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More from Hyashi
This is LOOONG overdue. This is another co-written story between me and a friend at school. This friend that I speak of writes vampire stories, so I thought it would be interesting if we combined the two. The title has a question mark because that's not the permanent title.
This takes place right after Chronicles of Brightrose part 2....enjoy
The Zoo (?)
Part 1: The Freakshow
Brightrose smiled as shi walked into the house that Isaac specified. It was Hyashi and Duo's place. All around hir were hir friends, from the Golden Sun, and others from immediately after. Garrett found hir first. “Is this the Travis I knew??!” He exclaimed as he gave hir a long hug.
“Yes Garrett, it's me. Good to see you too!” Brightrose said. While they were locked in a hug, shi remembered all the things Garrett had done for hir in the past. Isaac and Mia approached next.
“Whoa, I don't think Garrett's EVER going to let hir go! Geez Garrett, shi's our friend too!” Mia said with her arms crossed.
“So Garrett told us that he'd never call you Brightrose, or use shi. He refuses to believe that you are changed.” Isaac commented.
“I can tell. Hey Garrett, mind if I took a breath? It's good to see you, but you're kind of....” Brightrose struggled to finish. Garrett finally let go and shi took a massive breath. “Thank you, it's good to see all of you. Really. Now where's everyone else?”
Isaac led Brightrose to everyone else. When they got to Hyashi and Greyfur, Isaac left. Greyfur noticed first, “Makers....Travis?” Greyfur said while covering hir muzzle.
“Brightrose now...But yes, I was Travis.” Brightrose corrected. Shi would've continued had Greyfur not pounced on hir. Both Greyfur and Brightrose were on the ground for a good ten minutes, all the while Greyfur is crying and saying things that didn't really make sense. But that didn't matter. After they both got up, Garrett had an announcement.
“Attention, I'm moving the party to my summer home! You all probably all saw a ship outside, and that's mine! Let's go!”
Brightrose spoke up next, “Oh come on! I just get here, and now we're leaving?! What kind of party is this?”
Garrett responded as people started making their way towards the waiting transport. “You are the party! Now come on!” Garrett practically dragged Brightrose, even though shi was a Chakat, that probably outweighed him twice.
The populace started getting in the transport. Hyashi walked up to Brightrose and handed hir a bag with some green fur, “Here you go, a souvenir. Now let's go PARTY!!!!” he said with his arms in the air. As Brightrose boarded the craft, shi noticed in the pilot seat was another Foxtaur, it was a vixen. She looked just like Garrett, until she introduced her. “Hi, I'm Fiox, Garrett's sister. I'm also your pilot for the evening! I never met you before now, so I wish I could've seen you when you were human...”
“Ah, it's cool. I'm Brightrose, formerly Travis. Well, I think the group is all here, so let's go!”
Fiox smiled, “Yes Shir Brightrose!” As she said this, everyone strapped in. It was going to be quite the trip.
“Hey guys I think we’re lost,” a green naga stated to his party as he slithered past a tree for the fifth time. He touched a tree with claw-like marks in it’s trunk, “We’ve even marked the tree.”
“Clayton’s right and it’s getting really dark,” a deathly pale woman complained. She surveyed her group for anyone who looked remotely tired.
Clayton was the only naga in the group. The scales of his serpent tail were an emerald color. He had diamond markings in a lighter green going up and down his tail. His green hair was tied back in a long, loose braid. His steady, forest green eyes looked around as he tried to find a tree without the crude markings they had put on them, “Nicole, we’ve gone in every direction.”
The pale woman nodded once and ran a hand through her auburn hair. She strained her ears to hear for anything, anything at all.
The other three in the group tried to figure out where to go as well. The oldest out of everyone had his white hair pulled back in a ponytail. He paced across the small clearing, “If we find a river and follow it, it will have to lead us out of this forest eventually.”
“Professor Zellner makes a good point,” a man with glittering fairy wings stated, “A river will also lead us to food and water.”
“No duh Gabriel,” an elfish looking man replied quite bluntly, “That’s probably the most unintelligent thing that has been said since Nicole named the rabbit twenty miles back Fluffy.”
Nicole frowned, “Fluffy tasted good. Also, Rozen you don’t have to get on Gabriel’s back. He was just making a statement.”
Zellner had stopped pacing and he started into the woods. The group suddenly stopped talking and just followed him. The professor was clearly the leader.
Rozen stopped right in front of Gabriel, causing the fairy man to trip. He didn’t say anything as Rozen changed directions and muttered, “I hear a river.”
Clayton played with the earring in his right ear as he stopped to stare down at the water. He gave the water a shudder. He didn’t like water and it was very apparent as he slowly backed away, “Let’s continue, nothing to see here, just a river.”
Rozen grinned, “Naw, let’s stay. It’s nice and maybe we can all go for a swim.”
Clayton glared at Rozen and hissed at him, “I said let’s go and when I say let’s go, I mean let’s go!”
Rozen’s grin fell. Clayton always had episodes like this, but most of the time they were worse and today he didn’t feel like getting his teeth knocked in, “Fine. The professor said that a river might lead us out of the forest, so let’s just follow it.”
Zellner nodded, “Yes, now if we have to go more than five miles, we need to make camp. It will be dark in an hour.”
Nicole stared in both directions that the river went, “I’ll run ahead and see which one leads out of here.” She was gone the next moment.
No one seemed surprised, they had been used to Nicole’s inhuman speeds for the longest time now. Clayton went to go sit on a rock and Rozen laughed to himself, “Don’t even bother sitting down, you know she’ll be back within the next minute.” As soon as he had finished his sentence, Nicole was back.
“There is a ginormous mansion, scratch that, GIGANTIC mansion, castle, thing just two miles away,” Nicole was clearly ecstatic about this.
“We shouldn’t intrude into someone else’s home…” Gabriel muttered, his priestly morals kicking in.
Rozen laughed loudly, “Fuck that! If no one is home then they won’t know.” Everyone was already following Nicole once more.
“If someone is home, we must ask before we intrude,” Zellner warned his test subjects.
Clayton slithered up ahead, he really wanted to get there first and claim the biggest room with the biggest bed. There would probably be shiny jewelry as well, maybe even gold. It was easy to guess why Zellner called Clayton his “little prince”.
Once they got to the clearing with the “gigantic mansion, castle, thing”, Clayton took off. Nicole had to run, at a more human speed, to catch up to the naga. She had to make sure no harm came to him.
Gabriel still felt bad about intruding into someone else’s home, “How will we know if they are home?”
“Throw a rock through a window,” Rozen stated as if it was the most logical answer ever.
“But that would break their window!” Gabriel exclaimed.
“So what? They can get it fixed,” Rozen gave a little shrug.
Gabriel stared at Zellner, silently begging him to force Rozen to switch from this dark path to a path of holier ideas. (Like that would ever happen. You should see the last town they visited.)
Zellner didn’t say anything, he knew if this turned out bad, Rozen would take the blame. He even handed Rozen a good sized rock to throw at a window.
“Rozen, please see the light and change your mind. This is not the best idea,” Gabriel complained, “We can always go sleep in a cave or on the forest floor.”
“Fuck that shit! Not when we have available rooms and beds right here, there is just one little layer of glass stopping us.” Rozen tossed the rock in the air and caught it, sailing it through the air and towards the window.
It shattered. The window didn’t brake, it shattered. Gabriel had the worst feeling in the world about this. He knew something bad was going to happen and it was Rozen’s head on the line, again.
Rozen carefully climbed through the window, getting a cut on his cheek. He didn’t bother wiping off the blood dripping from his cheek as he unlocked the front door for his friends.
Nicole went immediately to him and used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe his cheek, “Rozen, you really need to be careful. That could have been your neck.”
Rozen grinned, “Are you proclaiming your love for me Nicole?”
Nicole frowned and walked past the elf man, “No. Just concerned.”
“She totally digs me,” Rozen said to no one in particular.
“Yeah, just like she ‘digs’ a cockroach,” Clayton muttered, going to find the kitchen.
Gabriel chuckled, “Seriously, God would want you to give up by now.” He left Zellner and Rozen in the entryway, going to explore the house. Rozen was slowly tainting Gabriel’s soul from pure and free of any sins, to being okay with the sins of others.
Zellner announced that he was going to see if there was a computer, to see if his lab assistant had sent him the results for a new project.
Clayton finally found the kitchen and slithered in, spotting a cake right there on the counter. He grinned so big that you’d think he had never seen a cake in this life. His forked tongue leaked out from his mouth as he got closer to the cake. He leaned over it, practically drooling. His forked tongue touched the icing.
“Oh my gosh this is the most amazing icing I have ever tasted in my life!” everyone could hear Clayton exclaim. Clayton didn’t stop with just one lick, he continued. He licked up several of the letters on the cake and most of the icing.
Nicole stood next to Clayton to see what the snake was up to, “’Me ho Brightrose’? Who would write that on a cake?”
“Oh, it used to say ‘Welcome home Brightrose’,” Clayton said cheerfully.
Nicole’s eyes widened and she called for Zellner, saying it was an emergency.
“Why the sudden-oh crap…” Clayton froze, the words finally clicking in his head. People were coming home and he had eaten the icing off of the cake. Someone was going to have low blood sugar and have a bad cake. He felt horrible, but he might as well have a slice, since he already did ruin the cake.
Clayton took a slice of it and took a bite, “Rozen, get in here! It’s like sex, but made of chocolate!”
Rozen was already in the room once Clayton had finished speaking, “Sex? Where?”
Clayton pointed excitedly to the cake, the sugar was already taking affect.
Rozen looked very disappointed, “Clayton, first I don’t like chocolate. B, sex is better, you should try it sometime.”
Clayton shook his head, “Nothing is better than this cake.”
Gabriel came into the room to see what all of the commotion was about. He stared at the cake and the words, “Who would sink so low on the scale of righteousness and put something like that on a cake?”
Clayton shook his head, “It use to say ‘Welcome home Brightrose’. I licked the letters off and it just happens to say that now. Oh and Nicole went to go talk to Zellner about the welcome home thing. We’re probably going to have to leave soon before the people see their cake all messed up. That would put me in a very bad mood.”
“You’re worried about the cake? What about the window?! God is going to kill me for sure!” Gabriel’s voice steadily got louder and higher with each word.
Meanwhile
“Sorry for the bad traffic you guys…” Fiox said as she began the landing sequence. “I didn’t realize that Star Fleet would pull over that freighter in front of us…” She apologized.
“Nah, it’s cool. It proved for a fun game of ‘guess who’s in trouble!’” Brightrose said. Shi had unfastened hir safety harness and walked towards Garrett. “Hey, thanks for letting us stay at your place. It’s really nice looking.”
Garrett shrugged, “D’aww, it’s fine! We just wanted to spend some time with you! In fact, I built this house for….wait a minute…is my window broken???” Garrett asked. He sounded more frantic than usual. He hurried to the back of the ship to his personal weapons locker. He grabbed the Devastator and enough blaster rifles for everyone.
Brightrose pulled out hir Beam Rifle from hir backpack. Shi armed the weapon for close-quarters, just in case. Isaac, Mia, and Fiox had blaster pistols. Hyashi’s Emerald amulet glowed a brilliant green. And a bow, at least twice the size of a normal human, appeared in his arms.
The team walked out of the craft. Garrett, with the Devastator on his shoulder, noticed the door was open. He motioned for Isaac to walk into the building, but Brightrose ruined it. Shi fires a shot into the house and yells, “WHO THE FUCK IS IN HERE???!”
Clayton motioned for Rozen and Gabriel to stay quiet, “Maybe if we’re really quiet they will go away.”
Zellner and Nicole slowly walked out of the house, half of Nicole’s face was blown away and slowly was healing itself. Zellner had a gun tucked away in his lab coat, but his hands were up. Nicole on the other hand was reaching for his gun.
Garrett armed the Devastator and said, “Maybe perhaps, if you DIDN’T BREAK INTO MY HOUSE! You wouldn’t have lost your FACE! Now drop to the floor! All of you!”
Rozen and Gabriel walk out of the kitchen with their hands up. “God has just fucked you over for your sins Rozen,” Gabriel stated in a bored tone.
“Oh shut up, you fairy,” Rozen snapped. He was not in the best mood right now.
Nicole leaned against the wall, refusing, along with pretty much everyone else.
Clayton slowly slithered into view. He gave everyone the most guilty expression ever. He had something hidden behind his back. He stared at the new group, “I’m sorry…It’s my fault you’re all angry…I guess you found out about the cake.” He showed them the cake that was hidden behind his back and pouted, “It was really good though. I promise I will make you another one.” His forked tongue flicked in and out of his mouth.
Brightrose looked at the naga, shi lowered hir Beam Rifle and said, “First, who are you all and why are you here? As you can clearly see, you are all outgunned. All of us can fight in close quarters, and Garrett here, who also owns this house, has the hand-held equivalent of a Ion cannon. The weapon I hold is a highly precise rifle that, as you can tell, can punch quite a hole in skin.” As shi said this, shi gestured towards Nicole.
Hyashi, with his bowstring pulled back, said “You have no right to be here, and Star Fleet won’t ask questions if we killed you here. So start explaining!” Clearly, no one here was happy, but something had to be said.
Clayton frowned and gave them a hiss, just dropping the cake to the ground. He didn’t care if the cake was ruined. He stared at them, “You hurt any of my friends and I will make you hearts explode!”
Garrett smiled, “HAH! Do you even see what you’re dealing with?! If I fired this, just once, all of you will be reduced to ash, and the back end of this building will collapse upon what’s left! Second, that cake held a homing device. You are locked inside this building, start talking. Bitch.”
Nicole was fully healed by now, “Clayton, step back now.” Clayton slithered back into line behind Nicole and Zellner, with Rozen and Gabriel.
Zellner dropped his gun to the floor, “Let’s be sensible. We will talk when we don’t feel so threatened. Oh and you have a nice collection of books in your library.”
Nicole was clearly uncomfortable with this. She glared at Brightrose, probably for shooting her in the face.
Garrett didn’t flinch by the scientist’s remark, “Why thank you, but maybe…just maybe, we wouldn’t be so hostile if you didn’t barge in here uninvited.” He lowered the Devastator, “Now speak, please.”
Zellner nodded, “That is understandable. We will each tell our stories, just enough so you can trust us. I promise you, none of us meant any harm. Nicole please go first, you were born first after all.” He gave a little chuckle, as if it was an inside joke.
Nicole stops glaring for just a moment, “First off, I was born in 1992. I ‘died’ in 2016 at the age of 24. During the Gene Wars I was hiding away in England on a plot of land I had acquired in 2037. I am a doctor, but I haven’t worked at a hospital in several years.”
“My turn!” Clayton exclaimed, quickly switching from angry to excited, “I am Clayton. Professor Zellner made me a naga and through several years and lots of research, I am now God…well not exactly, I just have really cool powers. I like jewelry so if you have any, it’s my un-birthday.”
Gabriel sighed, “I’m Gabriel. I am not a fairy. The professor surgically attached wings to me, an experiment that sometimes I regret being part of. It brings me closer to God though. I use to own a church, but through some sinful dealings, it got burned down.”
Rozen didn’t let him go on, “First of all, pretty much anything is considered sinful to Gabriel. I’m Rozen. Professor made me an elf…kind of. I am the sexiest thing you will see for the next hundred miles. That is the truth.”
Before Rozen could open up his mouth again, Zellner started speaking, “I am Professor Timothy Zellner. My lab is located a few states over. Besides Nicole, they are my experiments. Nicole is one of my assistants. She just travels with us because of a few medical conditions.”
Hyashi visibly flinched, his hind legs backed up a bit, “Experiments? Like, human experiments?”
Brightrose nodded, “That’s another story. But let me start first. I am Chakat Brightrose, and as you may see, I am a felitaur. I am part Cougar, Mountain Lion, and female human, all at once. I am a hermaphrodite, but I identify as male biased. I was born human, in 1992. I met a Vulpeen, or fox-woman, during high-school. From there, I was frozen for the rest of the Gene Wars. I woke up to meet the Chakat next to me, Greyfur.”
Greyfur took the break in Brightrose’s story to speak next, “As assumed, I am Chakat Greyfur. I was a scientist in a cryo lab, and I un-thawed Brightrose. From there, we lived together for a year. At the end of that year, I was killed. Through means unknown to me, I was revived, and transported to the vessel Golden Sun.”
Isaac decided to speak next, “The Golden Sun was an expedition led by me, Isaac Gonzalez. After I discovered my mate’s sister had been captured, I grabbed a team of professionals. Those include, Travis, Mia, and Garrett.”
Mia took her turn, “I am Mia Lowell, Chief Medical Officer on the Golden Sun expedition. There was another who went with us, Ivan Sander, but because of certain troubles, he died. Anyway, being a Medical Officer, I also serve as a house doctor for beings of all races and genders.”
“Primarily, she tends to me.” Garrett said, he continued, “I am Garrett Taipei, and next to me is my sister, Fiox. I am the Weapons Coordinator upon many ships, from the Leviathan to the Golden Sun. I, like Brightrose, always carry a weapon. I carry the Devastator mostly for bluffing, but it fires, and I may show you one day.”
“Oh, you and your guns!” Fiox spoke up next, “I am Fiox Taipei, Garrett’s younger sister. I am serve as primary pilot and recon for most Star Fleet missions. Due to my schedule, and because Garrett is over-protective, I could not serve upon the Golden Sun. I learned how to fly and scout out territory, which is where this house came from.”
“And finally, I am Hyashi Greentail. Though I look similar to Garrett and Fiox, my fur color is different. This is because my parents were engineered by scientists. We were supposed to be part of a Foxtaur experiment. The Green taurs are artists and hunters. I am a musician and a bowman. The experiment fell through when a pack of wolf morphs raided my village and killed my parents. I have lived with three others ever since.”
Garrett waited until Hyashi finished and then said with irritation filling his voice, “Now, why are you in my house?”
“There was cake! Duh!” Clayton exclaimed.
Gabriel sighed, “I tried to advise them to not break in. I told them God would not be happy.”
Zellner tried to stay patient with his party, “We were wondering through the forest and needed a place to stay since it was getting dark. We thought no one was home and were planning on leaving before anyone got back. We’re pretty much lost right now.”
Rozen sighed, “Look, I broke the window and when I get some money together, I’ll pay for it.”
“I’ll make you a new cake, I promise!” Clayton picked up the cake, presenting it to Brightrose, “It use to say ‘Welcome home Brightrose’.”
Brightrose laughed, “Gee, I wonder who baked that….”
Garrett smiled, “Don’t worry about the window, all but one of us get paid a ridiculous amount of money everyday. And thank you for the cake, it’s my first try at one. I used a special chocolate that only I have access to.”
“And me? Can I have access to the chocolate crack?” Clayton asked, already back to licking the cake, his forked tongue taking off chunks of the cake and bringing it into his mouth.
Garrett laughed, “No. It's rather expensive, and the trader only comes by every once in a while. Shi's really nice, but we won't see hir for a while.
Zellner raised his eyebrow at Garrett's statement, “I'm sorry, but why do you say shi and hir?”
Brightrose stepped forward to respond, “Shi and hir are hermaphrodite terms. Chakats, like me, and Stellar Foxtaurs are all herms. It's insulting to just say it, and we really don't fit under he or her, so shi and hir was invented.”
“I see. One more thing, I'd hate to ask but, can we stay for a bit? We are terribly lost.” Zellner asked.
Garrett's group closed in to a huddle, to discuss it privately.
“No, they broke in, ate the rare chocolate cake, and they threatened us. There is no way you can let them sleep here.” Hyashi said quietly.
Isaac returned another whisper, “I don't know, Hyashi brings up a good point, but they seem sorry enough.”
Mia spoke next, “I think they should, it's unfair for them to be wandering around out here, with all the ferals that live in the night.”
“Mia's right, as much as I really don't like them, we can spare them one night.” Brightrose said.
“Garrett, it's up to you, but I don't really think they should. Who knows what they'll do when they find the lab!” Fiox whispered.
“Like Fiox said, it's your choice. But I think they should stay, they have already apologized.” Greyfur said.
'Everyone brings up valid points. If I let them stay, they'd be grateful, hopefully. But they might mess with some important things, or they might kill us. But I can't just leave them out there in the cold wild, with feral wolves and deranged bears...Oh well, let's see what happens.' Garrett thought. As the huddle broke Garrett stepped up and said, “Alright, you can stay. But, there are rules. One, you cannot go into doors with a keypad on it. Two, you must knock, I shouldn't need to explain why. Three, no complaining about each other, we have to put up with you too. Four, any equipment that you see, CANNOT be touched by anyone in your party. They are specialized equipment that serve as collateral and presents for that Foxtaur trader. Do you agree to these terms?”
Rozen opened his mouth to speak, but Zellner already knew the subject matter of it. Zellner didn’t even let him make a sound, “Yes we do. They are the basic rules I use with them at my laboratory.”
Rozen mumbled something under his breath. Gabriel heard him and elbowed him in the side, causing the elf to wince and cough once. He gave Gabriel a glare and Gabriel quickly apologized, he didn’t know Rozen’s cough was acting up again.
“One question,” Clayton started, “Do you have any beds that are queen-sized or bigger with a canopy?”
Nicole pulled his earring, quite roughly, “Clayton, remember your manners.”
Clayton sighed, “Sorry, I mean please may I have a queen-sized or bigger bed with a canopy if you have any?”
Nicole gave him a disapproving sigh.
Garrett thought for a moment, “Well, all 20 of the beds here are meant for taurs, like me. So in equivalence, yes, we do. Given your size, you may be uncomfortable, but I didn’t anticipate anyone else staying.” He put emphasis on the word ‘anticipate’
Clayton frowned and gave Garrett a low hiss, “I am NOT fat!” A rock randomly flew towards Garrett, for his head.
Garrett, having years of training, quickly caught the rock with his left hand. He smiled as he dropped it to the floor, “I was not calling you fat, I was referring to your tail length.”
Zellner put a hand on Clayton’s shoulder, a needle placed between his fingers. He injected the liquid into the naga’s shoulder and Clayton slumped down a bit.
“He’s going to need a bed. He’s going to be out for a few hours,” Zellner gave them all a nice, old man-like smile. Nicole already had Clayton’s weight supported against her, ready to drag him off.
Brightrose, with a confused look on hir face asked, “Hey, Nicole. I noticed you’ve been giving me dirty looks…any specific reason?”
Nicole gave hir a condescending look, “Oh no, why would I? You only BLEW HALF MY FACE OFF!” Her words dripped with sarcasm.
“Hey, you got better! And second, it’s not like you were invited here or anything!” Brightrose countered. Shi looked at hir Rifle and continued, “You have to admit, a blind head shot while pissed, is pretty good…”
Nicole shook her head, “I’ve seen better, Obama’s assassinator had better aim.” She stared at Garrett, “Where can I drag him? Clayton is actually a wee bit heavy.”
Garrett sighed as he said, “I’d imagine. Almost 7 feet of pure scales, I bet he weighs a little more than Brightrose does!”
“The FUCK does that mean?” Brightrose said defensively. “Just because I grew…”
“That’s enough you two. We all should go to bed.” Mia interrupted Brightrose before shi could say anything else.
“I agree, it’s been a long night, and all of the rooms are upstairs.” Hyashi agreed.
Zellner looked to Nicole, “Tell David he’s going to have to sleep in the bottle for one more night, no need to introduce what is not seen.”
There were tiny squeaking noises coming from Nicole. It sounded like a little, tiny midget was being squashed.
Isaac gave Nicole the strangest look in the world and asked, “What the hell is that?!”
“David,” Nicole stated.
“He’s just mad he can’t get any from his ‘master’ tonight,” Rozen smirked.
The squeaking continued, along with little bangs on a glass object. Part of Nicole’s pants started to glow.
Brightrose, being the scientist of the group, asked, “What is he? Or rather, where is he?”
Nicole took out a small potion-like glass bottle, “In here.” The bottle glowed a bright green with a little figure inside of it.
Gabriel took the bottle, “I suggest we just leave him outside for the night if he so wishes to be like this.”
Hyashi looked at the bottle in wonder, awed by the glow color. “Wow, he really doesn’t look happy in there.”
Brightrose concurred, “Yeah, we should let him out. I don’t see why not. It’s not like it’s some INVATATION only party!”
Zellner frowned, “Are you still bitter about that madam?”
Brightrose, without hesitation, ran as fast as shi could and put the momentum into hir right fist, while shi screamed, “YOU BASTARD, I WAS ONCE LIKE YOU!!!!!” Shi raised hir fist to strike Zellner, but Nicole blocked her with her arms up to protect her face. She was pushed back a foot or two from the impact. Nicole regained her balance and in one quick motion, her teeth were at Brightrose’s neck.
Brightrose, quick with hir actions, pulled the Beam Rifle out and pointed it’s barrel towards Nicole’s mouth, shi flipped the safety off and put hir finger on the trigger. Quietly, shi said, “I don’t miss twice. Now back off.”
Nicole glared at hir, eyes now a red, “Don’t you dare touch the professor again. Next time you will die.” She retreated from the taur.
“Your threats mean nothing to me. And next time, Doc, I am a hermaphrodite at the very least, and at best, I am a male. Please refrain from using feminine terms. I apologize for attacking for a stupid reason. But you, Nicole, you watch yourself. As I said earlier, I don’t miss twice. I first hit your face, next might be your heart.” Brightrose warned.
Hyashi went up to Brightrose and whispered, “You had that one coming to you. You attacked without proper cause, turn the safety on and stand down.”
Brightrose stared at Hyashi, hir eyes bore deep into his, “Look, I don’t think you realize what it’s like to grow up perfectly normal and then poof. You’re something you never could imagine!”
Greyfur, who felt like shi had been forgotten, was offended, “Are you saying, that….Are you saying that Chakats are freaks? Did you lose the reason why you became one in the transition?” Hir voice slowly transitioned from accusation to emotional.
Brightrose instantly felt guilty. For the first time in six years, shi dropped hir gun and walked up to Greyfur. Shi gave Greyfur a hug and said, “No, it’s just been difficult for me since I had transformed. I’m sorry.”
Hyashi took this time to explain to Nicole and Zellner what had happened to Brightrose. “Brightrose used to be a human male. He and Greyfur were listed as MIA when the Golden Sun returned to Terra. They actually crashed in my backyard, and from there, he and Greyfur lived with me and my friends. Then Garrett got him a job on the ship Nautilus, when he came back, he was Brightrose.”
Rozen nodded, “So while we are on the subject. Can hermaphrodites breed with themselves?”
Zellner frowned, “What is with you and your fascination with different beings and their breeding habits?”
“I’m just wondering,” Rozen shrugged.
Brightrose, having broken hir embrace with Greyfur, whipped out hir pistol and aimed at Rozen's head. Garrett took the opportunity to ram his shoulder into Brightrose just as shi fired. The off balancing of Garrett's hit made the shot go off it's intended path, and hit Rozen's left ear tip instead. Brightrose immediately protested, “Oh come on! Just one shot!”
Garrett slapped hir across the face, “Calm down! What happened to you? You were fine until we walked in! There is no excuse for this behavior! Now go outside, right now!”
Everyone was silent. Garrett pointed towards the door with a stern look on his face. As Brightrose slowly walked out, the rose that was always in hir hair fell out. It slowly fell to the ground, and Garrett picked it up. He watched as Brightrose walked a couple meters from the house and laid down.
“I must apologize for his....hir behavior. Shi's been restless since we got here and I don't know why. Though I must say Rozen, that was uncalled for. Let's all just go to sleep.” Garrett said calmly. Everyone shrugged and walked upstairs, save Hyashi, who stayed behind.
“Garrett, was that necessary? It's almost, too harsh to single out a Chakat outside, especially at night.” Hyashi said trying to reason with Garrett.
“Hyashi, you know that Travis is a reflective person. He is still not fully a Chakat, as you can see. He still stands up for them, and he even defends things that don't always apply to him. Though his Chakat mind must be devastated, his mind is recalling all the events that just happened.” Garrett explained.
“I still don't think it's fair, It's painful being alone. Chakat or not, I think there is a better solution.”
“Hyashi, go to sleep, he must reflect by himself.”
“Garrett, that's not fair, if you knew him like I did, you would call him back.”
Garrett rolled his eyes and grabbed Hyashi's shoulders, “Look, I've known Travis since the Golden Sun launched. He's told me everything there is and was to know about him. I know the vulpeen he met, she was on the ship for a while. I know that he was going to propose to Greyfur, but shi died, and then you beat him to it. I know that he was born June 2nd, 1992, in Youngstown, Ohio. Where his current residence is. I know that he is still a virgin. I. Know. Everything. Now go to sleep, I will stay here until he's ready.”
Hyashi was about to protest, but Garrett was right. He sighed as he started upstairs, Garrett called to him, “Hey, I know what you mean though. I know it's unfair to leave a taur outside, but it'll make him better as a person and a Chakat.”
Hyashi didn't answer, he just kept going upstairs. Garrett couldn't blame him, he didn't want to send Brightrose outside, but he had too. And shi knew it. Garrett began cleaning up the house from earlier messes.
A couple hours later, just as Garrett got into a comfortable ball where his head perfectly rested on his tail in the middle of the now clean kitchen floor, Brightrose softly knocked.
Garrett got up and opened the door, “You ready now?
Instead of answering, Brightrose gave Garrett a hug, shi was near tears, “I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Please don't make me do that ever again!” Garrett was surprised. He hadn't realized that Chakats were more prone to isolation sickness than Foxtaurs.
“I apologize myself, I didn't realize it would be that bad.” Garrett said slowly.
Brightrose, leaving the embrace and wiping off tears that were forming said, “Me neither, I walked out there, and I was fine up until I heard the door close. All these thoughts came in at once and I...I couldn't help it. I had to come in!”
Garrett apologized again as he led hir up to hir room.
The Next Day
Clayton slithered downstairs quietly, Rozen trailing behind him, “Look, I’m not telling you, end of discussion,” he whispered fiercely.
“Why not? I want to know what happened to your ear,” Clayton stopped to give Rozen a pout.
Rozen gave the naga a thump on top of his head, “I said drop it. It’s not important.”
“Oh, so, when I start shedding it’s the most important thing in the world, but when you get part of your ear SHOT OFF, it’s no big deal?” Clayton stopped at the foot of the stairs and put his hands on his hips, “You are such a meanie!”
Rozen rolled his eyes, “It’s not the same thing. Plus, you need to stay quiet or else they are going to hear us. There’s no way we can get you that special chocolate if you are this loud.”
“There is no way we can get that special chocolate if you keep talking about it,” Clayton whispered very quickly, spewing a few drops of venom on Rozen. “So why is part of your ear gone?”
Rozen struck at Clayton, but Clayton grabbed his hand too quickly. He glared and squeezed the man’s hand until he heard a satisfying crack of several bones. Rozen let out a blood curtailing scream. He sounded like someone was killing him. Clayton did not let go of his hand, when he did, Rozen’s hand was just a mash of skin. All his fingers were bent at odd angles and crushed in inhumanly ways.
Hyashi, who had been in the kitchen since early this morning, heard the scream as if it were a foot away from him. He instantly went to the source and found Rozen on the ground with Clayton over him.
“What happened here?” Hyashi demanded.
“Rozen was being uncooperative, so I helped him.” Clayton calmly explained.
“Look, if none of you noticed, we let you stay here for free. We let you stay here after breaking in, threatening us, and forcing one of our friends into a bad situation. I really don’t want to deal with this. The next time someone screams, I’m blaming you.” Hyashi said with his bow now in hand.
“It’s because I’m a naga isn’t it? You don’t like snakes?” Clayton asked accusingly.
“I’ve lived with a snake morph for a very long time. It’s not that I hate snakes, I hate parasites. You come in, drain our happiness and resources, and leave us to rot. You’re lucky Garrett has the right to say if you leave or stay, because if it were me, you just might be feral wolf food by now.” As Hyashi said this, he picked up Rozen. The bow disappeared as Hyashi lifted him, “Here, I’ll get you to Mia, she’ll fix you up.” With that Hyashi left.
Brightrose was in hir room. Getting ready for the first morning without work, as shi unpacked the rest of hir bags, there was a knock on hir door. “Come in!” Shi said. The door creaked open and Nicole walked in. “Hey Brightrose, I wanted to apologize about last night.”
Brightrose smiled as shi put a new rose in hir hair, “Its fine, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have retaliated the way I did. Zellner was trying to be a gentleman, and I freaked out. I’ve never been called Madam before, and it felt insulting somehow. Oh well, it’s over now.” Shi smiled as shi continued, “This is going to be one hell of a vacation for me!”
This takes place right after Chronicles of Brightrose part 2....enjoy
The Zoo (?)
Part 1: The Freakshow
Brightrose smiled as shi walked into the house that Isaac specified. It was Hyashi and Duo's place. All around hir were hir friends, from the Golden Sun, and others from immediately after. Garrett found hir first. “Is this the Travis I knew??!” He exclaimed as he gave hir a long hug.
“Yes Garrett, it's me. Good to see you too!” Brightrose said. While they were locked in a hug, shi remembered all the things Garrett had done for hir in the past. Isaac and Mia approached next.
“Whoa, I don't think Garrett's EVER going to let hir go! Geez Garrett, shi's our friend too!” Mia said with her arms crossed.
“So Garrett told us that he'd never call you Brightrose, or use shi. He refuses to believe that you are changed.” Isaac commented.
“I can tell. Hey Garrett, mind if I took a breath? It's good to see you, but you're kind of....” Brightrose struggled to finish. Garrett finally let go and shi took a massive breath. “Thank you, it's good to see all of you. Really. Now where's everyone else?”
Isaac led Brightrose to everyone else. When they got to Hyashi and Greyfur, Isaac left. Greyfur noticed first, “Makers....Travis?” Greyfur said while covering hir muzzle.
“Brightrose now...But yes, I was Travis.” Brightrose corrected. Shi would've continued had Greyfur not pounced on hir. Both Greyfur and Brightrose were on the ground for a good ten minutes, all the while Greyfur is crying and saying things that didn't really make sense. But that didn't matter. After they both got up, Garrett had an announcement.
“Attention, I'm moving the party to my summer home! You all probably all saw a ship outside, and that's mine! Let's go!”
Brightrose spoke up next, “Oh come on! I just get here, and now we're leaving?! What kind of party is this?”
Garrett responded as people started making their way towards the waiting transport. “You are the party! Now come on!” Garrett practically dragged Brightrose, even though shi was a Chakat, that probably outweighed him twice.
The populace started getting in the transport. Hyashi walked up to Brightrose and handed hir a bag with some green fur, “Here you go, a souvenir. Now let's go PARTY!!!!” he said with his arms in the air. As Brightrose boarded the craft, shi noticed in the pilot seat was another Foxtaur, it was a vixen. She looked just like Garrett, until she introduced her. “Hi, I'm Fiox, Garrett's sister. I'm also your pilot for the evening! I never met you before now, so I wish I could've seen you when you were human...”
“Ah, it's cool. I'm Brightrose, formerly Travis. Well, I think the group is all here, so let's go!”
Fiox smiled, “Yes Shir Brightrose!” As she said this, everyone strapped in. It was going to be quite the trip.
“Hey guys I think we’re lost,” a green naga stated to his party as he slithered past a tree for the fifth time. He touched a tree with claw-like marks in it’s trunk, “We’ve even marked the tree.”
“Clayton’s right and it’s getting really dark,” a deathly pale woman complained. She surveyed her group for anyone who looked remotely tired.
Clayton was the only naga in the group. The scales of his serpent tail were an emerald color. He had diamond markings in a lighter green going up and down his tail. His green hair was tied back in a long, loose braid. His steady, forest green eyes looked around as he tried to find a tree without the crude markings they had put on them, “Nicole, we’ve gone in every direction.”
The pale woman nodded once and ran a hand through her auburn hair. She strained her ears to hear for anything, anything at all.
The other three in the group tried to figure out where to go as well. The oldest out of everyone had his white hair pulled back in a ponytail. He paced across the small clearing, “If we find a river and follow it, it will have to lead us out of this forest eventually.”
“Professor Zellner makes a good point,” a man with glittering fairy wings stated, “A river will also lead us to food and water.”
“No duh Gabriel,” an elfish looking man replied quite bluntly, “That’s probably the most unintelligent thing that has been said since Nicole named the rabbit twenty miles back Fluffy.”
Nicole frowned, “Fluffy tasted good. Also, Rozen you don’t have to get on Gabriel’s back. He was just making a statement.”
Zellner had stopped pacing and he started into the woods. The group suddenly stopped talking and just followed him. The professor was clearly the leader.
Rozen stopped right in front of Gabriel, causing the fairy man to trip. He didn’t say anything as Rozen changed directions and muttered, “I hear a river.”
Clayton played with the earring in his right ear as he stopped to stare down at the water. He gave the water a shudder. He didn’t like water and it was very apparent as he slowly backed away, “Let’s continue, nothing to see here, just a river.”
Rozen grinned, “Naw, let’s stay. It’s nice and maybe we can all go for a swim.”
Clayton glared at Rozen and hissed at him, “I said let’s go and when I say let’s go, I mean let’s go!”
Rozen’s grin fell. Clayton always had episodes like this, but most of the time they were worse and today he didn’t feel like getting his teeth knocked in, “Fine. The professor said that a river might lead us out of the forest, so let’s just follow it.”
Zellner nodded, “Yes, now if we have to go more than five miles, we need to make camp. It will be dark in an hour.”
Nicole stared in both directions that the river went, “I’ll run ahead and see which one leads out of here.” She was gone the next moment.
No one seemed surprised, they had been used to Nicole’s inhuman speeds for the longest time now. Clayton went to go sit on a rock and Rozen laughed to himself, “Don’t even bother sitting down, you know she’ll be back within the next minute.” As soon as he had finished his sentence, Nicole was back.
“There is a ginormous mansion, scratch that, GIGANTIC mansion, castle, thing just two miles away,” Nicole was clearly ecstatic about this.
“We shouldn’t intrude into someone else’s home…” Gabriel muttered, his priestly morals kicking in.
Rozen laughed loudly, “Fuck that! If no one is home then they won’t know.” Everyone was already following Nicole once more.
“If someone is home, we must ask before we intrude,” Zellner warned his test subjects.
Clayton slithered up ahead, he really wanted to get there first and claim the biggest room with the biggest bed. There would probably be shiny jewelry as well, maybe even gold. It was easy to guess why Zellner called Clayton his “little prince”.
Once they got to the clearing with the “gigantic mansion, castle, thing”, Clayton took off. Nicole had to run, at a more human speed, to catch up to the naga. She had to make sure no harm came to him.
Gabriel still felt bad about intruding into someone else’s home, “How will we know if they are home?”
“Throw a rock through a window,” Rozen stated as if it was the most logical answer ever.
“But that would break their window!” Gabriel exclaimed.
“So what? They can get it fixed,” Rozen gave a little shrug.
Gabriel stared at Zellner, silently begging him to force Rozen to switch from this dark path to a path of holier ideas. (Like that would ever happen. You should see the last town they visited.)
Zellner didn’t say anything, he knew if this turned out bad, Rozen would take the blame. He even handed Rozen a good sized rock to throw at a window.
“Rozen, please see the light and change your mind. This is not the best idea,” Gabriel complained, “We can always go sleep in a cave or on the forest floor.”
“Fuck that shit! Not when we have available rooms and beds right here, there is just one little layer of glass stopping us.” Rozen tossed the rock in the air and caught it, sailing it through the air and towards the window.
It shattered. The window didn’t brake, it shattered. Gabriel had the worst feeling in the world about this. He knew something bad was going to happen and it was Rozen’s head on the line, again.
Rozen carefully climbed through the window, getting a cut on his cheek. He didn’t bother wiping off the blood dripping from his cheek as he unlocked the front door for his friends.
Nicole went immediately to him and used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe his cheek, “Rozen, you really need to be careful. That could have been your neck.”
Rozen grinned, “Are you proclaiming your love for me Nicole?”
Nicole frowned and walked past the elf man, “No. Just concerned.”
“She totally digs me,” Rozen said to no one in particular.
“Yeah, just like she ‘digs’ a cockroach,” Clayton muttered, going to find the kitchen.
Gabriel chuckled, “Seriously, God would want you to give up by now.” He left Zellner and Rozen in the entryway, going to explore the house. Rozen was slowly tainting Gabriel’s soul from pure and free of any sins, to being okay with the sins of others.
Zellner announced that he was going to see if there was a computer, to see if his lab assistant had sent him the results for a new project.
Clayton finally found the kitchen and slithered in, spotting a cake right there on the counter. He grinned so big that you’d think he had never seen a cake in this life. His forked tongue leaked out from his mouth as he got closer to the cake. He leaned over it, practically drooling. His forked tongue touched the icing.
“Oh my gosh this is the most amazing icing I have ever tasted in my life!” everyone could hear Clayton exclaim. Clayton didn’t stop with just one lick, he continued. He licked up several of the letters on the cake and most of the icing.
Nicole stood next to Clayton to see what the snake was up to, “’Me ho Brightrose’? Who would write that on a cake?”
“Oh, it used to say ‘Welcome home Brightrose’,” Clayton said cheerfully.
Nicole’s eyes widened and she called for Zellner, saying it was an emergency.
“Why the sudden-oh crap…” Clayton froze, the words finally clicking in his head. People were coming home and he had eaten the icing off of the cake. Someone was going to have low blood sugar and have a bad cake. He felt horrible, but he might as well have a slice, since he already did ruin the cake.
Clayton took a slice of it and took a bite, “Rozen, get in here! It’s like sex, but made of chocolate!”
Rozen was already in the room once Clayton had finished speaking, “Sex? Where?”
Clayton pointed excitedly to the cake, the sugar was already taking affect.
Rozen looked very disappointed, “Clayton, first I don’t like chocolate. B, sex is better, you should try it sometime.”
Clayton shook his head, “Nothing is better than this cake.”
Gabriel came into the room to see what all of the commotion was about. He stared at the cake and the words, “Who would sink so low on the scale of righteousness and put something like that on a cake?”
Clayton shook his head, “It use to say ‘Welcome home Brightrose’. I licked the letters off and it just happens to say that now. Oh and Nicole went to go talk to Zellner about the welcome home thing. We’re probably going to have to leave soon before the people see their cake all messed up. That would put me in a very bad mood.”
“You’re worried about the cake? What about the window?! God is going to kill me for sure!” Gabriel’s voice steadily got louder and higher with each word.
Meanwhile
“Sorry for the bad traffic you guys…” Fiox said as she began the landing sequence. “I didn’t realize that Star Fleet would pull over that freighter in front of us…” She apologized.
“Nah, it’s cool. It proved for a fun game of ‘guess who’s in trouble!’” Brightrose said. Shi had unfastened hir safety harness and walked towards Garrett. “Hey, thanks for letting us stay at your place. It’s really nice looking.”
Garrett shrugged, “D’aww, it’s fine! We just wanted to spend some time with you! In fact, I built this house for….wait a minute…is my window broken???” Garrett asked. He sounded more frantic than usual. He hurried to the back of the ship to his personal weapons locker. He grabbed the Devastator and enough blaster rifles for everyone.
Brightrose pulled out hir Beam Rifle from hir backpack. Shi armed the weapon for close-quarters, just in case. Isaac, Mia, and Fiox had blaster pistols. Hyashi’s Emerald amulet glowed a brilliant green. And a bow, at least twice the size of a normal human, appeared in his arms.
The team walked out of the craft. Garrett, with the Devastator on his shoulder, noticed the door was open. He motioned for Isaac to walk into the building, but Brightrose ruined it. Shi fires a shot into the house and yells, “WHO THE FUCK IS IN HERE???!”
Clayton motioned for Rozen and Gabriel to stay quiet, “Maybe if we’re really quiet they will go away.”
Zellner and Nicole slowly walked out of the house, half of Nicole’s face was blown away and slowly was healing itself. Zellner had a gun tucked away in his lab coat, but his hands were up. Nicole on the other hand was reaching for his gun.
Garrett armed the Devastator and said, “Maybe perhaps, if you DIDN’T BREAK INTO MY HOUSE! You wouldn’t have lost your FACE! Now drop to the floor! All of you!”
Rozen and Gabriel walk out of the kitchen with their hands up. “God has just fucked you over for your sins Rozen,” Gabriel stated in a bored tone.
“Oh shut up, you fairy,” Rozen snapped. He was not in the best mood right now.
Nicole leaned against the wall, refusing, along with pretty much everyone else.
Clayton slowly slithered into view. He gave everyone the most guilty expression ever. He had something hidden behind his back. He stared at the new group, “I’m sorry…It’s my fault you’re all angry…I guess you found out about the cake.” He showed them the cake that was hidden behind his back and pouted, “It was really good though. I promise I will make you another one.” His forked tongue flicked in and out of his mouth.
Brightrose looked at the naga, shi lowered hir Beam Rifle and said, “First, who are you all and why are you here? As you can clearly see, you are all outgunned. All of us can fight in close quarters, and Garrett here, who also owns this house, has the hand-held equivalent of a Ion cannon. The weapon I hold is a highly precise rifle that, as you can tell, can punch quite a hole in skin.” As shi said this, shi gestured towards Nicole.
Hyashi, with his bowstring pulled back, said “You have no right to be here, and Star Fleet won’t ask questions if we killed you here. So start explaining!” Clearly, no one here was happy, but something had to be said.
Clayton frowned and gave them a hiss, just dropping the cake to the ground. He didn’t care if the cake was ruined. He stared at them, “You hurt any of my friends and I will make you hearts explode!”
Garrett smiled, “HAH! Do you even see what you’re dealing with?! If I fired this, just once, all of you will be reduced to ash, and the back end of this building will collapse upon what’s left! Second, that cake held a homing device. You are locked inside this building, start talking. Bitch.”
Nicole was fully healed by now, “Clayton, step back now.” Clayton slithered back into line behind Nicole and Zellner, with Rozen and Gabriel.
Zellner dropped his gun to the floor, “Let’s be sensible. We will talk when we don’t feel so threatened. Oh and you have a nice collection of books in your library.”
Nicole was clearly uncomfortable with this. She glared at Brightrose, probably for shooting her in the face.
Garrett didn’t flinch by the scientist’s remark, “Why thank you, but maybe…just maybe, we wouldn’t be so hostile if you didn’t barge in here uninvited.” He lowered the Devastator, “Now speak, please.”
Zellner nodded, “That is understandable. We will each tell our stories, just enough so you can trust us. I promise you, none of us meant any harm. Nicole please go first, you were born first after all.” He gave a little chuckle, as if it was an inside joke.
Nicole stops glaring for just a moment, “First off, I was born in 1992. I ‘died’ in 2016 at the age of 24. During the Gene Wars I was hiding away in England on a plot of land I had acquired in 2037. I am a doctor, but I haven’t worked at a hospital in several years.”
“My turn!” Clayton exclaimed, quickly switching from angry to excited, “I am Clayton. Professor Zellner made me a naga and through several years and lots of research, I am now God…well not exactly, I just have really cool powers. I like jewelry so if you have any, it’s my un-birthday.”
Gabriel sighed, “I’m Gabriel. I am not a fairy. The professor surgically attached wings to me, an experiment that sometimes I regret being part of. It brings me closer to God though. I use to own a church, but through some sinful dealings, it got burned down.”
Rozen didn’t let him go on, “First of all, pretty much anything is considered sinful to Gabriel. I’m Rozen. Professor made me an elf…kind of. I am the sexiest thing you will see for the next hundred miles. That is the truth.”
Before Rozen could open up his mouth again, Zellner started speaking, “I am Professor Timothy Zellner. My lab is located a few states over. Besides Nicole, they are my experiments. Nicole is one of my assistants. She just travels with us because of a few medical conditions.”
Hyashi visibly flinched, his hind legs backed up a bit, “Experiments? Like, human experiments?”
Brightrose nodded, “That’s another story. But let me start first. I am Chakat Brightrose, and as you may see, I am a felitaur. I am part Cougar, Mountain Lion, and female human, all at once. I am a hermaphrodite, but I identify as male biased. I was born human, in 1992. I met a Vulpeen, or fox-woman, during high-school. From there, I was frozen for the rest of the Gene Wars. I woke up to meet the Chakat next to me, Greyfur.”
Greyfur took the break in Brightrose’s story to speak next, “As assumed, I am Chakat Greyfur. I was a scientist in a cryo lab, and I un-thawed Brightrose. From there, we lived together for a year. At the end of that year, I was killed. Through means unknown to me, I was revived, and transported to the vessel Golden Sun.”
Isaac decided to speak next, “The Golden Sun was an expedition led by me, Isaac Gonzalez. After I discovered my mate’s sister had been captured, I grabbed a team of professionals. Those include, Travis, Mia, and Garrett.”
Mia took her turn, “I am Mia Lowell, Chief Medical Officer on the Golden Sun expedition. There was another who went with us, Ivan Sander, but because of certain troubles, he died. Anyway, being a Medical Officer, I also serve as a house doctor for beings of all races and genders.”
“Primarily, she tends to me.” Garrett said, he continued, “I am Garrett Taipei, and next to me is my sister, Fiox. I am the Weapons Coordinator upon many ships, from the Leviathan to the Golden Sun. I, like Brightrose, always carry a weapon. I carry the Devastator mostly for bluffing, but it fires, and I may show you one day.”
“Oh, you and your guns!” Fiox spoke up next, “I am Fiox Taipei, Garrett’s younger sister. I am serve as primary pilot and recon for most Star Fleet missions. Due to my schedule, and because Garrett is over-protective, I could not serve upon the Golden Sun. I learned how to fly and scout out territory, which is where this house came from.”
“And finally, I am Hyashi Greentail. Though I look similar to Garrett and Fiox, my fur color is different. This is because my parents were engineered by scientists. We were supposed to be part of a Foxtaur experiment. The Green taurs are artists and hunters. I am a musician and a bowman. The experiment fell through when a pack of wolf morphs raided my village and killed my parents. I have lived with three others ever since.”
Garrett waited until Hyashi finished and then said with irritation filling his voice, “Now, why are you in my house?”
“There was cake! Duh!” Clayton exclaimed.
Gabriel sighed, “I tried to advise them to not break in. I told them God would not be happy.”
Zellner tried to stay patient with his party, “We were wondering through the forest and needed a place to stay since it was getting dark. We thought no one was home and were planning on leaving before anyone got back. We’re pretty much lost right now.”
Rozen sighed, “Look, I broke the window and when I get some money together, I’ll pay for it.”
“I’ll make you a new cake, I promise!” Clayton picked up the cake, presenting it to Brightrose, “It use to say ‘Welcome home Brightrose’.”
Brightrose laughed, “Gee, I wonder who baked that….”
Garrett smiled, “Don’t worry about the window, all but one of us get paid a ridiculous amount of money everyday. And thank you for the cake, it’s my first try at one. I used a special chocolate that only I have access to.”
“And me? Can I have access to the chocolate crack?” Clayton asked, already back to licking the cake, his forked tongue taking off chunks of the cake and bringing it into his mouth.
Garrett laughed, “No. It's rather expensive, and the trader only comes by every once in a while. Shi's really nice, but we won't see hir for a while.
Zellner raised his eyebrow at Garrett's statement, “I'm sorry, but why do you say shi and hir?”
Brightrose stepped forward to respond, “Shi and hir are hermaphrodite terms. Chakats, like me, and Stellar Foxtaurs are all herms. It's insulting to just say it, and we really don't fit under he or her, so shi and hir was invented.”
“I see. One more thing, I'd hate to ask but, can we stay for a bit? We are terribly lost.” Zellner asked.
Garrett's group closed in to a huddle, to discuss it privately.
“No, they broke in, ate the rare chocolate cake, and they threatened us. There is no way you can let them sleep here.” Hyashi said quietly.
Isaac returned another whisper, “I don't know, Hyashi brings up a good point, but they seem sorry enough.”
Mia spoke next, “I think they should, it's unfair for them to be wandering around out here, with all the ferals that live in the night.”
“Mia's right, as much as I really don't like them, we can spare them one night.” Brightrose said.
“Garrett, it's up to you, but I don't really think they should. Who knows what they'll do when they find the lab!” Fiox whispered.
“Like Fiox said, it's your choice. But I think they should stay, they have already apologized.” Greyfur said.
'Everyone brings up valid points. If I let them stay, they'd be grateful, hopefully. But they might mess with some important things, or they might kill us. But I can't just leave them out there in the cold wild, with feral wolves and deranged bears...Oh well, let's see what happens.' Garrett thought. As the huddle broke Garrett stepped up and said, “Alright, you can stay. But, there are rules. One, you cannot go into doors with a keypad on it. Two, you must knock, I shouldn't need to explain why. Three, no complaining about each other, we have to put up with you too. Four, any equipment that you see, CANNOT be touched by anyone in your party. They are specialized equipment that serve as collateral and presents for that Foxtaur trader. Do you agree to these terms?”
Rozen opened his mouth to speak, but Zellner already knew the subject matter of it. Zellner didn’t even let him make a sound, “Yes we do. They are the basic rules I use with them at my laboratory.”
Rozen mumbled something under his breath. Gabriel heard him and elbowed him in the side, causing the elf to wince and cough once. He gave Gabriel a glare and Gabriel quickly apologized, he didn’t know Rozen’s cough was acting up again.
“One question,” Clayton started, “Do you have any beds that are queen-sized or bigger with a canopy?”
Nicole pulled his earring, quite roughly, “Clayton, remember your manners.”
Clayton sighed, “Sorry, I mean please may I have a queen-sized or bigger bed with a canopy if you have any?”
Nicole gave him a disapproving sigh.
Garrett thought for a moment, “Well, all 20 of the beds here are meant for taurs, like me. So in equivalence, yes, we do. Given your size, you may be uncomfortable, but I didn’t anticipate anyone else staying.” He put emphasis on the word ‘anticipate’
Clayton frowned and gave Garrett a low hiss, “I am NOT fat!” A rock randomly flew towards Garrett, for his head.
Garrett, having years of training, quickly caught the rock with his left hand. He smiled as he dropped it to the floor, “I was not calling you fat, I was referring to your tail length.”
Zellner put a hand on Clayton’s shoulder, a needle placed between his fingers. He injected the liquid into the naga’s shoulder and Clayton slumped down a bit.
“He’s going to need a bed. He’s going to be out for a few hours,” Zellner gave them all a nice, old man-like smile. Nicole already had Clayton’s weight supported against her, ready to drag him off.
Brightrose, with a confused look on hir face asked, “Hey, Nicole. I noticed you’ve been giving me dirty looks…any specific reason?”
Nicole gave hir a condescending look, “Oh no, why would I? You only BLEW HALF MY FACE OFF!” Her words dripped with sarcasm.
“Hey, you got better! And second, it’s not like you were invited here or anything!” Brightrose countered. Shi looked at hir Rifle and continued, “You have to admit, a blind head shot while pissed, is pretty good…”
Nicole shook her head, “I’ve seen better, Obama’s assassinator had better aim.” She stared at Garrett, “Where can I drag him? Clayton is actually a wee bit heavy.”
Garrett sighed as he said, “I’d imagine. Almost 7 feet of pure scales, I bet he weighs a little more than Brightrose does!”
“The FUCK does that mean?” Brightrose said defensively. “Just because I grew…”
“That’s enough you two. We all should go to bed.” Mia interrupted Brightrose before shi could say anything else.
“I agree, it’s been a long night, and all of the rooms are upstairs.” Hyashi agreed.
Zellner looked to Nicole, “Tell David he’s going to have to sleep in the bottle for one more night, no need to introduce what is not seen.”
There were tiny squeaking noises coming from Nicole. It sounded like a little, tiny midget was being squashed.
Isaac gave Nicole the strangest look in the world and asked, “What the hell is that?!”
“David,” Nicole stated.
“He’s just mad he can’t get any from his ‘master’ tonight,” Rozen smirked.
The squeaking continued, along with little bangs on a glass object. Part of Nicole’s pants started to glow.
Brightrose, being the scientist of the group, asked, “What is he? Or rather, where is he?”
Nicole took out a small potion-like glass bottle, “In here.” The bottle glowed a bright green with a little figure inside of it.
Gabriel took the bottle, “I suggest we just leave him outside for the night if he so wishes to be like this.”
Hyashi looked at the bottle in wonder, awed by the glow color. “Wow, he really doesn’t look happy in there.”
Brightrose concurred, “Yeah, we should let him out. I don’t see why not. It’s not like it’s some INVATATION only party!”
Zellner frowned, “Are you still bitter about that madam?”
Brightrose, without hesitation, ran as fast as shi could and put the momentum into hir right fist, while shi screamed, “YOU BASTARD, I WAS ONCE LIKE YOU!!!!!” Shi raised hir fist to strike Zellner, but Nicole blocked her with her arms up to protect her face. She was pushed back a foot or two from the impact. Nicole regained her balance and in one quick motion, her teeth were at Brightrose’s neck.
Brightrose, quick with hir actions, pulled the Beam Rifle out and pointed it’s barrel towards Nicole’s mouth, shi flipped the safety off and put hir finger on the trigger. Quietly, shi said, “I don’t miss twice. Now back off.”
Nicole glared at hir, eyes now a red, “Don’t you dare touch the professor again. Next time you will die.” She retreated from the taur.
“Your threats mean nothing to me. And next time, Doc, I am a hermaphrodite at the very least, and at best, I am a male. Please refrain from using feminine terms. I apologize for attacking for a stupid reason. But you, Nicole, you watch yourself. As I said earlier, I don’t miss twice. I first hit your face, next might be your heart.” Brightrose warned.
Hyashi went up to Brightrose and whispered, “You had that one coming to you. You attacked without proper cause, turn the safety on and stand down.”
Brightrose stared at Hyashi, hir eyes bore deep into his, “Look, I don’t think you realize what it’s like to grow up perfectly normal and then poof. You’re something you never could imagine!”
Greyfur, who felt like shi had been forgotten, was offended, “Are you saying, that….Are you saying that Chakats are freaks? Did you lose the reason why you became one in the transition?” Hir voice slowly transitioned from accusation to emotional.
Brightrose instantly felt guilty. For the first time in six years, shi dropped hir gun and walked up to Greyfur. Shi gave Greyfur a hug and said, “No, it’s just been difficult for me since I had transformed. I’m sorry.”
Hyashi took this time to explain to Nicole and Zellner what had happened to Brightrose. “Brightrose used to be a human male. He and Greyfur were listed as MIA when the Golden Sun returned to Terra. They actually crashed in my backyard, and from there, he and Greyfur lived with me and my friends. Then Garrett got him a job on the ship Nautilus, when he came back, he was Brightrose.”
Rozen nodded, “So while we are on the subject. Can hermaphrodites breed with themselves?”
Zellner frowned, “What is with you and your fascination with different beings and their breeding habits?”
“I’m just wondering,” Rozen shrugged.
Brightrose, having broken hir embrace with Greyfur, whipped out hir pistol and aimed at Rozen's head. Garrett took the opportunity to ram his shoulder into Brightrose just as shi fired. The off balancing of Garrett's hit made the shot go off it's intended path, and hit Rozen's left ear tip instead. Brightrose immediately protested, “Oh come on! Just one shot!”
Garrett slapped hir across the face, “Calm down! What happened to you? You were fine until we walked in! There is no excuse for this behavior! Now go outside, right now!”
Everyone was silent. Garrett pointed towards the door with a stern look on his face. As Brightrose slowly walked out, the rose that was always in hir hair fell out. It slowly fell to the ground, and Garrett picked it up. He watched as Brightrose walked a couple meters from the house and laid down.
“I must apologize for his....hir behavior. Shi's been restless since we got here and I don't know why. Though I must say Rozen, that was uncalled for. Let's all just go to sleep.” Garrett said calmly. Everyone shrugged and walked upstairs, save Hyashi, who stayed behind.
“Garrett, was that necessary? It's almost, too harsh to single out a Chakat outside, especially at night.” Hyashi said trying to reason with Garrett.
“Hyashi, you know that Travis is a reflective person. He is still not fully a Chakat, as you can see. He still stands up for them, and he even defends things that don't always apply to him. Though his Chakat mind must be devastated, his mind is recalling all the events that just happened.” Garrett explained.
“I still don't think it's fair, It's painful being alone. Chakat or not, I think there is a better solution.”
“Hyashi, go to sleep, he must reflect by himself.”
“Garrett, that's not fair, if you knew him like I did, you would call him back.”
Garrett rolled his eyes and grabbed Hyashi's shoulders, “Look, I've known Travis since the Golden Sun launched. He's told me everything there is and was to know about him. I know the vulpeen he met, she was on the ship for a while. I know that he was going to propose to Greyfur, but shi died, and then you beat him to it. I know that he was born June 2nd, 1992, in Youngstown, Ohio. Where his current residence is. I know that he is still a virgin. I. Know. Everything. Now go to sleep, I will stay here until he's ready.”
Hyashi was about to protest, but Garrett was right. He sighed as he started upstairs, Garrett called to him, “Hey, I know what you mean though. I know it's unfair to leave a taur outside, but it'll make him better as a person and a Chakat.”
Hyashi didn't answer, he just kept going upstairs. Garrett couldn't blame him, he didn't want to send Brightrose outside, but he had too. And shi knew it. Garrett began cleaning up the house from earlier messes.
A couple hours later, just as Garrett got into a comfortable ball where his head perfectly rested on his tail in the middle of the now clean kitchen floor, Brightrose softly knocked.
Garrett got up and opened the door, “You ready now?
Instead of answering, Brightrose gave Garrett a hug, shi was near tears, “I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Please don't make me do that ever again!” Garrett was surprised. He hadn't realized that Chakats were more prone to isolation sickness than Foxtaurs.
“I apologize myself, I didn't realize it would be that bad.” Garrett said slowly.
Brightrose, leaving the embrace and wiping off tears that were forming said, “Me neither, I walked out there, and I was fine up until I heard the door close. All these thoughts came in at once and I...I couldn't help it. I had to come in!”
Garrett apologized again as he led hir up to hir room.
The Next Day
Clayton slithered downstairs quietly, Rozen trailing behind him, “Look, I’m not telling you, end of discussion,” he whispered fiercely.
“Why not? I want to know what happened to your ear,” Clayton stopped to give Rozen a pout.
Rozen gave the naga a thump on top of his head, “I said drop it. It’s not important.”
“Oh, so, when I start shedding it’s the most important thing in the world, but when you get part of your ear SHOT OFF, it’s no big deal?” Clayton stopped at the foot of the stairs and put his hands on his hips, “You are such a meanie!”
Rozen rolled his eyes, “It’s not the same thing. Plus, you need to stay quiet or else they are going to hear us. There’s no way we can get you that special chocolate if you are this loud.”
“There is no way we can get that special chocolate if you keep talking about it,” Clayton whispered very quickly, spewing a few drops of venom on Rozen. “So why is part of your ear gone?”
Rozen struck at Clayton, but Clayton grabbed his hand too quickly. He glared and squeezed the man’s hand until he heard a satisfying crack of several bones. Rozen let out a blood curtailing scream. He sounded like someone was killing him. Clayton did not let go of his hand, when he did, Rozen’s hand was just a mash of skin. All his fingers were bent at odd angles and crushed in inhumanly ways.
Hyashi, who had been in the kitchen since early this morning, heard the scream as if it were a foot away from him. He instantly went to the source and found Rozen on the ground with Clayton over him.
“What happened here?” Hyashi demanded.
“Rozen was being uncooperative, so I helped him.” Clayton calmly explained.
“Look, if none of you noticed, we let you stay here for free. We let you stay here after breaking in, threatening us, and forcing one of our friends into a bad situation. I really don’t want to deal with this. The next time someone screams, I’m blaming you.” Hyashi said with his bow now in hand.
“It’s because I’m a naga isn’t it? You don’t like snakes?” Clayton asked accusingly.
“I’ve lived with a snake morph for a very long time. It’s not that I hate snakes, I hate parasites. You come in, drain our happiness and resources, and leave us to rot. You’re lucky Garrett has the right to say if you leave or stay, because if it were me, you just might be feral wolf food by now.” As Hyashi said this, he picked up Rozen. The bow disappeared as Hyashi lifted him, “Here, I’ll get you to Mia, she’ll fix you up.” With that Hyashi left.
Brightrose was in hir room. Getting ready for the first morning without work, as shi unpacked the rest of hir bags, there was a knock on hir door. “Come in!” Shi said. The door creaked open and Nicole walked in. “Hey Brightrose, I wanted to apologize about last night.”
Brightrose smiled as shi put a new rose in hir hair, “Its fine, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn’t have retaliated the way I did. Zellner was trying to be a gentleman, and I freaked out. I’ve never been called Madam before, and it felt insulting somehow. Oh well, it’s over now.” Shi smiled as shi continued, “This is going to be one hell of a vacation for me!”
Category Story / All
Species Unspecified / Any
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File Size 173 kB
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