Shifting shapes and changing forms
…
There exist in the world magic's of ages long past, remnants of civilizations that have faded from the collective memory leaving behind little more than hints to tease the imagination. The Fount of Forms is one such piece of ancient magic inscribed with countless runes of a system long forgotten. It sits in a clearing surrounded by forest, with grass sprouting up between the cracks of the old brick flooring that once surrounded it.
The fountain itself was likely a marvel of craftsmanship in its day which seemed evident even now untold years later, though the exactness of that craftsmanship had faded a bit. There were cracks all around the base and the head piece was completely gone, destroyed by time or stolen in a moment of greed, who could say. The fountain looked old, weathered, surrounded by the feel of an ancient mysterious thing.
Of course as such there were numerous stories about what it did and why it did it. Some said the fount was a center for chaos, changing ones form at random. Others claimed it saw the true nature of a thing and gave one the form that reflected that. Others still said there was some quintessential piece missing that would allow a person to control the change and choose a form to their liking.
Needless to say, no one really knew but people were willing to believe whatever they wanted to believe, and after all, is that not how legends are formed?
…
"So this is it?" said Hermione.
"The Fount of Forms" said Harry.
"Doesn't look like much" said Ron, clearly unimpressed.
"Are we stopping here for the night papa?" inquired Seraphina.
"No Sera" said Harry, sliding down out of his saddle, "I don't want the horses anywhere near that thing."
"What're you doing Harry?" Hermione asked.
"There's an alchemist in the next town I heard will pay a handsome sum for water from the Fount of Forms collected at the pinnacle of a full moon when the fount's magic is said to be at its strongest."
"We'll make camp further up the road" said Hermione.
"And I'll come find you when I'm done" agreed Harry.
"Papa" said Seraphina as she stared at the magical fountain, "do you think that fountain could fix me?"
Ron and Hermione both looked uneasy at this question. Harry looked at the fountain, watching as a squirrel jumped in only for a robin to fly out a moment later.
"No Sera I don't think so" he replied.
"Why not?" she asked innocently.
"Well, look at it this way, you are a dragon in a little girl, um overcoat let' s call it" he said, "Now, we can't be sure that if you used the fountain that it would simply change the overcoat and not the dragon wearing it. Would you be a dragon who had changed into a bird, or would you simply 'be' a bird?"
The little dragon girl mulled this over for a moment before giving a decisive nod, "Thank you papa" she said.
"You're welcome Sera" he said, giving Strider a firm pat on the rear, "go on now."
Strider, being the intelligent creature that it was understood its masters command without explanation and began a pleasant trot down the road which the others followed a moment later.
…
Once again Seraphina found her choice of parental unit to have been superb. Left to her own devices she might well have leapt into the fountain without properly considering the situation and come out worse than she already was. She still did not fully understand these humans and their relationships but she was at least beginning to understand the importance of the father to a daughter.
Yes, she had chosen well, even if she couldn't say much for his choice in traveling companions, she thought sourly, glancing at the redheaded 'wizard' riding the highly intelligent mule. She found the creature highly intelligent because in the same position she would have been stubborn and belligerent too.
…
"Ah, the joys of fatherhood" Harry mused sarcastically.
Luna merely patted his head in understanding.
"Well Luna, I'd say we've got more than a few hours to wait, watcha wanna do?"
She pondered this for a moment, an activity that involved various positions which Harry found absolutely hilarious, till at last she came to a decision. Pointing excitedly to the fountain she chimed at briefly and looked at him expectantly.
"You want to watch the fountain and see what goes in and comes out?" he guessed.
She nodded in the affirmative.
"Well why not, could be fun."
As it turned out, it was fun, for the first half hour. After that the tedium began to set it. Much of that had to do with the limited variety of things going in and out. Various forms of rodents became various forms of bird and vice versa, though not on a consistent scale it still got boring very quickly. By the fifth hour as the moon was rising high and they were chewing slowly through some jerky they had basically lost all interest, which was good as the comings and goings had basically fallen away to nothing.
"You suppose it's like that every day?" Harry wondered aloud.
Luna gave no answer as she gnawed viciously on the piece of dried meat growling like a hungry dog. Harry chuckled, watching Luna attack her food was always fun to watch and she seemed to have just as much fun doing it.
As the moon approached its zenith a fox appeared from the woods and approached the fountain. It stopped at the edge and looked up to the moon. Luna continued to gnaw on her dinner apparently having not noticed the fox but Harry watched intently. Why didn't it jump in, what was it waiting for.
The answer came as the moon reached its peak and the waters of the fountain began to glow. The fox slid gracefully into the waters and vanished. Harry was awestruck a moment later when a voluptuous woman with short hair the same color as the fox rose up out of the water. It was at this point she seemed to notice him.
Slowly, cautiously, she approached him, dropping onto all fours in a strange parody of a quadruped, she sniffed him. He remained perfectly still, confused by her and more than a little distracted he almost didn't notice when she gave him an experimental lick on the cheek. Staring into his eyes she leaned in as if to kiss him, then swiped the jerky hanging from his mouth and darted away into the wood.
The sound of Luna laughing in his ear brought him back to reality, "well, that was um… yeah."
Carefully filling the phial he had brought he had just finished corking it and placing it in his pouch when he heard someone say, "Is this it?"
He turned to see two women, or at least that's what he thought they were, covered in cloth and bandages approaching the fountain.
"Of course this is it what else would it be" said one in a harsh voice.
"If you're looking for the Fount of Forms, you have found it" said Harry in order to avert a possible argument.
"Gods be praised" declared the other in a far kinder voice, her jubilation evident.
"After all this time" said the other in a tone Harry found somewhat off-putting.
They approached the fountain cautiously, staring over the edge into the enchanted waters.
"Do… do you think it will work, I mean, will it really make us…" said the kinder one.
"I don't care what it makes us" said the harsh one, "anything is better than this."
At this confession Harry notice a few exposed pieces of flesh, discolored, black and purple. He suddenly understood just what these women were and just why they were there. He had heard many rumors concerning the fountain, one of which being that a person who was pure of heart could be changed into something beautiful. He hadn't put much thought into it given his own angle of interest but given the two lepers before him, he understood perfectly what they hoped to accomplish.
Despite her open admittance of their state, the harsh one seemed equally as wary of entering as the kind one, so, she did what many would have done, "Well, go on" she said, giving her companion a hard shove into the waters.
Unprepared the poor woman toppled in, vanishing beneath the glowing aqua. She emerged a moment later hacking and coughing.
"What… what did you do that for" she exclaimed, trying to clear her windpipe.
Her only response was a startled gasp. Her hood had fallen away somewhere in the water revealing what lay beneath. Her hands went to her face, then she began tearing at her cloths and bandages until she was completely naked. She examined herself, every inch of pure silky unblemished skin. She reached up to her head, ran her hands through the long raven tresses. Her look of shock slowly began to change. She beamed, she squealed in delight, the laughed hysterically.
In her excitement she latched onto a stunned Harry and kissed him fiercely. Harry was too shocked to try and stop her, yes that's what he'd say if anyone asked, shock.
"You seem happy" he said when she finally released his lips.
The laughed gaily, "All my prayers have been answered. At long last, I can live again."
Distracted by the very happy, very naked, woman in his arms he almost missed the sound of another splash as the other woman took the plunge. What came out was equally as shocking but in a whole different way. She seemed to understand this quickly, in truth it would have been hard not to. It was no beauty that rose from the magic fountain but a monster, skin black and hard, hands unnaturally long and sharp like blades, her whole body in fact had become somewhat sharp and angular.
Harry could practically see the woman's sanity slipping away as the reality of her situation sank in. Then she spotted the other woman and her eyes narrowed.
"YOU!" she growled in an inhuman voice, "You did this to me. You tainted the waters. This is all your fault" she screamed.
The monster lunged ready to skewer the woman on her new claws only to be intercepted by Luna. The little fairy girl stopped the charge but was quickly swatted out of the way by a razor sharp hand, slicing her wings and drawing blood along the meatier parts.
"LUNA!" Harry yelled but was then forced to put himself between the dark haired woman and the bladed one.
Without his weapons he could do little more than hold up his arms and block her attack. Her fingers dug into his leather bracers, tearing long gashes through them instead of his forearms.
"You won't stop me, I'll kill you both!"
She was unnaturally strong and Harry wasn't sure he could stop her. Fortunately, he didn't have to.
*WHAM*
The attack sent her sprawling, she looked up just in time to receive another bashing with the rock. She rolled away, dazed but relatively unhurt. Her vision blurred a bit but she could still make out a pale figure standing next to the man and the traitorous bitch she arrived with.
"Care to try that again" said the pale figure, her tone indicating what she thought her chances were.
With an anguished scream the bladed woman turned and fled.
The danger passed, Harry took stock of the situation and only got as far as the long sumptuous legs of the pale skinned woman before something hit him (metaphorically).
"Luna?"
"Hullo Harry" said Luna, turning to face him, and in turn give him a full frontal.
"Uh, Luna, you look, um" he stuttered.
Luna didn't seem to notice his stuttering and was quick to invade his personal space, "Harry, have you gotten shorter."
Harry relaxed a little at the girls quirky personality, "No Luna" he said, "You've gotten taller."
"Huh, so I have. Must've hit my growth spurt" she said as if it were the obvious logical reason.
Harry merely shook his head, to relieved they were both still alive to be even a little annoyed at how lightly Luna was taking her sudden transformation or notice when she spotted the other woman who had stood by quietly through the whole exchange.
"You" Luna said, pointing at her, "I saw what you did."
"Saw what I, I don't know what you mean" she said meekly, shrinking away from the suddenly domineering girl.
"Don't you play coy with me" said Luna, towering over the woman despite being no taller than her, "I like to share my things as much as the next girl but a certain amount of permission is required first."
"What now?" said Harry having gotten lost along the way.
"Now I understand you were excited" said Luna magnanimously, throwing her arm around the woman's shoulder much to her surprise, "and he is after all rather pleasing to, to look at" she said losing her train of thought as she admired the black haired ranger, "wait, what was I saying, oh it doesn't matter."
"Would now be a good time to address the fact that you are both naked?" ventured Harry.
Luna looked at him for a moment before turning her gaze downward at herself then over to the other woman, "Well, what do you know about that, Harry, we're naked" she said.
"Yes Luna, yes you are" Harry agreed tiredly.
"Yes we are" she agreed, pondering something for a moment before whispering into the other woman's ear.
"Um, does one of you want to wear my cloak or I…"
"Harry, we've come to a decision" said Luna, "take off your cloths."
Harry blinked, "Harry do what now?"
"We're naked Harry, but you're not, so you have to get naked or people might think you're strange. Come on now don't be difficult."
Harry wasn't exactly sure what mental process had brought Luna to this conclusion and it hurt his brain to even ponder on it, "Luna, I'm not going to…" he started.
"Looks like he's going to be difficult, only one thing for it."
As one the two women tackled him to the ground and began grasping at the buttons, clasps and other various devices that held his outfit together.
"Hey, now stop that, Luna would you please… Hey now, that is not clothing" he protested.
"Well, getting big like this made me hungry" said Luna, "And I always knew you kept a nice big sausage tucked away down here."