The Strength of Spirits

Chapter 2

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It was only a few minutes later that Noya's smile disappeared.
Hina had done the ritual, but there was no flash of light or sudden transformation. Her spirit didn't come forth, and Noya could see the disappointment clearly in her face. Not only that, but her entire demeanor slumped. Her shoulders drooped, her head fell, and she walked slowly down the stone steps. She didn't even look up at the medical officer that gently took her hand to lead her off to treat her unhealed wound.
Noya grimaced as Hiro's hand tightened on hers. He must have been feeling terrible too. The orphaned teen tried to smile reassuringly as she gently squeezed Hiro's hand back. The gentle giant looked down at her with a sad smile, but turned to look stoically back at the diminishing line. Noya suddenly felt stifled by the silence that the three friends had been comfortably standing in before Hina's lack of transformation.
Unfortunately, Noya couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound insensitive to break the tension, so the silence prevailed until it was Atsushi's turn to walk up the steps. He turned around to flash Hiro and Noya a wide smile before he was met with General Oka.
Noya and Hiro held their breathes as they watched Atsushi spill his blood in anticipation, but only Atsushi's solid form met their expectant gazes.
After a few moments, General Oka took a step towards the blue haired boy, but Atsushi just flashed him a sad smile and began descending the steps. Noya quickly rushed up to meet him, catching him by surprise with a tight hug. The little teen laughed as Noya's hair got in his face.
"It's fine, Noya. I don't mind too much. We can't all be huge dragons, now can we?" He tried to wave her off. Noya heard a throat being cleared and she let go of Atsushi abruptly.
"I'm just sorry that it didn't work out. I'll see you later?" Noya smiled sheepishly at Atsushi as he waved her off, though his smile did look brighter to the girl.
"Yeah, now go. Good luck!"
Noya waved as she jogged up the rest of the steps before bowing in front of the annoyed General. "I apologize, General Oka. I did not mean to waste your time."
The large man seemed to relax from his tense stance at her apology, and Noya took it as a sign to straighten up.
"No, it is okay. We do need to get through all of these people today though, so if you would please take this knife." A large silver knife was revealed to sit innocently in the General's hand, and Noya was relieved to find that it was clean. She hadn't been able to see if each person was using a new knife or not, and had been a bit worried. "Slit the palm of your hand, let the blood drip into a circle, and then chew one of these pills. Your spirit will either come forth within the first minute or it won't."
Noya grit her teeth as she brought the knife along her palm swiftly, feeling tears build behind her eyes. She handed the blade back to the General before getting a small blue pill in return.
Blinking to help clear her blurring vision, Noya walked to the exact center of the dais and turned in a circle, watching the blood gently drizzle out of her hand and onto the ground.
Once that was done, Noya took a look at the small pill in her hand. The pain of her hand clouded her mind and helped keep her from overthinking as she gulped lightly. Taking a deep breath and throwing the pill into her mouth, Noya broke it with a crunch and chewed softly as she looked out at the crowd of faces staring at her.
Feeling a little foolish as the seconds ticked by, Noya made to move out of the middle of the circle before her vision blurred. Noya gasped as a burning started in her heart and something shifted in her chest. Everything flashed a blinding blue and Noya stumbled as she suddenly lost control of her body.
Falling forwards onto her hands, Noya blinked swiftly, only to frown at the sight her mind presented her with. Her hands... were gone. White-furred paws unsheathed sharp claws when Noya tried to flex her fingers. Looking up in surprise, for she had turned into some type of cat, Noya noticed she wasn't as low as she would have thought a cat would be. Walking forwards- which felt completely weird with four legs- Noya looked over the edge of the stone dais to see Hiro's face, which wasn't exactly as she remembered it. First off, his eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen open, but his features were simply... duller. His blue eyes weren't as icy, his brown hair wasn't as bright, and his lips weren't as pink. Noya felt her ears swivel as footsteps distracted her.
Turning her head to look at General Oka, Noya was surprised but pleased to see him smiling. Noya felt her eyes widen as her chest rumbled out a purr. Before she had time to feel embarrassed, thunder rumbled just as she had, and when she looked up at the sky, a bright flash of blue light blinded her again.
Being suddenly pushed backwards, Noya bent her legs to catch herself and shook her head to clear her vision. Blinking viscously again, Noya smiled when the brighter colors came rushing back to her. Who knew how disconcerting it would be for everything to be lacking the vibrancy she was used to? But that aside, Noya realized that her spirit animal had manifested. She could feel a smile brighten up her face as her body sang with energy. She would be able to experience life as an animal! As some kind of cat? Noya decided she would have to ask Hiro what exactly she was when she saw him again.
"Miss?" Noya was pulled out of her thoughts when the General set his hand on her shoulder. He quickly withdrew it with a grunt a moment later, and Noya spied blue sparks arching between his fingers as he did.
"Oh, was that me? I'm so sorry, General!"
The man waved his hand nonchalantly a second later as his face lit up with an electric smile. "No, it's my fault, Miss. I shouldn't have forgotten not to touch you as a newly-awakened metamorph. But, would you please go back down the steps?"
Noya flushed in embarrassment, slipping a piece of hair that had fallen in her face back behind her ear. "Yes, okay, I'm sorry again. I'll go now."
Quickly making her way to the stairs, Noya flashed a bright smile to Hiro as he passed her. His eyes were shining, and Noya couldn't help the energy buzzing through her.
She wanted to stand close to the dais in order to get a good look at Hiro to see if he would change, and what he'd turn into if he did, but as soon as she got back down to solid ground, she was confronted by one of the officials running the event, a lanky man in his early twenties who had a wide smile on his face.
"Miss, if you would please come with me?"
Noya's smile dimmed a little bit, but she nodded and replied, "Of course." She followed the man over to the group of new metamorphs- as General Oka had called her- and Noya dully wondered why Daichi and another guy were standing apart from the rest of the group, separated by more officials.
As Noya approached, however, some of the officials moved away, and Noya's questions were thrust aside as she ran over to high-five the exuberant dragon metamorph. "Noya-" Daichi cut himself off as a bright flash of light flared behind Noya, making the feline metamorph twist around quickly. Her eyes narrowed in on a large bear standing on his hind legs on the dais where Hiro should have been, and Noya was too overjoyed by the fact that more of her friends were metamorphs to question the sharp details she could see at such a great distance.
"Hiro's a bear! Ha! That makes sense with all the mothering he does."
Noya giggled when she realized just how right Daichi was. Hiro did look after everyone in their group like a mama bear does her cubs.
"You looked way cooler than Hiro does though, Noya. Hiro's a little bit bigger than you were, but there was this blue lightning arcing all over your form. It was crazy to see. You were like a real-life pikachu!"
Noya frowned lightly, thinking of the electric rat that was admittedly, pretty cute. "A pikachu? But aren't I a cat?"
Daichi laughed and threw an arm over Noya's shoulder as he said, "A cat? Noya, you're not just a cat. You are the cat! You're a huge white and blue tiger!"
Noya gasped softly as the puzzle pieces all connected in her mind, making a picture she wasn't sure she liked. She knew the lore surrounding a white tiger that controlled electricity.
"I'm not the White Tiger of the West... Am I?"