(Contains anthro animal tfs)

Shiki was a completely ordinary girl, living in what she had always believed to be a completely ordinary world. As much as the white-haired young woman enjoyed immersing herself in stories of fantasy and worlds within games both analog and digital, she had a reasonable grip on reality and knew better than to blur the lines between fiction and her day to day. She styled her normally beyond shoulder length hair in a ponytail, applied her makeup, and agonized over what to wear, as she had always assumed was typical for a girl her age. She was freshly in her twenties and still living at home, supported by her family to pursue her education, which took place primarily online, and whether they understood her hobbies or not, they had always been encouraging of her bombastic imagination and extroversion. She selected an unassuming outfit for her outing today, brushing aside the various cosplay costumes she indulged in to take out a simple dark colored pair of high waisted skinny jeans, a flat colored shirt, and a hoodie that she left only partially zipped. Modeling for herself in her mirror and fixing up a few loose ends, she then headed out of her room, making sure to grab her bag on the way out. Her bag was small and cute, adorned with dozens of pins and buttons from a plethora of artists, cons, and other events and whose depictions ranged from all corners of her list of hobbies and interests.

“Goin to nerd club again?” came the angsty voice of her younger brother Nathan. He was a teen now, but Shiki couldn’t help but feel as though he were just a tyke yesterday. They had always been fairly close as siblings go, but that didn’t mean they did not constantly tease one another, especially now that Nathan was in high school and trying too hard to be aloof and ‘cool’.

“I’ll be gone all day long so I won’t bother you while you’re texting that girl you like,” She replied with a smirk.

“Ugh- whatever weirdo,” He scoffed, retreating into his room rather quickly for someone who acted like they didn’t care about anything.

Her victory in another sibling battle secured, Shiki continued downstair and said hello and goodbye in rapid succession to her parents, who offered general well wishes and soft demands that she let them know when she was coming home. She agreed, of course, though her parents weren’t all that worried about it. They gave her the space she needed to be an adult, and she rewarded that trust by staying safe and keeping them in the loop whenever she needed. She was out the door and into her old clunker of a car without hardly touching the ground in between. This car was the type that had too many miles on it, too many owners, and some bizarre ritual required to get it to start, but it was hers, and she loved it. After a few attempts she was off, zipping down the street and into town. Shiki sang in the car with her windows down without a hint of embarrassment or shame, such was her nature, all the way to the main shopping street that was her goal. She parked, popped out, and turned the key in her door since she didn’t have a fob, and strolled jovially down the sidewalk to her destination: a comic shop she frequently spent the majority of her free time and spending money.

Today, though, something else happened. Something that Shiki would never truly be able to explain. Something that changed the course of her life forever.

As Shiki passed the familiar pet store, frozen yogurt shop, bizarre magical trinket store- wait. What? She did a double take to look into the windows of this very out of place retailer. Inside were dark shades of purple and blacks, shelves lined with what looked like potion bottles, crystal balls, and other occult paraphernalia. Shiki blinked. This was so strange, not just because the shop itself was odd, but because she never recalled seeing this place before. Now that she thought of it, she couldn’t very well recall what was supposed to be here either… Her interest could not be more piqued, and with no small amount of trepidation she entered the store. The door let out a jingle as the bell was rung, and Shiki felt the gentle pressure of a cat weaving around her, rubbing up on her legs before scampering off. A black cat for a witch themed store, that was cute. Following the cat’s movements with her eyes, her attention drifted to the wares on display in the store. It was very gothic and very… on the nose for witchcraft themed trinkets as far as Shiki was concerned. She did have a few characters in mind that would make for killer cosplays with some of this stuff though, so she immediately drifted towards the attire on one side of the store. Robes and hats, jewelry, and other accessories, Shiki took her time browsing each and every item. So enraptured was she at the selection that she didn’t notice that there wasn’t an employee manning the floor. She set down a hefty necklace and picked up a collar. It was thick black leather and honestly just resembled an animal’s collar, replete with a blank silver tag. She chuckled, not able to imagine herself in something like this, but she definitely knew that the goth scene was no stranger to such an accessory. Maybe it was for irony’s sake, maybe curiosity, or perhaps it was the work of some strange compulsion, but Shiki affixed the collar around her neck and tightened it to be snug. She moved to look at her reflection and let out a stunned gasp.

In the reflection was an anthropomorphic fox girl of some kind. She was no stranger to characters like this but seeing one so realistic in a mirror was more than a shock. Shiki quickly looked down at herself to disprove what she saw, and to her relief, she was still herself. She rested a hand on her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart from the scare.

“My, my,” came a sultry voice that only made her heart attempt to burst from her chest a second time, “I didn’t expect to see you so soon…” The owner of the voice was a woman in a shimmering purple cloak that obscured her eyes, but let her hair spill out in waves. Her lips were black and plump, and her cloak opened to reveal a top that displayed her ample cleavage, accentuated more by the way she leaned on the front counter. A smirk played at her lips, and Shiki’s face flushed both with embarrassment and as a natural response to seeing a beautiful woman.

“I- uhm- I just-“ she stammered, a bit too scrambled to find a proper reply.

“It’s no big deal, really,” the woman said, strolling around the side of the counter to approach Shiki, her heeled boots clicking against the floor in a slow rhythm and her hips moved in an almost hypnotic sway. She gently cupped Shiki’s face in soft, supple hands and guided her to look up at her, letting her see the woman’s eyes beneath her cloak. They swirled and shimmered like starlight as her lips parted to speak again. Her breath smelled sweet, “I foresaw your arrival, and left that piece for you to find, but I suppose even my predictions have a margin of error for time…”

“Predictions…?” Shiki asked, only partially processing all of this information and stimuli right now.

“Oh my dear, sweet little fox,” she cooed, “There’s much to learn and far too little time… Suffice it to say that your coming was no accident, and neither was this…” she gently lifted the silver tag of the collar Shiki was wearing, “Shiki. A very pretty name…”

“H-how did you… I’m sorry this is just too much,” Shiki pulled away and moved to take the collar off. Her hands couldn’t find the hook to undo – it felt like a tight leather circle with no signs it had ever been disconnected. Panic was setting in now, but the woman paid little mind to her freak out.

“Your destiny is set, and you are more special than you know… even if you think you don’t want this now…” She chuckled, and in a flash of light, Shiki was standing outside of a completely abandoned, empty building, the collar still firmly around her neck. She approached the window to look inside and saw nothing, but she did spy something in her reflection. Two things actually; Her eyes had become a vibrant light blue, and the collar now read ‘Shiki’ in curvy letters. Suddenly rather tired, she decided to head home and figure this whole mess out.

Her parents noticed her mood, but knew she’d come to them if she needed help. Even her brother didn’t bother her, just watching her enter her room, his jeer dying in his throat. He frowned – Shiki was a lot of things, but a downer was not one of them.

Shiki flopped onto her bed, the collar’s tag jingling quietly against the metal loop it was attached to. This was far too bizarre. Had she just hallucinated that whole thing? Did she need to go to the doctor? Who was that woman? And if it was all hallucination, how come the collar was still here and felt so real? Overwhelmed, she elected to sleep this one off. Surely everything would make sense after a nap. If the lone survivor can sleep off broken bones, she could surely sleep off this weird morning.

“Shiki. Shiki!” Nathan’s voice and shaking roused her from her sleep. She groaned and tried to shove him away. She wasn’t in the mood for his shenanigans. “Seriously, Shiki, what did you do?” Nathan whispered harshly. That was weird, he sounded like… concerned.

She finally sighed and pulled herself up to sit, “What are you talking about?” She was becoming aware of the feeling of the collar around her neck, but he wasn’t looking at that. Nathan was looking above her neck. Was something wrong with her face?

“Your hair- I mean I knew something was up but when did you even do this?”

Hair? She looked over at the mirror in her room and gasped, jolting fully awake now. Her normally white hair was vibrant, fire engine red. It was still long, but as it neared the tips it transitioned into a purple color that reminded her of the shop she’d gotten the color from. She pulled on her hair gently, eliciting a protest from her scalp. This wasn’t a cosplay wig or something. This was real…

“Something’s up,” Nathan said. He knew his sister better than most other people, and he knew that this wasn’t something she’d typically do. He pressed her for answers, and she finally admitted to him her experience at the shop.

“This is just crazy…” She whimpered

“That fox girl you said you saw in the mirror – what did her hair look like?” Nathan asked, brow furrowed in contemplation.

“What…?” Shiki lifted her head from her hands and tried to think back to the mirror, “It looked like this I think… And… and she had blue eyes too.” She added, and the siblings shared a look. “But that’s impossible! I can’t turn into a… an anthro fox girl! That’s crazy!”

“Shh- Mom and Dad are still downstairs and they noticed you’ve been acting weird too,” Nathan said, knowing that Shiki didn’t want their parents fretting over her for this, “Just calm down for a sec. Let’s look at what we know here. You saw a place that vanished, the collar you’re wearing has no clasps and your name on it, and your hair literally changed while you were asleep. I don’t think we can rule anything out as ‘too crazy’ anymore.”

“Ohhh…” She groaned, holding her aching head, “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?”

Nathan’s instinct was to light heartedly jab at his big sister’s nerdy hobbies, but he could sense that his sister’s distress needed some genuine comfort. He gently rubbed her back, “It’s gonna be fine, we’ll figure something out,” he said. However, even as he spoke, he saw two nubs poke from his sister’s red hair. They were small at first but began to grow rapidly until two black furred animal ears protruded from the top of her head. She itched at them without looking up, and the way they moved and twitched made it clear they were real without a need to verify for himself. He gulped. This was steadily getting harder and harder to think of ways to hide. For now, he went and told their parents that Shiki wasn’t feeling well, and valiantly offered to bring her whatever she needed while his parents ran their errands and went to work and such. That would only buy them the better part of today, but it was something…

The next few days things only got worse for poor Shiki. Her furry ears had caused plenty of distress, but they were only a precursor. Her spine and buttocks had ached for hours has her tailbone slowly and deliberately expanded, inch by inch, producing a growing tail. Fur practically exploded from the new appendage. The bulk of it wasn’t quite the orange one would expect of a fox, but an off-brown reddish color with a thick black band of fur separating that color from the peachy color of the tip. It moved and swayed with a mind of its own, but the worst part was its size. She’d managed to pull her pants down to avoid the ruining of them, but now she had an enormously fluffy animal tail that easily reached the floor. The collar and ears were one thing but hiding this was utterly impossible. Nathan returned upstairs to a sobbing Shiki, tail wrapped around herself, and ears pinned back in distress. He also noticed that her hands looked darker. Black fur was steadily beginning to cover both of them, and her fingers looked slightly swollen.

“Shiki?” He offered, concerned for her mental state

“I’m a freak” she whimpered pathetically.

“Somethin freaky is happening to you, but you’re still my sister,” Nathan said, flicking her in the forehead, “Nobody talks bad about my sister but me.”

Surprisingly enough, that corny comment actually made her feel a slight bit better. She sighed, uncurling a bit, “What are we gonna do?” she asked, “We need a plan to tell mom and dad.”

“I’ve been workin on that, but in the meantime let’s see if we can find anything about this crazy curse or whatever online.” He suggested, sitting next to her on the bed and googling away.

It was well over and hour later, and Shiki was mostly covered in fur now. Her face from her cheeks down her neck and chest, all the way to her pelvic region was that peachy color of her tail tip. The bulk of the rest of her was the reddish brown, with patterns of a darker reddish almost maroon color over her eyes, in areas on her shoulders and hips, and on her kneecaps. Her legs below the knee were the same black fur as her ears and hands, and the swelling of her feet and fingers resulted in clawed hand-paw hybrids. She had four fingers and a thumb still, but she also had pads on the underside, and her feet resembled animalistic paws greatly. She was grateful for her use of her hands, but she also knew her changes weren’t over, and she didn’t want to jinx it. Luckily for Shiki, her changes were almost done. Unluckily for Shiki, the last changes proved to be the most uncomfortable. She cried out, holding a paw over her mouth as all of her teeth began to ache terribly. Her face twitched, then began to stretch out before her and Nathan’s eyes. With her mouth parted in an extended, pained groan, Nathan could see her teeth changing shape and position to better suit a canine mouth. Her nose migrated to the end of her growing snout and turned black, enlarging to fit her face better. Fluff poofed out from her cheeks in tufts and her mouth finished its growth spurt to leave Shiki with a fox’s snout, finally bringing her changes to an end.

“Are you alright?” Nathan asked

“What do you think?”

“Fair enough…”

Time once again passed for the pair. Shiki was exploring her body and trying to find clothes that didn’t make her fur itch while Nathan kept searching online for any clues.

“I’ve got it!” Nathan said suddenly

“What is it? You know what’s happening?” She asked eagerly, scratching idly at her collar.

“Huh? No not yet, but I do know what to tell mom and dad and make it so we can go out and check out where you said that store was…” Nathan said, turning his computer to face her. It displayed the webpage for a local furcon that was going on all weekend

“A furry convention?”

“You can pretend you’re one of those fursuiters. Mom and dad have seen you do weirder, and we can walk around in town with no more weird looks than any of the other con goers.”

It was far from bullet proof, but what they needed now more than ever was time, and Nathan had managed to buy them more than she could ever have on her own. She appreciated his effort immensely and agreed to his plan for now. Later that night when their parents came home, Shiki showed off her ‘fursuit’ and explained she and Nathan were going to go downtown tomorrow morning for the event. Her parents accepted this without much fuss and were mostly just happy Shiki was in better spirits. In fact, it was almost too easy to convince them… and the way their eyes glazed over ever so slightly was unnerving, but they were probably just tired, or so Shiki figured, much to worried about her predicament to care for the moment.

The next morning Nathan accompanied Shiki out and about, and he was right about being out in public like this. She got stares for sure, but as they neared the shopping centers, more and more people were dressed as animals, and she was able to stay mostly under the radar. She brought Nathan to the empty store that she got the collar from, and it was still a vacant, locked building. Disheartened, Shiki needed some prodding from Nathan to keep going, and they started to look around a bit more. Eventually, though, they attracted the attention of a security guard that was patrolling the shopping center and strips surrounding it. He stopped them on account of their suspicious behavior, and neither Shiki nor Nathan could get him off their backs with simple explanations of being furry congoers.

“And just what were you kids doing skulking around this empty shop?” He pressed.

“Look- we’re just trying to go to the con? Maybe you ought to try it, you might enjoy it better than grilling us!” Shiki snapped back in a most uncharacteristic outburst, “I’ve had a really, really rough day, okay? I’d like to see you deal with all this!” She gestured to her furred body before snapping back to her senses.

Shiki gasped and covered her muzzle with her paws, and Nathan tensed, but then, the unthinkable happened. The security person agreed with her, their eyes glazed over. All at once the guard’s body trembled and then burst with fur. They were dazed and idly itched themselves under their clothes, a discomfort Shiki knew well by now. Their fur was more uniform in color – a dark grey. Their changes were much more rapid than Shiki’s had been, and their body began to shift. A pair of breasts surged forth, popping the guard’s shirt buttons with ease, and their hips widened before fluffing up with fur. A tail ripped through their pants and their ears migrated to the top of their head. Finally, their face changed to a pointed wolf’s muzzle.

“Awwoooo! What are you standing around for? Theres a con to go to!” the newly changed guard declared, her voice distinctly more feminine. She tore the rest of her clothing free, kept modest by the fur covering anything unseemly in a manner similar to the fursuits of other con goers, though her body maintained a deeply feminine shape.

“What… the hell… just happened?” Nathan murmured, just as stunned as his sister.

“I have… no idea…” Shiki answered truthfully, but as she looked at her paw in disbelief, she had a feeling this was the beginning of something much… much weirder than she ever thought possible…