WereWednesday #3: An American Werecheetah in Perpetual Lunation

(Contains human to anthro cheetah TF, mild muscle, breast, and hip growth)

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This descent was going too smoothly to be true. All lights flashed green across the control console. Very little weather patterns turned up, causing virtually no turbulence. Going in expecting the worst made good results oddly surreal.

“Huston. This is Spear Six. I have broken the atmosphere and am making a smooth approach. Landing sight in range. ETA two minutes.”

“Read you, Spear Six. How is visibility?”

Hilda glanced out her landers left porthole and laughed. The young astronaut didn’t think it was possible, but they had discovered a planet with an endless night cycle. Science boys back on earth had talked her to death about how thick gas’s only let certain kinds of light through, most noticeable example being its three full moons. Seeing nothing but a black void full of stars made the transition into a gravity well almost seamless save for the planet’s surface.

“Visibility is surprisingly bright,” she replied into the radio. “I can see three full moons on the east horizon. The planet’s surface is also covered in many sources of bright light.”

“Understood. Can you make out any vegetation or structures from these sources?”

Hilda rolled her eyes, scoffing. Hands busied themselves either managing the navigation stick or working its appropriate instruments. She was only in a free falling sphere miles above the place. Plenty of time to take close observations. “Hard to say, Houston. Can confirm structure-like formations near the drop zone. Preparing for landing now.”

“Acknowledged. Remain vigilant.”

“Yeah, I’m only making first contact on an alien planet. Good thing I didn’t bring sunscreen.”

Not that Hilda was the type to transmit her smart remarks. Having to deal with so many ‘by the book’ personalities really dulled the excitement of exploring space. Even so, she wasn’t so carefree to dismiss what structures meant. Probes couldn’t get much orbital surveillance done with the dark gas shield. Just about anything could be populating this rock.

First Hilda had to live long enough to meet any inhabitants. Another button press fired off boosters to slow the lander’s fall. Instruments continued to work with exterior cameras and laser guidance, directing the vehicle towards a plateau. She bit her lower lip, trying to gauge the area’s rapidly approaching size. There was a lot less open space than her staff had estimated and needed a quick course recalculation.

THUMP!

Metal legs slapped into solid rock with too much drift. A sharp yelp came from Hilda as the cockpit rocked forward, teetering on two of its four landing supports. Joints groaned from their long drag several meters across unknown soil, threatening to roll the whole thing upside down. Getting a breath, Hilda slapped another button pulsing boosters in the opposite direction. The push back was just enough to stop their uncontrolled slide, leaving the craft balanced on its side for a few seconds before gravity made it slam back onto all fours.

“Oh, thank god for me!” Hilda slumped back in the pilot’s chair, running a hand through her short brown hair. Looked like she’d have to apologize to the staff for all her technical worries. If this lump of metal wasn’t working so perfectly that would have been a rougher landing. Much of the console’s gauge meters were now yellow or red, unfortunately, but they also packed her plenty of spare parts. She cleared her throat while switching the radio back on. “Houston, touchdown made with some turbulence. External sensors reporting a breathable atmosphere and warm temperatures.”

“Confirmed, we’re getting the same readings here. Assess damages and begin initial camp site preparations.”

“Roger that,” Hilda mumbled before getting up. Just one boring procedure after another. Finding out why the plants glowed sounded like a way more interesting activity than unfolding beacons and flashlights. If only they had given her a shotgun or something, she wouldn’t have to worry about running into some monster out of a James Cameron movie.

At least the environment was comfortable. Centuries of space development reduced all the clunky aesthetic to slightly thicker than a catsuit. Of course, it still needed thick boots, gloves and a helmet. Shame there were no residential aliens to witness the oddly dressed creature climbing down a strange aircrafts ladder. Hilda always wondered what it’d be like on the reverse of an old sci-fi movie cliche.

Oh well, maybe people did notice her arrive and were taking a while to climb this particular mountain. A quick hop off the last step and Hilda’s boots hit the ground with a solid landing. Gravity seemed only a little stronger than Earth’s, there’s a good sign. Brown grass grew out all around her landing area. There were even some illuminated pink flowers that proved delicate under her curious touches.

For a planet of eternal night, everything looked so bright and full of life. From her prime vantage point Hilda could see practically everything. Past the breaks in trees came the glow of shrubs, vines, and other assorted objects. It reminded her of being in a fluorescent light bar or something.

Having three moons in orbit also helped reflect a lot of star light across the planet’s surface. Hilda glanced up for a moment to admire how huge they looked floating across the sky. There were hardly any stars finding room to shine through, and she was fine with that.

All this calm lunar light felt warm and soothing through the protection of Hilda’s suit. It brought back old memories of sitting on grandma’s knee, being told stories of her ancestors. She came from a long line of protectors and pioneers. Seeking out unknown lands and protecting them was in her blood, all the way back to when they were merely tribals worshiping the moon for its power.

“Ugh!” Hard shudders rocked through Hilda, making her wonder how long she zoned out. Were the elements influencing her health? Initial scans showed breathable air with no harmful toxins to humans. Flicking a switch under her right breast turned on the suit’s air filter system, perhaps too late. The skin tight protection irritated her skin, causing a rash of itching while sweat built up around her face.

All the more reason to get the damn camp set up quickly. Moving around to the damaged legs gave Hilda more glorious bad news in the form of awkwardly bent joints. Another few feet would have snapped both supports clean off her lander. This was going to make exiting off this rock a huge pain in the ass. If the legs can’t retract it left the whole ship vulnerable to burn apart in the atmosphere.

Fixing this problem will probably take about a week and a half, scrubbing out all the fun stuff Hilda wanted to do on her mission. Unfortunately, the longer she stood there fuming at the ship, the more sweat built up in her uncomfortable suit. She kicked open one of the lander’s storage hatches to fish out camp beacons. Mission control will go into a panic if they don’t start getting signals from her soon.

“Ow! Fucking hell!” No sooner did Hilda get the transmitter set than a cramp seized her left shoulder and bicep. Her right hand squeezed it and then began scratching rapidly. It did little to help through the protective cover, but made her notice some oddities.

The material no longer clung to her heated body thanks to all the sweat. Her fingers shifted a layer of something else between it and her skin, which seemed to cause the itching. That just made the conditions hotter until the woman’s mouth impulsively hung open in rapid panting.

Hilda couldn’t take it. She rushed into the lander, barely getting the door closed before tearing off her suit. It became a compact oven against her figure. A feeling that turned real with the struggle to remove boots cramping her feet and gloves pinching her fingers. The suit itself took great effort to peel from her body like ripping off a snake skin. It was worth it for the relief of stale recycled air blowing across her matted fur.

“...what the holy NYAH!?”

Standing in the transport with just a bra and panties made it easy for Hilda to figure out the source of her discomfort. She twisted about, finding every visible surface of her half-naked body covered in a thick layer of soft hairs. Its patterns were easily recognizable as those of signature animals; white covered her chest and stomach while the rest had a bright yellow decorated in dark brown spots.

Needless to say, this was highly alarming even for Hilda.

“Hggnh? Gah!” Before she could properly evaluate having a spontaneous coat of fur, a pushing feeling in her lower back announced that was just the beginning. Both hands shot to her ass, feeling along the nook of her tailbone with increasing alarm. The little nub of vertebrae reversed its curve and pushed out a bulge of skin that grew with the development of more bone platings. Despite the woman’s efforts, her spine slinked through her fingers, becoming several feet long until a fluffy white tip brushed along her ankles.

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Hilda wailed, watching her new tail twitch about on nerves she had no idea how to control. More itching redirected attention to her ears, only to find the sides of her head smooth with a fine layer of fuzz. Her actual noise receptors were located a second later, higher up the skull in a rounder disc shape. Their ability to flick and wiggle toward sounds was a bit surreal. “What the fuck is happening?”

Unwitting twitches made Hilda’s golden eyes go cross. The tip of her nose had shrunk into a pointed triangle shape while whiskers popped out of her upper lips. She rushed to the radio, trying to ignore the pressure mounting behind her flattening face.

“H-Huston, come in! I have...I have a p...ah...aaahhh...Nya-AWOOO!”

Pleasure rushed through Hilda’s changing body with an unexpected pop. Fingers clenched on the console controls, tearing through metal like butter with their thickening digits. Her back arched and head rocked back in a feral cry of bliss. She never knew having her jaws stretch out into a short feline muzzle could feel so great.

“Spear Six, this is Houston. Could you repeat that last transmission?”

“Chirp! Grrrawwwrrrr! Nyah!”

Hilda temporarily lacked the focus to respond, wondering if the series of animal noises she transmitted confused everyone back on earth. A second dose of pleasure caused her body to writhe, tearing off the console’s facing with snapping of hard bolts.

While the metal chunk slipped off Hilda’s meaty fingers, her tail gave a hard snap, feeling the rest of her body shifting violently. Bulges rose out from under her skin like odd boils, only to deflate into a solid definition of muscle mass. It almost tickled, making her body stretch out, animal ears inching towards the roof, breasts puffing out over the cups of their tight bra cups, hips cracking wide to make room for an inflating butt.

When everything finally stopped Hilda had to shake her head, trying to adjust to the feeling of being in an even smaller spaceship than usual. She looked over the damaged controls with a meek meowing noise, one hand absently trying to tug tight underwear out from between her thickened glutes.

“Spear Six, do you copy? What’s your status?”

Oh good. At least the radio still worked. Hilda grabbed for the second receiver and noticed her palms and fingertips now possessed round fleshy pads. A quick check of her feet found the same paw-like developments.

“Uh, Houston? I just...well, frankly, I just turned into some kind of buff cheetah monster. I think my tits swelled bigger than my head too. Please advise?”

Static was the only forthcoming reply for a long time. Hilda paced around in circles, chasing her own tail in a desperate attempt to calm down. This twist of events was bad enough without her accidentally tearing billions in government funding a new one. Repairing all that damage might be impossible, even.

“Spear Six, this is Houston. Breast levels aside, we acknowledge your transformation as a success. Are you still fully sentient and able to proceed on mission?”

“Do I sound like a snarling B-Movie costume over here, Houston!?” Hilda’s muzzle curled in a snarl, too confused to bother with protocol. A sudden thought promptly made her slit eyes shoot open. “Wait, you fuckers knew this would happen?”

“We had no definitive idea how three moons would affect you, Spear Six. However, your extended family were very confident in your latent therian heritage activating at this most opportune time. They expressed concerned that a single moon sparked no signs from you.”

Whiskers vibrated so fast they created a slight breeze across Hilda’s feline lips. “So my family wanted me on the mission because it’d make me a werecat?”

“Affirmative. The benefits of a therianthrope state should allow for better exploration and research in an alien environment. Analyzing what we learned about your heightened senses, natural predatory aspects, and strong healing metabolism made you perfect for an alien environment.”

“Why does that make more sense than it should?” Hilda sunk her snout into both hands to muffle some angry growls. Damn, these finger pads were surprisingly soft. “Why didn’t anyone bother to tell me?”

“We feared any skepticism would be counterproductive to the mission. Not to worry, the lander has been fully fitted to accommodate your enhanced physique.”

Intelligent animal eyes rose out from between the werecheetah’s fingers, staring at the remains of her console. Few lights remained flickering while wires occasionally shot out sparks. “...right. About that…”

Bright lights flashed through the glass portholes, eliciting a yelp from Hilda. All the fur on her spotty tail fluffed on end so it appeared double in size and totally ridiculous. She gave up trying to smooth it down, approaching the window in a way that kept her hidden.

“Well, shit,” Hilda gasped with disbelief. The beams shined from the hood of a wheeled vehicle sporting a pointed, angular design. It was not too different from her own four-wheeler back home. Unfortunately, her more sensitive eyes burned trying to see past it as blurry figures climbed out the side doors. She rushed back to the radio, trying to keep her voice steady, “Houston? A situation is developing with local life forms outside.”

“Copy, confirmed life forms on the planet’s surface. Are they intelligent?”

“They’re driving a Honda. I’d say so.”

“Any signs of hostility?”

“None yet, but I can’t stay in a metal pod half-naked forever.” Hilda took a deep breath, suddenly glad to have sharp retractable claws on her fingers. She’d still prefer a shotgun. “I will try contact.”

Hilda signed off without waiting for a reply. Finding out she only won this position on account of being a freaky cat monster struck a blow to her mission morale. She made a note to have a lot of angry words with the family upon returning home, if not a literal gnashing of teeth. Until then, maybe a brief interaction with the locals could be a cheerful distraction.

Or about as cheerful as a predator climbing out an alien transport to greet a pair of wide-eyed prey can get. Hilda expected this place’s equivalent of men in black, or at least soldiers with guns. Instead, she got two animal people, a boy and girl, that couldn’t be more than teenagers. Long floppy ears, pronounced front teeth and feet so big they probably evolved beyond shoes gave them a resemblance of bunnies back home.

God damn this entire mission. Now Hilda really felt like the plot to a sci-fi movie. Just the thought caused her lip to curl with an angry tail flick. An impression that sent her reception backing against their car.

“Um…” Hilda’s ears dropped in a whirlwind of thoughts. There were some plans considered for making contact with sentient life, but they didn’t include her being a thick cat woman looking ready to flex out of her painfully tight bra. Trying to put on a smile that showed off many sharp fangs in the bunnies headlights, she moved her fingers in a split down the middle forming a V sign. “Live long and prosper?”