graphic gore ★ genderfluid ★ gross shapeshifting

Following the smell of stale blood and dirt, the jaguar found Livingdead back from her blooding. Covered in more blood than her own spots, she looked like a true monster belonging in these harsh lands. Vale’s head tilted to the right; flesh sloughed off the bone as the skull beneath shrunk and contorted.

Vale stretched out vis front limbs, rubbing vis teeth against the flesh until rotting globs broke off. But the flesh beneath wasn’t rotten; glossy fur and slender legs replaced the bulkier body. When Vale shook verself off and stepped out of the rotting shell, ve’d become a slender cheetah drenched in black sludge.

Smiling with a fresh face, Vale’s three eyes locked onto Livingdead. If not for the scruffy psuedo-mane along vis neck and the third eye, ve thought they looked rather identical. Of course, ve’d neglected to copy the color palette correctly; ve was a washed-out, greyscale version of Livingdead’s yellow pelt and red blood.

“Congratulations on completing your blooding. Consider yourself a full Pittian, Livingdead.” Vale wasn’t usually this polite after a joiner proved their loyalty, but ve appreciated the dramatics of appearing in the Plaza drenched in another’s blood. And the smell. Oh, yes, the smell of blood was divine here where blood was more abundant than water.