A quick story I wrote as an entry for a contest on Antartica77's Discord server. It's a bit different than my usual stuff, but I hope you enjoy it all the same!
Gwen dragged herself out of bed with a groan, the headache that had haunted her for the last three weeks still present, if thankfully lessened somewhat. The first week it had been so bad that she'd been bedridden and could barely eat. As her new hooves clacked onto the floor, she let out a sight, reminded once more that none of this had been a dream. She moved to her bathroom to wash her face, and once again took in her new appearance.
Goat-like horns had sprouted from her forehead and swept backwards along her skull, and her now gray-white hair provided a stark contrast to its previous dark luster. Yellow eyes with rectangular pupils stared blankly back at her, and her face had adopted the tiniest hint of a snout. Even her ears had changed, becoming long and floppy, with a fine growth of fur in the same color as her hair coating their exterior. As she opened her mouth in a yawn, Gwen caught a glimpse of blue, reminding her of her new, longer tongue and she sighed once again before leaving the bathroom.
It had taken three weeks for her to grow somewhat accustomed to walking on her hooves, the new shape of her legs making balancing somewhat difficult at first. The sensation was different than when she'd had feet, as she was both more and less aware of the ground underneath her. Fortunately, she'd had some practice wearing high heels back home that had eased her mental transition to this new manner of walking, but her body seemed to have the instincts she needed to keep her balance ingrained within it. Running was still difficult, she'd only managed it once or twice and never with intent, but she could walk without falling over now, and she'd found herself strangely adept at climbing (as long as she didn't think too hard about it).
The smell of fresh food drew her out of her room and into the common area of her host's flat. That was another thing she was struggling to get used to; her improved sense of smell. She could tell exactly what Senna had put into her meals before she ever saw it and, as usual, her mouth was already watering in anticipation. Gwen had always been a picky eater in the past, to her parents' bemusement, but ever since coming to the Otherworld, she could (and often did) eat just about anything. In fact, more than once she had caught herself gnawing away at things that were decidedly
not
food, much to her own embarrassment.
Three weeks ago, Gwen had crossed through one of the Gates and become a member of the latest wave of participants in the Otherworld Exchange Program. After the Gates had opened, reconnecting mankind with their long lost cousins, many had feared that this new world of magic and monsters would spell disaster for Earth. However, the leadership of the Otherworld wanted to extend a hand of kinship to mankind. After all, they'd said, both humans and Otherworlders had shared the Earth with each other in ancient times. There was no reason that they couldn't coexist peacefully once again now that the barrier between them had fallen at long last.
The connection to the Otherworld had been a subject of great excitement for many people. After all, it was the memory of the Otherworlders that had formed the basis for much of humanity's folklore and legends throughout history. And it seemed that they were just as fascinated with humans as humans were with them. Thus, the Otherworld Exchange Program was introduced. An opportunity for individuals (whether for work, schooling, or simply recreation) from both worlds to visit and live amongst the other for a time; experiencing their culture, developments, and history, all while building bonds between the two worlds that would benefit all.
An unexpected consequence of the program came in the early years, however. In the ancient history of the worlds, when the barriers between them were thin and the natives of both worlds moved freely between them, it was not uncommon for intermixing to occur. For the Otherworlders, this meant little, as their genetics were robust, and what human traits their offspring adopted were either incorporated into their lines in the form of new sub-species, or simply faded out as the generation went by. But for the humans, these traits were unable to be maintained without the flow of magic from the Otherworld. And so, without exception, they disappeared over time, with only the faintest echoes occasionally appearing. But, when those individuals' descendants entered the Otherworld, their ancient blood awakened to the touch of magic once more, causing a sudden and drastic transformation that left them resembling their Otherworldly ancestors.
It was a rare occurrence, but it happened often enough that measures were put in place to deal with it should someone cross over and find themselves changed. For most that experienced this, the changes were relatively small; shifts to skin tone or eye color, mild alterations to senses, or the growth of new body parts like tails or vestigial wings. But in certain very rare and extreme cases, the subject would fully revert to the atavistic state of their ancient ancestor, effectively changing their species permanently and painfully. Gwen was one such case.
While most participants in the Exchange spent their first few weeks receiving a primer on local customs and culture, Gwen spent that time in a hospital acclimating to her new body. Learning how to walk on now unfamiliar legs, struggling to handle her new senses, and getting over the pain of her body forcibly altering its shape. Her near constant headaches were apparently due to a combination of her new horns sprouting from her skull overnight and intense overstimulation due to her suddenly sharpened senses of sight, smell, and hearing. To make matters worse, her family couldn't even come to visit her, as they had no idea which side of the family the atavism came from, and so there was no way to be sure that the same wouldn't happen to one or more of them if they crossed the border between the worlds. And so, she spent two weeks isolated in a hospital room, her only visitors the medical teams that were monitoring her condition.
Finally, when the doctors believed that the worst was behind them, Gwen was released into the custody of her sponsor-host, a Laemean named Senna. She had a fair amount of experience helping "half-bloods" integrate into Otherworld society, and she seemed to have a soft spot for Gwen in particular, taking on a somewhat maternal role for the young woman. The serpentine female had practically carried her new charge out of the hospital, whispering gentle reassurances and comfort to her. Overwhelmed by this stranger's kindness, the emotions that had been bottling up inside her heart burst, and Gwen broke down in tears in Senna's arms, allowing herself to be comforted and consoled.
For the next week, Senna did everything that she could to help educate Gwen about her new species and given her the room to adjust to her new "normal". While humankind knew her species as Satyrs or Fauns, they apparently referred to themselves as Gruffkin. Gwen was somewhat distressed to learn that her explosive outbursts during her earliest days in the Otherworld were not, in fact, solely due to her simply being upset with the situation, and were rather a side effect of her new physiology. She was warned by both Senna and her physicians that she had a whole new set of hormones and instincts running wild inside her, and that she should not expect changes to be limited to only her body. Her personality was subject to change as well, as her new nature may not mesh well with the person she had been. But by far, the most frustrating and humiliating of her changes had been the one she'd experienced on returning to Senna's home and meeting her neighbor, a Gruffkin male named Juras.
The trip from the hospital had been uneventful, aside from Gwen crying for the first half of it. Senna had been patient and understanding, consoling the girl endlessly and reassuring her that everything would be alright. She promised that all of Gwen's needs would be provided for, and that she could take all the time she needed to adjust. Senna offered to help her figure out anything that she needed to, even promising to pick up some books on Gruffkin for Gwen to read so that she could become better acquainted with her new body and kinfolk. Eventually, they arrived at the dormitory building that Senna called home, and a short elevator ride later, they were walking down the hallway to the flat that would be Gwen's residence for the coming months.
Just before they entered Senna's home, another door in the hallway opened, and a tall, muscular Gruffkin male exited his own flat. He stopped, sniffing the air for a moment before turning to the two women and smiling broadly.
