Tom and I walked homeward with Coonie out in front. Swinging her tail back and forth and back and forth… "She's got quite a tail, hasn't she?" I said.
"What, Zenk?" Tom said.
"You heard me. It's weird, man. I just have a thing for scales for some reason."
Tom seemed surprised. "She can be anything she wants, you know. Besides, she's in her thirties and we're both only sixteen." I could smell his attraction for her, and frankly I was not a little jealous that they could be the same thing. But the fact that she could also become a bovine like myself was also funny.
"Yeah, but for some reason what she looks like now appeals. But you said earlier you had something else to show me?" I said.
I stopped, so did Coonie when she could not longer hear the click of Tom's claws on the cement. "Just a moment," Tom said to her. "Watch," He said to me. Then he concentrated.
"Nice horns," I said, smiling. "And you kept your hands this time, too. But I think you ruined your shorts..."
"Oops!" he said in a deeper voice. "I'm going to need some Shifter clothing, glad I picked some out." He plinked the horn above his right eye, then the one near the tip of his snout. I had to admit, he was a pretty impressive-looking triceratops morph. "I think I'm going to stay this way a while, maybe have a bit of a herbivore snack with you." He grinned as best he could. The triceratops morph seemed pretty large, at least as large as me (I'm about two hundred fifty pounds) with a very stocky body and a slightly shorter tail. His head was basically a smaller version of the normal triceratops, with a more pronounced forehead and steeply sloped muzzle. His former finger claws were more like hooves. He seemed satisfied with it, and he said it was the only other dinomorph he could do at the moment.
"Nice work, Tom," Coonie said. "More practice and you won't have a problem anymore. But let's move on, shall we? You two walk ahead of me and I'll follow."
Tom's face suddenly went surprised. His nostrils were flaring, and I knew he must have scented Coonie. So I said, "Now you know how I feel around you all the time. But I do have a question for you since you're really just a saurian bull or rhino. What was your first impulse to her scent?"
He thought a moment. Thought hard. "It wasn't fear I felt… but more like. Anger. I'd wanted to charge, to defend something."
"Just wondering," I said, and said no more.
It made me think about my own Change. I mean, I'm a meat animal for crying out loud! But it was nice of Tom not to eat... that stuff until he asked me first. I left the two dinosaurs at Tom's door, and headed home myself.
Of course, nobody was home yet, and I had homework to do. But I never start it until my parents come home anyway. Since both my parents are bird morphs the only chairs in the house are for guests or myself. I'm lucky that my parents had the foresight to buy chairs with tail slots! Especially the easy chair. I plopped myself (narrowly missing sitting on my tail) down in the thing and turned on the TV. I had to be careful now when I turned my head, if I wasn't I'd probably skewer the soft cushions with my horns.
It had been loooong day. I mean, I finally got used to walking on these new feet. And my doctor said that I'm in all likelihood done Changing. Whoa, thank god for that!
I grabbed the remote (careful not to crush it like the last one) and turned on the TV. "America's Funniest Home Videos" was on. Bleah. I hate Bob Saget! But for some reason something draws me to that show... It's probably the man's Power. (Rumor has it that he probably had it Before the Change.) I sat there for a few minutes and watched yet another deer morph get his antlers caught in a tree branch while jumping and fall all over himself. Hah, hah, laugh riot.
I turned off the TV, and headed to the bathroom. To look at myself.
I sighed. A funny looking thing with my bovine head. I'm never going to get used to this! I thought. Why couldn't I be a dinosaur like Tom? I mean, he seemed so happy with himself. So happy... so of course I have to act the same way. I've only managed to hide my real feelings because Tom isn't used to his senses yet (heck, neither am I!).
I slammed my fists down on the counter. "Damn it! I don't want ta be a bull morph!" I yelled, nearly breaking the counter in the process. I sighed again. Wishing for the umpteenth time I had my old face back. Then I heard the rustle of feathers behind me, and my mom walked up.
"Are you okay, Allen?" she asked. I turned around.
Her raven head was tilted in her expression of concern. "Do I look like I'm okay?" I stared at my thick fingers, and my hoofed feet. I swished my tail back and forth a little, feeling the long end hairs swipe the carpet a little.
"Caw, you look like a fine specimen of a bull to me!" she said.
In response, I stormed past her and sit in my chair. "You don't understand, mom. It's different from me than it was for you. I knew it was coming!"
"That's true. But that doesn't mean I understand things less." She sighed. "Why don't you call Tom on the netphone? Maybe you should tell him how you feel."
"I don't know. I'll think about it." I did go and surf the 'net a bit. It helped me forget how I was feeling (that's a tough thing to do with a big muzzle in your vision). I decided that maybe it was a good idea to call him. My monitor said he was online (it'd been a couple of hours) so I put on a happy face and rung him up. "Heya, Tom. What's up? How'd the dinner go?"
"Not bad. We had duck, my favorite. Heh." He looked happy (if that's possible with a face like his). "Oh, and we might have someone show up at lunch tomorrow."
"Oh, really? Who?" Great, a new friend.
"A guy named Dans that I met in Mr. Wilkes class. He got his First Sign today. A big reptilian tail! He might be another dinomorph!" Great. Unlikely, though. Considering the way the Cosmic Dice roll. I decided to cut the conversation short.
"Tom, I've got to go. I've got a bit of homework and..."
"Hey, no problem. We're going out to find Coonie an apartment. I want to show her the sights. So I'll email you later!" With that, he clicked off.
I would have too, but another call came through. I said, "answer" to the computer. "What do you want, Taurine?" I said. I only turned on the audio, no video.
Taurine was a Hiddie cow morph (udders and all) in Bovinity with me. "Just checking to see if you've done your grazing for the day. Remember the Club's sixth Commandment: 'Thou shalt grazeth on the grasses that grow upon the fields, lest the Club will take measures to see that you do.'" Boy that club is strict! I had to have it for Changeyear credit, too. Darn it.
I was tempted to say "eat my methane, cowgirl!" but that would be dumb. Taurine should've been a parrot, considering the way she just repeats stuff out of the book. "I'll get to it. Goodbye." And I disconnected.
I had to admit, grazing wasn't actually half bad. It gives a lot of think time. The front lawn was rather overgrown anyway, so I went out, shifted, and started to graze.
I have no idea how long I did that. I briefly noted my father landing on the platform on the roof, but he apparently went and talked with mom. The front lawn was a cool half acre, and I'd grazed a corner when I realized it was getting dark, and there was a person sitting on the fence right in front of me. A raccoonish someone. Female, too. She also smelled familiar... "Hello, Allen. Or do you prefer to be called 'Zenk?'"
The voice was very distinctive. I shifted back. I smirked, trying to hide my surprise. "If I can call you Betty, you can call me Al." I said with a smirk.
"Paul Simon?" She took off the hat she was wearing. "Didn't know someone your age would be into 'oldies.' Glad to see it." She hopped off the fence, a neat trick with that tail of hers. "But I'm not here to talk about music."
"Then what're you here to talk about?" I was fairly dubious...
"You."
"Me? Why me? I'm happy with what I am!" I must have said it with more force than I intended. Then I realized I'd given something away.
"Are you? I know your parents are both bird morphs, Tom told me. And bird senses aren't geared for as much as yours or mine are. Even your father's hawk eyes might be useless if he's never learned to use them."
"I know, I know. I've gotten this lecture in PPR. What's the point of this anyway?"
"You seem to need someone to talk to that isn't your parents. And isn't a member of that club you're in. And isn't your best friend."
I shook my head. She was right… And she seemed a very easy person to talk to. So I started with the biggest thing on my mind. "Why aren't you in your normal raptor morph?" Whoops. That wasn't it. There you go again, Zenk. Doing whatever you can to avoid your problem... I thought.
She looked at me. "Perhaps this might be a good starting point. Put simply, this is me. This is what I transformed into on the Day of the Change. A simple raccoon morph." She swished her striped tail around. She seemed to be wearing a lot of clothing for someone with a lot of fur...
"But I thought that..."
"You know Tom's counselor, right?"
"Oh, yeah. Never mind. So this is you, huh?"
"Yes. And you've probably heard stories like this before, Zenk. But I think you need to hear it. Mine isn't particularly exciting, but perhaps you need to hear it." I nodded, knowing what she was about to talk about.
She cleared her throat. "I'll keep it short. Unlike others, I wasn't woken up by my Change. I was up and painting. I do that when I'm stressed. But anyway, I hardly noticed until I saw my hands turn black and furry. I denied it at first, of course. I'd been fussing over a particularly bit of fine detail, and my hands got even more nimble. So it really didn't hit me until this." She tapped her pointed muzzle. "When I smelled my roommate Michelle's sudden alarm, and heard her scream. Boy did I hear it! We spent the rest of the day after we finished staring at the TV.
"Not much of a day, really. Of course I was happy I didn't go fully raccoon and lose my mind (rummaging around in garbage cans seems a bit boring to me anyway). But it was the next day that was the most exciting for me... I met David." Her look was distant, remembering . "What about you?" she asked suddenly.
"What? Well, I got the hiccups pretty bad about three weeks ago, and brought up cud. Bleah." Cud. I looked down at myself. Cud. "I guess..." Cud. "I'm nothing but walking hamburger!" I blurted.
"Is that all?" She suddenly changed into a cow morph. "Am I any different to you this way?" She asked.
"Well... no. But that's not the point. I don't have any real Powers. I can only Shift. And, well... I'm just not happy."
"I can see that. You are one of the few I've met that is truly dissatisfied with what they're become. Strangely enough, most people become acclimatized pretty fast. Within hours, really. But you... you're a tough nut. And because of this, among other reasons, I'm about to offer you a chance for something different."
"Different what?"
"You've just completed your Change. It is as yet unstable. I know someone that can give you a chance to become something else. It will be in effect roll your Cosmic Dice a second time. So who knows? You might become a bird, another hoofer, a fish. Who knows?"
My heart was in my throat. "Any chance I could be a dinomorph?"
She seemed to hesitate. "Well, I was going to give you a chance at that anyway."
"Huh?"
"Well, there aren't enough dinomorphs around here close by that I can easily call in. But I do know someone who can temporarily induce a dinomorph transformation. I thought Tom would want you at the ceremony anyway. But the Club rules require those present to only be dinomorphs. Dumb, but easy to get around." She changed into her raptor morph.
"I can see that," I sighed. "Well, I have to admit that I'm thankful for the prospect. And I just might do it. When?"
"Well, the induction ceremony for Tom is this weekend. I want to give you a couple days experience as a dinomorph. So if we could go talk with your parents..."
"Sure thing!" She looked at me seriously for a moment. "What?"
"This isn't a choice one should make in haste, Zenk. If you decide to go with it, then whatever you change into will be what you are for life. Unless you get a polymorphic Power like mine. And when I say that your Change gets reshuffled. I mean everything. Including any Powers you may have, and have not discovered yet," she went raccoon again (she must've been wearing Shifter clothing...). "Let's go in, shall we?"
I sat down at our normal lunch spot to wait for Tom. Tuesday. Coonie said that the person with the Inducer Power would come in tonight. Then I'd have a few days to consider if I wanted to get completely reshuffled. Something I was inclined to do at the moment.
I smelled Tom before I saw him. I also smelled someone with him. So I put on my Happy Face and turned around. "Heya! This must be Dans!" I said with false enthusiasm. The kid (looked like a Freshman) did indeed have a long, green reptilian tail on him that strongly reminded me of an alligator's.
"Yep, this is Dans," Tom said. "Future alligator morph."
"Yeah. I'm not a dinomorph like I'd hoped. It's close enough for me, though. Croc types have been around just as long! I've even got a picture of what my doctor thinks I'm going to look like." He took a printout from his backpack and handed it to me.
"upper-Middie, huh?" I said. He wasn't going to look bad. There was a 42% chance he'd end up with a gator's head on a fairly humanoid body. "Humph."
"I think I'm going to miss my old face. But at least my legs decided to catch up a bit so I can walk." Dans said. He hiked up a pant leg (his pants had the obvious large tail hole) to show greenish, nearly hairless skin. His legs seemed a bit shorter than human-normal. "My doc says I've stabilized, too. And that I probably won't change any more for at least a month. I'm happy for that. This is enough for now."
No kidding. After the last month or so in my life, I'm glad it's all over... or might be over. If I decide to go with the reshuffle thing. I smiled, thinking of tonight. What species should I choose? I thought. Another velociraptor? A stegosaurid? What about a Low-D apatosaur? Iguanadon perhaps? Hmmm...
"What're you thinking about?" Tom asked. I stopped to look at his saurian face.
Another raptor, definitely. I thought. Tom does look cool, after all. "Oh, nothing. Well... I should tell you that I'm going to visit a relative for the next few days. Until Monday, in fact."
"What? You're going to miss my induction ceremony? I thought you'd want to come!" Obviously Coonie hadn't told him only dinomorphs could attend. Damn.
"Sorry, it's something I just can't get out of," I said with a bit of apology. It probably wasn't true, but I wanted to "test the waters." I mean, who knows? I might not want to get reshuffled after all.
Lunch ended, and I went to my last class. It was soooo boring I can't even say what class it was. Of course I then met Tom for the walk home. He seemed... angry about his class schedule. "I hate Mrs. Woods!" he said with a particular lilt. I guessed duck would be on the menu again tonight. "What're you thinking about?"
"Oh, I don't know. Stuff, really."
He'd remained in his regular raptor morph. He looked so happy… and if he could be happy with what he'd become, so could I. Perhaps being something else for a while might give me another point of view... Hmm, maybe that's what I need, I thought. Another point of view, from a perspective closer to Tom's. "I guess I'll see you Monday?" I said.
"Yeah. Have a good time, I guess."
"Yeah. Sure," I said. Then I walked off towards home, my hooves clacking on the cement.
I spent the rest of the evening looking at dinosaur guide books, as well as what reference materials on the 'net that Coonie had pointed me to, depending on what species I chose. I must have lost track of time, because there was a knock on the door. My father answered it.
Coonie (in her raptor form) and an unfamiliar woman walked in. "Come in," my father said. They did. She had a veil over her face.
"Why all the secrecy?" I asked.
"Well, Zenk. Her Power is rather special. It's a lot like mine, in that she can change people into whatever she has touched. But the problem is, she doesn't like it noised about where she is going. Her Power is as rare as my own. Now, have you chosen a species?"
I really wasn't expecting having to do it quite so fast. I'd figured out that a raptor-type would be nice, but that I should be giving all other dinosaur types the same consideration. So I did what was probably the best thing in the first place, and the most fair. I'd rolled for it. I had about a hundred species on my list, from all dino types. And I really wasn't all that unhappy about what had come up. I flipped the book open to the page, planted a finger on the great picture (a dinomorph in norm form must have posed for it) and said, "*That* one."
Coonie grinned, and the woman stepped forward...
"Practice makes perfect" Coonie always told me. Which was why, at the moment, I was riding the wind as a pterosaur. A large one too, like the ones in the Dinotopia books. A Quetzalcoatlus skybax.
Dinotopia. The very word, invented by James Gurney, fit very well to the world that he had created in those books. As well as the drama series that was on UPN on Friday nights, last night. I just wish that they'd improve the CGI, the adult humans still look fake (though they tend to use Lowddies for those roles anyway).
Tonight was my Induction ceremony. Tonight I would finally be part of a group! Accepted as myself! But on the other claw...
I missed Zenk. He was my best friend. And I really couldn't bear the thought of him not being with me. I'd stopped by his house the other day, and I thought I'd smelled him around the neighborhood. But it hadn't been quite his scent. It almost had saurian connotations that were very confusing. Just what species I couldn't place just yet...
I sighed once and settled into my flying. I'd given this particular species of pterosaur a personal nickname of "Windrider" since their wings were so huge I hardly needed to flap them to take off! I'd done so from my father's work, were I'd been practicing my icthyosaurian forms. They were very dolphin-like. Though they lacked the sound-sense that my father had. It was nice to be able to do something with him, though. I'd even worked myself into a morph of one. I was getting better at that.
I'd spent maybe a half hour riding thermals when I noticed a bald eagle morph in the air angling towards my flight path. Then I remembered what I was supposed to do last Saturday! Dr. Coe! Darn it! He pointed towards the ground, so I started to lose altitude.
Landing was a trick. I bashed my beak a couple times. "You okay?" Dr. Coe said.
I nodded, though a bit dazed, and changed back to my raptorial self. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I just haven't gotten the hang of those landings yet..."
"I sympathize. I remember my first flight! But you missed your appointment last Saturday with me," he said ominously.
I shrugged. "Sorry. I got preoccupied."
Dr. Coe seemed unconvinced. "Were you? Well, you don't seem to have too much bothering you now. Perhaps we can get those tests out of the way? They'll only take an hour or two..."
I sighed once, deeply. When an eagle morph looks at you like that you do what he says! Besides, I was a bit too depressed about Zenk to argue. "Fine. But I hope you fly fast." I didn't say anymore, I just bolted off in the direction of Dr. Coe's office. It only took me a few minutes to get there in norm shape.
I sat in the examination chair as dejectedly as I felt. My tail was rather more motionless as usual. "Something wrong, Tom?" Dr. Coe said.
Trust an eagle to pick up on visual cues. He paused in his examination of my left eye. "You could say that," I said, reluctant. "Today's supposed to be a great day for me. My Induction is tonight. A bunch of other dinomorphs are arriving from out of town as witnesses. But..."
"You wish a good friend of yours could attend?"
My eyes went wide in surprise. "How'd you guess?"
"I'm the president of the local bird-of-prey organization. Though I don't like it, induction ceremonies are supposed to only be attended by other raptors. I've talked to a lot of other teens like yourself who've just completed their Change and are depressed because their friends can't attend."
I sighed. "I'm glad I'm not alone, then. But what makes it worse is that he's not even in town!" I emphasized the point with a click of my m-claws.
"I really wish I could help you, Tom. But I can't. Is there anything you want to talk about, though?"
I fixed him with a bit of a glare. "Talk about? The past month my whole life has changed! First my sister gets a beak, then my best friend can literally chew the cud, then I end up being able to rip through flesh with ease! No, doc, there's nothing I want to talk about." I sighed.
So did he. He leaned back on his perch against a bar. "Well, I'm done. We can finish this tomorrow when you're in a better mood. And something tells me you will be."
"Doc! I..."
"Don't worry about it. I know tomorrow's Sunday, but my patients mean a lot to me. I need to give you some acuity tests, test your depth perception and such. That won't take long, so I'll see you tomorrow." With that, he showed me out.
I was a bit put out, but I could see his point. I probably needed someone to talk to who was close to the same species. I went outside, changed to Windrider, and flew off home.
I was in my room when Coonie arrived. But I heard three voices instead of the two of my mother and her that I expected. "And where is the young man?" said a light baritone male voice.
"He's in his room, David. I'm glad you got here from Tibet so quickly." Coonie's voice replied. "I think he's a bit depressed... "
"Well, I'll take care of that," he replied. "Good to meet you, Mrs. Boxhall."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Smith!" my mother rumbled reply in her cat-like voice. "My son would like to meet you very much!"
I didn't know about that. I'd seen him on the videos, and sure he was one of the richest people on the continent, and another dinomorph. Otherwise I was really kind of blah on the whole thing.
Of course, everything felt kind of "blah" without Zenk around.
I was laying on my bed on my back, all spread out. My tail hanging off the end, the tip idly twitching. I'd chosen to put on a pair of shorts and a shirt. I felt like wearing clothes for a change.
It was a good thing that Coonie had stayed in her Center raccoon morph form. If she'd walked in raptor form with David I'd probably have started to fight him for her attentions. I don't know why, it just seemed logical. As it was, I kind of pulled in on myself in submission. This was my pack-leader, right?
Then I realized just what I was thinking. Damn instincts.
"Stand up and let me look at you, Tom."
Without complaint, I did so. I looked at him, too.
"Boy, you're a high Degree, aren't you?" he said matter-of-factly.
I really was. The only difference between me and a natural velociraptor was that my hands had more fingers and an opposable thumb, and my posture was a bit more upright. Other than that... "You could say that," I replied.
There was an uncomfortable silence...
"Well..." David said. "Shall we go? We've got an exciting night planned..."
I shrugged and followed him out of my room, only whacking my tail against the doorjamb once. Ouch.
I sat in the back of David's old Ford Expedition. My parents thought it would be a good idea for me to ride with them for some reason. Coonie had changed to her raptor morph form again (with David around I didn't dare drool over her, I'd slowly worked myself out of that little problem... a little bit). I was fairly glad that they'd had the back seat pushed back. As it was I sat between their long tails, which were sticking out the back of the front seats. The vehicle was probably ten years old... "You're so rich, why don't you get a new one?" I asked bluntly.
It seemed to me like he'd answered questions like that a lot. He didn't get angry. "Why? This one works just fine," he said simply. "Anything you want to talk about, Tom?"
"I just wish Zenk was here..." I sighed.
Coonie seemed to be holding something in. "I'm sorry, David! I just can't hold it in anymore! He's feeling too bad." She turned around as best she could in the seat. "Tom, Zenk is going to be there."
That brought me up short. "What? How?" I said.
In response, Coonie went to raccoon, back to raptor, then she winked.
"Don't tell he's a polymorph!" I said, almost happy.
"No, but I've got a friend who can induce a change into another species." She smiled.
"So, what is he?" I asked impatiently.
David only tail-grinned slyly, "That, my young packmate, is for you to figure out..."
Two hundred dinomorphs. "I thought you said there was only going to be a few!" I said to Coonie, very surprised.
She only shrugged. "Well, I'd put it out on the 'net that there was going to be an Induction in this area, and it was an open invite for anyone who could attend. So here you go."
"Wow!" I replied.
David said, "From the data I've got, maybe thirty of those are teens like yourself who've just finished their Change. Most of them are different species, of course. But you get my meaning. Then ten in addition to that are in various stages of Change. So you'll have a lot to talk about." he grinned.
So did I. "And one of those dinomorphs is Zenk, right?"
They both nodded. And now that I knew that that saurian scent I'd detected near Zenk's house was Zenk's. But I didn't know what species. That was a rather simple obstacle to overcome. Zenk still smells like Zenk, after all. No matter the species. So I went inside, very confident that I'd find him in a moment.
Boy was I wrong.
Two hundred dinomorphs, and lots and lots of food combined to make the scent-landscape nearly impossible for me to even start to sort out!
"Something wrong, Tom?" Coonie said with a smirk.
I sighed deeply. "Wrong? What makes you think something's wrong?" I said sarcastically. "But I've always liked a challenge..." I ruled out about half of those there right away. They had female lilts to their scents, and I was sure Zenk wouldn't go that far to disguise himself!
David chose that moment to make his announcement, "The Guest of Honor is here!" He announced in a booming voice.
With a dinosaur smile, I waded into the crowd.
Dinner was first. I've never had so much meat in my life! Even though many carnivores like their meat raw, I like mine cooked at least a little. I'd found that I could digest it better.
After an hour of mixing around, I'd narrowed down my prospects to three people. A Middie deinonychus, a Lowddie troodon, and Middie iguanadon. All three rather reminded me of Zenk quite a bit. They were my own age, just completed their Change (how long it took is impossible to tell.) and had many of his mannerisms (voices don't count since they usually change with the body). David and Coonie had obviously told all those my age to keep quiet about their names, since nobody was talking.
Otherwise I talked to a few other raptor morphs, one kid who'd started feet first like myself, and was up to about his knees in his Change. "They woke me up at night about a month ago," he'd said. "I almost cut my legs off!"
"I know the feeling," I'd replied. "Believe me." Though he went bug-eyed when I told him how long it took me. "Don't worry so much. I'm sure that you won't have the same problems I did."
About an hour after dessert was supposed to be the "Footprint Ceremony", then the traditional Mystery Science Theatre 3000 flick (some movie made with dinomorphs just after the Change. A cheap Jurassic Park knockoff). Then home. But first I had to figure something out...
I gathered my three prospects in front of me, and said flat out. "One of you is my best friend, and I'm going to figure which if you he is."
All three of them snickered, which was a very Zenk thing to do. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and pointed towards the deinonychus in the middle.
"Nope!" he said. "Wrong!"
I opened my eyes. "Well, then who are you then?"
He seemed to hesitate for a while. Then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm Ricky Oxnard, Tom." He was telling the truth. One of the other dinomorphs looked confused, and the other was bug-eyed.
I never noticed their expressions, though. My jaw hit the floor, and I was suddenly overcome with anger. "COONIE! GET YOUR TAIL OVER HERE!!!" I yelled. Everybody went silent.
She was over in a flash. "Is there a problem?" she asked cheerfully.
I couldn't say anything. I was so angry words just wouldn't do. And I just didn't want to do a raptor's scream and lose control and rip him apart. Instead I just made a vague gesture in Ricky's direction.
"Is that all?" She replied, unfazed.
"'Is that all'? You say?! How could you?! He... he..." Word failed me, and I growled menacingly in Ricky's direction. He backed up a couple steps.
"I'll just let him explain it. Ricky?"
Ricky looked at the floor, rubbed his long muzzle once or twice, seemingly just to make sure he was still a dinomorph. "How can I apologize, Tom? How can I make good? I don't know how..."
"Give me one good reason not to GUT you!" I growled.
His eyes filled with tears. "How would you feel, Tom, if at every single turn your parents compared you to 'that nice kid down the street'? How would you feel if your parents said things like, 'why can't you be like Ricky Oxnard?'"
I gave him the most menacing Look that I could. "I can't imagine them ever saying that!" I thought it would be a bad idea to swear with my parents looking on.
"Tom, just back off a moment and think. Take a deep breath, and think about what he just said," David said sternly from behind me.
He was playing on my instincts. He was my pack leader, so I did back off, and forced myself to think critically about what Ricky had said. "No wonder you hated me," I mumbled.
"I'm sorry, Tom," Ricky continued. "I... I needed a punching bag. And you were it. What can I say? That little chase you put me through turned everything around! I can't believe I did that to you! I was so scared I wet myself!" Oddly, he was almost laughing!
Funny how some people can have an infectious laugh, I'd never have suspected him of having a laugh like that! I started to laugh, too. I stopped myself abruptly, though. "That doesn't make up for years of abuse, though." I said more calmly.
He stopped laughing. "I know. But we have to start somewhere, right?" he warily extended a clawed hand that looked very much like mine. "Truce?"
I gave him the Stare a while, just to see if he'd flinch. I extended my hand, just as carefully, and we shook. "Truce. Now go away; if I want to talk to you again, I'll do it on my own time."
"Do you want me to leave?" his voice was hopeful.
I thought a moment, and let go of his hand. "No, but find an out-of-the-way table. Shoo."
Without another word he melted into the crowd, who started to talk amongst themselves again.
I turned to Coonie. "How could you?!" I nearly yelled.
Coonie just shrugged. "He needed to say something, Tom. Something to you in a situation where you'd be equals. That's why he chose the species that he did. If you're angry with me, then you're angry with me."
I Stared at her for a while, but she Stared me right back. I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I'm not angry with you, teacher. But I am a bit unhappy. Now if you'll excuse me..." She walked off, her claws clicking. I turned to the iguanadon to the right of me, who was still looking in Ricky's direction in surprise. I smiled. "You're sneaky, underhanded, and downright untruthful, you know that?" I said to him.
He dino-smiled in return, and reached back to touch his thick tail. "Dude, I'm never going to get used to this thing!" he said. "And thinks for compliment!" He looked back in Ricky's direction. "But what about him? Want me to stomp him?" Zenk was probably seven feet tall, and looked like a shrunken version of his current species.
I looked at Ricky, who was sitting at a table all by himself, with a drink in front of him. He was staring at his drink. I saw him pick it up, attempt to drink it, and it spilled all over him. I chuckled at the sight. "What about him? Anything he says to me sounds... sounds..." I was searching for the right word.
"Hollow?" said a familiar voice behind me.
I turned around to see a Hiddie ceratosaurus standing there. "Hiya, Mr. Wilkes. Enjoy your dinner?" Zenk said.
He only smirked, just as amazed at his tail as Zenk had been. Then he stifled a belch. "Remind me never to be turned into something with a gizzard again. I'm stuck like this for two days, and swallowing those gizzard stones was murder! I'm not going to be in class, either. So you're going to have to oversee the test the sub will be giving, Tom."
I grinned evilly. "No problem." I clicked my m-claws.
His expression went serious. "You really should give Ricky another chance, Tom. Maybe not now, not this year. But at some point in your life."
My expression went flat. "I'll take that under advisement. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a footprint to do..." People were gathering near the platform and the "mud" had already been poured. With Zenk in tow, I went up to join my family.
"All this just for you?" my sister chirped quietly from where we were standing in front of the platform. David was giving some sort of speech I really wasn't paying attention to.
I shrugged. "Yeah. All for me. Don't worry, though. What about that songbird club you were looking into?"
She rubbed the tip of her pointed beak. "I've decided not do anything with it just yet. I'd rather see if I get wings first... I keep on getting these odd twinges from my back, though." Her feathered crest rose.
"Well, don't worry. If you don't get wings, you'll be able to shift. But the flying... wow, you'll love it!"
"My landings will be better than yours!" she smiled, or tried to. Then she sighed.
I tweaked her feather crest. "Don't worry, sis. You'll speed on through."
"I hope so! But look, David is gesturing in your direction."
I turned to listen to him more closely. "A step into the future," he was saying. "That's what this is. For all we look like species that have been gone from this earth for millions of years, we symbolize for many something compelling. The mystery of the past, and the wonder of the future. So, Tom, if you would please..."
My step into the future. I'd practiced this yesterday after school so I wouldn't screw up. My father gave me that grin he always has (though it seemed even wider now) and pushed me forward. My mother's tail was swishing back and forth happily. Even my sister's feather crest was as high as it would go! That seemed to replace a smile for her.
I changed to norm-shape, moving forward onto the platform. With a practiced step, I rolled my foot into the mud-like soil material. Leaving a prefect footprint.
An apatosaurus morph said in a booming voice, "Hear ye! Hear ye! The MC is pleased to welcome their newest member! Thomas Albert Boxhall of South City, Oregon! Hello, and welcome Thomas. Brethren, give him a proper saurian welcome!"
Those that could immediately to norm shape (Those who wouldn't get too big and poke a hole in the roof, that is!) and bellowed, roared, and whatevered for all they were worth! And I felt welcomed!
"Movie siiiiign!" somebody yelled suddenly. I sat down in my chair at the head table to watch the (bad) movie with Zenk, David, and the my family.
During the movie people told me when the show had only two robots and a human in the theatre. The same two robots are there (Tom Servo and Crow), but along with Mike Nelson is Joel, the original guy! Mike was some kind of rodent, and Joel was a Lowddie mule morph. With those four in the theatre most were rolling on the floor.
It ended all too soon, though. Once the movie was over people started to disperse. I said my most of my goodbyes, though I didn't know anybody, really.
I'd just had the best night of my life, though! Something I'd always remember.
But throughout the movie Zenk seemed to be thinking about something. Hard. I managed to get him in an out of the way corner and asked him, "what is it?"
He looked at the floor a moment. "Well, Tom. I've... uh... decided to get reshuffled."
"What?"
"Resuffled. I hated being a bull morph. I hate to say it, but I was kinda hiding it from you..."
"Why?"
He clenched his fists. "Because you were so happy so I thought I should be too!" he said quickly.
"Zenk, just because I'm happy nothing says you have to be. But what do you mean by 'reshuffled?'"
"I'm going to have my Change done over. Coonie said she had a friend who could do that for me. The thing is, she said the resulting Change would be rather fast, like a few minutes... and possibly painful.
"But I'm willing, though. I've felt like being a bull morph is somehow wrong for me! I can't explain it... maybe my Cosmic Dice landed wrong. I don't know..."
I shrugged. "It's up to your, friend of mine. I can't decide for you."
"I'm going to do it... I'm going to do it... Tomorrow." He said it with a finality.
"Tomorrow." I said.
Tomorrow.
It was with great reluctance that I left the auditorium that night. What was planned for the morning was a long talk. I wanted to be really, really sure that this was what he wanted to do. After all, Zenk was my friend and I wanted him to know that I didn't really car what he looked like. But he was adamant.
"Are you sure you want to do this, son?" Zenk's dad said for the last time, his mom echoed the question. The three of us knew his answer, though.
He looked at his parents seriously. "Yes, dad. I really do." There was a knock on the door. Coonie and her friend (a chipmunk morph with her face covered and her scent scrambled) walked in the door.
"Are you ready, Zenk?" Coonie said.
"I'm ready, I'm ready now, in fact. Just let me get to a mirror..." We walked to a full-length mirror that had been set up. He turned to the chipmunk-woman. "Do it!"
She only nodded, and touched him once. Zenk hadn't been wearing any clothes as an iguanadon, and good thing, too. He began to shrink. His tail shrank into the ropy thing he'd had before. His hide darkened with stiff hair. His muzzle shrank down, horns appeared. He took a moment to look at himself in a mirror. "Adios, Bovinity! See ya Taurine!" he said cheerfully.
Zenk turned back towards the chipmunk. "Zap me!" It was, indeed, a zap.
The reverse of Zenk's Change happened. His feet shortened into human toes, the hair thinning out as it went up his legs and onto his torso. He seemed to be in a bit of pain as his tail retracted. His torso lost its muscularity, as did his arms. His fingers thinned, and another one appeared out of the thickest one.
Reaching his head, his horns shrank into nothingness as his muzzle pulled inward to reveal once more the face that I'd known since childhood. But he never got a chance to look at himself in a mirror.
He screamed and doubled over in pain, and a pair of featherless wings suddenly sprouted out of his back! They were full size in a matter of minutes. Zenk's parents looked at each other, then went to help him. Zenk waved them off. "No, no, I'm fine. But it's not over yet..." he said through clenched teeth.
Teeth that were rapidly fusing, then thrust out of his mouth, forcing his nostrils to rotate onto the back part of a black beak, turning bright yellow at the same time. Feathers suddenly sprouted on his wings. They were dark gray above, white with dark gray barring below. His chest started to get feathers as it began to swell with flight muscles. The feathers spread up his neck and onto his head, which had narrowed and he'd lost his ears.
Moving downward onto his hands, they turned yellow, scaly, he lost a finger again, and they gained short, black talons. He went up on tip-toe as one toe seemed to twist around backwards, getting longer as it did so. His skin turned dry and scaly there, yellow, too. Thighs and shins shortened and changed.
His bottom half was still bare of feathers, but that started to change. His new keelbone dropped more between his legs, forcing him to lean forward slightly. But his new legs allowed for it. A stub of a tail grew on his rear end, then long tail feathers sprouted. The feathers stopped just below his ankles. Then he seemed finished.
Zenk gave out a hawk's cry, probably still in pain. Then he looked at his hands, then straightened himself out. "God that hurt!" he said, his voice a bit higher but still undeniably his. He took a deep breath, carefully put one foot in front of the other, and looked at himself in the mirror.
"Welcome to The BoP son! You make a handsome goshawk morph!" his father said happily.
He was overall dark gray above, white with dense gray barring below. His head was gray like the rest of him, but for a streaked white "eyebrow" flaring behind his eyes. Strangely enough, I had the feeling that this was how it should've been in the first place...
Then Zenk turned to me and said, "You know, Tom." His piercing glare (pretty close to mine, I thought) still seeming happy somehow. "I think I finally feel right, now. This is me. And I think I don't have a thing to complain about!"
Zenk's father smirked (or something). "Well, son. Just wait until next week! The BoP's monthly meeting, and I'd be glad to induct you! More than happy, in fact..."
"I'm not joining without Tom there!" Zenk said vehemently.
I turned to Coonie, "Well, if your chipmunk friend there could... where'd she go?"
Coonie looked apologetic. "Sorry, Tom. But doing that to Zenk took a lot out of her. There's no way she can do anything like that for at least a couple weeks. Sorry."
I looked at the floor, depressed again. "Damn..."
"I wouldn't worry, Tom," Zenk's dad said. "If I know Brian he'll be willing to bend the rules a bit. And besides, don't you have an appointment with him today?"
I groaned. How'd he find out about that? "Yeah. I guess I do... Mind coming with me, friend of mine? I think you need to have an exam or two yourself..." I looked up into the sky, and looked at the bird morphs visible there. "Besides, I have feeling that you might want to stretch your wings a little," I looked at Zenk's parents, who nodded enthusiastically.
Something told me this family of bird morphs was going to have a lot of fun together.
One week later.
Dr. Brian Eirik Coe, Optometrist, and flighted bald eagle morph (though right now he chose to look like a goshawk morph like Zenk was), looked right into the eyes of a ruffed up prairie falcon. "Tom here is a raptor. It's in his species name, 'velociraptor'. Therefore, since I'm in charge here, he stays. Get it?"
"Got it." the woman said grudgingly. Zenk and I laughed.
The look in his eyes when I'd seem him this morning was so incredible I'll never forget it. It was then I realized just how faked his comfort with his bull morph had been. He was also showing me how good a friend he was. Something I'd have a hard time returning.
Last week, his first flight had been flawless! His landing, perfect. Even Dr. Coe was impressed when we'd landed in front of his office! I'll never forget his surprise-scent when I told him what had just happened. Zenk's parents had been just as flabbergasted.
Like my own induction ceremony, there was more meat for lunch (yum!). Though instead the movie they showed was the original Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" rather than an MST flick. Rather appropriate, though.
It was over all too quickly, though. But there was one thing that I don't know how I forgot... "You're flying home with me, right?" he said with a grin.
I thwaped myself on the forehead in epiphany. "D'oh! Yes! Of course!"
He was poised on the take off/landing platform, waiting while I changed forms. When I was finished, we sprang into the air.
We felt the freedom of life like never before! And just for the hell of it, we went as high as we could into the sun.
-END-