This Fred and Astra couple's story is the same as that of Fred 3 and Astra 3 right up to the point where they get to Walants' gate in search of Synizn to turn them both back to normal. They get past Master Rift and Tarin Gazin without a hitch (unlike so many other Freds and Astras), and meet a small group of demifoxs...who soon capture them because of them mentioning looking for Synizn (a person they consider to be in league with the dragons....who they consider mortal enemies). Before getting captured, the new demifoxes find out that these other demifoxes are NOT were-foxes (or whatever kind of lycanthrope the couple now were).
They drug both demifoxes and find out about all that has happened to both of them and were attempting to figure out what exactly to do here. The demifoxes believed that this new development presented to them by both Demifox Fred and Demifox Astra. According to their religious belief only the gods were able to create Life (or twist one lifeform into another lifeform), but here the vile dragon Minestus had crossed a dangerous line apparently. A test was set up to see if someone who ingests a quantity of their captives' blood would turn them. It was believed that, since Fred had changed so swiftly, that the same would happen with their test subject. However, they didn't know that Fred's form's integrity had been kind of....funky still after the repair job Dr. Vincenthad done on Fred's body....and restoring him to normal (no scissor hands). This funkiness allowed the alteration to happen much quicker than normal.....
But.....here's what happened.....
Shabot takes Lester to Elder Ringroot....
Unconscious, naturally. The bandit would be unlikely to voluntarily go
if he knew
what fate was in store for him. A portion of Astra's blood (taken from
her whilst
she was unconscious during her initial examination during her capture)
is
introduced into his body. And so they wait. No regrets are given for what
they
are doing here. No questions of morality are raised. Lester, in the demifoxes'
eyes, is nothing but scum and unworthy of such. At least this way, something
good can come from this otherwise waste of flesh. A few hours pass
and......nothing.
"Well, that seems to answer that," Elder Ringroot sighs, truly relieved
to see that
the fears of lycanthropy are proven false. " Well, after a few more days
of
observation just to be on the safe side, combined with magical examinations...."
Whatever the demifox was going to say next is lost in a whirlwind of chaos
and
confusion.
A guard rushes in, reporting that several strange humans (or...something
that
LOOKED human) with silver eyes stormed in out of nowhere, magically
overpowered the guards AND magically swept away the surprised demifoxes
Fred and Astra! Off to parts unknown!
Search parties are sent out in a desperate attempt to locate and capture
the
fugitives, but it proves futile. They aren't around. However, during the
chaos and
confusion.....on groggy bandit awakens with a strange taste in his mouth...and
figures now is the time to beat it.
A few days later he is disturbed to find increasing....changes in himself.....but
is
too much of the survivor to do himself in once the final transformation
takes place.
See, the problem with Fred was that *his* transformation was swift due
to the
rather unstable condition his Matrix was in when he met Astra on that one
night
encounter.
Needless to say, the former bandit soon....encounters and spreads the
curse to others.....but that's a different tail....er.....tale.
The demifoxes soon end up in the Red Pyramid. Alterations are done on the demifoxes to make them better suited for what the Book has planned for them. One is to alter them to remove their neo-lycanthropy (turning them both into full demifoxes like those of Terra Prime). Since pregnancy would interfere with things, Astra's pregnancy is accelerated and she gives birth to five kits in short order. At first not wanting to have anything to do with the kits, both demifoxes are stunned to find.....they fall in love with their new children. That and after finding them more comfortable now as demifoxes (returning to human beings seems....repugnant to them now)....coupled with the fact that that they'd both completed their quests of killing the evil dragons AND that if they went to Terra Prime.....they'd not lose any honor or status as demifoxes....... The last will to return to human vanished, and the demifoxes now wish to remain demifoxes.
They soon became Champions and are trying to aid the others in getting out of the Red Pyramid and stopping the Book before it can carry out it's mad schemes.....