My Original Characters and Random Shorts

A Stroke of Luck

Haha. So punny.

Pine focus.
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   Luck barked at her brother Ivailo in annoyance. Ivailo wagged his tail, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. He gave Luck a happy wolfy smile as he batted her with his paws. "Come on Luck! Play with me!" he yipped.

   Luck snapped at him, her teeth clacking together as her mouth closed. "Not now!" she growled. Her thoughts were stuck on the sharp claws she had accidentally given herself. She didn't want to hurt her brother so she had refused all of his attempts to play. "I'm thinking of going on a walk. Don't tell anyone, please."

    Ivailo's tail dropped and he tilted his head at her. "Luck, pups aren't allowed to go out alone. You should know."

   Luck knew he was right. She knew she had all the potential to be the next alpha if she wanted to when she was bigger, but she couldn't. One day someone would find out about her. Something about Ivailo's comment had stung and she snarled, the fur on her back bristling as she stood. "I'm going."

    Ivailo shrank away from her and she felt briefly guilty. She swished her tail up as she bounded out of the den and into the forest. It wasn't large, but she liked to think it was. She stopped under her favorite tree. Across a large pond was a huge human den. Strange things happened there, and Luck liked to watch and believe she was one of them.

   She knew she was different from the other wolves in her pack. She thought differently, acted differently, and of course, there were the occasional un-wolflike things that would happen to her. She was also acutely aware of how much larger she was than her other siblings despite being the youngest and of the patch of shining silver fur on her back in the perfect shape of a four-leafed clover.

   Luck jumped to her paws as the leaves to her right rustled unnaturally. A man with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes was moving toward her slowly. He looked familiar to her. He met her eyes and raised his hands, saying something in the strange way that humans communicated. Luck didn't understand.

   Assuming the worst, but still weighing other possibilities, Luck crouched close to the ground and snarled. She knew that despite her size she was not very threatening. The man frowned and put his left hand on the side of his head. A strange feeling touched Luck's mind and she shook her head.

   Shapeshifter? a voice said inside her head.

   Luck froze, eyes glued to the man. This was the man who had been working with the others she had watched for so long. Telepath. That's what she had started to call him. It was one of the few words she had remembered them saying many times. She figured that maybe if she tried hard enough, she could turn into a human. 

   She focused hard on a female human of her own creation. She knew it wouldn't be perfect but it was the best she could come up with on short notice. Her body tingled as her fur turned into a black long-sleeved shirt with a silver four-leafed clover on the back and black pants. Her black hair was short and her eyes were still the same blue. She panicked as she got further into her transformation when she realized her senses were fading slowly, her eyesight getting blurry and the sounds of the world fading. She focused on getting them back.

   When she stopped tingling she looked down at herself. It was much better than she had expected and it actually felt comfortable. Perfect even.

   "Could be faster," the man said, smiling kindly.

   Luck smiled back but said nothing. She was even more nervous now that she could understand him. She had to come up with a second name. She knew enough about humans to know that they often introduced themselves with two names.

   The man walked closer and held out one hand. "The name's Charles Xavier."

   Luck was relieved that she had watched them for so long. She shook his hand. "Luck... Phantom," she said, surprised she could even say anything at all that was understandable.

   "Interesting name," Charles said, releasing her hand. "I've never met someone named Luck before."

   Luck stopped, her fear coming back. How was she supposed to respond to that? Before she could come up with anything to say in reply, a chorus of growls came from the woods.

   "Luck," the white-furred alpha snarled. "What is this?"

   Luck stepped nervously away from Charles, almost falling from not being used to human form. "I-I'm sorry, Alpha," she said, the wolf speech coming harder from her human mouth. "I was scared..."

   The alpha stalked forward. "You aren't one of us."

   Luck looked to the other wolves, searching for her parents. They were both growling at her along with the others. Luck felt her heart break.

   The alpha lunged forward. Luck's wolflike howl of surprise and pain ripped through the air as the alpha dug his teeth and claws into her shoulder. She almost tried to push him off, then stopped as her respect for the alpha outweighed what he was doing and she held still.

   The alpha stopped suddenly, releasing Luck's shoulder from his jaws.

   "Get. Off. Of. My. Student," Charles said calmly and deliberately. His left hand was back on the side of his head, his eyes fixed on the alpha.

   The alpha, to Luck and the pack's surprise, backed away. Charles stepped up next to Luck. "Leave!" he ordered.

   The entire pack turned and ran, leaving one little gray pup standing in the bushes. Ivailo. He was looking at Luck, his eyes angry and hurt, silently asking a question. Why didn't you tell me? We could have been happy.

   Luck's vision blurred from pain and tears. She caught sight of Charles leaning over her. "What... is 'student'?" she asked.

   Charles looked confused. "A student is someone who learns from someone else. I can teach you how to use your power better. You're safe with us."

   Luck let out a long breath and closed her eyes, feeling at home for the first time. "Thank you," she whispered before slipping into unconsciousness.

   Charles stood, reaching out with his mind toward X-Mansion. "You're welcome little wolf." Colossus!