The Village
After many twists and turns, the two of you followed your keen sense of sight and smell down a path that brought you to an underground forest with a waterfall and a stream. In the distance, you could barely make out a faint light. The two of you climbed the small waterfall and splashed along the stream until you found it--the Beastfolk Hideout.
The entrance seemed like something one would expect from a tavern. It looked normal enough, with a wooden door and a light-up sign hanging crookedly just above. Percy was skeptical, but the two of you ventured inside and beheld a completely new world.
Everywhere you looked you saw people like you and Percy; cat people, dog people, lizard people, bird people... Beastfolk of all shapes and sizes and types. They all seemed happy enough in their chatter, and life here was not unlike that of a human's. "We really made it..."
"...come on, we gotta get you to a doc or somethin' so they can fix you up!" Percy took your hand and ran with you through the crowds, causing quite a stir in the hideout until all eyes were on the two of you.
You explained your situation to the boss of the place, a pitbull anthro by the name of Bargus. He directed you to the hideout's top doctor, a studious Toucan woman. She gave you a large bottle of thick, muggy-looking purple liquid and told you to drink it all, since your condition was so advanced that you couldn't risk taking it in doses.
You chugged it, but it was disgusting, You retched a dozen times over, but you did not let yourself vomit. You drank and drank and drank until it was gone, and the doctor gave you a glass of water to wash that sickly stuff down. Then, you felt very, very tired...
...but this time, you did not have any nightmares; in fact, you did not dream at all.
When you woke up, your mind felt clearer than ever. The first thing you saw was Percy, sitting beside you, tinkering with some new gadget. "How is it? Did it work?"
You sat up and stared at your paws before nodding slowly. You did not feel sadness or anger--you felt at peace. Finally, after all the trials you had suffered, you felt that maybe you had found your place in the world. If, perhaps, there was a way to return to your human life, you would leap at the opportunity. But, for now, you wanted to give up the chase, the stress of the 'hunt' and just...be you.
The same you you always were, just...a little different now.
And maybe, just maybe...
...that was all right with you.
Written by Merieth on 17 June 2018
