I'm not going back to the Partusay's Sea ever again," Elesis said.
"I'll go," Lass said. "I was going to go fishing again soon sometime."
"Uh, is that all right with you, Arme?" Lire asked.
"What? Of course it's fine," I said. "Why do you need to ask me if Lass could go with you?" I was curious.
"Well, it's just that in case you have plans or something with Lass and I was just making sure that your plans wouldn't be interrupted for something important," Lire explained.
"Uh, right. I have no plans that involve Lass," I said, "unless he wanted to help me with researching."
"Er, well, if it's all right with you I'd rather go fishing," Lass said.
"It's your choice, I'm not making you. Now go already!"
Lire jumped a bit before taking off, shouting back at Lass, "C'mon, we gotta get there quickly!"
"Comin'," Lass said. Before he left, Lass swept me into a hug and whispered in my ear, "I'll be back soon, m'love, and then you may do as you will with me, such as dominate me under the covers."
Immediately, my cheeks started to grow hot. "N-Nonsense, Lass! Get moving!"
Chuckling, Lass set me down, planted a kiss on my cheeks, and dashed off. I could hear a chuckle from the knights and sent a glare their way.
"I'm going to search for a cure now," I said, trying to recompose my demeanor, and went to bury myself in books.
I must've fallen asleep after finding the cure after a few hours of reading, as I was suddenly aware of the glaring morning sun.
"Crap!" I sat up immediately, lucky that I hadn't been drooling in my sleep. Embarrassing.
Snatching up the papers, I went back to my room, where I conducted my experiments.
A few herbs here, some powder there, cold water, stir. . . Done! To be safe though, I decided to test it on myself. So, I took what remained of my failed experiment that sprouted a tail on Ronan and drank it myself, preparing for the odd sensation of the tail.
Minutes passed. I felt no change.
Confused, I reached a tentative hand towards the area my tail bone would be, if I had a tail. I felt something soft and furry and long. Grasping it in my hand, I pulled it in front of me, aware of the new feeling of having a tail, and then I let the tail go. It felt odd, yet natural.
I considered trying to move the tail around, but decided not to and drank a bit of the new potion I made.
Minutes passed. I felt no change.
I reached a hand back and felt nothing. To make sure, I checked in the mirror and found nothing poking out. I pulled down my skirt just enough to see the area where the tail bone would be and saw nothing. Good, it worked!
Putting a cork stopper in the bottle to keep the contents from spilling, I ran out in search of Ronan.
"Hey, Ronan, where are you?!" I yelled out.
"Here?" I was answered.
Following the voice, I came upon Ronan and Elesis, who must've been talking about something.
"Did you find a cure?" Elesis asked.
"Yes, I did," I said and held it out to Ronan, who grabbed it.
"You know, a tail can be fun," Ronan said casually, fingering the cork. I noticed Elesis flushed at that comment. Hm.
"Ronan, what did you do?" I asked.
"Nothing!" Elesis cried out before Ronan could answer. "Just drink the damned potion, Ronan!"
"Okay, okay, but you know, we c-" Ronan began before Elesis snatched the bottle from Ronan. She uncorked the bottle and stuffed it in his mouth. Ronan choked a bit but managed to drink it all. Then Elesis stormed off.
"Uh." I glanced at the now-tailless Ronan.
"Let's just say having an extra limb is really handy," he told me with a smile. I didn't inquire any further. I didn't want to know, but at least I could guess why Elesis seemed a bit annoyed though.
Now all that was left to do was wait for Lass. I was done with experiments for now.
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A/N: Sorry if the title mislead you into thinking that Arme had the tail instead.