Week 1/ Thursday
A zoo in San Fransisco holds many animals within it. Including big cats, monkeys, hippos, rhinos, and kangaroos etc. This story takes place for one of the many animals in the zoo. Let's focus on the cheetahs, more like one specific and special cheetah. Horizon is a fifteen year old female cheetah. She's been one of the favourites because of how smart she is. Her birthday is a day away and that is when everything changes. She has a huge exhibit with a few other cheetahs, she's like the ruler of them all. She's the sweetest, they even let people sometimes pet her.
Right now she lays on a rock
Watching everything from above. She feels tired and weak, people seem to notice. A few kids point at her pulling at their parents shirts and pants. A coworker walks towards the exhibit, and one of the concerned parents walks over to the coworker. Once the young mother reaches the coworker she points out to the cheetah, saying that the cheetah doesn't look good.
The coworker looks at the cheetah and nods slightly. The coworker asks for the doctors through her walkie talkie. Doctors rush into the exhibit and reach the sickly cheetah. The cheetah is getting to the age of getting old. People watch from afar as they watch the doctors checking on the cheetah. Two workers lift the cheetah gently up, setting the cheetah on the stretcher. Before rolling her out some cheetahs come up to see their leader being taken away. They begin to panic, they begin to become pushy trying to get them away from her. Some more workers enter the exhibit to get ahold of the cheetahs, as they take Horizon out of the exhibit.
Hours pass by as they try to figure out what's wrong with Horizon. She gets weaker and more tired as time goes on. The doctors are confused because she was happy and healthy the day before and then there was this sudden change in health. They rush around her desperate to save her. Being one of the favourites within the staff and guests of the zoo, they wanted her to live long as she can. Her breathing becomes more rigid once it turned midnight, meaning that her birthday has arrived. Staff cry as they watch the doctors try to help her. Eventually she fell into a slumber her breathing still rugged. She was going to 'die' in seven hours and they didn't know it yet.
Five minutes till seven am;
The doctors have token a break and rested up. Horizon has been steady through all those hours. Suddenly her heart stops and the heart monitor freaks. Doctors rush in getting a alert knowing her heart has stopped. They begin doing chest compressions, trying to get her wonderful heart beating again. A women runs in crying her eyes out, the woman that took her in when Horizon was abandoned as a cub. Her dark curls bounce as she runs and her blue eyes are full of tears. Her eyes red and puffy from all the crying, a small tint of dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. Though she was a beautiful thirty-six year old mother she still looked young through her sad face. She runs to Horizons side but the doctors push her away so they can try to bring her back. Few minutes pass with doctors yelling out orders, and the young woman crying as she watches Horizon not coming back.
Finally they pronounce her dead after a few more minutes. The doctors leave allowing the woman to say her goodbye to Horizon. A few minutes later the woman couldn't take it anymore, running out of the room crying. She runs to her husband that holds her three year old son. Horizon lays in the silent and empty room, a few more moments until the room begins to glow. Making the heart monitor spark and disconnect. The building goes into a black out as Horizons heart begins to beat. The cheetah let's out a breath and begins to shift. Pain surges through her but she doesn't make a sound, just a few grunts here and there. The pain subsides and she gets up feeling a bit chilly. But what she doesn't realise is that she's a human now. She grunts and try's to get off the surgeon table but falls to the ground. She looks at herself noticing that her skin is not furry at all, that she's naked now. Her paws are gone and she begins to move her fingers confused. She hisses in fear, she wobbly pushes herself up being on all fours. Not knowing that's not how humans work. She looks around the room and freaks out, at the unfamiliar place. She sniffs the air smelling her family and friends, she sees a door and she tilts her head in confusion. Then she looks the other direction and sees a clear small door. She barely gets out of the door, she sees that she's surrounded by a fence. She try's to jump but falls to the ground, still trying to get used to her human form. She rises back up slowly and grabs the fence with her thin fingers slowly pulling herself up and over the fence. She falls to the ground on the other side. Instead of falling she lands on her two feet. She looks down at her long thin naked legs and tilts her head and goes back to all fours.
She begins to run where her nose led her to her family and friends. She finds them and their heads shoot up smelling her familiar scent. She looks up the long fence separating from her and her pack. She growls a low growl and does the same progress as the first time. Once she reaches the top she looks around trying to find a way down to get to her pack. She sees her tall rock a few yards away. She positions herself and jumps onto the rock without a sweat, she slowly gets herself down from the rock. Her family runs up to her and licks her face recognising her even without her furry body. She purrs loudly and sits down her arms in front of her covering her chest. Sitting like a wild cat, she sighs closing her eyes. She drifts off to sleep, not knowing what was going to happen next.
Horizon wakes up to hear
Someone shouting and shaking her awake. She stirs in her sleep then her body reacts fast realising her sleep has been interrupted. She opens her eyes suddenly and sits up quickly and growls and the young woman standing there looking at the Horizon with anger and fear.
"What do you think your doing in this exhibit with wild animals?!" She shouts and grabs Horizon by the arm. Horizon hisses in pain and growls causing the other cheetahs to jump on either side of her growling at the young woman that woke her from her slumber. The woman looks shocked, she searches through her pockets and grabs her walkie talkie asking for people to get to the cheetah exhibit. She try's to pull Horizon out but the other cheetahs snap at her, making her let go of Horizons arm in fear, and running out of the exhibit and closing the fence door. Horizon sits up and growls and the cheetahs begin to circle around her protecting her. They remember the humans taking her away and her not coming back for a few hours.
People rush next to the young woman watching as cheetahs circle around Horizon protectively. Then the woman that took Horizon in as a cub steps out into Horizons view Horizon relaxes. Suddenly pain shoots through her and she shouts in pain, shocked by her own voice she falls to the ground. Her family backs up and gives her space, her bones begin to crack and move into different positions. She growls feeling fur stab out of her skin. A bone snaps as it grows to make a tail, her back curves in pain and then she's suddenly back in her cheetah form. She growls loud and steps out in the open as her family gives her space. Gasps and shocked faces read all over people outside the exhibit. The young woman that took her in when she was a cub stepped towards the fence doors.
"Sydney... You can't go in there!" Shouts one of the coworkers worried about Sydneys safety, but it's too late she's already inside the exhibit.
Everyone is too scared to stop the woman, she steps towards Horizon recognising her. After they found Horizon missing from the room she 'died' in, they searched everywhere for her. Then they find a sixteen year old girl that turned into the cheetah they all learned to love dearly.
"Horizon. Sweetie come here. It's okay. I'm here to help you, I know your scared. We will help you figure out what's happening to you." Sydney says in a sweet gentle voice instantly calming down the cheetah.
She always had this affect on Horizon, and Horizon always had a affect on Sydney. Sydney simply finds Horizon like a daughter, her own child that she rescued. They have always had this bond and they trust each other. Horizon steps towards her and her family hisses, she looks at her family and tells them it's okay and to back down. They all calm down and back down watching as Horizon approaches the woman.
"Good girl. Now let's see what the problem is. If it makes you feel more comfortable we will stay in here." Sydney says as the staff goes off not knowing what to do. They just saw a sixteen year old girl turn into a cheetah, but eventually they grabbed their bearings. Their brains want to tell them they are dreaming but they realise they can't all have the same dream. So they go off and find some things for a sixteen year old shifter.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this first chapter! Make sure to vote and comment if you enjoy the chapter.
P.s.
Please check out my other story
'Mute wolf'
That will be greatly appreciated!😘
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The 6 shape shifters
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