The Coming of ArloAkka

Rakover's Notes: Our tribe has grown a lot lately. The newest resident of the house (which we are quickly outgrowing) is an Anyu named ArloAkka. She’s a shapeshifter, and witch of… well, how shall I say it… homebrews? Common spells? Your friendly neighborhood kind of witch. As the first female to join us, she and Zvi have bonded very quickly. Beyond being female, however, Zvi’s attraction to an Anyu witch who has mastered the ability to shapeshift into a human is obvious. She wants to do the opposite: shift from a human to her lost and true form of a dragon. They worked on it for a long time; I never thought they’d manage anything and didn’t pay them much mind. Arlo is all of twenty years old and fresh out of her apprenticeship, and Zvi is of an unknown age of immaturity and restless energy. Zvi can be surprisingly patient when she’s determined though, and eventually, after a lot of long nights of experiments and researching, they accomplished it. Well, they accomplished something. There was a flash of light one night, and then a shriek followed by a smokey smell, like burned hair, and I rushed out into the garden to find Zvi transformed into a Kerubi. Arlo was very confused, waving away smoke and consulting her book. “I don’t understand,” she said when she saw me, “We didn’t perform a Transfiguration, we performed a Shift.” “Well,” I said gravely, watching Zvi examine her new paws, “It seems that you didn’t.”

Don’t worry, she didn’t get stuck that way. Actually, she can shift back and forth quite easily now, equipt with a spell and a totem, just as Arlo can (though “easily” is perhaps not the best word - it takes a lot of energy for them to maintain a forign form, so they can only hold it for a few hours at a time). From all our research - I joined them, since they’d proved they could actually get results - it seems that when she performs the Shift her “essence” takes on the Subatian form most akin to it. It isn’t a totally satisfactory form for her, nor is any more powerful than her human form, but at least it’s a change of scene. It makes me less hopeful of restoring her to her full dragon glory within this realm, but I’m pursuing darker arts than Arlo would ever even dream of. They have, without intending to, guided along my research and answered questions for me which I didn’t even have to ask.

Watching her chase butterflies as a Kerubi, Arlo remarked dryly, “Of course, she would turn into a winged puppy.” I snorted with uncharacteristic laughter, but I couldn’t help myself. Zvi heard me and turned back to wrinkle her nose in suspicion, and I had to hold back more laughter.

Because yes, of course she would, this fierce little child who likes to act tough but who can’t pass by a stray kitten. Of course, she would turn into a winged puppy.

Arlo, as she is:

Arlo has four great loves in life: baking, coffee, magic, and friends. Magic has enabled her to do things which her big paws would normally prohibit her from doing - whisking a meringue into perfect peaks, pouring an intricate latte design, kneading bread dough without getting her fur in the mix... even flipping through cooking magazines is easier with magic. No more ripping pages with her claws. On the other hand, sometimes being big and strong comes in handy as well - rolling out pie crusts, hauling bags of flour, squeezing a gallon's worth of lemons.

"Life is about balance," she tells Zvi as they go through their morning yoga poses. Zvi frowns and tries to force her muscles in ways they don't yet know how to go. "Heavy and light," Arlo continues, flowing into the next pose, "Strength and weakness, bold and delicate, sweet and salty." Zvi laughs at the last one, and loses her balance. Arlo laughs too, but doesn't waver. She smiles as Zvi struggles back into position, saying, "There you go. You're growing, and learning, even now. And you always will be." "Bah," Zvi says, tossing her hair out of her eyes, "One day, I will be the master of it all."

Arlo doesn't know how to respond when she talks like that, so she just smiles, and says, "Not if you won't also be a servant. Balance." Zvi frowns. They move into meditation, and then when they're done, Zvi says, "Sooo, you wanna go shopping?" Arlo laughs. "Go get Ntseni," she says. Zvi whoops for joy and leaps into action, yelling at the top of her lungs, "Ntseni, we're going outttttt!!"

Arlo shakes her head and rolls up their mats. She rubs her totem between her paws and whispers words of magic, then shakes out of her fur into her human form. She shimmies into jeans, pulls a tee shirt over her head, and ties back her hair. Zvi will wear a dress and tights paired with rain boots and an awful hat, no doubt, or else will try to go out in a tee shirt with nothing but her panties underneath, like she's wearing right now, and no doubt Arlo will have to haul her back to her room and coheres her into pants, and they will still get stares as they walk down the sidewalk and sit in cafes, but Arlo doesn't mind. Zvi may be a strange and unfashionable friend to have, but she's a friend all the same. And she helps Arlo eat all the baked goods she makes, and gives honest feedback, which is such a blessing that Arlo can't help but forgive the rest.

The hoarding takes more of Arlo's patience than the chaotic clothing choices, honestly. Arlo has an eye for decorating, and is attempting to make their house a more fashionable place. Zvi keeps filling it back up with junk, but the one way to convince her to get rid of it is to get her to sell things so they can get nicer, more expensive things. This is an ongoing project for Arlo, and everyone else keep waiting for her to give up, but so far she's persisted. She takes her roll of friend/older sister to Zvi very seriously - and also she can't stand to live in clutter.

Arlo is a big believer in vibes, and Zvi clearly needs training in them.