My life as a shapeshifter

Oddities

A/N: This is, like, something similar to Percy Jackson, I guess. It's my first story, so it's not so good. Enjoy!

Had I been given the choice, I would not have talked to that fox. Or came to school today. Or...Well, you get the picture.

It was an ordinary day, at least by my standards. We TPed the class until the principal came, took one look at the state the class was in, and sent us out for an excursion.

That's right. All in a day's work for the Three Musketeers -Thad, Nico and me. We're an odd group, really, if you consider our backgrounds.

Thad, or Thaddeus, if you want to delve into formalities, is the school bully. And I don't mean a fat kid who terrorizes the mousy, tiny kids. I mean 60 kilos of pure muscle, three-time wrestling champion with arms strong enough to pick a teacher up by his neck, all the while extorting cash from a nearby kid. And that was his weak arm. His presence is probably the only reason why we haven't been expelled. Rumour has it that the principal himself is deathly afraid of Thad's iron fists. Then again, Mr Tyrone isn't exactly very strong. Or brave. Or principal-ish.

That aside, let's move on to Nico. Or Nicolas, though that's quite a mouthful. And we always get it wrong. Why couldn't his parents have names him Benny or something? Oh well, I guess Benny Donnola isn't as cool as Nicolas Angelo Donnola. Anyway, Nico is lucky he's on Thad's side. Otherwise...Well, let's just say he'll be his human punching bag Along with Alfred Bean, that is. Nico's the complete opposite of Thad. He's short and scrawny, with onyx black eyes that dart around all the time, like he's constantly on the lookout for something. Weird, huh? But I guess we shouldn't be too hard on him. He's got the brains. Translation: You can throw him a quiz or test, anything, and he'll get all the answers right. I swear that boy spends half the day with his head buried in a book.

Now to me. Compared to Thad and Nico, I'm really an average Joe. Which means, just like any other kid, my life sucks. I don't even have a family, just my friends. My parents died a long, long time ago. That's why Thad and Nico are pretty much my life. (Not in that way, sicko) I alternate between their houses, crashing at their places and hitching rides around town. I even spend their money. Thank goodness their parents are quite well-to-do. They don't seem to mind, which is a huge blessing. And a bit strange. But you don't bite the hand that feeds you, so I don't express my feelings about that matter.

I do have an awesome part of my life, though. Trouble is, it's not useful. Unless I want to become an animal tamer or something, that is. I can sort of calm animals down, sense their mood, all that kind of stuff. All the others around me either hate animals or are afraid of them. Thad and Nico not included, thankfully. If anything, they respect animals deeply.

So, to sum it up, the three of us aren't exactly the best candidates for best friends. But we are.

Wait, where was I? Oh yes, we were on a school excursion. More like a picnic, really, seeing how much food Nico brought. That's right, Nico can really pack away a ton of food. I really don't know how he manages to stay so small. Ah well, I guess some things will always remain a mystery.

Anyway, I was munching on a burger(the only thing I managed to salvage before Nico polished it off), when I saw a fox staring at me from the bushes. A snow white fox, my favourite, with amber eyes and sleek white fur that contrasted with the green foliage surrounding it.

"Go on, Ar. Approach it." Nico said rather thickly, spraying bits of chicken everywhere.

"Huh? Oh." It took me a while to realise that he was 1.talking to me. 2.encouraging me to approach the fox.

So I did.

Cautiously, carefully, I inched towards the fox, making sure not to startle it. Sure enough, it stayed right where it was, staring at me intently with those clear yellow eyes.

"Hi there, little guy." I muttered, more to myself than the fox, knowing that there was no way I would get an answer. Of course, as it turns out, I was wrong. Horribly wrong.

"I'm a woman, you ignorant fool. Of course, you would never bother to check. Hmph." The fox answered indignantly. Yes, it actually talked to me.

In utter disbelief, I stumbled away from the fox, turning instead to Thad and Nico.

"It...It spoke. To me. It spoke to me!" I exclaimed, almost hysterical. To my surprise, they just smiled.

"You have realised your true potential. That is good." Thad spoke, and his tone was that of one speaking to a child much younger than him. "Come," he continued, "it is time for us to depart." I was completely and utterly confused. My true potential? A fox just spoke to me! These guys really are mental. Shaking my head, I backed away, refusing to take the hand Thad offered.

"Dude, are you out of your mind? Are you messing with me? 'Cause if you are..." I threatened, knowing full well that I could never carry it out.

This time, Nico opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a word, all hell broke loose.

Three shapes emerged from the ground, I mean literally rose up from the ground, and it soon became clear to me what they were.

A lion, a hyena and a dragon stood in front of us.

"Pop! Pop!" Two sounds came from behind me. Tearing my eyes away from the creatures, who were advancing upon us menacingly, I spun around, to find my friends replaced by another dragon, a blood-red, butt-ugly dragon, and...a meerkat. Seriously?

"Whatever. Meerkats are awesome." The meerkat squeaked, sounding a lot like Nico. Oops. I must have said that out loud. Wait a minute... "Nico?" I asked.

"The one and only. The dragon's Thad, but we're wasting time here. You have to find out what you can do." What I can do? Was that some kind of insult?

"You know what I can do." I sniffed, hurt.

"Never mind. Just concentrate hard on an animal." Nico sighed and said, scampering towards the animals with Thad the dragon. The animal was easy. I thought about the fox I had seen earlier, concentrating like Nico had instructed.

"Pop!" The same sound I had heard earlier sounded again. Suddenly overwhelmed by a strange feeling, I looked down, only to gasp in shock.

I was looking down at the body of a fox.

Yay! First chapter's done. I took a month to get this done. Pls comment, I need to get advice.

Btw, the narrator's name is Aaron. The 'lazy parent' name.