I Applied for a Delivery Job and Got Turned Into a Flying Reindeer?!

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Justin looked at himself in the mirror. Even after living in this body for nearly a month, he still couldn't help but feel a weird sense of disconnection whenever he saw his reflection.

All things considered, his transformation into a reindeer had changed surprisingly little about him. He was still the same height—the foot or so added by his antlers notwithstanding—and had the same thin build. Even his haircut had stayed the same, though the exact shade of brown had changed to match the rest of his fur. Did that mean it technically wasn't hair anymore, but rather...longer head fur?

Starting about halfway up his neck, his brown fur changed to white, but only where it covered his chest and stomach. He trailed his fingers through the thin fuzz that covered his skin, his long ears twitching at the still-alien sensation. Apart from his underbelly—or just regular belly, he supposed—his fur was a rich chestnut brown. Not as dark as Lucas', which was almost black, and not glossy like Tornado's, but he'd have been lying if he said it didn't look good on him.

If I was a hunter, I'd definitely shoot me, he thought. Then he blinked. Wait, what?

There was a commotion outside in Laetitia's streets. Through his dorm's window, he could see hundreds of elves and reindeer making their way toward the center of town. The sun had gone down an hour ago, and he was too high up to make out anything specific in the darkness, but it wasn't like it mattered. At Lena's encouragement, he had been keeping mainly to his room after flight lessons, only coming out for dinner and then immediately retreating back inside. Honestly, he probably would have done this even if Lena hadn't told him to. The people out there, and the knowledge that they were ready to rip him apart with a ferocity that Black Friday shoppers could never hope to match, terrified him.

What a strange thing to think about Santa Claus' village...

Not everything had been bad, though. The books on his shelf had turned out to be very informative, and pouring over them every evening had helped him to understand the finer points of flying, knowledge that had been extremely helpful when he'd brought it to class.

True, there was a part of him that wanted to go out and join the crowd, walk the streets of his new home, meet new people. He reminded himself, though, that now wasn't the time for that. While the past three weeks had definitely been a step forward, both for him and his reputation, the predominant opinion in Val Luminara was still that he was lightless and needed to be shunned like he had the plague.

Someday, he promised himself, sitting back down at his desk to resume his reading. I'll prove I'm not who they think I am, and then I'll be able to—

An excited knock jolted him out of his thoughts, and he turned toward his door. Who in the world would be visiting him, and at this time of night? He jumped to his hooves, throwing on his undershirt, and opened the door.

Nobody was there.

Justin paused. Was he being pranked? That didn't seem likely. He may not have been popular around here, but people tended to leave him alone when he wasn't out in public. But if the knocking wasn't coming from his door, then...

Knock knock knockknockknockknock!

Justin spun around, and had to do a double take when he saw Lucas hovering outside his window.

"Uhhh...hold on a second," he said, hurrying over to unlatch the window. Why was he even surprised? When you could fly, why wouldn't you use the windows like doors?

"What are you still doing here?" Lucas demanded, pushing the window open and flying inside the moment Justin unlatched it. "Come on, get your jacket on! We've got to go!"