Traum von Asterhive

The Stuffed Animal People

"It's you!" cried the boy who shouldn't be a boy, and your head swam as he helped you off the dumbwaiter.

"She's here!" he proclaimed. "She's here, everyone!"

Almost immediately you were surrounded by faces that were both familiar and unfamiliar.

"Is it her?"

"Is it really?"

You stared into a baker's dozen of faces, unbelieving. They looked different but you knew who they were- Buttons the rabbit,  Brownie the bear, Cami Dune the camel, Tux the penguin, Raine the dog, Gina the giraffe, Dani the albino bunny, Patches the other bear, Marshmallow the cat, Lambert the sheep, Dozy the other other bear, and of course little Caramel the lop. You knew them all, but this was. . .wrong.

"Why are you people?" you gaped, because minus the tails and ears, they looked completely human.

Your once-animal plushies glanced at each other and shrugged.

"We just are," Cami Dune said, smiling. "Is that alright with you?"

"I mean. . .I guess . . ." There wasn't really anything you could do about it. "Where uh, are we?"

"In the Asterhive Model Monument," Raine said. "Marshmallow found it."

You glanced at the feline. He too was a little boy now, though his eyes remained shut. He waved at you.

"What do you mean in the monument?"

"Simply that we're in it," Buttons replied. "There was an opening, we slipped through, and now we're inside."

"Pretty cool, right?" Gina grinned.

Dani nodded. "Who would've thought there'd be a secret bunker in here?"

"So you've just been living in here?" you asked. It seemed illegal.

"Pretty much," Gina shrugged.

"Sometimes we leave though," Dozy said. "And we bring people back."

It was then that you noticed others. Humans, actual humans, looking at you curiously. Most looked injured in one way or another. Some were missing limbs.

"I patched them up!" Patches beamed. "So this is kind of a secret hiding spot now."

"But the infected," you said weakly.

"We're still toys," Cami said, and promptly tore a finger off, smiling all  the while. Your eyes bulged but. . .well, there wasn't any blood. Just white stuffing popping out of where blood should have been spurting. Cami popped the finger in his mouth and swallowed. The finger grew back. He held his hand up to you. "See? Good as new. We're but cloth- we've got nothing to infect."

You stumbled back and found yourself sitting in a chair that wasn't there before, Knight looking up at you worriedly.

"Is that the shadow?" Lambert asked.

"He looks bigger," Brownie noted.

Tux then stepped forward. The once-penguin tilted his head at you, then picked you up in his arms. Knight growled in response but Tux hissed at him with a sound that you were rather sure penguins didn't make. You were carried to a bed built into the wall and promptly tucked in. Tux gave you a pat and a peck on the head and walked off.

You blinked. "What?"

"Tux is right," Buttons said, coming up to your nook. She gave you a goodnight kiss on your hair. "Rest now, kit, I'm sure you need it."

You couldn't say a thing as the others came up one by one and bid you goodnight, some with hugs, some with words, some with kisses. When they finished, Patches drew a curtain that covered your bunk.

You stared at the curtain. Well that was. . .odd. Warm and sweet, but still odd.

You became aware of a padding, shuffling noise, and the curtain opened just long enough for Knight to creep in. He curled into a dog, licked your face, then wrapped his tail around your wrist like a bracelet.

"I don't need to rest," you said. "I'm not tired."

Neither was Knight. You could tell. Still, the shadow bunched up into a plush toy of indeterminable shape and tucked himself under your chin.

It would be rude to leave now, you thought, so you stayed in bed and shut your eyes.