Freak [Zianourry] - COMPLETE

Chapter 4

What felt like hours later, my sobs faded into nothing. We were all just laying silently on my bed, offering their support. Harry was holding both my hands in his, preventing me from doing anything stupid.
"Sorry." I whispered.
"Don't apologise." Harry murmured. "You don't need to."
"Yeah, you're good." Niall hummed.
"It's just..." My voice faded away into nothing, and I shut my eyes to calm myself. Suddenly, I was in the middle of a huge hug, warmth enveloping me. "Can't breathe!"
"I would apologise, but I just banned that." Harry giggled, as they all shifted so I had access to vital air.
"We're almost late for training." Liam said quietly. "We should go." We all got up, and headed out.
"We get suits anyway, so you might as well turn up in anything." Niall commented as we walked towards what I suspected was the training centre.
"One of the people around here has a rare mutation for clothes. They can adjust them." Zayn grinned.
"So, is there like rare and common mutations?" I asked.
"Yeah, stuff like thermal and X-Ray vision, prophets, empathy, super speed, strength, hearing, vision, smell, shapeshifting, healing, invisibility, you see that all the time. Really rare mutations are stuff like architectural control, clothes adjustment, teleportation..." Harry shrugged. "There isn't many known rare mutations, because so few people have them."
"Right." I made a note of the information I had been presented, and thought over it until we reached the training centre.
"Good afternoon, you all. Oh, you must be Louis. I'm Mr. Banks." A tall man strode over, and smiled at us, nodding to me. I smiled back weakly, but still crept behind Harry slightly.
'It's okay, he wouldn't hurt a fly.' Harry's voice spoke in the back of my mind. My distrust must have been shown, either through my actions or thoughts.
"Okay, Louis, if you want to just grab any suit and Faye will adjust it." Mr Banks headed off then, showing some other students what they were doing wrong.
"Come on." Liam said, leading us over to the left wall, where there was doors. "Faye!"
A girl with long, red hair stepped out of one of what appeared to be changing rooms. "Hey. Oh! Louis, you'll need a suit. Just a moment." With a blinding smile, she was off again.
"How come everyone knows my name?"
"Because the headmaster will have told everyone who needs to know." Zayn said, leaning against the wall while we waited. "He just does that."
"Here you go!" Faye skipped over, holding a suit that didn't look dissimilar from the ones from The Hunger Games.
"Thanks." I said shyly, taking it from her.
"Come on." Harry led me down the row of doors, until we reached one with 'Team 101' on it. "This is ours."
Inside, four suits hung off the back wall, a full length mirror was by the door, a bench was against the right wall and a waist level bar against the left. "We don't have an awful amount of time." Niall said, as they all got each of their suits and started to change.
I hastened to copy, being careful not to fall over. Once we were all dressed, Harry zipped up the back of my suit for me and we left the changing room.
"Oh, hang on..." Faye hurried over, and stared at my suit in concentration. It stretched and shrunk until it fit me like another layer of skin.
"Thanks." I grinned, flexing my hands experimentally. The suit covered my hands and neck, but not my feet or head. We all went over to Mr Banks.
"Right, you can start off on the track, then the weights, then your archery. Tell me if you get through that." With our orders, we went over to the large running track in the middle of the room.
"Three laps in two minutes?" Liam suggested.
"Jeez. Thanks for the warmup." Niall huffed.
"Take it easy." Harry murmured in my ear.
"I'll be fine." I grinned back, as the timer beeped and we all started sprinting. They were already gaining ground on me, as I focused, and my body twisted.
"That's cheating." Harry laughed as the leopard shot past him. My body was much leaner, and I could feel the grin on my face.
"Louis wins!" Mr Banks cheered as I turned back into a human just metres from the finish line. "Well done!"
"Ha!" I laughed, grinning as Harry, Niall, Liam and Zayn finished thirty seconds later. "Beaten by the newbie."
"Oh, come on, I could have run much faster." Liam challenged.
"Up for a race?"
"Oh, you're on." We both went to the start line, as everyone gathered around to watch.
"The fastest animal is a peregrine falcon. The fastest animal is a peregrine falcon." I muttered, concentrating on what I knew. A whistle blew and I changed, my wings beating already as I sped up, approaching Liam who was almost a blur, but my expert vision kept him locked in sight.
"Go on, Louis! Liam! Louis! Liam!" Different people were cheering for both of us, as my wings spread out and I shot down the straight part of the track, overtaking Liam but having to slow down for the bends. "One lap to go!"
Nine laps out of ten. One more to go - shoot, that's Liam. I pushed my wings harder than ever, feeling the burn across my back as we barrelled towards the finish. People were screaming and shouting as the anticipation built.
As I shot past the line, I turned into a human and rolled across the floor, standing while wincing at the protest in my muscles. "Who won?" Harry demanded.
"Let's have a look!" Mr Banks pressed a few buttons and a huge TV screen on the back wall came on, showing the last few seconds of our race. It was slowed down to mere milliseconds. Both of us appeared, hardly moving as it was slowed down. Our speed was an estimated 215mph.
"That was so close!" Zayn laughed as my body half changed while I was millimetres from the end. Suddenly, the image froze. "Sir!"
"I'm going to take a promise that no one will fight over this. Liam, you were in lane 2. Louis you were in lane 4. The winner is..." Mr Banks pressed a button again, and the image moved. "Liam! By 0.003 of a second. Impressive."
"Almost, mate, almost." Liam grinned at me. "I remain the champion."
"Someday." I murmured, staring at the screen. "Someday."
***************************************************************************
Two hours later, my muscles were practically screaming. I'd been alright up until the archery, because the weights had taken away everything in my arms. While my aim wasn't abysmal, my arms were shaking just trying to load an arrow.
"Here." Niall whispered in my ear as I shot another arrow. With a small whistle of air, the arrow thudded into the bullseye. "Wow! Amazing shot, Louis!"
"Well done." Harry grinned at me as he turned to see why Niall had shouted. As he went back to his own target, I snorted with laughter.
"That's totally going to help in real life." I giggled.
"It's your first day." Niall shrugged, heading off and picking his own bow up, sniping straight into the red of the target twenty feet away. With a huff, I transformed into a bird and flew with my arrow I launched and picked it up, sticking it into the bullseye. "One way of doing it."
"Louis, you can't always be an animal, or you'll get stuck." Liam smiled. In response, I turned into a fluffy kitten and padded over, jumping onto his shoulder and looking at him with wide eyes. "I would call you adorable, but I don't think you'd appreciate it." I meowed in response, as Harry and Zayn wandered over.
"Louis?" Harry stared at me. "Aww, you're so cute!"
"Not." I landed on the floor and turned back to my human form. Fortunately, my suit was still on, something I worried about loosing while shapeshifting. "Hang on, do you think I could be a tree?"
"A tree?"
"It'd make a good disguise." With that, I went into a space and focused on a tree. Nothing happened. "I don't think I can."
"It's probably because it's not an animal." Zayn grinned. "Hey, do you think you could be the headmaster? Then, maybe, ah, switch our timetables about?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I might get into trouble." I pouted.
"Besides, Zayn, that's dishonest." Liam sighed.
"Oh, loosen up." Niall laughed. "Really -"
"I hope you are not chatting!" Mr Banks strode over. "What's all this about Louis' powers?"
"We were discussing how I could reach my full potential, Sir." I said smoothly. "After all, I have hardly excelled today."
"Very good, but you really should do some physical work. Chop, chop!" With a bright smile, Mr Banks walked off to the other side of the training centre.
"Louis, how the hell did you do that? He always knows when someone is lying." Harry stared after Mr Banks.
"Might as well take advantage of being new." I giggled, picking my bow up again and hitting a bullseye. "On my god! I actually did it!"
"Well done." They grinned at me, before returning to their own targets.
An hour later, we left the training centre and headed back to the dorms. "Louis, are you okay? You look ready to pass out." Harry asked me, concerned.
"Hmm..." I muttered, trudging along. "I'm just a bit tired."
"Probably that shapeshifting." Liam said, glancing over at me. "Want a ride?"
"Yeah, hang on -" Focusing the last of my energy, I shrank, growing fur, and turned into the same tiny, brown kitten. Harry knelt down, and I leapt onto his shoulder, curling up and closing my eyes.
********************
"You are not allowed!"
"Really, Sir, he's just a shapeshifter -"
"I do not care for your lies!" Loud voices awoke me, and I yawned, raising my head off my paws and blinking sleepily. Harry was standing a metre or so away from the other boys, making sure I didn't fall off his shoulder.
Said boys (well, men, really) were frustrated, and in the middle of an argument with a grumpy looking man. They were seemingly getting told off for having a pet. "Don't worry. Just turn back." Harry murmured. I shook my head. "No?"
I swiped at his neck, trying to tell him my plan. First, I looked at the man, then repeated the swipe. "Ooh, I see." Harry chuckled, walking over to the group. "Guys, there's no point. I think we should just admit it."
"See, one of you has sense." The man leered, as Niall, Liam and Zayn looked at Harry in confusion. A kitten grin crept onto my face. "Look, give it to me, and I'll throw it out in the woods, and be done with the whole thing." Harry extended his arm, and I pretended to slide down it. Just as the man was about to pick me up, I hissed, jumping at his face and using my sharp claws to dig a hole into his face, yowling constantly.
"You stupid mutt!" The man yelled, trying to throw me away, but I bit his fingers, yet not hard enough to draw blood... Kind of. Catching Harry's eye, I looked over at the dorms then winked, leaping to the ground and running off towards the gates. As soon as I was fairly alone, I turned into a robin and flew back to the dorms, hovering by the window.
Several minutes later, I saw the door open and close, and the boys came piling inside, laughing. Impatient, I flew madly outside the window, trying to draw attention. Niall saw me and opened the window, letting me land on the floor before I returned to my human state.
"Louis!" Harry cheered, and they all rushed at me, crushing me in a hug. "Finally!"
"What?" I giggled.
"Trust me, that is the stuff people's dreams are made of." Liam said seriously. "If I was a shapeshifter, I might have gone for a dragon, not a cat."
"Yeah, but I couldn't just turn into a dragon." I pointed out. "Anyway, I'm starving." They chased after me as I plodded lazily into the kitchen, finding some snacks.
"Here." Harry took the stuff off me. "Dinner here?"
"That would be amazing." I smiled tiredly, before going and flopping on the sofa, falling asleep within seconds.