Horizon

Chapter 20

           

Human breakfast was just as good as I was hoping it to be. I had already finished my plate full of waffles, strawberries, and tons of bacon; before I started preparing Thomas's plate. I prepared more waffles, grabbed a bunch of different fruit, and piled on bacon and sausage; knowing how much Thomas could eat.

            Thomas was sleeping heavily when I came down to get breakfast, so I took it upon myself to prepare him some breakfast. Hopefully by the time I returned with food, he would have been awake.

            He was more than awake when I made my way back to the room. When I opened the door, I could hear the shower, and Thomas singing loudly.

            I placed the plate of food on the kitchen table and yelled, "Thomas, I brought you some breakfast! I hope you like waffles!"

            Thomas didn't reply, but continued singing, "If you love me, let me go-ooo-ooh..."

            I shook my head, and decided to see what was on the news. Laying myself on my bed, I grabbed at the remote, and turned on the TV. My curiosity was soon put to rest, however, when I heard the water from the shower.

            "Ooh, strawberries," Thomas said as he walked out of the bathroom. He held his towel around his waist, and scratched at the fur on his head with his tail. "The shower's all yours, Hank. I recommend using the conditioner; it gets the fur all smooth."

            I tossed the remote on Thomas's bed, and hopped off mine. Quickly stripping down, I slipped into the bathroom, and took a look at myself in the mirror.

            My reflection surprised me more than I thought it would. Not even a week had passed and I already looked completely different. Muscles rippled all over my human body, scar tissue pushed its way through my skin, and I started to look rougher all over. As I slowly transformed into a hyena, my eyes widened as well. My body was considerably bigger than how I remembered. The same scars that were on my human body faded only a little as fur covered my hide. My fur looked twisted and curled with time. Conditioner was going to help a lot.

            I took my gaze away from the mirror, and stepped into the shower. It was very refreshing to finally have a nice shower. My whole body was telling me that I could stay in the tub for the rest of my life, and enjoy the water. It was a shame to have finished washing my body.

            "How's the fur?" Thomas asked through the bathroom door. "Nice and soft, right?"

            "Yeah, it's like a blanket," I replied as I dried myself off.

            As I opened the door, I noticed that Thomas had finished his breakfast, and was already packed. He must have got everything he needed in a hurry. I felt like I didn't shower for that long. Pushing past Thomas, I grabbed my clothes, and quickly got them back on.

            "You're pretty quick when it comes to getting ready," I grumbled as I started to grab at my clothes. "I guess we're in a hurry?"

            "You know it," Thomas replied while sitting onto his bed. "We're going to need to stop at the colony before we leave. There are a few things that I need to get."

            "Really?" I asked. "So we're supposed to just walk back into the colony and grab your stuff...after not reporting back there last night?"

            "There's equipment back in my room that I really don't want to live without. If we can get in and out of the colony without being seen, then we can be on our way out of the city before noon," Thomas answered.