Rising Shards

“Well, we’re stuck here again,” I said as I heard whatever weighted thing they were using to keep us inside was scooted back into position.

“Yeah,” Oka said. “I know we spend a lot of time in here, but not having the option to go anywhere else makes me want to go anywhere else. Also, we’re gonna have to like hide those meals because I want all of them now.”

"There's little text engraved on them that says they're Feral Flu proof," I said. "They feel pretty tough. The timer's got a few hours left for the next one."

"Don't underestimate what I can do when I'm hungry." Oka said.

“Yeah, good point,” I said. “Maybe we should put them in the closet now while we’re kinda full.”

“You do it,” Oka said. “Please? I’m very comfy here.”

I had to resist the temptation to try and tear into the meals when I got close to them. I felt like I had unearthed some kind of artifact with ultimate power, and its dark magic was calling to me, tempting me to give in. That, but with a meat filled meal. It felt like the dark whispers of the unseen beast were silenced as soon as I shut the meals behind the closet door.

My phone rang.

“Crap, it’s Stella,” I said. “Dr. Diast must have told her about this.”

“Maybe hang up?” Oka suggested.

“She’ll kill me,” I said.

“Let me answer!” Oka said. “She wouldn’t punish me like she would to you.”

“Hmmm,” I said. The call went away. “Oh, she hung up, phew. Wait, crap, she’s calling again.”

Oka held her hands out and kept saying “gimme” over and over. I caved and gave her the phone. I sat back down on my bed and readied one of my pillows to hide under if Stella started yelling.

“Oka speaking,” she said when she answered. “Uh huh, that Oka. What other Okas would it…ah, you were kidding…”

Stella’s tone didn’t sound incredibly angry, but she had her “Zeta did something wrong voice” that I could hear even without the phone close to me.

“Yeah, we’re fine…yeah, Feral Flu…” Oka said. “Yeah, Zeta was scared you’d be mad…aw, should I tell her that?”

“Wait, is she not mad?” I said.

Oka held up a finger.

“Yeah, they got something in front of the door,” Oka said. “No…we’re both just hungry…alright, here, one second…”
Oka handed my phone back to me.

“H-hi, Stella,” I said.

“Hi Zeta, just checking in,” Stella said. “How are you feeling?”

“Hungry,” I said.

“Yeah, well take it easy!” Stella said. “Call if you need anything. Alright, there’s a show I want to watch coming on, bye Zates.”

Stella hung up.

“Huh,” I said. “I really thought she’d yell at us. Diast too, honestly.”

“It’s almost worse when they’re not mad,” Oka said. “Like they knew we did something dumb, but they want us to come to that conclusion on our own."

“That is a textbook Stella tactic.” I said.

A weird sensation struck me right after saying that; like a simultaneous chill down my spine as well as a burning feeling all around my body. As soon as it hit me though, it was over, and I felt instantly itchy.

“That’s…weird,” I said, scratching my face. “Ack!”

“Whoa, Zeta…” Oka said.

I looked down at my hands, which were now bestial, with claws and paw pads. I had fur all over now, and feeling my face, my jaw felt like it was jutting out a bit. My nose felt different too.

I sometimes wondered what it would be like to be a Kanibari, but I hadn’t felt any strong desire to find out. My initial impression: I think I’d have preferred not knowing. I was growing itchier by the second, and somehow hungrier than before.

Oka started giggling.

“Shut up,” I said.

“No, it’s cute!” Oka said.

“What even am I?” I said. “I’m too lazy to get to a mirror.”

“You look…kind of cat like?” Oka said. “It’s not as direct a parallel to a specific animal as a regular Kanibari.”

“Ah,” I said. “But like, not ugly?”

“No, I said cute!” Oka said. “When’s it gonna hit me already?”

“Why do you want it to hit you?” I asked. “This is gonna ruin my PJs.”

“How so?” Oka asked.

“I’m like shedding already, this is so stupid!” I said.

“But is it less stupid than having to do a speech we didn’t prepare for?” Oka asked.

I scratched at my face a bit more.

“OK, fair,” I said. “I’ll take this over that.”

“You know, for how long I’ve been a Cani, I’m surprised I’ve never gotten this before.” Oka said.

“Your school was pretty isolated though.” I said.

“Yeah, true,” Oka said. “I got to miss out on so much fun stuff.”

“I don’t know that I’d call this fun,” I said, wincing as I scratched my arm and saw how much fur I was shedding onto my bed. “I am so itchy already! This is gonna suck to clean up.”

I looked over to Oka, who was still giggling at me. She too now had fur all over.

“I think it hit you,” I said.

“Ack!” Oka said, feeling her face to confirm it. “I didn’t even feel it!”

“Did you finally get a tail?” I asked.

“Ah! I did!” Oka said, giggling uncontrollably. “Finally, this is my destiny. I have been waiting for you, poofy tail. You will obey my commands.”

Oka paused.

“How do you…move your tail?” Oka asked.

“You’re asking the wrong person,” I said. “Mine seems to have a brain of its own.”

“Dang it, I thought I’d have instant control.” Oka said. “You still can’t control yours?”

“Not really,” I said. “I can kinda make it move, but it feels like it’s more tied to my emotions or even just my stress levels. Like a stress ring but stupider.”

“Or like a stress ring but amazing-er.” Oka said. “Are you going to be an amazing-er stress tail? I’m so relaxed right now I don’t know what I'm saying. Isn't that right, tail?"

Once Oka was done talking to her tail, she focused back to me.

“Well? How do I look?” Oka asked.

Her description of me not being like a specific animal, different to a Kanibari, fit her as well. She had fur matching her hair color, her fangs seemed a bit longer, she had a poofier tail than me, and most important of all to me looked incredibly cute.

“Zeta, you’re not saying anything, am I super ugly or something?”

“No, you’re like in a state beyond cute.” I said.

“What, really?” Oka asked. She buried her head in her hands, then recoiled after she accidentally scratched her face. “You can’t just drop that on me like that!”

“It’s true!” I said.

“Well, thanks,” Oka said.

Oka was energized by her new form. She started pacing around the room.

“Did the sedative thing wear off on you?” I asked.

“I dunno,” Oka said. “But you know what I do know?”

“What?”

“That I’m bored,” Oka said. “I say we should figure out what fun things we can only do as a feral Cani here!”

“But we’re stuck in here,” I said. “There isn’t much to really do here.”

“That does limit our options,” Oka said. “By a lot.”

Oka tapped her foot. She seemed to still have normal feet, all things considered. A joy of being a Cani was having thoughts that would be completely infeasible to me even after having a Cani sister and reading up on Cani stuff my whole life.

“Wait, I have an idea!” Oka said. “Don’t move.”

Oka shuffled over to me and grabbed her tail. She gently smacked it against mine.

“…what are you doing?” I asked.

“I want to try like, a handshake but with tails.” Oka said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Like you said, we’re stuck in here, I’m trying to think of something fun to do!”

“OK wait, hold on,” I sighed. “I think I can try it.”

It took some straining and mental fortitude, but I got my tail to curl up around hers.

“Thank you for indulging me.” Oka said.

“This is all getting a bit too weird for me,” I said. “And I’m starting to feel that ‘I got sick and am missing class’ guilt.”

“No, don’t feel that,” Oka said. “I mean, this one was pretty much on us. But you can take heart that we showed excellent problem-solving skills today?”

I got up to stretch. I figured the sedative was wearing off on me as well, because my energy was starting to come back to me.