Chapter 7 – Nature’s Blessing

Mercenaries! Why in the hell did it have to be fucking mercenaries!? Really, for the first time in my life, I wondered if having armed mercenaries protecting areas wasn't a bit overkill. I mean, of course, they were incompetent and horribly understaffed, but wouldn't the police suffice? Just for a day, please? If it had been police officers I maybe would have been able to somehow talk my way out of this stupid situation. But no, of course, it had to be trigger happy ex-soldiers that would certainly do the talking after shooting the creepy hybrid! And all this just because a few Neo Yorkers were like me and had the stupid idea of thinking more people with guns in the street where a good thing! ‘Fucking damn it, I knew voting for them would bite me in the arse at some point!’

And so considering my situation, the possible actions I could take weren’t all that many. The two people on the street hadn't even put up any resistance when the mercs had confronted them. No, instead they had tugged their imaginary tails between their legs and immediately run back inside. And to make things worse I actually had never asked Marie where she had parked her bike! So she could be gone for half an hour or already be around the next corner. When I saw the little girl with something extra come back inside I deigned myself to hope for some good news, maybe the gun-show outside had decided to leave?

“Ah… Uhm. Miss? The… uhm soldiers noticed your… ah… claw marks in the facade, I think? Theymightcheckthebuilding!”

The last part was spoken so fast I actually had problems to properly understand them. To make sure I had heard correctly I would have to check up on the people outside. Because as nice as this new sense was, it seemed without concentrating on it I didn’t actually feel a thing, which honestly was a bit weird. Ripping myself from my musings I focused on "looking" outside and sure enough one of the mercs had split off from the rest. Now my people sensing wasn't the most refined, but still, I got the feeling that the person was looking straight up to the apartment we were in. We had to do something!

“Okay, yes. One of the mercs is standing right in front of your balcony.” I went to scratch my head in confusion, and fuck damn did I give good head scratches!

“Eh? How do you know?” I turned my attention back to my generous host.

“Dunno, I can just feel people... and kinda read their mood I guess? Actually thought you were sleeping your pulse was so subdued, it still is by the way, which is really weird."

“Uhm... I guess I’m just special?" She shifted on the spot uncomfortably, signaling more than clearly, that she didn't want to speak about it further.

Dropping the subject, for now, another thought came to mind. "Short question... how do you like the prospect of being gunned down because of how you look?”

Her already big doe eyes only grew bigger and instead of answering she only let out a weak mewl and collapsed into a crouch, pulling the blankets even closer to her form.

“Eh... right. Now imagine how I feel! So you have anything to defend yourself within here? Like a knife, a gun? Oh! Maybe you have a grenade hidden away somewhere? That would come in really handy! Hehehe~!” The beast in me jumped in glee at the prospect of the bloody gore.

That made Nim peek out from her empire of blankets. “You want to kill them?”

“What?! Oh fuck, no! Those thoughts are merely some shit that came with this body.” I waved one clawed hand up and down my body to emphasize my point.

“Wait... you didn’t always look like this?” There was something in the way she looked at me.

“No, I didn’t... it is a rather recent acquisition.

“Oh sorry, I just thought because of the shirt… it seemed like a joke.” ‘Damn kids can't appreciate good movies!!!’

"Anyway, the name is Dr. Janavar Foster by the way.”

For some reason, Nim looked at me incredulously. “Doctor?”

“Yes, Doctor. Medicine and Genetics to be specific. Why do you ask?”

“Oh! I didn't want to be rude! It is just impressive to reach such heights in your age! I’m only a student myself after all.” ‘Huh, what the heck does she mean with that?’

“If you say so, I don't think it all that special really.”

Her look said enough as to what she thought about that. “So, Uhm, Janavar, I may have something we, eh, you could use!”

When Nim ran off, it produced a rather odd sound. In fact, it eerily resembled clopping. Now very much curious I raised an eyebrow. ‘I might have to ask her about that later...’ Trying to figure the young girl out I looked around her room. The one thing that stood out was the overabundance of plants. There were plants just fucking everywhere! This room alone had planter with small trees on the ground, trailing plants hanging from the ceiling, and several shelves with all manner of different houseplants.

Looking closer I saw that Nim was a clever one, all of them were connecting trough little tubes connecting to a single distributor next to the closest sink. The other thing I saw was dresses, but not just normal fashion items. No, these dresses were in different states of being sewn! It was actually impressive to see someone still make their own clothes, I know I wouldn’t have the patience for it.

Thankfully – or sadly – before I could go searching through her cupboards for any weird nick-nacks, Nim had already come back. And holy shit did she come back! Slung over her still blanketed shoulder was a massive compound-bow! The thing was almost as big as her and came with a fully stacked arrow hold on the side. I had to blink a few times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Here I had thought of Nim as a cute shy girl that couldn’t hurt a fly and now this? That fucking thing looked like it could punch through a Kevlar-west! But to top it off, the girl was still dressed in her questionable attire of several blankets wrapped around her lithe frame, which in turn made the whole thing seem more than a little ridiculous.

“Uhm... Honestly, not what I expected when asking you for a weapon. I thought you were gonna come out with a knife! Didn’t think you’d come out with a murder weapon!”

In turn, Nim gave me an embarrassed smile. “I... I grew up on a farm and I didn't like the noise and stupor of guns. With a bow or crossbow, you at least need to have skill. And even if I may not look like it I'm strong enough to use them!"

She looked to the ground for a second as if struggling with what to say. “You promise you don’t want to kill anyone right? You aren’t a terrorist like they said?”

Before she could recoil from my touch I grasped her by her shoulders, feeling surprisingly strong and hard muscles beneath the blankets.

“I promise, all I need is a distraction to escape. I don't even know if they are actually are looking for me. I'm just scared that they will shoot me on-sight... because of how I look." This time it was my turn to look to the ground. Despite my jokes, I actually feared that they would do just that. Kill me just because I... changed. Gun me down like a rabid animal...

“NO! No, don’t be sad! I... I have an idea. I could shoot some kind of noisemaker across the street or into a window on the opposite side and you could try and run away!" She didn't seem convinced by her idea.

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A low sigh escaped my lips as I considered my options. They were basically close to zero and at least this had a chance to work. "Honestly I doubt that's going to work but I actually don’t have a better plan. So, fuck it! Let’s do it!”

“Okay! Where are the soldiers right now?” There was a glint in her eyes that I couldn’t quite place, was she... having fun? ‘Well, I can work with that!’

“Wait let me check, kinda new to all the weird monster stuff...”

“I... can imagine.” She ended with a nervous chuckle. Unsurprisingly her laughter sounded almost like bell-chimes in the wind, it very much fit her cute character.

“So, one – no – two are standing close to the balcony and two more are going towards the building entrance... and a third is standing in the street, maybe surveying the area, I think? That’s all I got, sorry.” I shrugged towards Nim, unsure as to what more information I could pull from this nonsensical sixth sense. ‘Or would it be seventh in my case?’

“Would they see me if I- If I went outside?” Now I was very much interested, just what was she planning?

“Probably? But you still look like the reincarnation of a blanket monster, so I doubt you'll be shot.” I couldn't help but grin at the idea, a blanket monster. Maybe I should just become one myself? It would certainly make me less terrifying.

“I think I’ll have to take off my blankets to use my bow though?”

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Most likely, yes. Say why actually are you so wrapped up? It wouldn't be...?" ‘Could it? That would an incredible stroke of luck!’

Nim looked at me for a second, not my face but my body before she nodded as if she had just come to a decision. “Okay, I think I can trust you. But... Uhm, please don’t tell anyone! And- And don’t laugh!”

With this, she took a deep breath stood up and let the blankets slide to the ground. Due to the shadows, she looked at first more or less like any other girl maybe a little flat but normal. Then she stepped into the moonshine and my breath stocked. For several seconds I could do nothing else but stare at her with my mouth open. To see yourself changed into something beyond human is terrifying, of course, but now that I looked at her I could see another side of it. The otherworldly beauty a new form could hold. Because if Nim’s body was one thing than it was beautiful. She hadn’t changed into something terrifying and monstrous like me, there were no sharp teeth or claws. No, she looked more akin to a spirit an avatar of life almost.

In her brown hair were several silver strands that shone in the moonlight as if they were made of pure diamonds. The hair itself wasn’t particularly long but still framed her face in soft curls and parted on the sides to reveal an adorable set of long fuzzy ears. They twitched nervously whenever there was a noise outside. Looking closer I realized two things that before had entirely missed. First was that her face actually had a little bit of very short fuzz on the sides and her forehead. Together with the soft black tip of her nose and dark grey lips, it looked more like very professional make-up than something animalistic. She even had the stumpy beginnings of two small horns sprouting from her temples. All in all, it was more cute than creepy, even if it had an obvious inhuman angle to it.

When my gaze wandered downwards I realized why Nim had been covering herself. Most of her body from the neck down was covered in brown fur with silver spots. Only on her small flat breasts and her stomach was it a bit shorter and stark white. Yet from the waist down she stopped resembling a human altogether. Longer curly fur wrapped around legs that looked more fitting on a deer or goat than a young girl. The things looked as if a kick from them could break bones, especially considering the hooves the ended in. Above her toned but pretty-expensive butt was something that looked suspiciously like a deer tail, complete with the white fur underneath and anxious trembling one so associated with the animal. Though the biggest surprise came when I looked between her legs and laid eyes upon small but very noticeable penis.

“So? I’m ugly right?” Almost instantly she wrapped the blankets back around her letting the bow clatter to the ground. I shook my head from to rid myself of my stupor. It is quite rude to stare with your mouth hanging open after all.

"Wait!" In a moment of absolute stupidity, I reached for her blankets. The very second my hand grasped onto to the fabric she recoiled towards the back of the room. And almost like in a bad cartoon, she actually managed to fall over her own feet, pulling me down with her. Seeing as both of us had still had normal human limbs a few hours ago, we – instead of managing to catch ourselves – tumbled to the ground in a heap of fur and scales.

"Ouch." Wincing in pain I held my head, something very hard had just impacted it with full force. Consider who I had just fallen over with I very much assumed what hit me to be a hoof. And if I was sure of one thing than that it was indeed as painful as I had thought it would be. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around, both with my normal senses and my more mysterious ones. I was instantly surprised by two things. First, the mercenaries actually had started to meet up in the middle in what I assumed to be the street. And second, that right before me basically straight up in my face was a dick. Almost instantly I recoiled backward and smacked headfirst into Nim's face.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Ah, nothing I just have a very pronounced desire to stay away from male genitalia at the moment.” I could hear the animalistic side of my brain screaming at me to hump that penis already. Which was quite dumb, considering Nim probably couldn’t even impregnate me even if she tried!

“Okay. I’m... not going to ask! But could you please get off of me? You’re, Uhm, surprisingly heavy.”

“Excuse me?” ‘Calling me heavy! Stupid deer person! I might have to weigh myself once I find the time...’

“Anyway, right I’ll get off; still want to see if your plan works after all. By the way... you're not ugly." As fast as I could I retreated from both Nim and her dangerous equipment, in this case, both of them being used to shoot stuff into people. And If I knew one thing then that I did not want stuff inside of me, no matter what my body might have been screaming at the time.

“You mean it? I mean I don’t even look human anymore!”

“Kid, you look more human than I do.” I put on my best toothy grin, exposing my sharp teeth to emphasize my point.

“Yeek! Please don’t eat me!” All of a sudden Nim dived back beneath the pile of blankets on the ground.

“What the? I only grinned! Why are you scared again?” Once more I scratched my head in confusion. If this went on we could kiss our chance to get me out of here goodbye.

"Sorry! For some reason, I am unreasonably scared of you! Just stop snarling, please?" ‘Snarl!? I was grinning! Just short of smiling! Damn brat!’ Abandoning any indigent thoughts I had I turned back to the actually important task at hand.

“Okay, I’ll stop. Now back to your plan, the mercs are huddled together somewhere in the street. Think you can do your distraction?”

“I will try!” She actually threw off her blankets and raised a fist in the air. Much to my horror, she didn't even consider her dick swinging in the wind. ‘Ugh must repress... SEX... thoughts! Bad body! Shut up! Breath in and out, in and out.’

“Oh? Is... everything alright Janie? You’re breathing really hard!” ‘Janie?! Really now, a fricking nickname? Oh, for fuck's sake do not come any closer!’

“You! Bow. Arrrrow. Shoot. Now!” Holding on to the last bit of my self-restraint I pointed a clawed finger towards the window.

“Ah! Okay!”

Apparently, she had noticed my growing unrest, as she climbed out of her blankets and grabbed the bow. She quickly but silently stalked closer to the balcony doors and slid it open. It was uncanny to see this change from the scared girl to someone resembling more hunter than a student. With a speed and precision I hadn't expected from someone as young and innocent as her, she picked up the bow and nocked an arrow. All of a sudden she stood up out of her crouch and pulled the string taut. Her muscles rippled and strained as she levelled her bow at something in the distance. One eye closed and her gaze focused, she slowed her breathing. One second passed, two seconds, then all of a sudden I only heard a twang and not even a second later a window on the other side of the street shattered!

In an instant, several things happened. Nim dropped the bow to the ground and clasped her hand over face staring at nothing and muttering to herself. The mercenaries on the street got into motion. And I felt my body lurch forward to the window half in expectation half in fear.

I rushed forward, leaning on the balcony, at looked outside in the hope of seeing the mercs outside distracted. Only to realise that Nim’s plan at been very much shit, as it didn’t account for proper military training. In this very moment, I understood the saying that no plan survives contact with the enemy. Because right now I was looking straight at one of the mercenaries and he or she was looking right back at me.

For several moments we just stood there staring at each other, unsure as to what to think of the situation. I was staring at an intimidating person strapped head to toe in armour and the merc, on the other hand, stared at what one could only believe to be a fantasy monster. Maybe a little more human-looking than one would expect but still a monster. I blinked and it was as if a spell was broken. In the same second, as my survival instincts kicked in and I vaulted over the balcony, the mercenary raised their rifle.

In this very moment, I thought it was over. The merc would fire, hit me and I'd either die or fall. And yet it didn't happen. Before my hand even left the railing, another person showed up in my magic view. Two soft thump sounds echoed through the night air and instead of the rifle going off the mercenary looked down. Right in front of the group, two small canisters impacted the asphalt. The merc screamed at the rest of the group to get down and threw himself over the grenades. But instead of exploding, thick grey smoke billowed out clouding the entire street in a smokescreen.

Just as my feet hit the ground a voice called out to me through the smoke.

"You stupid woman I told you to stay hidden!"

‘She might not be Kassy but damn I could kiss that girl right now!’