Ven had been traveling through this forest for hours, but he was having no luck. It wasn’t even like it was a huge forest. Either he was having terrible luck or he’d been lied to, the latter possibility seeming more and more likely as time went on. What he’d been told was that there was a group of squirrels in this forest who were especially friendly toward humans, wanting to welcome humans as one of their own, but the few squirrels he’d managed to find had all fled from him on sight, as normal squirrels tended to do.

Just as he was about to start heading home, he found himself face-first on the forest floor. It felt like he’d just tripped on something quite soft. Looking behind himself, he found something long, brown, and very fuzzy under his feet. It seemed to be attached to something, but that something was hidden from sight by the nearby greenery. Not surprising, given how dense things were here. Whatever the case was, before he could investigate further he needed to get back on his feet, but just as he was starting to do that he saw the brown fuzzy thing start moving, wrapping itself around his feet. It was loose at first, but quickly tightened, making getting up trickier. What was this, some sort of thick-furred snake?

Before he could react, out from the nearby greenery came another such “snake,” then another, quickly wrapping his legs. He tried pushing the soft “snakes” off with his hands, only to find his arms pinned to his side by a couple more ropes of fuzz. Finally, he found his vision obscured by fur as one more wrapped itself around his head.

Now entirely covered in these fuzzy things, he began wiggling within the strange cocoon. He couldn’t deny that it was quite soft and comfortable, but even so he didn’t want to stay there. He didn’t know what it was that whatever was responsible had planned for him. Nonetheless, no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t free himself. But after a bit of struggling, to his surprise, one of the fuzzy things unwrapped from his head, withdrawing itself back out of sight.

He didn’t know what he expected to see once his head was free, but whatever it was, this was most definitely not it. He still couldn’t see what might have been responsible for this, but what he did see was something with short brown fur protruding from his face. with whiskers on either side of it. Following a hunch, he tried opening and closing his mouth, seeing that this fuzzy thing in front of his face moved accordingly. Bizarre though it was, it seemed to be an undeniable fact: somehow, he had a muzzle now. His ears folded back in his confusion, alerting him to the fact that he now had animal-like ears atop his head as well.

He looked back, seeing something quite fluffy at the edge of his vision. It looked just like the fuzzy things wrapped around him, but he could tell this one was different. By how his body felt, somehow he could tell... this one was his. He willed it to move and it twitched in response. He felt it move. Was this... his tail? Was that what he was wrapped in, a bunch of tails?

At that time, the next tail down unwrapped from him, revealing his chest and upper arms. Looking himself over, he could see that they too were covered in brown fur. The only exception was his chest, which was instead colored white. It all looked so fluffy and soft, and indeed it felt like he was covered in a soft, warm fur blanket.

Next to be released were his waist and the rest of his arms. His belly, too, was covered in white fur. He lifted up what were once his hands, beholding two brown forepaws with black claws at the end of each digit. He reached up and felt atop his head, confirming that he did indeed now have fuzzy ears atop his head. He then felt his muzzle, marvelling at how different it felt. But yet, it felt oddly nice.

By that point, his legs had been freed as well, leaving only his feet still covered and restrained. It was at this point that he began to wonder what happened to his clothing. They seemed to have simply vanished, with not a scrap of them anywhere in sight. It didn’t really matter, though. His fur covered him up perfectly fine. He gently wrapped his tail around himself, as if giving himself a hug, enjoying the soft warmth of his tail fur.

Finally, his feet were uncovered, revealing that they were now cute, fuzzy brown hind paws. He looked himself over thoroughly. It seemed that, aside from being six feet tall, he looked just like a squirrel. It was an idea that would have deterred him from entering the forest if he knew it would happen. Yet now that he had been turned into a giant squirrel, able to feel the soft warmth surrounding him and the boundless energy within him, he found himself glad that it happened.

The greenery around him started moving as the ones who’d caught and transformed him revealed themselves. Like him, they were all giant squirrels. Each and every one of them looked soft, fluffy, and adorable. He found himself wondering what it would feel like if they all cuddled up together. He suspected he would find out in time.

One of the squirrels spoke, chittering and gesturing rather than any spoken language he’d ever learned. But despite that, he found himself able to understand the squirrel perfectly. She was inviting him to stay with them, to be welcomed as one of their own. Without hesitation, he spoke in return, accepting the invitation eagerly. With that, the group of them bounded off together, leading him toward his new home.