Transformation Tragedies [CoRIII]

Chapter 14 - Feathers

[The well-known tale of monsters hiding in closets has ruled among the younger fellows for a long time, with that being the main reason why both Kira and Raiko preferred to have the doors of theirs closed at night. So sweet, so gullible, those two little ravens, completely unaware of the loose lock on their window. Dense mist fills the streets with obnoxious vibes and makes it hard for anyone to navigate properly. As if anyone would need to navigate at this hour. 3AM. A usual hour for disaster to take place, isn't it?

Nicole, or more specifically, the eight feet monster finds herself at a dead end nearby where Elmore fades into nothing but forest. Her narrowing yellow eyes are filled with impatience and reflect nothing but sharp agony as she tries getting used to her faded surroundings. Clear vision was something that didn't directly matter to the Upper Limit, but no matter how complicated identifying separate individuals would be at this moment, any being would sound like good prey to it anyway. The ongoing static in her mind soon starts fading into inaudible meows which immediately remind her of their previous presence from months ago. The last small sane bit of her that is left causes her to grunt in unease by hearing those feral calls and eventually gives up on trying to keep herself upright. Exhaustion starts weakening her consciousness and the dominating feral sickness takes over her mind again, without her even being able to resist.

"Let's do this again... as ONE!"

Raiko gasps while suddenly sitting up straight in his bed. A certain unidentified sound woke him up, together with a wretched nightmare already having made his slumber light. The little raven rubs his eyes and tightly hugs his teddy bear, desperately trying to find comfort in the inanimate object and forgetting about his worries. Fluff. That's who he had his nightmare about. The pet cat has always meant a lot to him and his sister, with it having served as a great companion in order to make their mother's death handleable. Despite neither of the kids having gotten to know their mother, they still felt a lot of grief which was mainly projected by their father Erin, which made adopting the cat a good move for all of them. Seeing his children having fun with the little creature retrieved the happiness Erin missed for a long time.

But now it's the cat that has gone missing. Raiko trusts his father greatly, but his words didn't manage to convince him into thinking their pet is alright. His nightmare showed something he hasn't ever dreamed about... nor was it something he expected. The little raven shivers for a brief moment before focusing his eyes on the drawing attributes in the corner of their room. Trying not to make a sound in order to prevent waking up his sister, he sits down on the carpet next to the window and grabs a sketchbook. While tears evolve in his eyes, he starts putting lines on the paper with a black pencil and tries to get the image from his nightmare out of his head. Pointy lines. A lot of pointy lines. Sharp teeth. A lot of sharp teeth.

Then suddenly, the little bird can't control his emotions anymore and breaks down into tears. Fear gets replaced with grief as memories about his loved pet flash in front of his eyes. His sobbing causes his sister to wake up, but she can't even be mad about it when she sees her brother crying. Kira swings her feet over her bed's edge and quickly approaches Raiko, immediately wrapping her wings around him.]

Kira: Raiko?! What's w-wrong?

[Raiko raises his head and heartbrokenly stares into the eyes of his sister with his reddened ones. His already high-pitched voice squeaks as he doesn't manage to speak up properly.]

Raiko: I- I'm s-so scared for Fluff...

Kira: B-but you heard what Dad s-said. I'm s-sure he'll be alright.

[Raiko doesn't even manage to speak up another time as he suddenly gets interrupted by a voice outside, what seems like coming from their window. A deep and rough voice accompanied by a terrifying growl.