2 - Acceptance
#2 of Something Interesting
If you've read part one, which I'm just going to go ahead and assume you did, you know what I'm going to say here, so I don't intend to. Waste of time.
A few things I think I should mention. 1.) If it seems like I'm repeating stuff from the last chapter, or even parts within this chapter itself, it's purposeful. I just like the effect. And 2.) In the last chapter I talked about Huntington High School of Huntington, West Virginia. I not only do not attend said school, I've never even seen the town, so don't hold it against me if I got anything wrong. Thank you.
_ _ _ _ _
Sleep. Always necessary, always helpful. Not all of us can enjoy its healing power, though, even when we need it the most. Luckily, Jason Temple, having found living a bit more interesting than he thought, is not one of these people any longer. His room, which not a month before was the picture of cleanliness, was nowhere to be found. There were no walls about him. No windows. No carpeting. No furniture of any kind, unless you count branches. He had stayed in a tree for a good part of the evening, and he fell asleep happy. What has Jason so happy?
His life. And the ambiance.
In one measly day, the entire course of his life on this Earth has shifted. Jason is of average weight, even though it's distributed a little differently along him than it would be on a human. He has short, gray hair all over his body, excepting his white-furred stomach and a patch of black fur forming a peculiar insignia beneath his right eye. He is a good foot or more above humans of the same age, sixteen. And he's decided to stop wearing shirts and shoes. So much for eating out. From the outside anyone would see Jason as either a fantastic beast, or a freak, depending on who they are. The kind of people that would think him a monster are the exact kind that tried to harm him yesterday.
Guys like them are half the reason Jason hates mankind so strongly. They think that just because he is now different, and because he wouldn't answer their questions, that they have the right to hurt him. The other half of the reason is the other half of the populace; people who use just as little of their brainpower for things they tell themselves they like. How could anyone care so much about clothes as so many people do? Jason simply couldn't grasp the concept. He, his English teacher and his sister seemed to be the only sane folks left.
Jason would have slept peacefully throughout the entire night were it not for the sound of footsteps coming from the base of the tree on which he resides. His animalistic ears perked up, and he slowly opened an eye and turned his head to gaze down at the ground. What he saw was a group of adults with flashlights, most likely a search party sent out for him.
"And what do you lot want?" he calls down to them, taking care to make the shout sound as though it weren't coming from anywhere in particular. A few looked startled, and all looked about them, trying to find the source of the voice.
"We're trying to find a boy named Jason Temple. Who are you?" said a scrawny looking male towards the front of the troupe.
"This is he. Happy?"
"Your family is worried about you. They said you had a strange illness, and that you didn't come home yesterday." Jason gave a long sigh before replying.
"Mm.. I suppose I have wasted enough time here." He hops down from the branch to land in front of the man who he had been conversing with. "Your search is over. Goodbye." The three seconds between having just seen a walking, talking animal and seeing him disappear into thin air wasn't nearly enough.
_ _ _ _ _
Apparently the one time Jason had genuinely controlled his teleportation skill was enough for him to master it, a testament to his learning ability. Just thinking about his sister moved him to her room, an exceedingly well organized fifteen foot by fifteen foot square with purple wallpaper, red carpeting, and blue curtains on its two windows. Her drawers and closet were as cataloged as a filing cabinet, her clothes arranged by color within brand within style.
'How the hell can a girl whose room looks this coordinated manage to litter all the floors in the apartment except this one with clothes!?' thought Jason, right before catching sight of Cynthia. She was curled up in her bed, arms wrapped around a large pillow, looking as though she had been crying into it before falling asleep. He walked over to her bed and sat cross-legged in front of her, rousing her from he slumber.
"Wha?.. What do-- Jason! You're alright!", it took her a little while, but once she recognized him, she shot up. He smiled down at her and she asked, "What were you doing?"
"Getting through one hell of a day, that's what. At first it was fun to watch everyone react to me, but taking all their questions became very boring very fast. Eventually one guy tried to attack me, but I beat him pretty badly. Before anyone could ask me anything, I left, and I found a nice little spot in the woods. I climbed a tree and slept for a few hours. Must've been the best snooze of my life", he answered, his smile growing broader, "That is until that little search party woke me."
"I was so worried about you..", tears flowed down her cheeks as she spoke, "Oh! I told mom and dad about you, but I don't think they really believed me."
"Well, I'll have a word with them later. For now I want to finish that sleep.." As he got up to leave, Cynthia grabbed him by the hand.
"Would you stay in here tonight? I just feel like I could use some company.." Jason looked into his sister's teary eyes. How could he refuse?
"Alright", he said, "Just for the night." With that, he plopped himself down onto the foot of her bed and curled up, like a common cat would. He was asleep within minutes, and he was purring furiously. Cynthia laughed to herself, and decided to tell him about that in the morning and see his response. It wasn't long before she was asleep, too, contented. She had always wanted a pet, and though she didn't really think that lowly of Jason, the idea still amused her.
(Author's note: If you thought there was going to be incest, you're a sick, sad little furry. I'm not that kind of guy.)
When Jason awoke the next morning, he sighed happily and eased his eyes open unwillingly. As he shifted around, he felt a small tug at his tail. Jason turned his head and saw his sister clutching it like a stuffed animal. This gave him a warm feeling, which left as soon as the fog of sleep obscuring his vision did. Cynthia was covered in blood. Before he had time to react, the door to the room flew open. What Jason saw standing outside of it would be burned into his memory for the rest of his days.
It was another creature who looked almost exactly like him, but its hands and mouth were stained crimson. It simply stood there, expressionless, completely still, not even blinking those steely eyes. A few seconds passed, Jason paralyzed with fear, before it made a single motion; it grinned. Its lips grew wide and its mouth slowly opened, displaying a set of razor-sharp, blood-encrusted teeth.
_ _ _ _ _
When Cynthia awoke the next morning, she groaned happily and opened her eyes as slowly as possible. As she stretched, she felt a weight on her feet. Remembering the request she had given her brother, she turned to look at Jason, and found him staring at the floor. The close proximity gave her a fuzzy feeling deep down, which faded as she saw his eyes. 'The look in them.. something's wrong.'
"Jason?", she said. He didn't respond.
"Hello? Jason, what's up?", he nearly jumped out of his skin, obviously having just noticed the fact that she was awake.
"Oh, Cynthia!", he said none too quietly, still noticeably shook up.
"Jason, why were you staring at the ground like that?"
"It's nothing..", he answered, before quickly rethinking what he said, "No.. no, that's not true. I just had a nightmare."
"Is that really so bad?"
"This one was. It was so real.. and that face! Good lord, I'll never forget it."
"Face? What face?"
"Look, here's what happened. In the dream, I woke up, and you were covered in blood. Your eyes were open, staring up at the ceiling, but they were so lifeless.. I was about to do something, but then the door opened, and there was another one of me standing there, but it looked a little different. For one thing, she was female. She had a scruff of fur beneath her neck, covering her bosom. She had the same black marking, too, but it was under her left eye, not her right. And she wasn't wearing clothes, either." Cynthia was still skeptical. How could someone like Jason be so afraid of this?
"Jason, that sounds like any old nightmare. Did anything else happen?" It took him a little while before he answered; he seemed to be reliving it in his mind.
"Yeah, she smiled, but not like anyone normally would. She looked like she had no soul. Her eyes were like your body's, the color was there, but they looked blank, like there was no life behind them."
"It was just a dream, Jason, everything's fine." Instead of speaking, Jason simply shook his head, got up, and left the room. 'Jeez, that must've really gotten to him', Cynthia thinks, 'I hope he can get past it..'
Jason walked into his room, which was just as messed up as he had left it, and slumped down on his bed. 'Not one night..', he complains to himself, 'I'm finally able to fall asleep on my own, and can't go one single, measly night without having something happen to ruin it.' He sits there, making sure not to fall asleep, thinking about the dream. He tries to accept that it was a simple nightmare, but he can't. 'It just seemed so real..'
Soon, he remembers that his parents are still unaware of his new body, and puts mulling things over on hold. His mind gets up, but his body isn't quite there yet. His mind turns around and threatens to smack his body around a bit if it doesn't start listening. At least that's how the scene played out in Jason's head when he didn't feel like dragging himself to his parents' room. Eventually, the mind, having kicked the body around a bit for good measure, was able to coax it into following orders, and Jason was on his way down the hall.
Upon reaching his parents' door, Jason knocked on it to announce his entrance, held his breath, and opened it. The inside of the room was filled with memories of Jason's childhood. There was its ornate carpet, upon which Jason had taken his first steps. There were the four windows Jason had stared out of for hours after having found his first day of school a grand disappointment. There was the metal bat whizzing towards his skull that Jason had played his first game of baseb--
Wait.. whizzing towards his skull? 'Shit!' Jason quickly saw and ducked under the spinning mass of death that was his first baseball bat. The bat hit the wall behind him, creating a small crater that would have surely killed him had it hit its target. He spotted his father, bald and fat as ever, on the other side of the room, no doubt the person trying to murder him. His mother stood by his side in her robes, a look of repulsion on her face.
"Mom, Dad, its only me!" Jason said. 'Great..', he thinks, 'My parents are just like everyone else..' His mother's face softened only slightly, obviously still put off by his appearance, but his father stayed angry.
"Jason? Wha-What the hell happened to you!?", his mother stuttered out.
"Your guess is as good as mine", Jason explains, "All I can tell you for sure is that I wanted something interesting to happen to me, and I woke up like this yesterday morning."
"Well.. don't worry. I'm sure we can do something to fix it.", his mother replied.
"Mm.. I take it you don't like how I look?", that last remark had fired him up a little, but he tried his best not to show it.
"Of course she doesn't! Who could?", his father said, voicing his thoughts for the first time since trying to kill his only son.
"Me, for one! I'm not depressed anymore, and I just feel.. so.. so alive!", Jason states, "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me."
"How can you say that? You look like a monster!", his mother screamed at him. Both his parents got the shock of their life as Jason seemed to suddenly dematerialize and reform not a foot away from them. From this new position in their room, they could properly see just how tall he was, his height emphasizing his fearsome demeanor.
"Is that so? I know a certain girl in the next room who would disagree. Honestly, how can the both of you call yourselves parents when you can't accept the new me? I would feel ashamed simply knowing the likes of you, let alone calling you my relatives!" The hate was seething in Jason's voice. He spat at the ground at their them before melting into nothingness once more.
Back in his room, Jason soon realized that he couldn't stay much longer. He was sure that if the people who had cared for him all of his life no longer wanted him, then he would probably have a hard time finding somewhere to stay, especially considering that he had no friends to speak of. A knock up his door removed him from his thoughts.
"Fuck off!", he yelled up at his ceiling.
"Jason, it's just me", came the voice of his sister, "Can we talk?"
"Oh.. sorry, Cynthia. Sure, come on in." She entered the room and sat down in a chair across from Jason's bed.
"I heard all that, you know."
"Mmm.. So do you realize what happens now?" This appeared to sadden Cynthia slightly.
"Does it mean you have to go away?"
"Yeah.. I'm sorry, but I just can't live with people who think I'm some kind of mutant."
"I guessed as much.. I always admired that will of yours. You always seem so sure of everything you do.. Jason, don't ever change." He smiled.
"I don't plan on it, sis." She stood up and squeezed him to her. Without thinking, he did the same. Love wasn't something Jason felt often, if at all, so he wouldn't have known it had you asked him, but he loved his sister. Within the past two days, he found that simply being near her cheered him up to no end. "There's no doubt about it, I'll miss you more than anyone else."
_ _ _ _ _
Over the next week, Jason thought about places he could stay. Seeing as how he didn't have a job, and doubting anyone would employ him, coupled with the fact that he refused to ask his parents for money, his options were severely limited. The more he thought about that little place he had in the woods, the more he felt that living in the wild might be the right choice. After all, he was technically an animal.
The day he set out, Cynthia was the only one he told. Throughout the tearful farewell, she half wanted to beg him to stay, but in her heart she knew that wasn't going to happen. Instead, she made Jason promise to visit her sometime, and he agreed instantaneously. He walked down the street for a good hour before he started to become thirsty. He was in the residential district of town, so the only way he could get a drink would be to walk up to a house and try to talk his way in.
'I'm not so sure that an anthropomorphic fox-thing would be that welcome around here..', Jason thinks, 'Maybe I could find a lake or a spring someplace.' It wasn't long before he finds what he was looking for behind a nearby house; a forest. He figures the further he is from civilization, the better his chances of finding a clean stream or the next best thing will be.
Jason treks into the pines a good half mile before he comes upon a pool of water; no doubt composed of rainwater trickling down the large jagged rock beyond it. He dashes to it and kneels down to take a sip. 'Yech! It tastes like dirt.. Ah, well. At least it's clean' Grateful for a break from his journey, Jason cups some water in his hand and splashes it over his head. As the ripples on the surface clear, Jason's eyes widen. Something's wrong with his reflection.
The black marking is on the wrong side.
Before the fear has a chance to set in fully, a large splash flared up quickly as another beast, similar to Jason, flew from the pool and tackled him to the ground, holding him down with her front paws.
"I've finally found you..", her voice was soft, almost soothing, but that didn't do anything to aid Jason's horror.
"Get away from me, you monster!" The female giggled before speaking once more.
"If I'm a monster, what does that make you, Jason?" He wasn't expecting her to know him by name, and he wasn't ready for the giggling either.
"How do you know me?", Jason asked, hoping to peel back the proverbial layers of the mystery that is this animal.
"Didn't you wonder why you've looked like that for the past week?" Seeing that Jason had calmed down considerably, the girl eased herself off of him and lay down upon the grass beside him.
"Well.. The night before it happened I had asked for something to counteract my boredom, and I just assumed it was some sort of higher power granting my wish.."
"Wow.. I never would have taken you for the religious type."
"I'm not, but it just seemed too perfect to be a coincidence. And you still haven't told me how you know me."
"Patience, patience, I'm getting to that. Well, it wasn't some divine intervention, Jason, it was me. Remember when you fell down in your hall? I tripped you. While I'll admit, that does sound like a pretty big coincidence, I guess it was just your lucky night."
"So you tripped me.. That doesn't tell me why I am what I am."
"You don't even know what you are, do you?" Jason propped himself on one elbow and stare down at the girl before continuing the conversation.
"No, do you?"
"Of course! I'm a Renamon, and you're a Renomon." Jason adopted a quizzical expression.
"A who?" The girl sighed, almost as though she thought Jason should know these things.
"We're creatures from another world, Jason. I gave you some of my data that night, and turned you into me, an equal and opposite me." Jason became even more confused.
"Data?.. Like the kind on a computer?"
"Sort of.. Look, I know that's not the question you really want to be asking." Jason thought for a moment, and then said:
"Why did you do it?"
"That's the one, isn't it? Well, you may not believe it, but I didn't have a reason. I picked at random from a several billion card deck, essentially."
"Mmm.. I'm glad you chose me. Oh, by the by, what's your name?" The Renamon giggled once again.
"Whatever you want it to be, as long as I can call you 'Jace'."
"Why Jace?" The girl smiled broadly.
"I like the how it sounds. Don't you?"
"It's fine, I guess. It'll take some getting used to.. Wait, will I even be seeing you again anytime soon?" Her smile faded.
"Well, you see.. I was hoping you might come back with me to my world.." It didn't take Jason long to answer.
"I'll do it."
"What? Just like that?"
"Weren't you listening? I'm bored with my life here. Humans are a very uninteresting species." The smile returned to the girl's face, and reflected upon Jason's own.
"No argument here. I have a question though; where can I get some of those?", she says, pointing down to Jason's legs, clad in his favorite dark tan baggy pants and the studded belt holding them up. Jason found that question undeniably adorable. He suddenly reached across to her and hugged her tightly, catching her off guard.
"I think I have a good name for you. Fayth." The Renamon hugged him back, purring in his arms.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'."
_ _ _ _ _
To be continued.
_ _ _ _ _
Now I don't know how you felt about his nightmare, but let me tell you I was scared as hell the night I thought it up. If imagining that face covered in blood with a big ol' smile wasn't creepy enough, it was in my head when I went to turn off my lights, and they just started flickering, which they've never done.
Freakiness aside, I hope to crank these chapters out as fast as I did this one. Chapter 3 will definitely have Jason and Fayth relocating to the digital world, so we are all free from the shoe-drinks..
For now..
I tried my best to spackle them all shut, but if you happen to see a plot hole upon the wall of my story, please tell me.