Hazardous Wonders

Dray was about to speak up, stern with narrowed eyes, their eye color notably odd given the bright green against dark brown scelera.
But then, they watched Caen's transformation, and a wave if curiosity rushed over them...
"...for as many centuries I've lived, I highly doubt any acid could kill me. But... I need to know what would happen..."
They took their needle and jabbed it into one of their right arms, before drawing their green, fertile blood out, and pouring it into the flask.
Slowly, they pulled it up to their face, and began drinking...

Be terrified if what may happen to them. It probably won't be pretty...

-Shrike was more or less in the background really, he was letting the other two carry out this out, he was more then comfortable inside his own gear and it in it self was more then capable of dealing with this environment. 

He didn't want side effects no matter how mild or severe it was to him, a needed risk as far as he was concerned, but he was ready to carry out the task at hand and do what he needed to.

Shrike looked to his left as the effects began to suddenly take place, his entire body shifted different, this was some kinda of weird ass shit going on here, enough to wonder if Shrike himself was not high or something along those lines, Caen had completely shifted in terms of species and looks and gender to top it all off.

Shrike stood silent with a stare of disbelief at what had just happened, Caen was now...well some one entirely different, physically, this is why Shrike was not willing to go through with it.-

"What in the hell just happened! He! or should I say now She is completely different! That is one hell of a side effect...Nope! This is why I chose not to do it thank you."

-With his task in hand Shrike immediately departed after witnessing what happened, a little to crazy even for Shrike, he ventures off to his location, passing all kinds of strange and unreal aspects of this place, still ready to defend himself if the local inhabitants were...less then co-operative, objective was simple..mine blue and purple ore and return them back, do not attempt to touch them and use the tools at his disposal.

Shrike did eventually find the location, his suit gave off a very uncomfortable reading on the ore, very high levels, if he had his way the mining would be done with a package that goes boom, but he had to use the tools whether he liked it or not and thus set to work collecting ore.-

As Caen stood, panicking at what could happen next with these side effects, he suddenly felt very hot. In fact, was he burning? No, that can't be right. He collapsed to his knees. His lungs burned as well, making it hard to breathe, and he choked out each breath as the effects took hold. 

The burning seemed to move across his torso, especially his chest as he grew ever so slightly slimmer and he overall shortened. His spines grew shorter and shorter, before disappearing and growing out into ears. His relatively sharp hedgehog teeth were also swapped for a pair of buck teeth. 

Finally, the pain stopped, and Caen let out a long breath, allowing himself to stand up. He looked down, gasping as he saw his pink fur. "W-what is this?!" He shouted, his voice slightly higher pitched than before. "I-I'm... A girl?! And..." He reached up, his hands frantically grabbing at his ears, and horns. "My spines! W-where are my spines?!" He took another deep breath, lowering his hands and holding his stomach "and why do I really fancy a carrot all of a sudden...?"

He looked to Leona, who appeared to have not known this was possible. While he was perfectly fine with completing the task he was given, another much more important matter filed up his mind. With a shake of his head, he asked "this won't be permanent, will it? I was happy with the body I had already. Plus... Will the acid... Melt that?" He asked, looking to his suit "because, even if my body has changed, I'd prefer not to be stuck like this, if that's possible."

Leona stifled a small laugh at Caen's reactions. Continuing to look him and down.

"Don't not worry. The effects last no more than 12 to 24 hours. And... I doubt your suit with be of much help. Better to leave it to use when you leave in case you don't want anyone to... see you until it where's off."

Leona also waited to see what would happen to dray, such an interesting creature. No telling what could happen to them. Waiting on the effects however Leona gather a box of chemicals and neatly placed them into her Chem bag as well as suiting up in her tank and other equipment.

She grabbed a box of empty vials and handed them to Caen, along with other smaller tools and chemical devices and picked up a case of her own.

"I do wish that marine fellow wouldn't waited, I wanted to share my B.C.D with him, Botanical Creature Encyclopedia. He probably would've like to have that information."

The young soldier ran off, just wanting to get the job done as he watched someone that they clearly had connections to completely transform into someone else...

While Caena was freaking out about what they had changed into, Dray was having more moderate, though still quite notable, changes.
As the changes began, they noted the warm, irritated feeling that they felt before they got in this room.and before the torch was placed down, from the air, slowly come back a bit harsher than prior. To them, it was nothing more than a serious rash, and they showed little signs of discomfort. They grew a bit taller, strange for them giving they were already so tall before, as their wood darkened, taking on a purplish hue as thorns extended out from their body including changing into Dray's new "teeth", and most of the leaves changed to a red color or just falling off their body entirely, making them "bald." If that wasn't bad enough, the now mostly-leafless branches that made up his wings, began oozing a reddish purple liquid that dripped down their body or down onto the floor.
Leona would have a lot of cleaning to do after this transformation, and Dray wasn't too happy about this either, but they did kinda ask for this...
Dray looked down at her with their now redeemed eyes, as slight whispers entered his hearimg softly. Maybe this was a better change than they thought? As long as it wasn't permanent, it was a good thing they could now gear voices here just like other forests.
Ironically more comforting.

"...while the book is interesting and would probably prove useful, I don't have intentions to stay here longer than I have to... especially in this state, making a mess of your floors. I shall take my leave...", they explained to her, their voice raising in pitch slightly, giving their voice a feeling of insanity from the rough, raspy sounds coming from his unusually high pitched voice.
"Do you have the baskets for me to collect the fruits?"

-While on route to the destination, Shrike began to wonder, was it both purple and blue ore or was it only one of them, the details were misty due to the fact he just witness Caen suddenly change completely into a different species altogether, that shit right there was even enough for him to be stunned and given the things Shrike had seen that was saying a lot.

Now with the general interference of the misty and smog like atmosphere dissipated for now, communications were established with Lysander.-

"Shrike you nob socket! What happened ? Been trying to get to you all this time ?"

"Hey the communications got hampered by the area and the smog like substance of this place, but its been cleared now and...well I made contact, one claims to live and work here, another claims to know me goes by the name Caen and the third...erm is rather unique I'v never seen any thing like it but it is friendly."

"Well as long as nothing is trying to devour beings seems alright, I'm surprised your memory didn't hold onto Caen, according to what we know he was one of the first true allies you made, I guess your recovery left many blank holes in your memory, hopefully something jolts upstairs and you remember who he is."


"Yea...perhaps, right now running a small errant for the one who lives in this...weird and wonderful world..extracting some ore and returning it to her, I'll make contact again before leaving..Shrike out."

-Through all the babbling Shrike finally came to the destination he believed was the place, the ore or rock before him was a astonishing shade of purple and blue, nothing was ordinary here, thankfully he did remember about the tools and used them to began collecting the ore samples, he would make sure he loaded up on it, so as to be sure he didn't have to do two trips.-

Caen sighed, his new ears noticeably drooping a little more "it's not like there's many people here, already... Oh, well. New experiences are always good, I guess..." He narrowed his eyes a little "though my spines better stay the same when I do change back. Hedgehogs are cursed with a rather long wait if we did somehow cut our spines off."

He held the box of vials in his arms, looking down at them, noticeably put off by the sudden lack of space between the box and his chest. "Shrike was always one to charge into things without much thought. Wasn't really the type of man to sit and read a book, either," he said, smiling a little. His expression shifted, again "I'm serious about that carrot, though. I'm dying for one."

Leona handed Dray several large baskets, grabbing several large crudely made devices and ok ther items as she prepared to take Caen with her. She also handed Caen a small basket of carrots, a smirk on her face.

"We have limited time. Chop chop."

Leona proceeded to walk off, motioning Caen to follow her, her arms full of various things as she went.

The ancient creature took the baskets, heading off in the direction dictated to them prior to their transformation...
It wasn't long before they reached the tree either, and with their tall stature it was easy to pick them.
But the chemically poisoned tree screeched in pain as they picked - it certainly wasn't a pleasant experience...

-One by one Shrike began to collect them, unknowing of how many to return with Shrike would over stock to make sure more was better then little. This was indeed a strange place, far stranger then some other locations he had visited. 

While collecting the designated items Shrike couldn't help but attempt to convince himself that he knew the red Hedgehog, frustrated and annoyed by the fact that he couldn't remember he was hoping lysanders words were true and that it would eventually come back to him soon enough.

The armored figure also pondered what these resources would be utilized for, what exactly was the dog researching all the way out here, probably he was going to delve a little deeper into this, to make sure nothing underhanded or evil was taking place in this area. 

After collecting the said items Shrike took a quick rest, setting himself on the ground with the items by his side, took several minutes of silence to enjoy the peace.

Always being on the move Shrike rarely had the time to just sit and enjoy what was around him, only times he enjoyed it the most was at night where he could stare at the stars and wonder what lays beyond, thinking of before, now and the future.

moments was all he could spare on this train of thought, he decided to get the items back to the dog as soon as possible, figure out what they would be used for.

Collecting said items the former trooper began the trek back to where they met originally, keeping his eyes open for any sign of hazard environment traps or creatures along the way.-

Caen cocked his head, looking over the crude devices that Leona had picked up, before his face lit up as she practically thrusted a basket of carrots into his hands. 

It was especially odd of him, though, as he was not a massive fan of the orange root vegetable. As he bit into it, though, the taste was unimaginably good. Perhaps he was changed not only in appearance? 

Caen shook his head “u-um, Leona, what are those devices you’re holding?”