Unknown Factors (Book One)

Ch.113: This change

  Groaning, I felt my face scrunch up as the bright sunlight was beating down on me. Pushing myself up, I found that I was laying on hot sand that was a sort of white color. My brows furrowed- Where was I now? First that building, now here?

  Getting to my feet, I looked around and discovered that I was on some beach as the air tasted salty and the clear, blue water reached all the way to the horizon. I took a step toward the water but stopped when my foot felt something hard, and I bent over to find that strange pendant. I didn't know why I had been holding it before, however, it seemed important in a way I couldn't describe.

  Pocketing the item, I turned from the water and headed inland as my tail swayed. 'Wait....tail. I have a tail.' Pausing again, I looked down at myself, taking note of what all I had.

  Pants, shirt, white hair, claws, black and white skin, black and white fur, paws, weird ears, sharp teeth. Okay. Got it. No. Wait. Pockets- What else was in them?

  A key. Okay, so I had a key and the pendant but what the bloody Hell did the key go to?

  Shaking my head, I continued on, walking toward the forest lining the beach with thick, green foliage and bright flowers. The air was fresh with a slight scent of salt from the ocean, and the sound of the waves faded the further I went into the trees. I could hear birds above me calling back and forth to each other, but I didn't recognize the sounds- not that it would have made a difference really, nothing was familiar to me.

  Not to mention that I couldn't remember jack-shit other than the apparent language and understanding of it that I seemed to possess. I couldn't remember having a name, but I knew what a name was. I couldn't remember how old I am, but I knew what age was- and so on, and so forth.

  I jolted, jumping back as a body suddenly landed in front of me. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I locked eyes with them as they stood. They looked to be male and had some similarities to me like the tail and what-not, but he was much taller and had a sort of mane and fur on his chest. His cheeks and nose were covered in freckles, but around his eyes were completely black like on his arms and legs.

  Did I also have those markings and freckles?

  "Move, and you will be shot with ostium." His voice was low, and his tail flicked.

  "....Ostium?"

  "State your business here."

  "I.... What?"

  "Which sister tribe do you hail from?" His brows furrowed as he looked me up and down. "You do not dress like any of them."

  "At least I am dressed." I popped off, wondering why he was only wearing a loincloth and armbands with tiny white shells on them. Wait....maybe what he wore was normal and I was the weird one? No, that can't be right- the two men from before were fully dressed as well.

  "And you speak strangely. What's with your voice?"

  "Nothing....I think." There was a quiet pause between us before the man raised his left arm and waved it with two fingers raised.

  "I'll take you to the elder. She'll know your tribe and reason for being here." He went to grab the back of my neck but paused, and his face scrunched up. "Where is your fur? Why are you so pale? You can't be sick...." I didn't really know how to reply, but he seemed to play it safe by touching my back since it was covered by the shirt. He pushed me forward, seemingly guiding me somewhere deeper into the forest.

  We walked for a few minutes, maybe ten or fifteen, I wasn't sure, but then the trees began to grow more separated as the trunks became thicker and my mouth fell open as I saw a village in the branches above. I saw more people, and a few were staring at us as the man beside me pointed to the nearest tree.