Space Bunnies!

Chapter 28: Shapeshifting

After about a week of Bodi playing with Kai's patience, his body was finally healed enough for him to start walking around, Kai stood up and approached Bodi, and to Bodi's surprise, Kai looked quite strong, his right eye was twitching and he had his hands on his hips, he was a little tipsy, his cheeks were red... redder than usual, flustered. Bodi stood up to tried to place the back of his hand against Kai's forehead, to which Kai slapped away. "Don't! I didn't forget what you did to me!"

"Well? I'm sorry for trying to make sure you didn't have a fever. You're so stressed out your body is going into shock!" Bodi pleaded. "Oh yeah? And whose fault would that be? I should have you locked in a psychiatric hospital or maybe a boarding school! Because you need it. I've had enough of this nonsense, we're going to the ship, whether you like it or not. Now give me your pack, I don't trust you!" Bodi flinched out of Kai's range as soon as he reached for his backpack, Bodi's face softened. "I'm not doing that. Because I don't regret what I did. You need to be humbled. Are we going to the stupid ship or not?"

Kai growled and moved past Bodi, brushing up against his shoulder unsparingly. No matter how much the younger brother tried to assist his older brother, Kai resisted. Moving forward on his own. "Since you didn't grab my rock climbing stuff, we're going to have to stretch our way up. I hope you've been practicing." Kai added as they made their way out of their cave, to the very bottom of the mountain. Upon arriving, the two didn't need to say anything to each other, this endeavor was nothing more than just exercise for them, being an excellent shifter was just something that ran in their family, and their tribe. "The climb should take no more than four hours, six if we take breaks every now and then. Kai established the duffle bag from the cave around his shoulder, this would be much more dangerous without his usual rock climbing kit.

"Try not to overdo it okay? It's just stretching." Bodi warned, Kai snarled like a serpent and simply wasted no time in extending his right arm, well beyond what 'normal' individuals were capable of, he gritted his teeth as his arm extended quite far up into the unknowns, it was quite difficult with the cold, but his arm continued elongating with a stretching, squishing sound.

Bodi watched with a mix of amazement and concern as Kai's transformation continued. The Gel-Bunny in him was a remarkable advantage in situations like this, allowing him to adapt his body as needed. However, it came at a cost – the pain he endured during these shifts in his current state was evident on his face. Kai even had his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth. As a sign of deep concentration. He couldn't see the rocks, but he could feel it.

With his arm now extended and tied around some kind of solid anchor, Kai nodded at Bodi. "I'm good. Your turn." Bodi looked up the length of Kai's arm. "Wait..? How do you know you've got a strong anchor?" Bodi asked. "I tied my arm around some bolder or something. It's as safe as it was yesterday, I can feel it." Kai enlightened, Bodi was fairly skittish, he was not a rock climber, but still, he mimicked Kai's process. They abandoned the cave, so there was no choice but to leave.

Soon they started, they climbed higher, they climbed together, and their surroundings transformed. The air grew thinner, and the temperature dropped. Kai's breath turned into frosty puffs of air, while Bodi was relatively unaffected, aside from the normal problems Omeocoon had when presented with cold conditions. Neither brother complained. They'd faced harsher conditions before, and the determination to reach their ship kept them going.

Hours passed, and they made steady progress. Neither of them spoke much. As the sun began to dip below the horizon, they reached the peak of the mountain. A landing was next, this is where they met their arms, wrapped around a large bolder. It had done them justice, Kai was first the retract his, returning his appendage to normal proportions, and Bodi followed. Kai looked around, and Bodi approached, "How's that rib? Feeling any better?"

"No better than it was yesterday. And to be honest? You asking me how it feels every hour isn't helping it get better any faster."

"You're snippy," Bodi responded.

"I want to find this ship so we can get on mission again."

The sight that greeted them was breathtaking – a sea of snow-covered peaks stretching into the distance. Bodi tugged on his brother's arm and pointed into the distance after he caught a glimmer of metal somewhere in the ice. "There!" He took off into the unknown of the snowy wasteland, Kai followed, but his speed was set at more of a jog, they moved quickly, and the duo paused at the sight of yet another ship, this one in magnificent condition, it looked like a small thing, but very capable. Bodi and Kai looked at what was left of their little solar sailor and were horrified by what they saw. The ship was rusted almost beyond recognition, but that wasn't even the worst part. It was surrounded by work lights, which in addition to the little ship suggested the presence of yet another crew.