A rather short one, this. The next chapter should be longer, though.

Three guesses what day it shall take place on.

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Issue III: A New Visitor
New Friends and a Party Forthcoming

He ran frantically through the midnight streets, trying his best not to be too loud, lest someone notice his presence. The street he was going down was fortunately empty. He was bundled up so much that only his upper face was showing, but even that would be enough to reveal his secret, should anyone see him. He took every precaution that he could think of to make sure that nobody would be able to see what he had become. He shuddered to think what would happen were someone to see him now.
And what was he to do? Where would he hide? What would he do for food? It seemed to him that he could not achieve one goal without risking the other. He could not allow himself to be seen, but he still needed to eat? So what would he do? What could he do?
That’s when it came to him. He could take refuge in Adther Forest. There was no risk of him being seen by any human eyes, provided that he avoided the main paths through it. He did not know much about wilderness survival, but he would have to learn fast. His umbrella would make a good hunting tool and his vapor water would aid in healing any animal bites.
He rounded a corner and found himself inches away from a thick-furred wolf with snow white fur. Its jewel-like blue eyes showed a great serenity of sorts, a look that was soothing to him, even under the circumstances he was in.
“You seem troubled,” the wolf said. Her gentle voice was as soothing as her gaze. He considered sitting down, but then he remembered the terrible situation he was in. Now was not a good time to let his guard down.
“Who are you?” he asked the wolf, trying to sound strong. His voice, however, was shaky.
“I am Ankh. Do you need shelter?” the wolf asked.
He nodded.
“Then come. My dwelling is not far. And do not worry, for the others who live there will not be frightened by your visage,” Ankh said.
This was strange. It was almost as if this wolf, Ankh, knew exactly what was going on. That was impossible, he knew, or at least was fairly sure. The wolf had probably just gathered it from the context. A half-tiger running through the streets with fear in his eyes was a fairly easy puzzle to piece together, when he thought about it. However, as he followed Ankh to her home, he could not shake the feeling that there was something strange at work.
After a while of walking, they found themselves at a very large building. “What is this place?” he asked.
“This is my place of creation, my home, and the dwelling of the benevolent scientist who created me. And do not worry, for he is not the type of scientist who will run experiments on you without your permission,” Ankh explained.
He nodded, though he was still a bit unnerved. Still, he decided to take Ankh’s word for it and push the worry to the back of his mind for now.

Perry was nervous now. This was the final question and the scores were all tied. This was to be the deciding question. Would he win and take home the mysterious Grand Prize? Or was he going to be one of those to be sent home with nothing to show from it but a copy of their home game?
The mood was thick with tension. The host drew a card and looked at it, holding it by a corner as many game show hosts did. “Alright, this is the final question. The one who gets this one will receive the Grand Prize. Here’s the question: What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen African swallow?”
Perry knew this one. He quickly pressed the button in front of him, but instead of receiving the beeping sound that had accompanied it through the show thus far, the button instead made a ding-dong sound.
“Correct! Congratulations, Perry Hedgewide! You’ve won the game and the Grand Prize!” the host announced.
“What? But I didn’t give…” Perry began. He then thought better of it. If the game show host wanted to give him the grand prize without asking for an answer, who was he to argue? He just decided to go along with this confusing situation. He sat still, though it was hard to contain his excitement about winning the game and the mysterious Grand Prize.
The talk show host continued on to say, “For winning, you get the Grand Prize! A brand new…” However, the last word he spoke after that was not a word at all. It was the sound of someone knocking on a wooden door in the distance. “Huh?” Perry asked.
Perry received an answer, but not from the game show host. It was from a familiar voice in his head, the voice of the costume. “Perry, wake up. There’s someone at the door.”
Perry woke with a start. His excitement and anticipation turned to dread. This was just the scenario that he feared would happen. He was in bed, in the half-rabbit form, and there was a person at the door. This was not good. What would he do? Would he just wait for the person to just give up? No, knowing him, it might be important. He would instead go with another option.
Perry rushed to the door, but did not open it. Instead, he hollered through the door, “Hold on a second. I’m not dressed yet.” With that, he immediately got to work on taking the costume off.
Ankh, meanwhile, was confused. That was not the voice she had remembered Perry having. “Are you okay? Your voice sounds odd. You are not ill, are you?” Ankh called back.
Perry’s head was out of the costume, so his voice was back to normal. “No, don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Just give me a moment to get dressed,” he said. He was relieved. He had thought that this would be another potential for a disaster, but it was only Ankh. But wait, Ankh could ring the doorbell, but she was not capable of knocking. Was there someone with her? He decided that it was best to take every precaution.
After a while of taking the costume off, Perry finally finished and put the costume away in a drawer. He then opened the door, fully clothed now. Even in the dim lighting, he could see the part of the man’s face that was exposed. How ironic. The man Perry was facing was a half-animal, like he himself was a moment ago. The half-tiger was wrapped up well, so that part was the only area that was showing. He could see why this half-tiger needed shelter, though, for if Perry was able to see the exposed area, so would anyone else be.
The half-tiger looked into the room. “On the inside, it seems more of a dwelling than a lab.”
“Yes. This is not merely a lab, but his home, as well,” Ankh explained.
“Come in. I have a few guest rooms you can stay in,” Perry offered.
The half-tiger stepped into the main room and sat down on the couch. He remained silent, for he did not know what to feel, much less what to say. He felt relieved, worried, and overwhelmed all at once. But there was another feeling. Was it excitement? He could not really be sure, but if it was, it was one of the lesser emotions he felt right now. His entire life as he knew it was being spun around and he was feeling its disorienting effects.
Ankh, too, walked inside the living room. She also hopped onto the couch and laid down right next to the half-tiger, to comfort him. She could tell that he was upset and wanted to do all she could to ease his mind. She imagined that he must be apprehensive. Surely, he had not fully been convinced merely by her word. He was probably quite worried, but that would pass in time.
At least, she hoped so.
Perry closed the door and sat down in an easy chair. As he did so, he could hear footsteps approaching. It sounded like Patch had been woken up by the noise and decided to come out to check what was happening.
“Someone approaches?” the half-tiger asked.
“Most likely Patch,” Ankh explained.
“What’s this about ‘most likely Patch’, now?” Patch yawned as he came through the doorway into the living room. He looked and saw the half-tiger. The reverse happened milliseconds later.
“Another living costume?” Patch asked, looking at the half-tiger.
“…No… I am not a living costume…” the half-tiger responded, bewildered as to where Patch got the idea.
“Where did you get that notion?” Ankh asked, also confused.
“Well, I’d tell you, but that’s a bit of a surprise for the costume party,” Perry said.
“A living costume for the costume party? I am… quite confused,” Ankh said.
“I’ll explain it at the party, trust me,” Perry said, trying to dismiss the subject.
“Well, I suppose,” Ankh said, still quite curious.
“Now, what’s this about a costume party, anyway?” the half-tiger asked.
“Well, my birthday is two days away, so I decided to hold a costume party. Since you’re going to be staying here, you’re also invited,” Perry explained.
“I see. Does it have to be one of these ‘living costume’ things?”
“No, no. A normal one will do.”
The half-tiger chuckled. “Good, because I sure don’t have any of them.” He paused to consider the oddity of the fact that a random half-animal had just been invited into their house, highly wrapped up, yet they were speaking merely of a costume birthday party. Then again, it was strange that this young scientist invited him into the house at all, maintaining his composure all the while.
“About this living costume… is it safe?” Ankh asked, a bit concerned.
“Yes. But I’ll explain that more later, on the day of the party,” Perry answered.
“Alright,” Ankh said, reluctant to end the subject. Even for someone as patient as her, this business about living costumes made her quite curious… and somewhat concerned. But, she reasoned, Perry would not say that it was safe unless he was sure that it was quite safe. She decided that it was best to keep her mind off that for now. She turned to the half-tiger. “Forgive me; I have not introduced myself yet. I am Ankh.”
“I’m Perry and this is Patch,” Perry said, indicating Patch.
“I am Kane,” the half-tiger said, “I am thankful for your hospitality in my time of need. I’m not sure if I would have survived if I took the plan I thought I would have to take.”
“Oh? What was that?” Perry asked.
“I was planning to flee to the forest, despite my want of survival skills,” Kane answered.
“I see. Perhaps I should bring Amy and Shadow here, as well, if you are comfortable with that. They should be happy with the arrival of a new guest, especially Amy,” Ankh said.
“I suppose if they can keep a secret, it’s fine,” Kane replied.
“Very well. I shall gather them,” Ankh said. She walked out through the large doggy door (or “wolf entrance”, as Shadow termed it) and headed over to Adther Park, where Amy and Shadow had said that they would be.
“So, I’m guessing you weren’t born a half-tiger, from what I’ve seen and heard. What happened?” Perry asked.
“I was made this way by a failed polymorph spell. I read it from a scroll, thinking that I was up to the challenge, but no, anything past cantrips is too high for my skill. I know that now,” Kane explained.
“Uh, Perry? What’s a ‘can trip’?” Patch asked, tilting his head. Perry shrugged.
“It’s a very basic spell, the most basic type available,” Kane clarified, “It is usually taught to beginning mages as a way of getting the hang of magic.”
At that moment, Shadow arrived through the wolf entrance. “So, what’s this about a half-tiger?” He looked around and quickly spotted Kane. “How are you not having a heat stroke in all that?”
“Oh, right. I guess there’s no need for all this extra covering,” Kane said. He began taking off the excess clothing. When he was done taking off the extra layers, he was in a green T-shirt and blue jeans. He then proceeded to take off his shoes. “When I was transformed, my feet changed shape, as well. You can’t imagine how good it feels to finally take these shoes off,” he explained.
“How did you even get them in there?” Patch asked, completely bewildered, looking back and forth between Kane’s long feet and the shoes they were once packed into.
“It wasn’t easy,” Kane answered.
“I can imagine,” Patch said.
Kane turned to Shadow. “So, I’m guessing you’re Shadow?”
Shadow nodded.
Next, Kane heard the wolf entrance open again. He looked and saw another wolf, this time a gray one. “Hi!” Amy said cheerfully, “I’m Amy. You’re Kane, right?”
“Yes, I am,” Kane answered.
Amy looked down at the shoes. “Are those yours? They look a tad small.”
“Well, technically, they’re mine, but I may have kinda outgrown them,” Kane chuckled.
“Maybe Perry would want them. They’re kinda cool,” Amy suggested.
“Well, they’re a bit damaged. Claws, you know,” Kane said.
“Oh. Good point,” Amy said. She then noted the discarded clothing. “Are you getting rid of that coat, too? That would look great on him!”
“Well, actually, I prefer to stick with my lab coat. I really…” Perry began.
“Oh, come on… at least try it on. Pretty please?” Amy requested.
Kane noticed that Perry was reluctant to try it on. He decided to go ahead and throw him a save. “Sorry, guys, but I’m not giving the coat away. Only the shoes are being discarded.”
Perry breathed a mental sigh of relief.
The wolf entrance swung open again and in came Ankh again. “Hello. It seems everyone got here quite faster than I expected.”
“Fast is my game,” Shadow said.
“I was pretty eager to meet someone new,” Amy said, wagging her tail. How ironic, Kane thought, that a canine was so eager to meet and befriend a feline, which is essentially what this came down to.
Ankh turned to Kane. “You must be quite sleepy. Would you like me to lead you to a room?”
“Yeah. Thanks,” Kane said, getting up. He picked up his discarded layers of clothing and followed Ankh, who led him down a hall. She stopped in front of a sliding door. “A basic room, but it is spacious and comfortable,” she said.
“It’ll definitely do, though I’ll need to do some decoration to get it to feel like home,” Kane said. He walked into the room, not bothering to close the door behind himself, and quickly fell asleep on the bed.
Ankh walked back into the living room. “He must have been very tired.”

“Nothing is beyond our power. All lies before us. Anything is within our power, but power is dangerous, and must be used wisely,” Terrin advised.
“This is pretty exciting, all this power that I have to look forward to. I could do great deeds with great power,” Kane said.
“Not if the power is outside your grasp. Come, Kane, and I shall take you down the path,” Terrin said.
This was the only part of his dream, the last part, that he remembered as he awoke to sunbeams shining through the window. Looking back, he now knew the wisdom of Terrin’s words. He should not have tried to cast a spell that he did not have the skill for. But it was a lesson learned too late. He looked at himself in the mirror on the door and still had trouble believing that the face that stared him back was his own.
He looked sadly at his own tail, then at his paws. When he had gone to sleep last night, he had almost hoped that this would all go away, that it was all some sort of strange nightmare. But no, the nightmare was real, and now the full impact of it was setting in.
It was just then that Patch walked by the room. He nearly passed it, but then he caught a glimpse of Kane’s pained face and decided that perhaps it was better to go in and comfort him.
Patch was a mere two feet away from Kane before being noticed. “What is it?” Kane asked, trying his best not to let his voice quiver.
“Are you okay?” Patch asked.
“Yes…” Kane said, but after a pause, he revised his answer. “…No…”
“Well, I can’t say I know what you’re going through, but just remember that you have friends to get you through this,” Patch consoled.
“Yeah… I guess so,” Kane said. He decided to change the subject, more to get his own mind off it than anything else. “So, what’s for breakfast?”
“I’m not sure. I guess I could have Perry make you a tuna sandwich,” Patch answered. Kane nodded and the two of them headed out to the living room and into the kitchen.

Ankh, Shadow, and Amy, meanwhile, were busy on the town.
Ankh pointed a paw toward a costume shop. “I have heard that the owner of this shop is kind. Perhaps he will have a costume to spare.”
“Perry probably doesn’t expect us to actually get a costume. Boy, will he be surprised,” Amy said optimistically.
“Just as long as we don’t get stuck with the raggedy costumes or something,” Shadow said, not exactly cherishing the prospect of going to Perry’s costume party in a hole-riddled, foul-smelling costume. Then again, he also hoped that he didn’t end up with a humiliating costume, such as a flower or a light bulb. In either case, he would rather go without a costume. So, he supposed, would Ankh, in those cases, though Amy was probably not as picky with her costumes, so a light bulb would fare her fine, so long as it did not smell bad.
The door to the costume shop was closed, but had no doorknob, so Ankh figured that it would be safe to assume that the door was push-open. A simple nudge on the door confirmed this theory. She opened the door for the Amy and Shadow, using her own body as a temporary doorstop, then walked to the front desk with them, allowing the door to swing back shut.
The shopkeeper was ecstatic to see them. “Hello, hello! Welcome to Jeoff’s Costume Nation! You’re the three who saved my cat a few days ago, right? Well, glad to have you here. Go ahead and choose a costume each, on the house!”
“Thank you!” Amy responded enthusiastically. She immediately started looking around among the various racks and shelves for something good that would fit her.
Shadow’s fears were immediately dispelled. It seemed that he wouldn’t have to go with merely what they had in excess. He was free to choose any costume he desired. And one of them immediately caught his eye.
Ankh decided that she wanted to go for something different. The point of this was to dress as something else, so she would go for the exact opposite of her personality.

“Tacos for breakfast?” Kane asked.
“Why not?” Perry responded, getting out the leftover ground beef.
“Well, I guess there’s no reason not to. I’ve just never seen it done before,” Kane said. It was, indeed, an oddity for him. Still, he liked the idea.
Perry placed the microwave and set it on medium heat for three minutes. After all, medium heat was best to heat something all the way through without getting the outside part too hot. He began getting out the other ingredients, such as the beans, lettuce, sour cream, and other various additions.
“That’s a lot of taco fixings for one person,” Kane observed.
“Yeah, I think I’m in the middle of a growth spurt. A typical occurrence in the stage of adolescence,” Perry explained.
Kane chuckled. “Yeah, I remember myself when I was a teen. My parents could barely support me anymore with all I was eating. They wondered how I stayed so thin. I have a feeling that my apprenticeship had something to do with it, since I would use up a lot of energy in training.”
The microwave started beeping. Perry opened the door, took out the meat, then put the beans in and heated it at the same heat and duration. “I’ve always wondered about magic. My theory is that magic and science actually work hand-in-hand.”
“Hm?”
“You know how psionics work? It manipulates forces and objects with the power of the user’s mind. I have a feeling that this is fundamentally similar to how magic works. I don’t know yet, though, whether it is by the mind or some other unseen force that magic works,” Perry explained.
“If it is an unseen force, where does science come in?” Kane asked.
“Well, a burning spell is caused by magic exciting the molecules in the air, thus creating fire. I have a feeling that all, or at least most, magic works by manipulating things in a scientific way,” Perry explained.
“Well, it’s interesting. I never thought of it quite like that. I just thought of it as, well, magic,” Kane said.
The microwave started beeping again. Perry took out the beans, then took off the lids of the taco ingredients. “Well, the taco stuff is ready, so serve yourself up whenever,” Perry said as he started constructing three noticeably different tacos. Perry liked variety in his food, after all. Kane also started making his tacos, though his were only two and quite similar. He had a style of taco that he liked best and that was what he was going to make.

The three wolves had chosen their costumes and went into their respective dressing rooms. On the request of the manager, one employee went with each wolf, helping them get on their costume.
And then it was time. Ankh, Amy, and Shadow left the dressing rooms. Before then, they had not seen what the others had picked for their costumes. Now, they were revealed.
Amy was dressed as a peacock. There were bright feathers attached a tail, which went up when he tail went up, so that she could fan her tail-feathers when she pleased. She also plastic beak that fit over her nose, though there was only a top half to it, so her bottom jaw would be visible whenever she opened her mouth.
Ankh was in a pirate costume. She was wearing one-size-fits-all doggy pirate garb, complete with an eye-patch and a pirate hat with a strap, both with the traditional skull and crossbones on it.
Ankh and Amy both broke out in laughter at how ridiculous they both looked.
Shadow, on the other hand, had a costume that looked quite good on him. It was a vampire costume with a cape (red on the inside, black on the outside) and vampire teeth that looked almost real.
“This is going to be a very unusual party,” Ankh said, still laughing slightly.
“And it’s tomorrow, too. Let’s go get Perry some gifts, too,” Amy suggested.
Shadow nodded in agreement.
“Thanks again for helping Cady!” the manager said, referring to his cat.
“And thank you for the costumes,” Ankh said. With that, the three of them left the costume shop to search for a few gifts for Perry.

Kane, meanwhile, was thinking along a similar line. He could afford neither a costume nor a gift, so what would he do? He knew that Perry would probably not hold it against him or anything if he didn’t come with a costume or present, but he still wanted to repay Perry for his kindness.
What to do… What to do…