Mazatina woke from her sleep, groggily stretching her wings. The blades on her limbs were driven into the trunk of a tree, sticking her into the trunk like a thumb-tack. A layer of frost had formed on her carapace and she shivered in the early autumn air. Maz hated the cold. It made her slow and sleepy and she ended up feeling like a lumbering Gyrophant for most of the day. The only good thing about cold weather was that it allowed her to indulge in one of the best luxuries the forest, or maybe even the world, could offer: the hot springs.
The thought made her give a soft trill of satisfaction. She wrenched her blades out of the tree trunk. Strands of sticky sap clung to them as they were released from the trunk. She fluttered her wings, shaking off the accumulated frost. Then, waiting no longer, she flew off in the direction of the hot springs.
She knew the route well, and soon enough, she could feel warm water vapor in the air. She landed near the pools of steaming water. She looked around furtively, checking to make sure nobody was watching. Then, she slowly began to change. Her blades seemed to shrink into her arms and her wings folded into her back. Her carapace seemed so soften and mold to her body. Her purple coloration was replaced by a pale pinkish tan.
The transformation took only a couple of minutes in all. The space where a chitinous Beetanke had stood before, now a spritely human female occupied. She shivered even more without even her carapace, or for that matter clothes, to protect her from the chill. Wrapping her arms around herself, she stumbled to the edge of the hot springs. Without even bothering to check the temperature, she half-jumped, half-fell into the hot water. She landed with a splash. The sudden warmth was too pleasant for words. She sighed as the water settled around her, leaning against the water's edge.
((I'm hoping nobody gets mad about my character being nude. I mean, Mulan bathed naked in her movie and it was still rated G. Plus, I don't know how Maz would be able to transform and magically have clothes appear on her. Unless they were like, clothes made out of skin. Ewww, that sounds rather freakish...))
