Call of the Wild
Summary: Something has caused Sofia to transform into a werewolf, and she has to rely on Cedric to figure out the reason for her transformation before she's stuck in the form forever. *Requested by Mr. Shortman92*
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The idea belongs to Mr. Shortman92.
A/N: Okay, guys! This is the last story I'll be able to write for a while, because the four other remaining stories I have in queue still need answers from the show itself before I can progress. I won't go into details, but I can say that one is a request (which I may actually be able to work around and release next week, but I'll have to see), two of them deal with specific encounters, and the last is my big story I've mentioned. That one in particular will take a lot of focus and detailing, so I'm hoping to have answers soon. Lol. As of now, I'm still not able to take anymore requests, so I'm sorry for that. Two (or maybe even three) of the remaining stories will likely be chapter stories, so there's a lot to manage. Regardless, we'll see what happens. I may have one more surprise in store (not sure if it will happen or not and I'm not giving any specifics for now just in case it doesn't happen), but we'll see how that pans out. 😉
With that said, I hope you enjoy this story! Mr. Shortman92 mentioned this quite some time ago, and I'm finally getting around to writing it. :D Let me point out that despite some of the serious things in here, this story is meant to be more lighthearted and even silly at times. There are no 'bad guys' for a change. Haha. Also, I'll be updating this story (four chapters) over the next few days, so I just wanted to give a heads up. :D Enjoy!
Note: My GuardoRing from "Dream Team" will make its appearance in here. It will also show up quite prominently in the big story, and probably in a few others as well. 😊 Just wanted to make sure I mentioned it. There is also a very brief reference to one of my inside jokes that quite a few of you are liable to latch onto. :p I won't elaborate on it, so if you catch it—lol! Yay!
Chapter List:
1: Hypertrichosis
2: Animal Instincts
3: A Montage of Solutions
4: Humanly Possible
*Story*
Chapter 1: Hypertrichosis
It had been quite a long Friday for Sofia. Most of her day had been spent training with Chrysta in the Mystic Isles, and while she was getting stronger and sharper with her instincts and skills, she was still very much aware that she'd reached her daily limit. She'd barely functioned at the dinner table with her family, who chalked up her exhaustion to playing around all day (seriously, when they found out what she was really up to, she'd probably never hear the end of it). In addition, she hadn't really talked to much of anyone else. It was fine, though. She just needed some rest.
The youngest princess had originally retired to her room early that evening so that she could be alone. Now since it was getting later, she changed into her pajama set and took down her ponytail, allowing her hair to breathe. She smiled as she turned slightly sideways and looked into the mirror, noting that her hair was now a bit longer when fully down. Just one more change she was slowly adjusting to.
She yawned and walked over to the window seat, scooting closer to the glass and leaning back against a slew of pillows as she pulled a blanket over herself. She stared out at the darkened kingdom, its silhouettes more prominent in the light of the full moon. Sofia glanced up at the moon, mesmerized by its glow and the full beauty on display. She could even make out the craters and other miniscule details she normally would have overlooked.
Feeling her eyes growing heavy, Sofia resigned herself to sleeping in the window seat this once. She didn't have enough energy to get into her actual bed, and this one time she was okay with it. Soon enough, she fell into a steady sleep.
But her dreams were anything but peaceful (or normal) that night. Her dreams were filled with howling, figures and objects altering into other things, the inability to control her actions… It was strange. Unfortunately, it wasn't just that night that she experienced those dreams.
They continued regularly for a full month. Stranger than the dreams were some uncontrollable urges she'd suddenly developed: the longing to chase things, howl at the moon, eat raw meat (which caused her to cringe), escape the stuffy clothing that princesses were expected to wear… Luckily, she hadn't indulged in any of those things yet, saving her from both embarrassment and inevitable questions from her friends and family; however, all of those yearnings were growing stronger day by day.
She couldn't tell anyone about these new developing impulses. Would they even understand? She didn't even understand what was wrong with her. Maybe it was just part of growing up? After all, she'd be a teenager soon enough, and the awaiting challenges (according to her mother) were no joke. Sometimes she was even a little afraid of getting older, and all these new developments were just making that fear worse.
One evening when she was preparing for bed, Sofia noticed that she was beginning to grow thick hair along her legs and arms, stomach, back, and just all over. While it wasn't attractive at all, her biggest concern was how uncomfortable and abnormal it was. No other princess (or kid) her age seemed to struggle with this problem, and she was worried. Was it normal?
Frowning, Sofia huffed and changed back into her dress, putting the tiara into her hair once more. She then grabbed her long-sleeved apprentice robe and put it over her dress so that she wouldn't have to see the unsightly scruff. Sighing, she made a decision. "Maybe Mr. Cedric knows what's going on with me… Maybe he has a potion or something that will fix this." Satisfied with her summarization, she headed off to the sorcerer's tower.
Cedric was just preparing to put his materials away for the evening when he heard a knock on his door. He frowned, wondering what on earth his apprentice would be doing visiting this late. She hadn't even been around that much this month, and he'd been a bit worried about her. When they had met up, she'd been a bit more distant than normal. Maybe she was just going through something… "Come in, Sofia."
Sofia walked inside before shutting the door behind her, tugging the robe closer around herself anxiously, hoping he wouldn't immediately notice the new and unwanted addition. "Mr. Cedric…"
"What is the matter?" he asked curiously as she stood before him, looking like a lost soul. "What brings you here so late?"
"I think something's wrong with me," she admitted, her resolve quickly crumbling before Cedric led her to a chair so that she could sit down and collect herself. After giving herself a few moments, she continued her explanation, revealing her dreams and strange urges, along with the unwanted new hair, which she revealed after setting her apprentice robe aside.
Cedric was taken aback by her story and by the status of the girl's appearance. "Oh, my," he responded lightly as he reached forward and trailed his fingers over the strangely thick hair lining the princess's arms. "And you say this is the most recent development?"
She nodded. "It got really bad tonight. It's all over the place." That statement made her feel more self-conscious, and she drew both of her arms to herself, hiding them under the table. "I wish I knew what was going on. This isn't normal, Mr. Cedric…" She groaned. "I seriously hope this isn't part of growing up that Mom and Amber always warned me about."
"You mean your potassium?" Cedric quickly waved his hands as Sofia shot him a glare. "I know… Never mention that word again. Sorry." Seeing her deflating a bit, he sighed. "You're right though. I don't think this is at all normal. However, I have seen cases of such a thing, and it might warrant an explanation: hypertrichosis."
"Hyper-what?"
"Hypertrichosis," he repeated. "It's also known as Werewolf Syndrome, whereby one grows thick hair akin to a wolf's or werewolf's fur."
"So I'm turning into an animal?!" Sofia gasped, her eyes growing wide. "Mom never warned me about that phase of growing up."
Cedric just laughed, calming her nerves a bit as he explained further. "Don't worry, Sofia. I'm sure this is just some strange occurrence that can be resolved rather quickly. In fact, I have a potion to permanently destroy this type of hair." He walked over toward his cupboard of infrequent potions and began sorting through them, a frown appearing on his face. "Hmm, it seems that I'm out of it right now. I'm afraid I've not used that potion in quite some time." He glanced back toward the forlorn-looking princess and offered her a gentle smile. "Not to worry. I'll gather the ingredients from the garden and make a small batch while you stay here and wait for me."
"Please hurry, Mr. Cedric," she begged before beginning to scratch at the different patches of furlike hair on her arms. "It's really getting itchy."
"I won't be long. Don't scratch too much; I don't want you hurting yourself." With that, he created a quick list of necessary ingredients before leaving to gather them.
Sofia restrained from scratching the scruff any more for the time being, though it was becoming a bit impossible. Feeling that her Enchantlet and GuardoRing were beginning to seem a bit tighter than usual with her new development, she slid each of them off and onto the work table, sighing. She hadn't previously noticed the full moon peering in through the tower window, illuminating her face and the workspace, but she soon turned and became entranced by its glow and beauty. Distracted, she didn't realize that her nails were beginning to grow rather rapidly…
Cedric returned several minutes later with a small tote of herbs and plants for his potion. "All right, my dear, I think I've got—AHH!" The tote fell to the floor, spilling its contents, as Cedric stared wide-eyed at the sight before him.
There, in the center of his workshop, stood a hairy, vicious-looking beast, and it appeared to be tearing Sofia's dress and shoes all to pieces, scattering the fabric about the room. Sofia herself was nowhere in sight, which sent a chill through the sorcerer as his mind went into panic mode. Had this horrid beast eaten his apprentice? There didn't seem to be any…indication…that she'd been…
He shook off his terror and wielded his wand, pointing it at the creature and aiming to destroy. However, he paused once the beast turned to him, a pair of familiar blue eyes gazing into his, auburn hair falling down in curly waves, and the Amulet of Avalor around the creature's neck. He glanced at the floor, where the princess's Enchantlet and GuardoRing now lay, presumably from the mess this creature had been making. Cedric gulped once and hesitantly lowered his wand as he cautiously stared at the being before him. "S-Sofia… Is that you?"
A sad whimper escaped the creature, and she hung her head in shame. Sofia, now trapped in this new form, realized she was acting like an animal rather than a princess, but there was nothing she could do about it.
…Was there?
To be continued…