“I am just about ready to hit the hay…” Pheagle yawned, buttoning up his pajamas as he made his way over to his bed. He glanced over the various posters and banners hanging on his bedroom walls, many of them either depicting his favorite American Football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, or an anthropomorphic representation of the team’s mascot, alongside prints and pictures of bald eagles, a plethora of ceramic eagle figurines, as well as the occasional movie poster or two. Even the pajamas he was wearing were emblazoned with the logo and emblem of the Eagles. Really, it was easier to point out a part of the room that didn’t have anything to do with football or movies, such as his computer desktop, the small collection of model cars atop his dresser, and the plushies on the shelf above his bed.
He jumped into bed and slid underneath the blankets, grabbing hold of the plush that was closest to him, as he set his alarm to wake him up at around 9am - there was nothing special planned tomorrow, so he didn’t have to worry about getting up early for a change. “Given how hectic the last few days have been, I could do with a nice, long, lie-in!” He held the plush against his body and took a good look at it - earlier in the day, when he had gotten home from work, he had been greeted by the sight of a fairly-sized parcel waiting for him on the kitchen table, his parents having taken it in for him while he was working. He hadn’t been expecting anything, and it had been a while since he had ordered anything to add to his collection from eBay or Amazon.
Upon opening the box, Pheagle was surprised to see a large, red-scaled dragon plush inside of it, and to add further to the surprise, it was modelled upon Hareweald, a dragon character he used as an online fursona, only secondary to his football eagle OC. The cuddly critter had a slightly rotund look to it, which added to the overall cuddliness of the plush, even more so than how he had designed him! Everything else about it looked on-point - he was even sporting a tattered jacket and shorts in place of the usual trousers. Alongside the plush was a neatly written note, which he had read over.
“Hey there, Pheagle!
It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to contact you, so I thought I’d check in to see how you’ve been doing. Life in the UK is still full of ups, downs, and torrential rain, but what else can ya do?
I know the last few months have been a little rough for you considering the… well, to put it politely, moron who’s running your country right now, so I thought I’d send you a little gift to try to take your mind off of things. Rumi and I felt like trying something different from the normal trinkets and things that I make, and she had suggested a plush. The only downside is that your eagle character doesn’t look like very cuddly... but your dragon form looks like the type where you could just easily fall asleep nestled against that big old stomach of his!
Rumi did a decent job trying to recreate the tattered clothing, but there was only so much that could be done, and trying to make a pair of torn trousers for a plush was a little beyond her weaving skills, so we settled for shorts. Couldn’t quite get the shoes right either, so we just skipped them. Still, for our first attempt at doing a custom plush, I’d say we did pretty damn good!
Do let me know when you get this gift, and if you like it, please let me know ASAP - Rumi’s eager to know if she did a good job making it.
Lots of love, Shade and Rumi Antula.” The letter was signed off with a cutesy drawing of a smiling raven and spider.
“Heh, I’d say they did a great job with it, but really, the main test will be the cuddle test while I’m sleeping.” He chuckled, booping the plushie’s snoot, as he held it tighter still, getting up to flick off the light switch, before jumping back into bed and slowly drifting off to sleep, the dragon plush pulled tightly to his chest.
~~~~~~~~~
“Mmmm….mmmpph…” Pheagle mumbled, stirring from his slumber as he sat up in bed. “Is it morning already…?” He blinked, wiping his eyes, as he turned to look at the alarm clock on his bedside table. It read 3:30am. But for some strange reason, the numbers on the clock appeared brighter than usual - in fact, everything around him seemed to look more vivid and sharper, despite the fact that it was the dead of night.
“Wha…” He looked at the clock in confusion before reaching for the lamp, pulling the chain to turn it on. Light filled the room, and even then, everything looked way more colourful than normal. “Am I dreaming or something?” He blinked, still holding the plush against him. It was then that he noticed that something was definitely off - out of the corner of his eye, he spotted deep red scales spreading across his hands, a few darker patches here and there. At the same time, orange-brown scales could be seen on the bottom parts of his hands, and sharp, curving claws poked free from his fingertips.
Pheagle looked at his hands in a mix of confusion and shock, seeing the scales working their way up his arms, the muscles in them beginning to slowly grow as they progressed. The arms of his pajamas felt slightly tighter, due to the sudden increase of muscle, looking noticeably bulkier around his biceps.
“I… I’m really dreaming, right?” He went to feel his growing biceps, only to withdraw his hand with a sudden yelp, as a sharp spike split the fabric, nearly going through his hand with how suddenly it sprouted. The hole in the arm of his shirt set more damage into motion, the entire length of his sleeves splitting further around his growing limbs, revealing more scales underneath.
“Okay, this is definitely NOT a dream…!” He gasped, breathing slightly faster from the shock of nearly impaling his hand. Then he noticed that his chest didn’t seem to go back down each time he breathed, his pajamas clinging to his torso as scales raced over his front, thick, brownish scutes wrapping themselves along his barrelling torso. At the same time, he heard his stomach gurgling loudly, as his belly pushed outwards, protruding past his pectorals. The buttons of his pajama top were straining, tugging tight against him, as his clothing fought to stay on his altering frame.
“Gah…” He could hear them straining further, starting to ping off one by one, bouncing against the wall, one of them shattering one of the bulbs in his ceiling fan light. His stomach continued to broaden, sending more buttons flying and fraying the fabric of his pajamas even further. “This was my best pair as well…” He bemoaned the fact, seemingly more annoyed that his clothing was ruined, than concerned about what he was turning into.
The wooden frame of his bed could be heard creaking, as it attempted to keep his increasing bulk supported. He tried to push himself into a sitting position, only to end up nearly falling over backwards from how tall he was growing, his head inching closer towards the ceiling.
“What is causing this to… wait…” Pheagle looked over at the plush dragon that he was still holding to his body. “It couldn’t be…” He looked closer at it - nothing about it seemed to be out of the ordinary. But before he could question it any further, a set of small, stumpy spikes poked out from the sides of his stomach, causing further damage to his PJs. The bed creaked even louder, its legs straining, attempting to keep him supported.
A sharp pain in his spine distracted him - a bump pressing against his rear. He looked down, spotting the start of a thick, muscular tail that was slowly growing out from his body. The tail squirmed down the side of his pajama leggings, causing the fabric to strain tightly around the thickening appendage, the material splitting apart. After a few brief moments of torturing his leggings, the new limb erupted outwards, sending what was left of his pants flying away, the draconic tail thrashing against the bed as it formed further.
“Ugh, it’s nearly three in the morning, what the hell is Pheagle doing in there…” his mother mumbled, turning onto her side.
“He’s probably having one of those wild dreams of his… He’s probably thinking about throwing a few field goals or something. In the morning, we’ll likely find a bunch of his plushes tossed against the wall...” his father added, before dropping back to sleep. He was an amazingly heavy sleeper when he wanted to be.
“Typical…” she muttered.
Pheagle’s tail grew further, the tip sporting a sharp, arrow-headed point, scraping against one of the Eagles posters on the wall, leaving a small cut in it. His head bumped against the ceiling cracking the plaster, and it was beginning to dawn on him that he was becoming just a little too big to stay in his room.
“Crap, I’m gonna have to get out of here!” He made an attempt to push himself off of the bed, only for it to completely cave in underneath him, the slats below his mattress snapping in tow, sending him tumbling into his bedside cabinet, displacing a few of his eagle figurines, along with his alarm clock. Pheagle tried to push himself back to his feet, but his legs couldn’t support his weight, making him fall flat on his face. He made another attempt to do so, and his body responded by focusing the transformation in that area, as if trying to help him out.
“Damn it…” he growled, pushing himself upwards, his legs swelling while scales covered them, followed by his hips widening to better support his fatter frame. There wasn’t a whole lot of his pajama bottoms left on his legs at this point, but whatever fabric was still there clung around them, tearing further from his body’s growth and expansion. A short, sharp pain around his knees made him pause for a moment, and suddenly, a pair of spikes, similar to the ones on his upper shoulders, pushed outwards. They would have punctured the floor, had he not managed to force himself to stand.
Pheagle wobbled about on his still-human feet, his increasingly draconic body not suited for them. He stumbled, bumping into one of the sets of drawers near his door, rattling and displacing the car models that sat atop it. His tail finished its growth, two rows of spikes, similar to those down the sides of his stomach, poking free.
“It’s getting too hard to move in here…” He stumbled again, his tail sweeping across his bedside table, knocking his alarm clock to the floor, followed by his ornate, eagle-themed lamp, causing some of the carved models on it to break free. “Urgh, and that’s not going to be cheap to replace, either…” he muttered. He didn’t know what bothered him more at this point - the random transformation, or the damage that he was causing to his own belongings. The displaced clock lay on the floor, its cracked display now reading 3:40am.
Pheagle leaned forwards against a window, as a growing pressure struck his shoulders, forcing him to arch his back. He gave a low, guttural growl, as a pair of broad, powerful wings erupted out of his back, tearing two great holes in what remained of his nightwear.
“Couldn’t they have waited until I had gotten outside?” he grumbled, trying to gather control over the new appendages, trying to flatten them against his back so he could attempt to force himself through his bedroom window. Unfortunately, he had grown so large, especially in his hind-quarters, that his body threatened to take the window frame with him if he tried to put too much pressure against it at once.
“I’m gonna get so many questions about this in the morning…” Pheagle pushed himself harder, trying to exert a little more effort, but it was no use. His human feet simply weren’t designed to shift such weight. Thankfully, at that moment, his feet bulged and twisted, his toes splaying and bunching together, and his feet rapidly elongated, a mix of red and orange scales covering them as they malformed into the feet of a large dragon. He felt the digits sink into the floor, deadly curving talons dotting the three remaining toes.
He continued to push himself through the window, his new claws leaving deep gashes in the floor, slicing through the soft carpet beneath him. With one more hard push, and with the additional strength in his new feet, he was able to squeeze himself through the window. Sadly, at the same time, he managed to take the entire window frame with him, and it stuck firmly around his pear-shaped figure.
“Ugh, REALLY?!” He fell forwards out of his second-story bedroom, landing with a heavy thud. The glass panels from the window shattered on impact, shards of glass scattering around him. He placed a hand down on them as he tried to push himself up, but the tough scales prevented any damage to him. He sat up, as scales racing up his head, the hair around the back of his head falling away in patches, while along the front, it grew into a stylised mohawk, a golden color filling the front-most hairs.
“I am going to get a LOT of questions about this tomorrow, aren’t I?” He groaned, a tugging sensation filling his ears, as they grew to points. A pair of long, sharp horns grew out from atop his shifting skull, puncturing the nightcap that had managed to stay on his head up until now. A set of short, jagged spikes grew around the sides of his cheeks, an additional pair sprouting atop his nose, which in turn, sank into his upper jaw.
“Ghh…grrhhh…” Pheagle growled, his jaws pushing forwards into a long, broad muzzle, a final set of spikes lining his chin. His tongue grew longer, becoming forked at the tip, his teeth shifting into serrated, dagger-like fangs. The changes ended with his eyes moving towards the sides of his head, a sapphire-blue coloration flooding his sclera, while his irises became a shiny golden yellow, the pupils pulling into thin slits. His transformation complete, he felt like roaring, or sending a plume of flame into the sky… yet at the same time, he resisted the urge to do so, lest he wake up the entire neighbourhood, and set off every car alarm around him.
“Hrrghh…” He gritted his fangs, fighting the urge to roar for a little longer, before he got back to his feet, his tail swishing behind him. He took a look around himself, folding his wings against his back. “Great, so now I’m a giant, pear-shaped dragon…” he muttered. Most people would typically be ecstatic about this sort of thing happening, but the tone of his voice made it sound like it was more of an inconvenience.
“And it must have been this plush that caused it!” He looked at the dragon plush that he was still holding. “I’m gonna have to have a few words with Shade. In fact…” he looked at his wings, giving them a test flap. “I’ll probably be able to make my way to her with these things. I mean, I’m gonna need to find out where she lives…” He glanced over to the trash bins outside of the house, noticing the empty box in which the plush had been shipped. “Let’s see…” He picked it up with his claws, scanning it to see if there was a return address, and was able to find one. “Of course, she’s in the UK, so this could take a little bit… Well, let’s see if I can do this!” He flapped his wings again, creating a gust, as he kicked himself up from the ground, leaving cracks in the sidewalk as he took off into the night sky.
~~~~~~~~
It took Pheagle a while, and he had no clue if he was heading in the right direction for the longest time, but his internal compass eventually guided him to Shade’s location, the dragon descending towards a mansion in the middle of a forest. “What on earth is she doing living out in the middle of nowhere? She must not like having visitors…” He touched down outside the front of it, carefully approaching the building, and knocked gently on the door. He waited around for a few moments before the door opened.
“Shade, the pizza’s here… wait, you’re not the pizza guy…”
“What in the hell am I looking at…” Pheagle found himself looking up slightly at a large, spider-like creature, four arms resting at her side, one holding a Loona plush, while another held a game controller.
“Wait a second…” She moved in closer, her six eyes focusing on the dragon, then looking at the plush he had in his paws. “Are you Pheagle. by any chance?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That’s even better than the pizza guy!” She beamed, placing her arms around him in a hug, taking him further by surprise. “Did you come here to thank us for your gift?”
“I, uh…” He blinked, surprised by the strong grip of the tarantula-taur.
“Rumi, what’s going on?” Shade approached the spider and the dragon. “Oh, we’ve got a guest! I hope the jet lag isn't causing ya too much discomfort!”
“You’re… Shade?” He looked over at the humanoid raven, purple markings adorning her pitch-black feathers.
“In the flesh!” she proudly cawed, noticing the plush. “I’m guessing you’re here to thank us for your gift?”
“Well, I’ve got things to say about it, for sure, but I don’t know how much of it is going to be thankful…”
“Wait, you’re not happy about it?” Shade tilted her head. “With how often you end up transforming into things, I thought you’d appreciate another form!”
“I haven’t transformed into anything before... I didn’t think that was even possible!”
“...You’ve never changed before?” Shade asked.
“No! That’s only ever happened in the art I’ve commissioned!”
“How is that… no, wait…” Shade thought about it – she’d travelled between realms every so often, including different realities, so it was entirely possible that she’d found the one version of Pheagle that didn’t turn into things on a regular basis. She had transformed countless Maos and Peters, after all, but she never thought she’d find the one odd Pheagle out of the bunch. “I guess I’ve found the one version of you that DOESN’T transform on an almost-daily basis!”
“The one version of…” Pheagle struggled to comprehend what Shade was talking about.
“You’ve probably got a lot of questions on your mind - ‘Is this permanent?’, ‘Can I still lead a normal life?’, ‘Is there any way for me to turn back into a human?’.”
“I mean, IS there any way for me to go back to being human?”
“Shade did design this spell with a Pheagle in mind, so yeah~” Rumi chuckled. “It’s sort of a were-dragon-type deal, only instead of full moons, you transform based on emotions and other different factors.”
“And those factors are?”
“That much we can’t really disclose for now - it’s more fun for you to find out for yourself!” the spider added.
“Great…” Pheagle grumbled.
“Oh, relax, you’ve made your way here, so why not hang out with us for a while?” Shade offered. “We’re waiting on a few pizzas, so while we wait, we could sit and chat about your new form, or maybe play some games - Rumi and I were just in the middle of a Mario Kart session when you came knocking!”
“Well… I suppose I could, as long as you have a way of getting me back home easily enough. I mean, you turned me into a dragon; I’m sure you’ve got a portal spell up your sleeve!”
“I’ve got a few, you may find out about them while we talk!” Shade smirked, inviting the dragon into her house. Pheagle attempted to make his way through the door, but managed to displace it in the process, splintering the frame.
“Looks like I’m gonna have to make that door just a tiny bit wider - I’ve had to do so for Rumi, but it seems you’re packing on more bulk than she is~” she playfully nudged Pheagle’s side.
“And what about my home and my bedroom? My parents are going to FLIP when they see just what’s happened to the house! They’re probably gonna be waking up soon!”
“Relax, sweetie, I’ll pop open a portal to your house and fix it up with my magic! It’ll be cleared up in a matter of seconds~” she reassured the dragon. “How do you think I got the plush to you so quickly to begin with?”
“And my pajamas, as well as everything else in my room?”
“I’ll handle your pajamas. If Shade picks up the scraps from your room, and you hand me what’s left on your person, I’ll be able to make you a new set swiftly, maybe even one that’s transformation-proof!” Rumi chimed in, proudly resting a set of hands to her chest.
“And I’ll make sure everything in your bedroom is as it was before your transformation. You have nothing to worry about!” Shade added.
“Perfect! Though I have to ask, how long is it going to take for me to get used to this?”
“Oh, you’ll grow into it eventually!” Shade winked.
Wyraachur and partially based on Many Nightmares, chapter 6 of 
Reel123's Emergence series.
