Celestial Souls: Shadows of Change [1]

Chapter 4

|+ 6:10 am +|

The beast stared at Florence like she was crazy. Florence wasn't sure how to feel.

"You probably didn't, though." The beast hissed. He looked at his arms (front legs) and saw that they were covered in wrapped bandages. Florence stared at him, she narrowed her eyes.

"You know, that's not a very nice way to thank someone for saving you," Florence snarled. "I may as well send you back to your 'dead' state." She threatened as she unsheathed her claws.

The beast backed up a little, feeling uneasy. "Fine, thanks for saving me?" He commented in a questioning tone. "I don't even know where I am or how I got here."

Florence sat and started to think. Instantly, she had an idea.

"Hmm, we didn't have the greatest first impression, but maybe we could change that and be friends? Or at least acquaintances?" She offered. "I could show you around town and maybe help you adapt to our world. But, you kind of look like a Bellumian, but I'm sure I've seen you before somewhere . . ."

The creature thought about it for a moment, then agreed. "I have no idea how this world works since I was pretty much raised in an ever-changing environment." He got out of bed and stretched. "OW!" He exclaimed. Florence assumed that he'd never been in this sort of pain before.

Florence was confused about how this beast managed to heal very swiftly. This guy is definitely unlike any other civilian. She told herself.

"Well, my name is Florence." She stated, waiting to finally know this beast's name.

The beast stayed quiet for a second. "It's Tatsu." He finally mumbled.

"Nice to meet you, Tatsu." Florence greeted him happily. She held out one of her paws and had a friendly smile covering her face. Tatsu kept his guard up, he was unsure if Florence was trying to deceive him or not.

Florence noticed how tense Tatsu looked. "It's completely fine if you don't trust me right now, but maybe you could at least trust me a little, just trust me enough that I won't abandon you here in this 'unfamiliar' world." She mewed in a friendly tone. Tatsu still looked a bit uneasy, but he started to relax a little.

Tatsu's amber eyes darted across the room as if he was searching for an escape route or wondering where he was. His eyes began zooming around the room so fast that it looked like he was gonna explode with stress.

Florence sighed and curled her tail around the brown, furry, almost wolf-like beast to comfort him. Tatsu jumped, he was so focused on worrying about where he was that he completely forgot that two creatures were staring at him. "Sorry," Tatsu apologized. "I don't really know where I am or if I can even return to my home. And . . . I'm sorry for bursting into this castle without any warning whatsoever . . . and causing . . . that." He pointed at Florence's stained fur.

Florence still had a few spots on her body where her fur was pink from the blood from Tatsu and her white fur. "Don't worry about everything, I'll get it sorted out later, but now, we have got to get out of here." Florence grabbed Moony by the ears and threw him onto her back.

Startled, Moony shook his head to snap out of the confusion. He then grabbed Drea and held her tight on Florence's back.

"Follow me," Florence whispered. She slowly crept through the small hospital to the entrance.

They walked through a few halls with a few rooms, only about 2 out of the 8 rooms were occupied, excluding the larger rooms where Florence and Tatsu were.

The group saw the receptionist start to doze off so they used it as an opportunity to sneak by and get out of there. Florence crept slowly towards the exit door, walking as light as a deer. Tatsu followed behind her, trying to copy the lightness of her steps, but it was much sloppier. Florence sighed but was glad to finally get out of that clinic.