Animegas (Editing)

Another Day

~5 years later~

I opened my eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air that streamed through my window. My bones cracked and popped as I stretched the sleep from my body. I bounded off of the pile of blankets that was my bed.

“Sammy!” Whined my little brother. “I’m hungry!” Please don’t be a doggy anymore.” His deep blue eyes looked at me pleadingly. I felt my fur recede into my skin and my bones shift and mold themselves until I was in my human form again. My pointed ears and white-tipped tail shrunk back into my skin. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, I was used to it by now.

“Max,” I sighed, “how many times do I have to tell you? My Animega is a fox.”

“I don’t care!” He pouted, “I’m hungry!”

‘We live in the middle of nowhere in a tiny shack with no parents, and he is still a spoiled brat.’ I thought. My hands threw open cupboards in the tiny kitchen. Empty, that had mold, the mice got to that box. Finally, I managed to scavenge some stale bread and butter. My bare feet crunched against the rough dirt flooring.

“Sorry, buddy, it’s old bread for breakfast.” I sighed as I ripped off a piece of hard bread and handed it to the 5 year old. Thankfully, he didn’t complain. Grabbing a handful of nuts to eat, I changed into a fox and ran off to check the traps.

Nothing. Plan B, hunt.

A large, fat rabbit darted across my path. I chased it out of the clearing and into the undergrowth. I stopped in my tracks and dug my paws into the ground. The trees and bushes grew and twisted around each other to trap the small animal. It darted from one side of the cage to the other, desperately looking for some way to escape. Jumping into the wooden trap, I crouched low to the ground. As the rabbit hopped to my right to escape, I pounced and caught it by it’s neck. My jaws clamped shut, a sick crunching sound resonated as the neck snapped. Momentarily morphing back into a human, I placed it in a draw-string sack and dashed home.  

My house sat on the edge of the forest. From the outside, the shack looked like a clump of trees and bushes. Unless you had eagle eyes, you wouldn’t have known it was there until you stood directly in front of it. To the normal human eye, all it housed was a few birds and squirrels.

Max greeted me at the door. “Did you catch anything?” He asked eagerly. I showed him the rabbit. “Why didn’t you get more?” He pouted.

I ruffled his hair and sat on the dirt ground. “Don’t worry,” I smiled, “We can survive off of this for the day. I’ll get more tomorrow.” Max was a bright boy, but he was only five years old. He wasn’t even old enough to transform into his Animega yet. It would be a while until I could explain everything to him with ease.

A couple of years ago, there was a Massacre of the Animega population. The humans had feared the power of the transforming beings and started to bloody their hands. Overall, over 75% of the Animega population was murdered in cold blood. Our parents had fallen victim to this blood bath, leaving Max and I orphans.

Soon after my parents’ death, the Guardian of the Forest, Sylva, had found us. She had taken us in and raised us like her own. Sylva had taught me how to hunt and control the forest. She even acted as a teacher and taught me how to read, write, and the other basics.

I told Max to stay in the shack while I went to town to buy some seed and food. Walking out the door, I checked my bag. Only a few Salus berries sat at the base, barely a handful. As these berries can cure any sickness and heal any wound, people would pay a very high price for a single berry. These were enough to buy me what I needed and keep some in case of an emergency. Tying the bag around my ankle, I changed into a fox and ran to the south. About a mile and a half away from the small town, I morphed back into a human and walked the rest of the way. Even though the Massacre was long over, many humans still held a strong grudge against my kind.