Chromatober 2024 ig-?

Day 12: Spirit/Screech

Day 12: Spirit/Screech

LOTB: Therian AU

Ships: none

Might not be accurate, not a therian. Pain, death, fear, blood

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I wake up, frantic and screeching, the phantom limbs following from my dream. I feel the tail lashing wildly, the ears flattened. I know this isn't normal, but sense when was I? I don't understand why so many Steves would think this is a gift, to have these dreams of being another animal. Well- when you put it like that... No, being a therian isn't a gift. Sometimes you get nightmares from your theriotype, like I just did.

I shake myself, the extra feelings still lingering. Standing up, I walk over to my door, the stars calling for me as I open it. The moon. I think to myself, my wolf instincts trying to take over. Finally, I let it, falling into a shift.

...

I run out the door, quadratics falling almost naturally into my form. I didn't shut the- The thought slips my mind as silver moonlight consumes my field of vision. MOON. I howl, I just howl. The moon deserves all it's glory. Eventually stopping, I trot over to sit outside Unbalance's window.

Tilting my head, I stare at his sleeping form until he wakes, which was not too much longer into the night. He jumps as he notices me, staring back. I think he asks something, but it doesn't matter, I barked anyways. Unbalance just stares at me though the window a little longer before sighing and getting up.

After he walks outside and around the house to me, I jump on him, knocking him over. He yelps as he is pinned to the ground. "Balance, what are you doing out this late?" He asks, and I bark back indignantly. He growls for a moment before pushing me off, "Yes, I get it, you're having a shift right now, but why couldn't it have been at a better time... Well, we don't exactly get to CHOOSE though. So-"

As Unbalance starts arguing with himself, I notice Over beckoning to me from his house. Sprinting over on quads, I arrive, unceremoniously leaving Unbalance behind as I do so. Glancing around, I look for a way in before Over opens his door, ushering me in. As my t̵̡̥̗͉̒͜a̵̘̱̅͘͘ï̶̙̋̿̒̕l̶̘͊̓̽͠ slips through the door, Over closes it and excitedly walks over to a small cabinet he has for these times.

Curiously, I walk over to the cabinet and poke my head in as he opens it. Chuckling, he gently pats my head before shooing me out. "Now, now Balance. You don't want to accidentally tear up everyone's tails and masks, do you?" He asks as he pulls out a white wolf mask and tail, to which I excitedly run around before sitting in front of him.

Watching as he clips on the snowy white tail and gently places the wolf mask over my face, I start to feel more complete in this form. Once he finishes, I twist around and almost smack a vase off a table. I back away from it, glancing guiltily between Over and his table. It feels as if my ears are flattened once more as he walks over to me. "Don't worry buddy, it's okay. Sometimes I knock off my own stuff when in a shift." He pats my head once more as I whimper. "Come on, let's get you back outside so you can be yourself."

After getting back outside, I see that Equality has joined Unbalance. It seems like they are now talking, amusingly, about my earlier antics. I run over to them, biting, and tugging on Equality's pantleg. "Aw now come on! Really?" I tilt my head at him, catching the light of the moon in my wild eyes.

...

I blink a few times, trying to reorientate myself. "Ugh!" I exclaim, mentally cursing myself as I let go and start licking other things, trying to get the sour taste of the cloth out of my mouth. "So..." I finally start after giving up, "What happened-?" I stand up as they look at each other, shrugging.

"We... don't really know what triggered it, but you had a shift-" I roll my eyes, "I gathered that."

"Well... We don't know how long it was because- I kinda woke up to you staring at me- It was kind of creepy to just see glowing eyes watching me sleep from the other side of my window." Unbalance rubs the back of his head, "However, it might have been triggered by the moonlight. I know it was for me last time... and sense both of our theriotypes are wolfs... You know."

I shake my head, walking back over to my house. Before entering and closing the door, I glance back at them. "Good night guys, again." I growl the last part, annoyed with myself as I go inside and back to bed. Why can't we just be normal, even though normal wouldn't be half as fun and- what even is normal? Isn't nobody normal? Oh, I forgot to take off my gear- Over probably put it on me.

I simply take off the mask and tail, setting them at the foot of my bed as I sigh. Over will probably sneak in while I'm sleeping or out doing something at some point and take them again. That doesn't matter, it's a normal occurrence, it keeps us all on our toes sometimes. Especially when it's Under's. Poor Over, I don't think he even bothers trying to get Under's back into his cabinet.

Settling back onto my bed, I close my eyes. I immediately open them again as the nightmare from earlier flashes through my brain.

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I open my eyes into a body of a white wolf. It feels so free, like I could run forever! I take off down the hill I'm standing on, enjoying the feel of the wind in my fur. Something jumps out from some bushes as I pass them, barreling into me. We roll over and over, eventually stopping and springing apart.

Relaxing as I see her, I slip over to my young pup. I nuzzle her, breathing in her sweet, young, clean scent. Flicking her side with my tail tip, I lead her back to the den. Don't want to leave it alone for too long, and she really shouldn't be out here alone. It's not like my mate can take care of her. My tail and ears droop sadly at that thought.

However, when we are almost at the den, a new scent catches my attention. Growling, I step in front of my pup as some kind of red and black, foul smelling, two-legged creature steps out in front of us. It takes a step towards us, its emotionless black eyes staring at my pup and me.

It lunges, provoking me to roughly barrel her into the nearby bushes, hopefully she will be safe now. Sense I did that though, that means that I am still in danger from the creature. I bark aggressively, drawing its attention from where my pup disappeared, to me. As it lunges again, I slip out of the way, scratching at its side as I pass it.

It screeches and attacks again, this time its strange claws catching on my side. Letting out some kind of howling screech, I back away as pain flares through my body. Dark red blood seeps from the wound, slowly becoming a waterfall of crimson.

I stare at it, and it stares back instead of attacking once more. I think a small flicker of horrified life appears for a couple moments before being consumed once more into the blank abyss. I collapse to the ground, black dots start to fill my vision as I feel my life slowly draining away.

I lay there hopelessly, letting out weak and pained whimpers, wishing that I would just be able to see my sweet little pup again. I close my eyes and darkness engulfs me as my breathing stops.

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I won't let that happen again Bally... You won't lose me like that again.

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1320 words

please do not hate on therians, they know they are human now.

more therian info: https://www.wikihow.com/What-Is-a-Therian