literature

Vacation with wizardry (leopard TF)

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This story is dedicated to my boyfriend. Because why not? You deserve the world, but since I can sadly not give the entire world to you, I’ll give you this story instead^^ Perhaps you'll be happy with that too :)

//

“Komaan, baas, speshel priize!” the vendor screams from the other side of the road while hurrying towards our car. Seems like he wasn’t the only one who could read minds. None of us in the car had directly expressed that they showed interest in his goods. There is only one where I know that he likes them.
These wooden hornbills look really cute and cool,
my boyfriend thinks to himself while he peeks out of the window.

 

My father growls something beneath his breath. His mind is one of the few in the world that I can’t read, even if I try my best. He had said that mages have some natural defence against mind penetration spells of any kind, that including my magic ability. I still have a secret hope that one day my ability will grow strong enough so that I can read a wizard’s mind too, but for now that’s still a dream.

 

Anyway, seeing my father’s body language and facial expression (a contorted something resembling molten plastic), it isn’t hard to guess what is shooting through his head.
“Won’t this fucking traffic light ever change to green?” he hisses while cautiously eyeing the vendor who still waddles towards our car,” If he as much as touches the car, he’s a dead man!”

 

That’s when my mom chirps in.
“Arthur! This man is just trying to make a living!”
“I know that,” Dad growls back, while Mom places a hand lovingly on his, resting on the gears,” but we obviously don’t want to buy any, especially since he’s selling them way too overpriced. They look shitty too.”

I sense turmoil in my boyfriend’s head and I stroke his arm gently before whispering into his ear,” Don’t worry. I like them too.”
He blushes and shoots me a dirty look.
“Did you read my mind again?” he whispers in embarrassment and rolls his eyes,” You know I don’t like it!”
“You know I can’t help it,” I say defensively with a shrug, but stop prodding his to me vulnerable mind.

 

Then the engine roars to life and we get pushed back into our seats when the robot changes lights and Dad speeds off. Out of boredom, I let my magic snake back into Noah’s head (yes, I know I told him I’d stop, but I do it naturally). I grin to myself and stare out of the window next to me. He is thrilled and excited, thankful and scared. Scared of me to some extend, thanks to my magic. Thankful because my parents made it possible for him to be here. They paid for the flights, accommodation and everything else so that Noah could go on Safari with me. He is extremely grateful, but so am I. I know my parents are rich, but this doesn’t make the deed any less kind and good-hearted.

 

The most dominant thing in Noah’s head is the excitement. We are going on our first safari! Of course he had every reason to go insane about it. For someone who has spent all of his life so far in a big city and who doesn’t have the luxury of magic (I think I’d die without my magic wand!), a safari must be like winning the lottery.

 

Most of the vegetation around us is dry. The tall grass was yellow and the trees looked unhappy to be alive. But that is… natural here, I guess. To be honest, I had expected South Africa to be very different. Perhaps it makes me sound like the stupid European tourist, but I didn’t expect everything here to be so… civilized.

 

Suddenly the car jerks and I grunt.
“Fucking potholes!” Dad hisses and sets loose another string of curses. Ok, the roads here are a nightmare. They were fine until now, but for some reason they get worse the closer we get to the national park. I guess no one cared that this road was used by a lot of tourists and maaayybe, just maaayybe should have a better quality. Or at least, no potholes that are as deep as an anthive.

 

After a bit more of narrowly avoiding/  speeding straight into potholes, we eventually arrive at the park’s gate in one piece. Or two pieces, according to Noah. He didn’t say it out aloud, but after a specifically nasty pothole, it had shot through his mind that he was sure to have seen a piece of metal on the road behind us. But he was too shy to tell my cursing and cussing father, so he just kept his mouth shut.

 

We get out of the car and I stretch myself, only now realizing how direly my legs need the movement.
“Oh God, we were in that car for too long!”
“Keep in mind that we’ll be in it for another few hours now!” my mom chirps in, somewhat cheerful and enthusiastic.
“Urgh!”

 

While Noah is on the toilet, I make my way to the nearest shop to buy a drink and perhaps a little trinket for Noah.  The room is pleasingly cool and from somewhere they play this typical shopping music that you only hear in shops.  They have no hornbills here, sadly, but some necklaces that I like. Noah isn’t much of a jewelry guy, but I’m sure he’d like a simple pendant. I pick up a rather pretty leopard pendant; it is small, made of metal and painted golden, attached to a black string. Perfect!

 

Satisfied with my choice of gift, I go to the till, place two cokes and the pendant on the counter and reach into my pocket. This is another magic trick I would not be able to live without. Some time ago in Enchantment class we had learned a really useful lifehack. They had taught us to enchant our pants’ pockets so that every time we’d need a bit of money, we could just reach in and get a note or two. And since I’m top of the class, I even managed to enchant it that it could give me any currency, not just Pound.  (Of course this trick shouldn’t be overused. The spell weakens over-time and it’s a pain in the ass to cast it anew)

 

I stride back to the car and approach Noah, who is leaning against the car door, hands in his pockets, thinking about…. Ugh, dirty stuff.
“Hey hon, got ya something,” I recite with my I-love-you-boyfriend voice and press the cold coke can against his side to announce my presence and get his attention. Noah squeals and flinches, pulling his hands out of his pockets protectively.
“Aieee! Ah huh thanks, babe,” he mumbles and gives me a hug and a peck on the cheek. Then I feel his hand snake into my rear pocket, groping around.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing,” Noah utters with a chuckle and pulls his hand back,” Just wanted to see if I could withdraw money from you ATM. Ass teller machine.”

 

Noah snorts and laughs a bit more at his own joke, but I just roll my eyes.
“First of all, you know exactly that the spell  only works for me. Secondly, you clearly groped my butt. Thirdly, did you just do this to touch my butt or to crack the joke?”
“Heh, crack, buttcrack.”
I bring a hand to my forehead and sigh.
“Oh my god, Noah!” I hiss and can’t help but laugh myself,” Your jokes are so bad that they’re good.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

 

I smirk and get back into the car once Dad got the permits for us to enter.
“Holy sh-“ he grunts,” these guys are slow here!”
Dad grumbles some other things beneath his breath and drives towards the gate.
“Oh, Noah!”  I exclaim when I realize that I’m still holding the pendant in my hand, the string twiddled around my fingers,” I got you something else.”
His eyebrows lurch upwards in surprise and curiosity.
“Hmm?” he asks with a mouth full of coke. I hold up the leopard pendant, letting the metal cat dangle in the air.
“MMMM!” is his excited reply and he takes the necklace with glee in his eyes and gulps down his coke,” Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, hon.”

 

Noah admires his new trinket with big eyes and puts it around his neck.
“Cooool!” he cheers with a wide grin and gives me and the leopard afterwards a kiss,” This… is going to be a token of good luck! I bet we’re gonna see some cool, cool animals today!” he promised with a determined tone as we drove through the gate and into the park.

//

 

“Unbelievable,” Dad growls and smacks his fist against the top of his steering wheel,” Un-fucking-believable!”
“Calm down, Arthur!” Mom says and, as usual, strokes his arm,” Just try to enjoy the vegetation.”
Noah stares out of the window silently, uncomfortable with the situation. Just like me, he is enjoying the trip; cruising through the middle of nowhere with just the road ahead and behind us. But my dad insisted on seeing some of the big five, being the rhino, elephant, buffalo, leopard and of course, the lion.

 

Lucky us, we hadn’t even seen the common zebra. We had seen the occasional herd of Impalas (Bush Mcdonalds as they’re nicknamed, thanks to being prey to every predator and because of a white ‘M’ of fur on their butts) and sometimes there were huge queues of cars; apparently there’d be a lion or leopard somewhere to the left or the right, but until we’d get to the spot, the animal would’ve moved out of sight. Lucky us.

 

So I do understand my Dad’s frustration right now. Travelling more than a thousand kilometers for a safari and then not even seeing shit. One of the rangers told us that fresh poop is a sign of animals being nearby, but we didn’t even see any. We actually haven’t seen shit. Great, now I’m starting to sound like my father too.

 

“Eventually we’ll see something, Dad,” I said with a reassuring smile,” It’s just a bad time. All predators are inactive right now.”
“Grr, but I won’t take a no as an answer,” he snaps and drives further down the road and into a small loop that lead to a water hole. I wonder for a moment if I should add that I never gave him a ‘no’ as an answer, but I think it would just make matters worse. He’s in one of his moods…

 

“I just…” Dad moans and sighs,” I just want to take a few good photos home.” He taps his fingers against the steering wheel,” Why not enchant some animals so that they run straight in front of our car?”
“What?”I gasp, eyes wide (of course I’m just teasing),” You want to run them over?” Dad simply ignores me and Mom gives a different answer.
“Arthur! We’ve talked about this! No magic on living beings if we don’t get their clear consent.”
“Yes, but it’s not like it would hurt them if-“
“It’s not up for discussion! We don’t intervene with their lives!” Mom sighs and leans further into her seat.

 

Already from my seat, I can feel Noah’s mind buzzing. There are a lot of thoughts in his head right now, so many that I can’t even decipher them.
“You could have my consent, sir,” he suddenly blurts out and his mind starts to clear. Stupid idiot, keep your mouth shut, what are you doing?
“What do you mean, Noah?”
Oh dear, oh God, now you started this mess… What am I complaining about, I wanted to repay them somehow for taking me along, so this might be a good shot. Without them I would never have had the chance to even fly out of the UK.
“I mean that… uhh… perhaps I could… well, maybehhehehe-“
“What he’s trying to suggest,” I say after I’m able to decipher his thoughts,” is that we could turn him into one of the Big Five and take a few photos.”

 

Noah shrinks back into his seat, his face red in embarrassment and his eyes squeezed shut. He curls up slightly, hoping, no, praying for the idea to be rejected and I hear him whimper. If he’s lucky, then my Dad would say something among the lines of “That is cheating!”, but, knowing Dad, he’d probably gleam in excitement and screech-
“THAT is an excellent idea, dear boy!” he exclaims and lets out a quick laugh, only for Noah to shrink back into his seat even more. Looks like turning into an animal doesn’t seem as appealing as it did one minute ago.

 

The car comes to a sudden stop and I bump against the seat in front of me.
“Ouch!”
“Why are you not wearing your seatbelt, Alice?” my mom asks and shoots me the that-was-you-own-fault look.
“We’re on a Safari, no need for… nevermind,” I mumble and stare to the side while rubbing my forehead.
“So, Noah,” Mom says and turns to my boyfriend with a smile,” This is up to you, no one is going to force you, but we think it’s a good idea.”

 

The word ‘we’ made me shiver. To be honest, I haven’t given any thought into this at all! Sure, I also want to see some cool animals, but there’s a difference between seeing my boyfriend act as one or seeing a wild one. But my parents seem to love the idea, so I guess I have to roll with it.
“I don’t really want to do it,” Noah whimpers, but sighs rather confidently,” But I have to. If it weren’t for you guys, I’d never even be here! So sure, let me play cat for a while?”
“Cat?” I ask with a huff, but then see the leopard pendant in his hand. Somehow, seeing that he chooses the animal that I gave him in form of a pendant makes me proud,” Babe, I love you for doing this.”

 

Before I can kiss him, Noah snorts and lets loose a nervous chuckle.
“So you wouldn’t love me otherwise?” he asks with a sad tone, but his mind tells me clear enough that he’s joking.
“Cut the crap, you idiot!” I say and kiss him gently on his quivering lips.

//

I don’t know what’s funnier. Watching Noah squealing in embarrassment after hopping out of the car, unsure whether he should take his pants or shirt off first OR watching my parents encouraging him like a dog owner trying to encourage his puppy to go fetch a recently thrown ball.

 

Either way, I can’t help but chuckle and laugh loudly.
“This is NOT funny!” Noah hisses and takes off his shirt, throwing it towards me. I catch the bundle, smell it (that’s what girlfriends do, don’t judge) and drop it on the seat next to me. The pendant is inside the shirt.  I chuckle at hearing Noah’s thoughts.
Oh God, what am I doing, why am I stripping in front of Alice’s parents, what the fuck, waaah! And Alice is probably reading my mind too! Oh god. Oh god!

 

Noah’s pants drop into the grass and he takes his shoes off too,  scoops all of it up, chucking everything to me. Now he’s just wearing his underwear, his face redder than ever.
“Don’t worry, you can leave that on,” my Mom says and I can’t suppress a soft ‘aww’.
“The spell is not gonna hurt… is it?” Noah asks, reduced to being a pile of shame and embarrassment. I think I should do this more often with him, it seems to reduce his ego too. Not to mention that he looks adorable.

 

“I don’t know, I guess it hurts a LOT,” Mom mutters and Noah’s eyes widen drastically.
“WHAT?!”
“Pfffahahahaha! Just teasing, darling!” my mom cries out and starts laughing, making Noah whimper in anxiety. 
Then I take out my wand and say,” I want to do it.”
Hearing no protest or complaints from my parents, I point it at Noah, who has turned his back towards us, mentally preparing himself for the ‘blow’.

 

I whisper the spell and feel the energy course through my fingertips and through the wand, hitting Noah’s back. He shifts slightly, but doesn’t notice the spell otherwise as it takes effect on him. Almost immediately, there is fuzzy fluff sprouting on his back along his spine. I snicker. Either Noah is really dense or the transformation does go by unnoticed. Personally, I can’t tell; I haven’t been transformed before. Or at least, I wouldn’t have noticed… Would it be possible to transform someone- someone who wouldn’t be as mentally prepared for it as Noah- without the person noticing it in any way? At least, not until after the transformation. Interesting. Perhaps I should do my research once the holidays are over.
“Just cast the spell already!” Noah whimpers, tearing me out of my world of thoughts and takes a deep breath, the fur spreading over his naked shoulders,” Just do it now and get it over wiaaah!”

 

Noah stumbles backwards when he sees the golden fur sprouting over his shoulders and the white fluff on his belly. The rose-shaped spots follow soon after. For a moment, all he does is stare wide-eyed and baffled at the thick layer of hair, his muscles twitching and stretching, cramping, relaxing.
“Ewch… this feels… weird,” Noah mumbles, shivering as his upper body gets attacked by the spell. He takes in a sharp breath, his ribs shifting, visible beneath his skin before his ears become rounder and flick as they start to grow just a little bit. Noah runs a hand over his ears and yelps when he makes them fold.


“Aiiee, very weird indeed!” he squeals and suddenly hops forward, as if someone had just given him a hard slap on the butt. Huh, looks like my comparison isn’t too far off. Noah groans and runs both hands over the back of his bulging underwear. With a startled squeak, he reaches into his underpants and yanks a thin, but furry tail out of it, holding it up and examining it like a rather alarmed hunter, horrified by his trophy. His knees give in when his legs change their form and he falls forward, landing on all fours. A flick of his lengthening tail makes my leopard boyfriend shudder and he groans, sticking his tongue out of his mouth. It becomes longer and flatter, while his voice becomes deeper and more like a growl.

 

Holy… Holy shit! Damn, I can hear Noah swearing even without trying to read his mind! Strong emotions, I guess. His frame gets bigger and Noah wobbles forward a few steps. His underwear is getting too tight and he paws at it with his still quite human hand. Its palm has turned dark and rough, becoming a thick paw pad. Eventually he slices his underwear in half with some newly developed claws -which I cannot see from this distance- and Noah lets out an embarrassed whelp, his tail swishing across the ground as he scampers around.

 

If it weren’t for the large, panicked eyes and that face only Noah could pull off, my boyfriend looks exactly like a leopard.
“Oh cool, now we finally get to see a cheetah!” Dad remarks with a chuckle and takes out his camera. But my jaw just drops in shock.
“A cheetah? Geez, Dad, learn the difference! A cheetah has two black lines beneath his eyes and black dots! A leopard has these… these round rose-ish spots.”
My dad stays silent for a while and gives a defeated sigh, bringing his palm flat onto his face.
“Oh my god, Alice? Do you HAVE to be so correct?”
I cross my arms and nod, pulling my eyebrows up.
“Yup.”

 

Meanwhile Noah had made his way onto the street and now ‘poses’ directly in front of the car. I’m not sure what exactly he’s trying to do, because he’s just standing in the middle of the road, giving us, and me in particular, puppy eyes. That doesn’t look…. all too predator-y and defeats the purpose of the transformation in the first place!
“Come on, you idiot!” I say loud enough for him to hear through the open window,” Act natural!”

Then his ears perk up and his expression changes to a rather curious, if not alarmed expression.
“Ok, good! Now… do NOT move!”
Noah, as if waking up from a dream, switches his attention back to us and moans, his ears low. Dad takes a few photos; Noah kind of ruined the moment just now, but who cares? No one at home will notice that something is off with this leopard, so the photos should be fine!

 

But after a few photos, I notice why Noah is so worried. There is a deep buzzing and the cracking of rocks; another car is coming. I turn around and look through the back window.
“Oh shit,” I hiss and close my eyes in frustration. Speeding down the road towards us is a rather large tourist bus with a ranger, a pack of tourists. Ewch, I can already smell their sunscreen from here.
“Shit, Noah, get out of here!” I utter, but this time it is too soft for Noah to hear. Or even if he did hear it, now he’s just standing on the road, perplexed, his chest shaking from his rising heartbeat. He’s starting to panic.

 

The leopard is frozen on spot while the tourist bus stops beside is. Suddenly there is this grey mash of thoughts clouding my mind.
“Oh god, I hate excited people!” I groan and rub my temples. Yes, for those who thought reading minds was a gift. It just so happens that I read minds all the time and they just flood me if they have strong emotional ties.

 

So what is worse than a tour bus filled with childlike, over-excited tourists?
“Mom? Dad?” I moan as my headache starts to worsen. Their emotions are killing me!
“What is it, Alice?”
“We must go. Now!” I bark, my vision starting to swim,” Th-the tourists…”
“Oh dear, Alice!” Mom sighs and rubs my knee,” But we can’t go now! What about Noah?”

 

The headache is unbearable at this point and I have to bite onto my teeth to avoid screaming out. I can’t think straight, their thoughts screaming over mine.
Oh wow, a real cheetah!
The trip is worth it! Hah, and they said it was too expensive!
I’m hungry, who cares about cats?

 

But then I start to hear Noah’s.
Oh God, I want to get out of here, I have to go, please, don’t leave me here, make them go, get me out of here, oh God, please, I feel sick, they’re all glaring at me, help, help, help!
Suddenly I start to feel incredibly guilty. We got Noah into this mess. I can’t abandon him now just to make myself feel better.
“L-let’s wait for the fucking tourists to leave,” I whisper through clenched teeth and drop my head onto my knees, trying to shut all their voices out.

 

These tourist cars only drive around for an hour. I glimpse at my watch. Their shift is over in less than 30 minutes. I sigh and squeeze my eyes shut. My brain will be mush after those 30 minutes, but at least then we can get Noah and get the hell out of here.

Meanwhile, Noah made his way off the road and into the bushes nearby, about a meter off the road. He had paid extra attention to be on the side closest to our car.
Please let me in, end this nightmare!
“Amazing, huh?” the guide from the tourist bus says, conversing with my Dad,” I hadn’t expected to see any predators at this time of the day.”
“Yes, hehe, we’re lucky,” Dad quickly mutters and forces an excited-looking smile.

 

I drift off and stare at Noah in the bushes, who was staring back at me.
‘Go’ I mimed with my lips. If he’d go, then perhaps the tourists would go too! Noah’s eyes widen even more, so much that it looks like his eyes would pop out of his head any minute.
I’d get lost, oh God, I’d get lost and never find my way back, oh God, I’m trapped! I can’t get out!
Noah moans and starts to trot in tiny circles.

 

Then the voices in my head grow louder and I moan, pushing myself into my seat. There were even more cars on their way here. For a moment, I stare out of the window behind me and sigh. I count three more cars cramped with brainpoopers. Three! Fuck, and if they’re consistent types of tourists, they’ll be standing here for the next three hours, long after Noah would be gone.

 

If this idiot would only go! That is the only hope I have right now! Unless…
“Dad?! Can we cast a spell to make the people leave?” I moan weakly and try Noah’s secret weapon; the puppy eyes.
“No. No magic on people.”
“But Dad, it’s an emergency! Please!”
“Alice! It’s strictly forbidden. You know the laws of wizardry? If people would find out, it would be jail time for you!”

 

Damn! Is everything working against me right now?!
A leopard? But where? I can’t see it, I can’t see it!
This has to end! We have to go! I’ll apologize to Noah later, but we have to get out of here!
“Dad, go! We’ll tend to Noah later, just get the fuck out of here!”

//

I can’t believe it. I turned my back on them once. Only once! Once!!! And now there are only tourists everywhere. Slobby tourists, families, extremely pale tourists, squealing children- oh God, they are the worst! My ears won’t stop ringing!
“Cut it out!” I want to scream, but instead I growl. A growl! I can’t control my vocal output! My voice!

And where is Alice!? She told me to go, but where to?! WHERE?! I can feel my ears droop and my tail, oh God, my tail, flicking to one side nervously. They abandoned me! Of course! This was their plan all along! That’s why they paid the flights and everything! They wanted to dispose of me, oh God, and I was such an idiot and believed everything! Now they left me here and- I gulp- now I must live the rest of my life as an animal!

 

Slowly, I back away from the tourists with a deep grumble from the back of my throat. I might have the body of a predator, but beneath these constant glares boring into my flesh, I feel like weak prey. I have to get out of their sight! Suddenly, my back paw slips and I lose my footing, tumbling backwards down a steep hill.

 

Leaves and roots rake and whip my face and body before I finally come to a halt at the bottom of the hill, drenched in water. Of course, the only river that runs through this nature reserve and I, the biggest idiot on earth, manage to fall straight into it.

 

With a groan, I pick myself up and cringe. I feel like a schnitzel. One half covered in dust like breading and the other soaked in brown water like egg. At least I won’t get fried and eaten. The thought makes me shudder. Shit, unless I get poached. Fuck, what if I get poached.

 

A vague memory slips into my mind. It was just after I went to the bathroom at the gate, I overheard two rangers talking about leopards in the park. They said their population was low, but I couldn’t make out the rest. There were little leopards in the park. Did the rest… get shot? It did pop up ever so often that rhinos and elephants get shot, so why not leopards too while you’re at it?! Oh god! Oh God!

 

I shake my head wildly.
Ok, Noah, shut up and listen to yourself! No wait, don’t listen to yourself, you’re an idiot, don’t  listen to idiots! Shit. Shit!
I exhale and stare up at the hill. Judging from the huge cut in the flora, I must’ve squished quite a lot of plants. Then I smirk to myself. I guess I was…. On a roll!

 

My smile disappears as quick as it had come. Usually, this would be the moment when Alice reads my mind and tells me what a horrible comedian I am, but the silence, and the realization that for once I had my thoughts to myself, was tearing into me. I’m alone. Abandoned. From my home, family and friends. Why did I ever suggest to pose as an animal?! Note to self, do not ever pose as an animal again!

 

Wait! The Carters refused to use magic- mostly. I think I can be sure that they did not teleport out of the park. So, if I’m lucky, they’re still driving around, and if they did have plans to abandon me, they’d surely drive towards the nearest exit right now. Good thing I studied the map on the backseat, hah!

 

Who am I kidding? I can’t even remember what street we were on. I close my eyes and groan. But… perhaps I can get back up onto the road, or at least, I could stay close to it and with luck it should either lead me back to the Carters or to the nearest exit.

 

Suddenly, I feel rejuvenated with new energy and hope. This day isn’t over yet! I can still get out of this alive! I look up at the sky with my signature puppy eyes.
Fortuna. If you exist, please don’t be a bitch today. I could really use some luck.
And with that vague ‘prayer’ I scramble back up the hill, a bit further away from where I fell down of course. I don’t need a ton of tourists on my ass.

//

I guess I should not have called Fortuna a bitch. My plan failed as quickly as my attempt to do my homework the break before the lesson started. These tourists have eagle eyes! All I did was peek a head out of the bushes to check if the coast was clear; there was one car far, far down the road and it has been stalking me ever since! It’s even quadrupled by now and I have a squad of ten cars behind me! There are probably even more, but I can only count ten from my position.

 

The road seems to be endless too. It’s been vacation, sheesh, so I haven’t done much sports and I’ve probably walked about ten kilometers now already. My paws and foreparts of my legs hurt! It feels like my bones are splintered! I glance over my shoulder at the cars behind me- ever since they’ve noticed me, I’ve given up trying to trot through the unconquerable underbrush, so now I’m just walking on the road- but I don’t recognize any of the cars as that of the Carters’. Damnit, where were they?!

 

I could hear the grunting of the cars’ motors behind me. They’ve noticed that I wasn’t disturbed by them, so they were getting closer and closer. I swear, if anyone of them tries to pet me, I’ll bite that fucking hand off!
Geez, Noah, chill, you’re getting a bit dark.
I roll my eyes at myself and drop my gaze to the ground. One step after the other, try to get that coordination into every leg and not just the back two, focus on your breathing, good, I’m fine, I’m doing fine.

 

Then there’s the soft bzzzz of an electric car window sliding open and I grimace. Please don’t let them touch me, I think to myself and consider hiding back in the bushes when I can hear a click, swit and a biting pain in my rear.
“Ouch, something stung me!” I squeal, even if it’s just a roar that comes out, and hop into the air. My tail jerks up and swipes over my butt, a throbbing pain flowing through my muscle tissue. With a groan, I tilt my head and look at the spot when something red grabs my attention.
B-blood?!

I freeze and stare at the quivering redness on the upper part of my left hind leg, close to the beginning of my tail. Sticking out of my fur, right inside one of my round spots as if it had hit the bullseye, was a red-feathered dart.

 

It takes me another moment to realize that it is a tranquilizer. And another to realize what tranquilizers do. They tranquilize. Knock you out. My eyes widen in realization and I glance up at the ranger’s car, a gun barrel still sticking out of the window. My jaw drops open and out of pure instinct, I bolt to the left, off into the bushes, away from the car, away from the humans, they want to hurt me, they shot me, they shot me,  I have to get away before I-

 

//

 

“Found him yet?” my mom asks while my dad is slowly driving down another unexplored dirt road. It’s been a few hours now since Noah has gone missing and I was starting to give up hope.
“No,” I answer and sigh,” But like I said, he could be right next to the car and I probably wouldn’t notice. It’s easy to read a human’s mind. An animal’s mind is different though.”
“But he’s still Noah!” my mom protests and I roll my eyes in annoyance. As if she would know more about mind-reading than me: The only person in the family who can read minds.
“Yes, but… urgh, how do I explain this? It’s like… converting a photo from one save type to another,” I say, knowing that my mom has a bit of understanding in regards of computers and files,” You know, there is dot P N G and all these other things, right?
Uhm… I’m no tech genius, but it’s when you convert it from one safe type to the other. And then suddenly some programs might not read the file properly anymore. That’s how this mind-reading thing works. Noah’s mind is still the same, yes. He’s still thinking the same. But I can barely access it with my magic. I don’t practice so much to read animal minds, you know?”

 

“Shh,” my dad says and silences me,” Maybe we can hear him.”
“Do you really think he’d be screaming around, trying to find us?” I ask and snort,” I honestly don’t think so.”
“Well, it’s worth a shot. Unless you have a better idea, Missy?”
I roll my eyes and stay silent, staring out of the window. This park is huge! It covers about a quarter of the entire country, who on earth should we find a panicked leopard boy?! Damnit! I really loved Noah, I don’t want to get a new boyfriend. I shake my head and frown. Geez, I’m making it sound like Noah is disposable!


I love her.
Huh? A lone thought just grabbed my attention! Is it…?
I love her so much!
“Mom? Dad?” I say and start to grin,” I think… I think Noah is nearby.”
“How sure are you?”
“I am damn sure!”

 

That was another thing about mind-reading. Every human had his or her own distinct “colour” of thoughts. Beautiful if they were on their own, but they turn into a dark, horrifying paste if you mix them. Thus the headaches when the many tourists were there. My head still hurts slightly from the entire encounter.
“There!” Dad suddenly shouts and points at a tree nearby. I crane my neck, pushing my face against the window to get a better view.

 

“Yeeaaah… that’s… that’s got to be him,” I mumble and sigh with a slight shake of my head. Noah is atop a tree, all four legs dangling down on either side of the branch. I’m pretty sure that he’s snoring too.
“Alright, but now we can use a spell to get him down from there, alright?”
My dad sighs and nods with a dismissive sway of his hand.
“Just be quick.”

 

I pull out my wand and whisper a spell, which teleports Noah into the with a loud plop!
“Oh-urhhff!” I groan as he lands half on top of me,” Damn, leopards are heavy.”
“Well, no shit, Sherlock!”
“Shut up.”
I stick out my tongue, pointing it at my dad before looking down at Noah. He seems to be asleep from exhaustion, his mind a huge turmoil of thoughts- or screams rather. I hope he isn’t having a nightmare!

 

“Alrighty, let’s turn things back to normal for you, hon,” I whisper, but frown when I spot something sticking in his bum. I pull it out, which makes the leopard groan in his sleep, and examine it. A dart? But what kind of dart? I shrug and chuck it out of the window, before chanting the transformation spell backwards, which reverts Noah back to his human form quickly. And while my parents aren’t looking, I quickly cast another spell that puts Noah back in his own clothes.
“Now what do we do?” my dad asks, heading for the exit before it got too dark.
“Poor boy,” my mom says with a sigh,” Perhaps we should erase his mind?”
“What?! Mom?!” I cry out with a tone of shock,” What kind of solution is that?!... How about we just make him think that today was just a dream and he’ll dismiss it all by tomorrow? And then we just go on Safari again, so that-“

 

The car comes to a sudden halt and, even without words, I can see that my father is beaming with excitement.
“What is-“
“Shhh”!

Up ahead, crossing the street casually, but with such an elegant poise, is a leopard.
“Quick, quick where’s the camera, where is it?!” my Dad hisses and fumbles with the camera, but by the time he has it ready for action, the leopard has already disappeared back in the wild.
“I can’t fucking believe it…”

 

//

 

I’m hungry.

 

I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, I’m always hungry when I wake up, but this time I’m ravenous. Starving! As if I hadn’t eaten anything at all yesterday. I sit up with a groan and rub my head. What happened yesterday anyway? I can’t remember anything at all! But for a change, I’ve had quiet the visual dreams tonight.

 

“Morning, hon,” Alice says, who is already up, but still in her light blue pyjamas,” You slept like a rock, hehe.”
“Yeah, morning,” I moan and yawn, stretching myself. Urgh, I reek of cat and dirt,” What happened yesterday, I can’t-“
“Hahahaha, not surprising!” Alice chuckles while she starts to dress herself,” When you discovered that there was a minibar with free drinks, you let yourself go! We were looking for you the entire evening and eventually found you somewhere in the muck, cuddling the lodge owner’s cat! The poor thing was terrified!”

 

I blush and my mouth drops open. Now that she mentions it, I think… I think I actually do have vague memories… Damn, how much alcohol did I drink? Holy hell, this is embarrassing! I think I have to make it up to Alice and her parents somehow! First, they invite me onto this grand trip and now I can’t even show the simplest of manners!
“R-really?” I ask and cringe when Alice just stays silent,” Oh… Oh god!”
“Hahaha, it’s fine. It was rather entertaining actually.” Then Alice sits down beside me and strokes my hair out of my face,” So, did you dream anything nice at least?”
“Oh geez, my dream,” I mumble and bury my head in my hand in embarrassment,” I dreamt that we went on Safari, which was FINE at first, but… fuck, then you people turned me into a leopard because we didn’t see any animals and-“
“Haha, that’s enough!” Alice laughs and ruffles my hair,” Seems like you really had lots of booze yesterday, heh!”
“Oh God, I’m so sorry about that, hon, I barely even remember getting that drunk!”
“Just take a shower and you’ll be back to normal, ok?”
“O-Ok.”

Before Alice gets up, she gives me a long kiss and a loving smile. She is too nice to me, I don’t deserve her!

 

//

 

While Noah is showering, I slip out of our bedroom and into the living room.
“He doesn’t remember anything,” I declare proudly and the tension in the room dies down to a minimum.
“Anything at all?”
“Nothing. He believes that he was totally wasted.”
“…Jesus, couldn’t you have taken a more gentle approach?”
“No.”

 

I grab myself an orange that is lying in the fruit basked and start to peel it.
“So, what are the plans for today?” I ask and pop a piece of orange into my mouth.
“Well, we figured that maybe we actually could go on Safari for Noah or visit some of the other landmarks around here like-“

 

Suddenly there was a loud, rather high-pitched scream and I heard something heavy fall to the floor.
“Noah?!” I cry out and rush into our bedroom.
“What the… are you ok?”

 

Noah is sitting atop the bed, drenching the sheets with water. He’s panting, staring at me wide-eyed.
“It was no dream!” he squeals and only now I notice the tail behind him on the bed.
“Aww shit,” I hiss and Noah moans, pulling his knees up and dropping his head on them. He had the cat ears too.
“No dream,” he mumbles quietly and starts to sob.

 

“But…. How is this possible?” I whisper and sit down beside him, examining him closely. There is golden fur with the rose-shaped spots all over his back and shoulders, extending all the way down to his forearms. His fingers are padded. His ears are round and eager to show off Noah’s emotions; in this case, sadness and fear. They are angled low.

 

His tail slides over the bed like a confused snake that had just lost its home. Noah snivels and I rub his back gently.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper and notice that there his chest is furred too.
“Why did this happen?” he mumbles and stares at me, making me flinch. Oh God, he has whiskers too. This is worse than I expected.

 

“I.. uhhh… well,” I mumble, not sure what actually went wrong! The spell is always reversible! Always! What did-
I gasp and feel a surge of fear, confusion and disbelief rush through me.
“There’s only one reason why the spell didn’t work,” I say and stand up slowly, staring at Noah with a skeptical expression.
“What is it?” he asks, almost begging me for an answer.
“Well…” I say and start to pace up and down a bit,” It has to do with genetics a bit… and… uh… geez, I don’t think this is what happened, but…” I take a deep breath,” The only way for a body to… exhibit  such… abnormalities… is uhh… well, if there’s been a transformation involved… and while in the transformed state… that the uhh… “victim”… would have…” fuck I don’t want to explain this. I don’t want this to be true,” if he would have… well if he would’ve passed on his genetic information.”

 

I can feel my face turn red, quite red in colour, but Noah stares at me in confusion.
“Huh? I don’t understand,” he mumbles when suddenly his eyes widen in realization and he shifts his legs uncomfortably,” Oh my god. Oh my GOD! Are you saying that- shit, holy crap, are you serious? Are you saying that I… that I was… with a- a-“ he whispers the last bit,” female leopard?”
“I don’t know!” I utter quickly and throw my arms up into the air,” You were in control, weren’t you?”

 

“No!” Noah sobs and starts to hyperventilate,” Eventually I- god, I don’t remember- I can’t remember what happened! There was- there… there was this ranger and… h-he shot me! Yes, he shot me with a dart!” Noah instinctively reached to the spot where I had found the dart yesterday.
“I-I-I don’t know what happened next! I don’t even know what that dart was!”

 

Suddenly everything falls into place, the bits and pieces of conversation I had overheard when Dad was talking to the ranger.
“We’re very lucky to see a leopard! They’re endangered in the park, so we’ve currently been tasked to shoot the ones we find with mating hormones. Sometimes you need to give nature a little kick, you know? Hehe!”

 

I bring a hand to my face and sigh. Shit, and Noah probably just trying to be himself, probably managed to get a whole lot of attention onto himself so that he was easy to spot for the bloody rangers. Now look at what they did to him!
“Does that mean I have kids? Leopard.. kids?” he mumbles, more to himself and makes a high-pitched squeak,” Ahehe… I don’t want to think about it!”

 

“You know what?” I say and force a smile,” I have an idea. Some time ago, while we discussed transformation in class, I read a chapter that dealt with these kind of things.”
“Unwanted pregnancies?”
“What? No!... Wow, at least I see your humour is back,” I say and roll my eyes,” No, it dealt with cases where people would have ‘scars’ from their transformation. To make them change back to humans completely is a rather long process that takes a few months, but.. . it’s possible!”
“WHAT?! A few months?!” Noah hisses and leaps up, still clutching the towel around his waist, his tail lashing out angrily, his ears angled low,” I can’t run around like a freak!”
“Calm down!” I say and sigh,” Look, I’ll cast an illusion spell on you. Then you appear normal to everyone else.” Noah nods slowly in approval, focused on some imaginary object to his feet. Of course I didn’t tell him that he’d still appear as a leopard to my family and me. I found him rather cute with all his fluff.
“So, just continue your shower, clear your head, hon,” I say and give him a hug, which makes him flinch before he wraps an arm around me, the other keeping the towel up.
“Thank you,” he says and kisses my cheek before hurrying off into the bathroom.

 

Once the water starts running again, my mom pushes the bedroom door open softly and steps inside.
“Damn, you resolved this well,” she said,” I’m impressed. You could be a diplomat.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I didn’t want to rush in, you were doing so well.”
“Yeah… thanks, whatever, things are only solved temporarily though.”
“Why? Didn’t you have a plan to revert the changes? Oh wait… that chapter in your book doesn’t actually exist, does it?”
“…No…”

 

For a moment, we both just stare at the bathroom door while Noah is showering, slowly starting to sing like he usually does. Steam starts to fill the room and then eventually my mom turns to me.
“So… when do you plan on telling him that the changes are permanent?”

Alrighty, I've been working on this story for a while now and I'm very pleased with the end result ^^ I kinda like the Carter family and poor Noah too :P Perhaps they deserve a reprise sometime hehe. 
Also, this story is one of the few reasons why I haven't been responding to RPs much; I rarely can divide my creative energy, so either I was 100% focused on RPs or 100% focused on this story ^^; I hope you guys can forgive me.
Anyhoo, comments and feedback are highly appreciated :D Have a lovely day!
PS:
Don't suggest any stupid ideas when you're in the presence of a wizard family. Just... don't
© 2017 - 2024 timmichangas
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anedgyguything's avatar
That's not a bad permanent change as long as he has that illusion spell honestly.