A Companion for Life (Part 3) by Rtlstien

A Companion for Life (Part 3)

Rtlstien, Anthro, Blood, Character Development, Compassion, Death, Friendship, Highschool, Human, Modern, Non-Anthro, Violence, Wolf, transform

#5 of Companion

A Companion for Life Part 3

It had been hours since his coworkers had left, but Arthur still remained at the lab. He just sat in a chair staring blankly at the egg in front of him. He had both a reason and an excuse to keep staring at it. The reason was because of all the possibilities that could come from having it. The excuse was that it let his mind focus on something other than the thing tormenting him. He knew that he would eventually have to go back to confront Sam. The thing scaring him was the uncertainty of how Sam would react when he returned. Would he attack him physically? Years ago he knew Sam would, but ever since he started making a few friends he seemed to have softened. So what would he do to him then?

Arthur was deep in thought when something made him jump out of his chair. The door behind him clicked open. He composed himself and turned around to see Julia. "I thought you'd still be here so I brought you some coffee." She handed him a thermos filled with pure black coffee.

"How'd you figure that?" Arthur chuckled as he took a sip.

"You couldn't keep your eyes off of the egg last night when all of us left. I figured you were too excited to go home and wanted to start immediately." She took a sip of her own coffee. "I was hoping that you would have gotten some sleep though."

Arthur sighed. "As much as I am excited about the Doubu egg, it's not what kept me here."

"Does it have to do with Sam?" Arthur was silent. "I take it he wasn't too happy finding out the truth, huh?"

"I don't know... I left right after he and Jet reunited. The look on his face didn't show any anger or joy; just concern. But now I don't know how he'll react when I return."

"How do you want him to react? Be grateful that you finally returned something that you secretly took from him years ago?" Her words were like a slap across Arthur's face. "I warned you of this years ago, Arthur. I don't know exactly what made you come to your decision but you are going to have to deal with the consequences. Are you afraid that he might rough you up a little?"

"I'd be lucky if that's all he did..."

Julia groaned. "Arthur, avoiding him won't make things better. If anything you're making it worse for yourself the longer you wait."

Arthur remained silent for a while. "What time is it?"

Julia checked her watch. "Quarter to seven."

"It's almost time for work..." Arthur said as he took another sip of the coffee. "I'll go talk to him after work." Arthur downed the rest of the coffee and handed Julia the thermos. He then walked out of the lab. Julia just closed her eyes and shook her head in disappointment.

It was ten in the morning as Sam's eyes slowly opened. His mind was a little fuzzy at first before he found that his body felt warmer than normal. He angled his head down and realized two things: he had fallen asleep on the couch, and Jet had fallen asleep on him. Jet was in his anthro form. His head was lying on Sam's chest and his arms were wrapped around him. His mind was still a little fuzzy to comprehend what was going on, but eventually he remembered how he was comforting Jet last night; trying to ease his pain. He continued to look down at Jet, noticing his size. He remembered how small Jet was years ago compared to now. The size may be different but he's still as clingy as he was two years ago.

As fun as it was to see how much Jet has changed in over two years Sam didn't want to spend the rest of the day pinned to the couch. He needed to wake Jet up in a way that didn't seem too pushy. An idea came to mind. He used his right hand and gently scratched Jet behind the ear. Jet murred a bit before his eyes opened to meet Sam's. "Hi, Sam." Jet's tail started to slowly wag.

"Hi." Sam chuckled. "Are you hungry?" Jet just shook his head slowly. "Thirsty?" Jet shook his head again. Sam kept making suggestion that would encourage Jet to let go of him, but he got the same response from Jet each time. Sam was a bit annoyed. "So you just want to keep hugging me all day?"

"I'd like to..." Sam's was surprised. He looked at Jet's eyes and could not only see them filled with sadness, but he could feel it as well.

Sam sighed. "I don't think that's possible, but I'll let you keep doing it for now." He felt the grip around him tighten slightly. "You've missed me a lot, huh?" Jet nodded. Sam felt guilty that he couldn't feel the same way. "I've missed you to..." Sam tried to sound genuine to Jet so that it would make him feel better. He was glad when he saw a smile form on Jet's face.

The smile vanished as quickly as it appeared. "You didn't know where I was?"

"No. I thought you had left while I was in the hospital."

"Arthur promised me so many times that I would be able to see you. I thought he had told you where I was. Every day I thought you would walk in and I could go with you... but eventually I couldn't remember what you look like..." Jet let out a whine.

"Hey!" Sam's exclamation surprised Jet. "This isn't the Jet I remember. What happened to the Jet that was always filled with excitement whenever I saw him? You always seemed so happy..."

"I'm happy being with you, Sam." Jet's words were sincere, but his facial expressions didn't show it. A brief smile was all that he showed. Sam responded with a soft smile to show his appreciation. He decided to rub the back of Jet's ears. His action caused Jet to let out the same response as before. It was obvious Jet liked this action, so much that he closed his eyes from the pleasure. With Jet's eyes closed Sam let his face show what he was really feeling. He was saddened that despite what Jet said he sounded like an apathetic being. He wondered how long it would take for Jet to go back to the way he was... or if that was even possible now.

Sam sighed as he glared up at the ceiling. He wanted some answers from his grandfather, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

As Sam continued to rub Jet's ears he let out a long yawn. He thought he had already gotten enough sleep last night, but suddenly his eyes got teary and he let out another long yawn. His eyes closed and eventually his hands came to a rest on Jet's head as he drifted off to sleep again. Jet opened his eyes and stared up at Sam. Another brief smile appeared on his face before he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes again.

Five hours passed before Sam was woken up by the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway. He looked down at Jet and saw that his arms were hanging now rather than wrapped around him. He very slowly eased himself out from under Jet, being careful not to wake him. He placed one of the pillows under Jet and slowly lowered his head on top of it. "I'll be back in bit..." Sam said softly as he headed towards the front door.

He opened the door and saw his grandfather still sitting in his car. He could see his grandfather was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He obviously hadn't gotten any sleep lately. Sam was surprised that his grandfather had even managed to drive all the way home in that condition. Eventually though his grandfather noticed him. The two of them staring at each other; neither one moving. Sam's glaring eyes focused on his grandfather's dry, squinting eyes.

His grandfather made the first move and decided to get out of his car. It was then that Sam decided to close the distance between them. Soon they were only a foot a part. They were silent for a moment. "So? Is there anything you want to say?" Sam asked.

"I think it would be better if you expressed your feelings first..." his grandfather said.

"Fine then..." Sam said. He raised his right hand and swung it open handed at his grandfather's face. It collided with a loud slap. "That's to wake you up..." The area of collision quickly turned bright red as his grandfather tried to get himself composed. Sam then raised his left hand and swung at his grandfather the same way he did with his right hand, except much harder. "That's for lying to me!" Both of his grandfather's cheeks were burning red as Sam raised his right hand again. This time, though, his fingers were clenched against his palm. He swung his fist into his grandfather's gut. The blow made his grandfather's upper body lurch forward in pain. His head was hanging in front of Sam. Sam took advantage of this and swung his fist into the side of his grandfather's exposed head. His grandfather stumbled to the side; planting his palms on the ground as he fell to his knees. His head was spinning; Sam's punch was making everything in his head spin, though being deprived of sleep probably contributed to some of it. "And that's for what you did to Jet!"

His grandfather lied on the ground staring at Sam as though he was expecting the punches to continue coming at him. Sam just stared at him before huffing. "It's only because you're family that I'm not beating the crap out of you right now..." Sam approached his grandfather. He knelt down and grabbed him by the collar and raised his head to meet his face. "Now... tell me why you did it." The two just looked at each other for a few moments. Sam waited patiently for an answer, but his grandfather found himself unable to say anything. He just looked into Sam's eyes; they weren't filled with anger or rage like they were a few moments ago - now they were filled with confusion and a bit of sorrow.

Arthur sighed. He had expected Sam to be mad, to be constantly yelling at him, or even roughing him up some more, but he didn't expect, nor was he prepared for what he saw in Sam's eyes. "It was a hard choice for me, but I made the decision to use Jet in hopes of producing material that would save our lab."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't know what Jet really was at the time. You had already thought he was gone. I didn't want to tell you what he really was since..." Arthur tried looking for the right words, but only the obvious came out his mouth. "It gave me an excuse to use him."

Sam released his grip on Arthur's shirt and closed his eyes, saying nothing for a while. "It's one thing to lie to me, but why did you lie to Jet? Why did you promise him for two years that I would come to visit?"

"Because I was hoping that that we would get the results that we needed quickly. I didn't expect it to go on this long. When Jet arrived he did nothing but cry your name over and over. I had to calm him down."

"By lying to him?" Sam's fists clenched involuntarily.

"It was the only way to make him cope. If I had done nothing he would have kept crying until he dehydrated since he wasn't eating or drinking anything. My lie gave Jet the will to keep living. It's because of me that he's still fine."

Sam suddenly threw a fist into Arthur's face. "You're right... it is because of you that he's like this, but he's definitely not fine!" The rage returned to Sam's eyes. "He has no emotion when he talks! I know he means what he's saying but when I listen to him talk in that monotone voice I can't tell what he's feeling. He's traumatized by what he went through for two years... what you put him through for two years!"

"Nothing we did was harmful to Jet!" Arthur argued back. "We didn't conduct any experiments on him at all!"

"It doesn't matter what tests you did or didn't do! Jet was just a pup when you took him. If he was a normal wolf it wouldn't have been as traumatic, but even I realize now that they have human emotions. Sure I only found out last night, but what's your excuse!?" Arthur was taken aback. "You're insisting you did the right thing by giving Jet hope for two years before you decided to bring him back, but you're the one who caused him the pain in the first place!" Sam was pacing back and forth, trying to decide whether he should throw another punch at him. He settled on grabbing him by the collar again. "Would you have done that with a human child, huh?" Arthur looked at Sam with shock, not saying a word. "Answer me! Would you!?"

Arthur turned his head a let out a defeated sigh. "No..."

Sam was grinding his teeth. "Then... why would you do it a Doubu? They have emotions like us. Is it because they're not human that it's all right? You're fine traumatizing a young Doubu, but if it was a young human it would be out of the question, huh?"

Arthur remained silent. He could barely hear the words Sam was speaking. His mind was occupied with hundreds of questions that were making him start to doubt himself. For so many years he thought he was better than the other scientists that treated their Doubu like lab rats. He thought he considered them equal to humans, but all of that was being wiped away quickly because of Sam.

"Would you answer me!?" Sam shouted impatiently as he shoved Arthur backwards. Arthur didn't make an attempt to brace himself. His back impacted with the ground followed by his head. The impact wasn't hard but it was enough to snap him back into reality.

Arthur braced himself on his elbows. His eyes just stared at the ground. "It's true. If I had put how Jet would feel above all else I would never have made the decision I did." Arthur's face was filled with regret for a few seconds, but it quickly vanished and was replaced by an adamant gaze that faced Sam. "But do you know what?" Arthur smirked. "I'm actually glad I made the decision." Sam's eyes narrowed. "It's because of that decision that my lab now has something to keep us going."

"So you got the data you wanted from Jet, huh? So is that the real reason you brought him back!? Is it because he was of no use to you anymore!?"

Arthur hesitated to answer. He was torn between telling Sam the truth and keeping silent about what really has happened. "That's correct." Arthur expected Sam to attack him again, but instead he just saw Sam shaking his head slowly at him.

"You're definitely not who I thought you were, grandpa. You're like a stranger to me now... and I don't feel comfortable living with a complete stranger." Sam started to walk to the house. "I'm going to call my parents and tell them I want to move back in with them."

Arthur's eyes widened briefly. "And what about Jet?"

"I'm taking him with me of course."

"I can't let you do that, Sam." Arthur got himself back to his feet as Sam stopped and turned himself to face him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You may not be familiar with the laws pertaining to Doubu, but I am." Arthur pointed towards his neck. "Do you remember those black collars that all of the Doubu wear?"

"Yeah? So?" Sam asked impatiently, but was also nervous as to where this was going."

"By law all Doubu are required to always be wearing a special black collar that's manufactured by the Tokyo Lab. Any Doubu caught without one are allowed to be taken down by the authorities alive... or dead."

"Then I'll just get one of those collars. I can probably order one-"

"First of all you wouldn't be able to afford it. Second, the collars can't be ordered; you pay for them when you receive a Doubu. And third, I won't allow Jet to wear one."

Sam was annoyed. "So you want Jet to remain here in case you want to run some more tests on him, huh?"

Arthur was silent for a second. "...I already told you that I'm done with him, and my reason has nothing to do with him. My reason is because those collars are a form of discipline. Do you know why the Doubu are required to wear those collars?" Sam shook his head. His expression was now that of confusion. "Well... the official reason is because it keeps the Doubu from getting out of control, but... there's actually an ulterior motive behind it." Arthur approached Sam. He bent over to have his face facing Sam. "Did you ever hear another Doubu talk?" Sam shook his head. "Why do you think that is?" Sam thought about it for a while before his eyes widened from realization. "That's right; those collars prevent the Doubu from talking. The collars can detect if a Doubu's vocal chords are engaging in speech. They can grunt and make noises all they want but if they try to talk then the collar tightens around their neck, limiting their airflow. At first it causes a bit of pain, but if they continue to talk the collar can make them pass out."

"And you allow that!?" Sam shouted

"I never said I approve of it. It's the reason why I don't make the Doubu at my lab wear the collars. It's also why I don't want Jet to wear one."

Sam shook his head in disbelief. "Why would they allow something like that to be a law? Why don't they just let them talk?"

"Because talking makes them seem more human, doesn't it? And that's something they don't want to public to realize. There's still so much we don't know about them, but we wouldn't be able to study them if everyone knew that they're like us. Perhaps when there's nothing left to study that they'll finally let the Doubu talk, but I'm sure we won't see that in my lifetime." Arthur looked at Sam and could see that he was frustrated. "The only way you could take Jet with you is if he stays in his four legged form all the time."

Sam glared at Arthur. "Right, bring what looks like a wolf into the city. You know that he would be taken away by animal control."

"And maybe even put down... That's why Jet has the best chance by staying here in the mountains where there's plenty of space and little authority." Sam started biting his lip. "So now you have three choices. You go back to the city, but leave Jet here."

"I'm not leaving him alone with you..."

"...The second choice is that you bring Jet back to the city with you... but we've already discussed the likely outcome of that." Sam was silent. "And the third option is that you stay here with Jet."

"Fine..." Sam muttered under his breath. "I'll stay here, but you better realize that I no longer consider you family. You stay out of mine and Jet's life, and we'll stay out of yours." Sam didn't wait for a response; he turned his back to Arthur and went inside.

Arthur stared at the door. "I understand..."

It had been a few weeks since Jet had come back. School was going to be starting again for Sam soon and his grandfather was home less than he used to. On weekdays he would come home late at night and go straight to bed, only to leave early the next morning. On weekends he would spend all day in his office. Sam didn't care about his grandfather's new schedule; he was usually outside with Jet. At first they would just go a bit into the woods and sit under a tree; Jet would lie in Sam's lap while Sam listened to his music. But as the days passed Jet seemed to get more energetic and even started to show a little more emotion. Now he was always running around everywhere while Sam sat and watched. Soon, though, Sam decided to teach Jet some games.

"And the point of this game is to make contact with another player" Sam said as he approached Jet. He tapped Jet on the shoulder. "Tag."

"Do you have to say 'tag'?" Jet asked curiously.

"Well, no, but it's more fun when you let the person know you got them. Now you give it a try!" Sam quickly dashed away from Jet. "Try to tag me, Jet!" Sam shouted.

"Alright!" Jet dashed after Sam with great speed.

"Oh crap!" Sam said as he saw Jet approach him like a bullet.

Jet leaped into the air and tackled Sam to the ground. They rolled around a bit before stopping with Jet leaning over Sam. "Tag!" Jet said with a small smile.

Sam huffed and let out a chuckle. "Maybe I should teach you football next." Jet's ears twitched and his tail started wagging slowly when Sam continued to laugh. "We'll get to that someday. For now it's time for you to start running." Jet caught on and perked up his ears as he leapt off of Sam. Jet dashed off a bit from Sam. Sam jumped up and chased after him. Minutes later however Sam was starting to breathe harder. "No fair..." Sam huffed. "You're too fast!" he smiled when he saw Jet approach him.

"I'm sorry, Sam. Do you want me to slow do-" Jet was cut off when Sam tapped his nose with his index finger.

"Tag!" Sam laughed.

Jet's ears perked up realizing what had just happened. "You tricked me! That's not fair!"

"Tag doesn't end until someone says they give up. Until then everything is fair game." Sam laughed softly albeit his huffing."

"Really?" Jet asked. A small grin formed on his face. In the same manner Sam did Jet tapped his nose with his paw. "Tag!"

Sam couldn't hold back his laughter. He couldn't believe Jet beat him at his own game. "And I give up; you win." Sam rubbed Jet's head, causing his tail to start wagging.

"Can we play another game?" Jet asked with excitement.

"Sure." Sam decided it was time to make use of all of these trees. "How about I teach you hide and seek."

"Look at this" Julia said as the others gathered around her computer monitor. "I took a few X-Rays of the egg along with a thermal scan, and here's what I've found." She pulled up an image on the screen. "This was the first X-Ray it took of the egg. It's similar to those from the Tokyo Lab, but look at these I took later..." She pulled up additional images of the skeleton in the egg. "Notice that the legs are positioned slightly different in each one. Now either someone's been shaking the egg or..."

"The Doubu inside is alive..." Arthur said with amazement as he stared at the image.

"But that can't be right." Cynthia said. "The Tokyo Lab said that the Doubu inside shows no sign of life until the egg is touched by a human. Are you sure this isn't a mistake?"

"I thought the same thing, and that's why I did a thermal scan." She pulled up an additional image. "Now if the Doubu inside really didn't show any sign of life until being touched by a human the thermal scan would be completely black, but that's not this picture shows. Julia pointed to parts of the picture that were mostly violet and blue, with a few specs of green. "The Doubu inside is alive."

"It's just hibernating..." Doug said.

"Exactly..." Julia said. "This completely goes against what the Tokyo Lab has documented.

Arthur smiled. "Which means we already have something for our report..."

Sam's cell phone started to ring. It had been a while since he had received a call from someone. He looked at the caller ID, it was Ryan. "Hello?"

"Hey, where've you been? We've hardly hanged out and it's the last week of summer vacation."

"Sorry, but I've been taking care of something..." Sam looked over at Jet who was napping on the couch."

"Oh, that's not a problem, but do you have time to spend with us now?"

"I'm not sure..."

"C'mon, Sam. If you're still having trouble with something then the three of us will help you out."

"That's not it..."

"Well whatever it is doesn't matter. The three of us will be stopping by your house later this afternoon. Don't bail on us."

"Wait!" Sam tried to stop Ryan, but he had already hung up. Sam tried to call him back, but it went straight to voicemail. "Great..." Sam pocketed his cell phone and sighed.

"What's wrong Sam?" Sam turned around to see Jet walking towards him in his feral form.

"Well... my friends are coming over, and I was wondering if you'd like to meet them?"

Jet's ears twitched. "Meet new people?"

"Yeah. You don't have to if you don't want to; it's up to you."

"I'm not sure..." Sam could actually sense a bit of nervousness in Jet's voice. "I've never met anyone else besides you and your grandfather..."

"Really? What about those who work at the lab with my grandfather?"

"I vaguely remember them. A weird smell would fill my room and I would get very tired. I only sometimes saw them as I fell asleep. When that stopped I saw them less and less until I forgot what they looked like."

"So they used sleeping gas, huh?" Sam said under his breath. "Well you'll like my friends, and I'm sure they'll like you too. They're very nice."

"I don't know..." Jet's tail dropped between his legs as he changed into his anthro form.

"Here..." Sam didn't let Jet respond as he took his right paw and wrapped it around his right hand. "Holding someone's hand gives you the comfort of knowing you're not alone." Sam smiled. "It's something I was told when I was younger. So whenever you get nervous just wrap your paw around my hand and squeeze."

Jet didn't say anything as he just stared at his paw wrapped around Sam's hand. Jet squeezed his paw softly and smiled. "So do you want to give it a shot?" Jet gave another squeeze before nodding his head.

A few hours later Sam and Jet stood outside the house. Sam had gotten a text message saying that they were a few minutes away. He looked at Jet who seemed to be able to tell that they were close. "You alright?" Jet didn't say anything. He just nodded his head as he gave Sam's hand another squeeze. "If this is happening too fast then you're free to go back inside or-"

"I want to stay..." Jet said, trying to show a bit of confidence.

Moments later three kids riding bicycles came into view. Jet's nervousness increased to the point where holding Sam's hand wasn't cutting it for him. He retreated behind Sam, using him as a shield. Sam sighed, cursing to himself for rushing Jet into something like this. He thought about having Jet quickly run back to the house, but it was too late for that; his friends were now close enough that they would immediately notice something black and furry heading towards the house. He could only hope things would go well.

His three friends laid their bikes on the grass and walked over to Sam. "Well hello stranger." said Emily. "It feels like ages since we've seen each other. I heard you've been taking care of something."

"Actually I've been taking care of someone..."

"Is your grandfather sick?" Jeremy asked.

"No. I've been taking care of someone new in my life." Sam found himself unable to just come out with the truth.

"Someone new huh?" Ryan asked, smirking. "Now I get why you've been avoiding us all summer. You've got yourself a girlfriend didn't you!?" Emily and Jeremy looked shocked by the suggestion.

"You got a girlfriend and you didn't tell us about it!?" Jeremy said, annoyed. "I understand you'd rather hang out with her than us, but you could have at least told us."

"Maybe he's embarrassed of us..." Ryan said as he pondered to himself. He raised an eyebrow. "...Or maybe he's embarrassed of her?"

Emily let out a loud groan. "Would you two just shut up! He didn't even say it was a girlfriend!" Emily was visibly annoyed by her brother and Jeremy.

Sam sighed with relief. "Thank you, Emily. And you're right; it's not a girlfriend." Sam saw another playful smirk forming on Ryan's face. "Or a boyfriend!"

"Darn." Ryan snapped his right fingers and laughed. "Was it really that obvious I was going to ask that?"

"It's not like it's the first time you've used that line..." Emily said as she recalled all of the times in school her brother had pulled that trick. Some of the people laughed, some of them got a little pissed off, and a few even answered his question. Regardless of the response Ryan would laugh for them walking into the trap.

"Well if it's not a girlfriend, what is it?" Jeremy asked. "Family member?"

Sam thought for a second. "I think that's the best way to describe him." Sam felt Jet shift slightly behind him. "He's very attached to me." Sam chuckled as he looked behind his back and saw Jet looking back at him. "And he's a bit shy..." Sam turned his head back towards his friends. "So you're going to have to be patient with him, alright?"

"He must be pretty young if he's able to hide behind you." Ryan stated. "How old is he?"

"Two and a half." Sam said.

"A toddler?" Emily asked with a smile. "I want to see the little guy."

Sam chuckled from those last two words. "Jet..." He turned to look back at Jet. "Why don't you say hello to them." Jet let out a small whimper. Sam held his hand close to Jet in case he needed it, but Jet instead did something unexpected. Sam suddenly felt Jet wrap his arms around Sam. Sam was surprised, but his friends had looks of confusion and shock on their faces.

Jet was motionless for a moment before he moved his head to peek around the side of Sam and look at the three strangers. "Hello..." he said timidly before quickly moving his head back behind Sam.

Sam was getting a bit worried when his friends stayed silent. He could feel Jet shivering with anxiety behind him as well. He reached behind him and scratched Jet's ears, trying to calm him down.

"Oh my god..." Emily said. Those three words weren't the ones Sam wanted to hear. "He's so cute!" Emily squealed. Those three words were much better. She slowly walked around Sam to get a better view of the thing that clung to his back. Jet looked at her briefly before turning his head the other way. She kneeled down. "You're name is Jet?" Emily asked.

Jet's ears perked up as he slowly turned his head back to face her. "Yes."

"Well my name is Emily. Nice to meet you." Emily gave Jet a broad smile.

"N-Nice to meet you" Jet said back.

"My name is Ryan." Jet flinched, surprised by Ryan suddenly coming up next Emily. "You don't need to be nervous around us. We're very good friends of Sam. Isn't that right, Jeremy?"

"Oh yes!" Jeremy was knocked out of his daze by Ryan's words. "Sam even saved my life once." Jet's eyes widened momentarily when Jeremy got closer to him like Emily and Ryan. "I'm Jeremy." Jet was silent and just stared at Jeremy.

"Jet..." Sam sighed. He looked at his friends with appreciation, but knew that Jet's shyness wasn't going to go away in an instant. He had to think of something that would get Jet to interact with his friends. An idea popped into his mind. "Jet, could you let go of me for a second?" He felt the grip around him disappear reluctantly. Jet was no longer clinging to him, but he was still using him as a barrier between him and the three people he had just met. Sam turned around and knelt down to Jet's eye level. He saw the uncertainty in Jet's eyes. Sam gave Jet a big smile, making Jet give off an involuntary one. "Tag!" Sam shouted as he tapped Jet's nose.

No sooner after he made contact did Jet's eyes widen and his ears perked up. Sam immediately dashed off. His friends looked at him with confusion, not knowing what was going on. "Don't just stand there!" Sam shouted playfully. "Haven't you ever played tag!?" Those words registered in their minds and they immediately stood upright and dashed in different directions. Sam looked back at Jet who looked around with confusion. "Jet!" He got his attention. "There are many more targets now! Remember; it's not over until some says they give up!"

A small smile formed on Jet's face as he remembered the times when he and Sam played tag. He remembered that one of the rules was to always go for the person closest to him. He looked around and saw his target: the one who called himself Ryan. He quickly dashed after him. Ryan learned quickly how fast, and strong, Jet was. He almost lost his balance when Jet tagged him as he ran past him. Ryan looked around and went for his sister.

The game lasted for over fifteen minutes. After nine minutes they each realized that Jet hadn't been it since the beginning. They then agreed to try to tag Jet. "No fair!" Jet shouted playfully as all four of them were chasing after him. He had no idea which one of them was it.

"Remember what I told you, Jet!" Sam shouted. "Until someone says they give up all is fair." They continued to chase after Jet until Sam, Ryan, and Emily started to get tired. They started to slow down as Jeremy continued to chase after Jet. Sam and the others sat down to catch their breath as they watched Jeremy slowly close the gap between him and Jet. "I guess Jet is getting tired too..." Sam huffed. He was sure Jet was slowing down because of fatigue, but as he looked closer he saw a grin on Jet's face as he looked back at Jeremy.

"I've almost got you!" Jeremy shouted as he inched closer and closer to Jet.

"No you don't!" with that Jet jumped into the air and shifted into his feral form, causing his speed to more than double.

"Hey! No fair!" Jeremy shouted as he watched Jet run back towards Sam.

Jet stopped next Sam and shifted back into his anthro form. "All's fair until someone says they give up!" Jet shouted at Jeremy who was now bending at his knees, trying to catch his breath."

Sam laughed at how well Jet had come to understand the rule. He could see Jet panting heavily as he took seat in front of Sam. "That was fun!" Jet said.

"Who said it's over?" Sam asked. Jet tilted his head in confusion. "Tag!" Sam shouted as he tapped Jet's nose for the second time.

Jet's eyes went wide. "But! But! Jeremy is it!"

"Just because he was the only one chasing after you doesn't mean he was it..." Sam smirked at Jet.

"We thought about making Jeremy it since he's the best runner..." Ryan huffed.

"But then we thought Sam would be better since you trusted him the most." Emily huffed. "Looks like we were right."

"You tricked me!" Jet looked hurt.

"You even said it yourself" Sam said. "All is fair until the game ends." He finished his sentence by tapping Jet's nose again.

"I can still tag you back easily!" Jet said as he readied his paw.

"I give up!" Jeremy shouted in the distance as he slowly walked back towards them. "I'm too tired and I'll never be able to catch something so fast."

Jet let out a whimper as his ears flattened against his head. "But that means I lost..." Jet whimpered again as he looked at Sam.

"Actually I lost, Jet" Sam said. Jet looked at him with confusion. "I tagged you twice so I was it at the end. You won the game." Sam tapped his nose again.

After a few seconds Jet realized what Sam had done for him and shifted in for a hug. "You lost so I could win?"

"Yep. It's something my older brother used to do for me."

"Thanks, Sam" Jet nuzzled into Sam's chest.

"So did you have fun?" Sam asked. Jet nodded his head. "Do you want to play with the others some more?" Jet nodded his head again. Sam smiled and showed his appreciation to his friends. He was glad that Jet was starting to get comfortable around others.

After five more hours of playing games, talking, and just relaxing Ryan, Emily, and Jeremy decided it was time to go. They waved goodbye to Sam and Jet as they rode off on their bikes. Sam waved back at them. Jet himself even gave a slow wave, trying to mimic what Sam was doing. When the three were out of sight he looked at Jet. "So how were they?"

"They were... fun, and nice, and..." Jet was trying to think of something else before he remembered something. "And I've seen Jeremy before."

The statement surprised Sam. "Where?"

"It was on the day you fell."

"Oh right. My grandfather tells me you told him that you saved me and the others."

"It wasn't my intention to save the others..." Jet's words shocked Sam. "I wanted to save you. I never considered saving the other three."

"Then why did you?" Sam asked.

"Because you asked me to."

"I asked you to!?" Sam was confused. He was sure that he had been unconscious the whole time. "How could I have asked you to?"

Jet was silent for a few seconds before he scratched his head. "I don't know... But when I saw Jeremy's face I remembered that you asked me to save him and the other two. The rest is still a blur to me..." Jet looked away. He realized how awful he must have sounded when he told Sam he didn't care about the others. Jet expected a scolding or something, but instead he got his ears scratched. He looked at Sam with confusion.

"Even if it wasn't your intention to save them you're still the one who saved the four of us, and I'm very thankful to you for that." Jet smiled at Sam. "Now let's get something to eat." As the two walked back to the house Jet got beside Sam and took his hand in his paw. "Are you nervous about something, Jet?"

"No..." he shook his head. "I just like doing this..." Jet smiled at Sam. Sam smiled back.

The rest of the week eventually passed by. Sam's friends came over a few more times that week to spend time with him and Jet. Jet eventually warmed up to them and wasn't nervous when they came over.

It was unfortunate that there had only been a week left of summer vacation. The start of the school year became tough for Jet. He had no choice but to stay at the house while Sam was at school. Sam made sure Jet had everything he needed while he was gone such as food and entertainment.

The start of the new school year wasn't great for Sam either. Near the end of his sophomore year there was this junior, Mark, who always kept approaching him and saying stuff like "Better enjoy your summer vacation, because when you get back you're going to experience hell!" Afterwards a senior, Byron, would yank him away. The more Sam thought about it the more he realized something else; Mark was the same sophomore who would always glare at him in the hallways and at lunch during his first year.

"Do any of you know what Mark's problem is?" Sam asked his friends during lunch.

"Who?" Ryan asked.

"You know, that guy who's always glaring at me and seems to have it out for me or something."

"No idea" Emily said. "He's an upperclassman. Only thing I know is that he went to the same middle school as us."

Jeremy started thinking to himself. He felt as though he had heard about Mark before somewhere. He was snapped out of thought as a senior sat down at their table. "The name's Terry. I heard you guys talking about Mark?"

"Yeah" Sam responded. "You know him?"

"Yeah well... not personally, but there was a time when my entire class feared him."

"Feared him?" Sam was surprised. "He's hardly an intimidating person. You look more intimidating with your muscles."

"Well I'm on the varsity football team, but that's not the point. Mark was always a loose cannon... never thought before he acted- kind of crazy too. However, that wasn't the reason we feared him. It was the influence he had with the upperclassmen that we feared."

"He had that much power?" Ryan asked.

"Oh yeah. From what I heard this high school had always had a group of students in every grade level that sort of ... 'kept order' if you know what I mean."

"Oh we understand." Ryan said. "When we were in eighth grade there was this kid who sort of bullied others into doing what he said... Jeremy here had his legs broken when he refused to join his group at first."

"Damn, an eighth grader did something like that? Wait..." Terry started thinking. "Where is that kid now?"

The four were silent for a moment before Sam spoke up. "He's dead."

Terry didn't look shocked at all; he only became more curious. "When did he die?"

"Two years ago, late February" Sam said.

"That explains it..." Terry said with a smile on his face.

"What explains what?" Emily asked, just as confused as the rest of them.

"The time that kid died is about the same time when things started to get better around here. For some reason the leader of the whole thing made the decision to allow any member to leave if they chose to, and that the ones that remained wouldn't be allowed to do any harm to the students."

"Seems like a pretty drastic change to happen so suddenly" Jeremy said.

"Yeah. A lot of the students thought the peace would only last until the next school year since the leader of the juniors, Jake, would take his place, but he went about it the same way. The same was true for his successor, Byron. And now with a new school year..."

"Mark is in charge, huh?" Sam asked.

"Yep, and he's still as crazy as he was when he was a freshman. I would sometimes hear him raging on and on about someone named Keith." Four sets of eyes went wide from the name. Terry smirked when he saw their reaction. "I take it that was the boy who died?"

"Now I remember..." Jeremy said. "Keith would sometimes talk about Mark. He spoke very highly of him. Does that mean that Mark was Keith's..."

"Predecessor..." Terry said with a smile. "And since Mark has no successor the whole thing will end when he graduates. Pretty sure he's not happy about that..."

"And he probably blames me for the whole thing." Sam groaned with annoyance. "I guess he definitely has the same intellect as Keith."

Terry chuckled as he stood up. "I wouldn't worry about is though. Mark's influence is nothing compared to that when he was a freshman. I think he only has about four members in his group now, including himself."

"Are the other three tough?" Sam asked.

Terry was confused by the question. "You mean are they good fighters? Nah, all of those left a long time ago. Most of them joined one sport or another. No, the three that are left are pretty normal but have been too scared to leave."

"But you said that they were free to leave if they chose to." Emily pointed out.

"I also said that Mark is a loose cannon. Ever since that kid died he was always getting into trouble with those above him. It wouldn't be surprising if he threatened those who thought about leaving. Some... are just easier to intimidate than others."

Sam chuckled. "Well thank you, Terry. Now I know that Mark won't be anything more than a slight annoyance this year."

"Don't mention it." Terry walked away back to a distant table where his friends seemed to be sitting as well.

"And here I thought Mark was going to be as annoying as Keith was." Sam smirked. "He doesn't stand a chance."

Meanwhile in another room four boys were sitting at one round table. Three of the boys sat close together on one side while only one sat on the other. "It's been two years, but I can finally call the shots." The boy smirked. "And I'm going to make sure I make that kid's life a living hell this year. Doesn't that sound great!?" He looked at the three boys who just stared at the table quietly. "What's wrong with the three of you? You haven't had to do anything for two years, and now's your chance!"

The boy in the middle took swallowed hard before opening his mouth. "About that... Mark... It's senior year and I really need to focus on graduating. I don't have time to waste on fulfilling your own agenda." The boy started to stutter. "I... I..."

"Spit it out, Albert!" Mark shouted.

"I want out!" Said Albert. He immediately started breathing heavily out of relief from getting that off his chest.

"Oh really?" Mark glared at Albert as he slowly got out of his seat. He walked around towards the three boys. The other two boys moved away from table while still in their chairs. Mark stood over Albert who was shaking in his seat. "You want out huh?" Mark chuckled and started shaking his head. He turned his back to the boy, but only for a second before he swung his fist into the back of Albert's head. The impact caused his head to fly forward and downwards towards the tabletop. His forehead hit the table and he leaned back in his chair, causing him to fall back. He clutched his head from both ends. "You have some balls to even suggest leaving now that I'm in charge." Mark grabbed him the neck and pulled him off the ground. "You had your chance to leave, but you decided to stay."

"You wouldn't let us leave!"

"Damn right I wouldn't! If it weren't for those assholes, Jake and Byron, I wouldn't have let any of you leave." He smirked. "But now there's no one who can stop me from doing what the hell I want! And if that means making the three of you work like slaves, then so be it!"

"No!" Albert said before his left knee hit Mark's stomach. The contact surprised Mark and caused him to lose his breath and release his grip on Albert. "I've wasted three years of my life following your orders! I'm through!"

"Damn right you're through!" Mark said as he adjusted his shoulders. "When I get done with you you'll-" Before he could finish his threat he found both of his arms constrained. He looked behind him and saw the two other boys, each holding one of his arms. "When the fuck did all of you develop a backbone!?"

The boys didn't answer, instead deciding to toss him into the desks, causing him to tumble over with a some of them. "Are you alright, Albert?" One of the boys asked.

"I feel a bit dizzy..." Albert said with a smile.

"Let's get you the nurse's office."

"And she'll be very interested to know what happened." The other boy said as he and the other boy started to help Albert out of the room.

Mark lied on the ground. His fists clutching and his teeth grinding. "Fuck!" he shouted. He got off his back and kept cursing to himself about how this would affect his plans. "Wait..." Mark's rage was replaced with a calm, devilish smile. "This is perfect. I'll transfer to another school, and when I graduate I'll come back and get him. He won't see it coming." Mark started to laugh as he got to his feet. "By then I'll be able to purchase my own firearm..." Mark couldn't stop smiling from excitement as opened the classroom door. "You'll pay for what you did to Keith..." The door clicked shut behind him.

Sam sighed with relief when he got home. He didn't want his grandfather to drive him to and from school anymore, so he biked the six mile trip. Sam set his bike at the side of the house. He unlocked the front door and turned the knob. Almost instantly the door flew open and he was tackled backwards to the ground. When he recovered his senses he opened his eyes and saw familiar black fur. "Hi Jet. Did you miss me?"

"It was so boring being here alone."

"My grandfather didn't come back at all?" Jet shook his head. "Figures..." Sam said under his breath. "Are you hungry?" Jet's tail started to wag. "Let's see what I can cook up." Sam wasn't much of a cook. He could follow the directions on the boxes, but that was about it besides boiling water. Sam looked through the cupboards and the fridge. Supplies were running low; it had been two weeks since his grandfather had gone shopping for food. Sam sighed as he saw something in the fridge he had cooked many times before. "Are hotdogs alright?" Sam looked to Jet who nodded his head. Sam thought Jet would get tired of hotdogs since that's what he eats almost every other day.

Ten minutes of boiling water later Sam had two hotdogs on buns with ketchup and onions while Jet had four hotdogs cut up in a bowl. Jet's method of consumption used to be similar to a housedog in which he would just stick his face in the bowl and eat it up, but then he watched how Sam ate his food with silverware and asked to try it. Sam complied and gave him a fork. To say the least, Jet had some difficulty with his paws. He didn't have opposable thumbs so he tried to hold the fork between his digits. He couldn't keep a good grip on it however, and the smooth metal fork would slide up and down. Sam suggested a different approach. Jet's paws didn't have thumbs, but the digits could bend back to meet his palms. Sam took his own fork and gripped it his hand between his four fingers. Jet quickly got the idea and held onto the fork in the same manner. Jet smiled when he was successfully able to pick something up with his fork and put it his mouth; so excited that he would put more and more food on it on each attempt. Sam laughed at how much amusement Jet was getting out of a simple fork.

Jet stabbed into the slices of hotdogs, piercing four or five slices before bringing it to his mouth. He once tried to use a fork and knife at the same time, but it didn't work out. Sam cuts all of his meals for him now. Before Sam could start on his second hotdog Jet got out of his seat with his bowl and fork. He placed both in the sink before coming back to sit down. "Thank you Jet." Sam smiled.

"Thank you too." Jet smiled, referring to the food. There was a period of silence as Jet watched Sam finish off his second hotdog. Before Sam had the chance to get up Jet spoke up. "How was school?"

"Huh?"

"I saw people on television asking how school was. Did I do it wrong?" Jet tilted his head.

"Oh no." Sam shook his head. "I was just surprised. School was great today. Thank you for asking." He smiled at Jet who seemed to be thinking of something else to ask. "Want to play outside?" Sam's question made Jet's ears perk up. He quickly got out of the chair and followed Sam as he put his dishes in the sink. They went outside and played the same assortment of games that they usually do until Sam had to do his homework.

The next day Sam and others learned from Terry that Mark had been expelled for causing another student minor head trauma. Sam smirked from the news, thankful that a potential annoyance was gone.

"What are you doing, Arthur?" Doug asked as he walked Arthur who was on the computer.

"I'm ordering something." Arthur said as he kept clicking his mouse.

"Christmas shopping already, huh?" Doug chuckled. "What are you buying?"

"Something for Sam..."

"Is he still angry?"

"If there's anything Sam can do is hold a grudge..." Arthur sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I don't know if he'll ever forgive me, but buying something he's been wanting for a while might ease the tension." Arthur sat back up clicked a few more times. "Done. Now hopefully it'll be ready by Christmas..."

It was nearing Thanksgiving and the weather was starting to get colder. The leaves on the trees had already fallen, leaving the pine trees the only things that were green. It wasn't long until the first snow fall began. School had just gotten out when it started to snow. Dark grey clouds had been floating in the sky all day before the snow started to drop slowly. All of the students outside looked straight up. Many of the students got excited, but Sam groaned at the thought of having to bike through it.

One set of eyes looked out the window curiously, wanting to know what was falling from the sky. It was the first time Jet had ever seen snow. He became hypnotized by the slow falling crystals that began to cover the ground in a thin blanket of white. Curious, Jet decided to go outside to check it out. He'd never gone outside while Sam was gone, but he couldn't stop himself from finding out what happening out there.

He opened the door and immediately could tell it was colder than normal. He looked up at the grey sky and watched as the snow slowly floated down to the ground. One flake landed on his nose and maintained its shape for a moment, giving Jet a clear view of its shape. He widened his eyes when it melted away. He knelt down and picked up a handful of snow and took a close look at it. He tried to find the interesting texture that he saw on his nose, but he couldn't find anything resembling it. He moved the ball of snow in his paws, examining every part of it. The more he moved it around the more he noticed his paws were getting wet. He held the ball in his right paw and licked his left. It was a familiar taste. "Water?" Jet was confused. He looked at the ball in his right paw before licking it. A small chunk broke off and stuck to his tongue. He was surprised by the weird texture on his tongue and how it quickly disappeared and was replaced with more water. He took a larger bite and let it sit in his mouth for the same effect. Curious, Jet took a large bite of the snow and swallowed it as it was. A strange ache suddenly appeared in his head, causing him to drop the rest of the snow.

He shook his head quickly to get rid of the feeling. He knew he wouldn't do that again. He suddenly noticed something as he looked at his fur. He could see many of the same interesting textures that he saw on his nose. He shook his body, causing all of it to fly off and leaving his fur a bit wet. He changed into his feral form and sniffed the stuff, but there was no smell. He stuck his nose deeper into it and quickly took it out and sneezed. He turned in his anthro form and sneezed again. He used his paws to wipe the rest of the stuff off of his nose.

Jet let out a loud yip as he felt something wet and cold hit his back. He turned around trying to figure out what had hit him. He then saw Sam smiling playfully at him. Jet quickly ran over to him and tackled him into the snow-covered ground. "Sam, what is this stuff?"

"Snow."

"Snow?" Jet asked curiously as he got off Sam.

"Yeah it's frozen rain. It only comes when it's very cold outside."

"What's it for?"

"Well... it really doesn't have a purpose, but it can be entertaining." Jet tilted his head curiously as Sam knelt down and put his hands into the snow. He squeezed the snow between his hands. "This is a snowball." Sam presented it to Jet.

"I tried eating it already; it made my head hurt..." Jet said as he shook his head.

Sam laughed for a second. "Eating it is one option, but there is one other thing that snow can be used for..." Jet was about to ask for the answer, but Sam showed him by throwing the snow ball straight at Jet's chest.

Jet let out another yip. "Why did you do that... again?" Jet shook his body to get the snow off.

"It called a snowball fight. You pick up some snow, pack it into a ball and throw it at someone else. Try it." Jet was hesitant for a moment before he stuck both paws into the snow and picked up a small portion of it. He pressed both paws together, trying to mimic what Sam had done. He then had an abnormally shaped snowball in his right paw. Jet was again hesitant. "It's alright, it won't hurt me." Sam reassured Jet. Jet looked at the snowball before bringing his arm back. He swung his arm overhead and released the snowball, causing it fly straight towards Sam's chest. The snowball impacted Sam and caused him to back up a bit. Sam was amazed by how powerful the throw had been. "You see? I'm alright." Jet smiled from relief. "I threw two at you so it's only fair you throw another at me.

Jet got excited and buried his paws deep into the snow and picked a large pile of it. He packed it tightly in his paws and held it his right. He did the same windup and threw it at Sam. This time the snowball was heading straight towards Sam's face. Sam closed his eyes and turned his face, expecting a powerful cold blast to hit his face. However, when the snowball hit his face it caused him to stumble backwards clutching the right side of his face. Jet eyes widened as he watched the snow disperse when it impacted Sam's face and revealed a rock with jagged edges buried into Sam's cheek. Below him small sections of red snow appeared as blood dripped off of his hand.

Jet could smell the blood. "Sam! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Jet was starting to panic so much that he started to cry. "I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Sam chuckled as he covered the side of his face with his right hand. "Accidents happen, Jet... sometimes very painful accidents. Sam got to his feet and stumbled towards the house. Jet quickly followed after him.

"Shit..." Sam said under his breath as he looked at the mirror. He stared at the rock that was stuck in his cheek. He could see blood pouring from the cut and taste the blood that poured into his mouth. His tongue could feel the tip of the rock that was inside his mouth; it almost had made contact his teeth. "It'll probably get infected if I leave the rock there..." Sam didn't like where this was going. "This is probably going to hurt a bit... or a lot..." Sam took a deep breath as he moved his right hand towards the rock. Jet stood under the door frame, tears of guilt were rolling down his face but he kept his eyes on Sam.

"One..." Sam wrapped his hand around the rock. "Two..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Three!" In one quick motion Sam yanked the rock away from his face. Sam's eyes widened when the rock was gone and the wound was exposed to the air. The sudden jolt of pain caused him to release his grip on the rock, causing it to fly past Jet into the hallway as Sam went back to clutching his face. It was more painful than before and more blood was pouring out faster. "Shit!" The pain was so great that Sam couldn't take his hands away from his face.

Jet watched as blood started running down Sam's neck and began staining his clothes. Jet couldn't move. His eyes didn't blink as he watched with horror the pain he had caused Sam. He began to breath faster the longer he stared at the blood. He then realized that he had felt this way before many years ago. He went through this same thing when he found Sam scratched up from the fall. Jet's eyes turned black. "Sam!" Jet screamed as he jumped towards Sam.

Sam felt a small impact after he heard Jet's voice. Shortly afterwards his breathing returned to normal as the pain began to lessen. His eyes remained shut as he slowly stood up and placed his hands on the counter. He looked up and opened his eyes. Staring at him were two dark blue eyes. "Jet..."

"Are you alright Sam?" Sam could hear Jet's voice, but not in the normal sense. It sounded like his voice came from everywhere.

"Yeah... I'm fine..." Sam continued looking at the blue eyes. He reached out to scratch Jet's ears, but as he stuck out his hand he felt something hard. Sam's eyes widened as he realized his arm was completely covered in black fur. He looked back and realized he wasn't staring at Jet, but his own reflection. "What the-" Sam started to panic as he examined himself. He looked almost exactly like Jet with a few exceptions: His muzzle was shorter than Jet's, he still had hands instead of paws, but his fingertips had pads, and he was still wearing his clothes. "What's going on, Jet?" Sam looked around for him until his pupils suddenly dilated. Memories started flashing in his mind until it looked like he was watching a movie... and he was on the screen...

"Sam..." Jet approached the boy lying on the ground. "Sam...?" He sniffed at the boy. He could smell that he was still alive, which excited him a bit, but he could tell he didn't have much time. "Sam..." He tried nudging his nose against Sam's face to wake him up, but his eyes remained shut. Jet started to whimper. He quickly bit into Sam's shirt and yanked his head back, trying to drag Sam. Jet growled in his efforts to move Sam, but he didn't move an inch. Jet's heart started to beat faster from fear. He kept trying to move Sam, but he just couldn't do it. Jet started to cry. He had already thought Sam had died earlier, and now he's dying right in front of him. "Sam..." Jet growled through his teeth as he tugged again and lost his grip on the shirt. Thoughts of Sam dying started to fill Jet's head. "Sam!" Jet howled as his eyes suddenly became completely black.

He was calm now. He looked at Sam and slowly walked towards him. When his nose touched Sam's shoulder he continued to walk forward until his entire body had disappeared into Sam. Slowly, Sam's body started to change. Fur started to grow all throughout his body, his hands and feet developed pads, his facial structure changed, and he grew a tail. When his body was done changing his eyes opened, revealing dark blue irises. He slowly got up, despite his injuries.

"What's going on...? Sam's senses were barely working. His vision was black and his hearing was going.

"Please hold on, Sam..." He heard a voice resonate in his mind. He suddenly felt something burst painfully from his back. It was too much from him and caused his senses to shut down.

Jet was now in full control of Sam's body. He breathed heavily not only from the pain in his back, but the pain he felt all throughout his body; Sam's pain was now his. He looked behind him and saw two wings made of white feathers, some had blood dripping off. Jet was confused, but when he discovered the wings moved to his will he knew he had a way to get back to the top. He started flapping his wings, each flap created a powerful gust. He soon created enough force to lift himself off the ground. "Wait..." Jet immediately stopped flapping.

"Sam?" The voice had resonated in his mind rather than spoken out of his mouth.

"The others... are they still alive?"

"There's no time for them, Sam! I need to help you!"

"They need help too... Check if they're alive."

Jet groaned and quickly dashed to each of the three boys. He could smell that they were all still alive. "Take them with us..."

"But it'll take too long!"

"Then take them all at once..." Jet was shocked by the suggestion. His body was already in immense pain, and now Sam wanted him to carry three people at the same time.

"No! I don't know how long I can keep this up. I'm leaving them behind!" Jet tried to flap his wings, but they didn't respond. "What are you doing Sam?"

"They don't deserve to be left here to die. Take them with us or we'll all be stuck down here to die." Jet whimpered at the thought and quickly picked one of the boys in his left paw. He dashed to another boy and picked him up in his right paw. He went to final boy and saw that both his hands were filled. Without thinking he bent down and picked the boy up by the belt with his teeth. He then realized that he had control over his wings again and started flapping. It took more force for Jet to get off the ground. When his feet were off the ground he started flapping faster to get to the top. His body was in immense pain as the weight from the boys was making the wounds in his arms and neck worse.

Jet started to breath harder when they were halfway up. His own senses started to fail him when they neared the top. His vision was becoming blurry. He nearly dropped the boy hanging from his mouth a few times. "Can't hold it any... more..." Jet grunted as he flew over the top of the cliff and dropped the three boys as he collapsed to the ground. Jet was tired and closed his eyes.

Jet's eyes opened. He didn't know how long he had been out. To his left he could see Sam lying on the ground. Jet smiled out of satisfaction for successfully doing what Sam wanted, but realization soon struck him. Sam still needed help. Jet tried to get up, but his entire body was in pain. He could smell that his fur was soaked in blood, and that there was someone nearby. Jet again tried to get up. He could hear his bones cracking from the strain he was causing them. He slowly walked in the direction of where he smelled someone.

He then heard voices. "Please..." Jet said weakly. He turned a corner and saw two humans. "Please..." he said again. One of the humans spotted him, which got the attention of the other. Jet collapsed when his blackening vision saw the two humans approach him. "Please... help him."

"Help him? Who?"

"Please help him... help Sam... Sam." Jet's eyes closed tightly as he lost consciousness.

The memories abruptly stopped when Jet pulled himself out of Sam. The further he got out the more his characteristics vanished from Sam. When Sam regained his composure he felt his face and found that there wasn't a cut there anymore. He was astonished that it had vanished so quickly. His amazement was cut short when he heard Jet whimpering. Sam looked over at Jet whose face now had the same cut that he did. "But how did it..." Sam got closer to Jet. His eyes were shut and his body was shaking from the pain. "Jet..." Sam knelt down. "You're the reason I didn't have a scratch on me..." Jet whimpered from the pain.

"Jet..." Sam wrapped his arms around Jet's neck. Jet's head rested on Sam's shoulder. "You're amazing... thank you." His words made Jet smile. Sam watched as less and less blood flowed from the cut. When the blood stopped Sam's eyes widened in amazement as the cut got smaller and smaller as it healed itself. Within minutes the cut was completely gone, leaving only a scar. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... Are you?"

"Thanks to you."

"But I'm the one who caused it in the first place..." Jet whimpered out of guilt.

"I already told you that accidents happen." Sam started scratching behind Jet's ears. "It's over now so you don't have to feel guilty anymore." Jet closed his eyes and started to relax as Sam continued to scratch his head. "It was actually kind of cool..." Sam said under his breath.

"Huh?" Jet asked.

"When we were merged I watched memories of when you saved my life." Sam looked at Jet. "What was it like to fly?"

"I... I didn't really pay attention. I was only focused on carrying those bodies."

"Want to try it again?" Jet was confused. "Try merging with my body again."

"I don't know if I can..." Jet nudged his head against Sam's chest multiple times. "It seems to only happen instinctually."

"Well... what were you thinking about when you did it earlier?"

"Thoughts of you dying..." The answer made both of them feel uneasy.

"Well... try pretending I'm in pain..."

"What!?" Jet was taken aback.

"Just try to feel the way you did earlier... Remember how you felt when you found me that day."

Jet whimpered when pictures of that day suddenly filled his mind. He had only just remembered them before he merged with Sam. He closed his eyes. They remained closed for a few minutes as the events of that day played in his mind over and over again. With a sudden gasp Jet's eyes opened. Sam was surprised when he saw that Jet's eyes were completely black. "Are you alright, Jet?" Jet didn't say a word. He only gave a nod before he walked straight into Sam. The more he entered the more Sam's body changed.

Sam was soon covered in fur again. This time he took the time to fully look at himself. He thought he looked a little silly still wearing his clothes with all the fur, but he didn't want to be naked when they separated so he decided to keep them on.

"Having fun?" A voice said in his head. It was Jet's.

"Yeah." Sam replied as he sighed. "So this is what it feels like to have fur... it's so warm..." He suddenly felt something straining behind him. He looked down and saw that his tail had emerged and stayed inside his pants, and was wagging inadvertently. "How do you control this thing?" Sam chuckled as he grabbed the tail and let it hang out of his pants. "What are feeling right now?"

"I see, hear, and feel everything you do. It's funny how excited you're getting over something I've had all my life."

"Well it's new to me." Sam turned his back to the mirror and looked over his shoulder. He lifted his shirt and looked at the large patch of white fur. "So do you know how to make the wings appear?"

"When they first appeared I was filled with hope of being able to help you. You're the one in control right now so you have to think of something."

"So they come out when you think of something positive? That shouldn't be too hard..." Sam closed his eyes a pictured in his mind the day when his brother would finally wake up. His eyes went wide when he felt something burst through his back and shirt. It was quite painful, causing him to grunt. He looked in the mirror and saw the set of white wings. "Amazing..." A grin appeared on his face. "Let's test them out!" Sam rushed out of the bathroom, ignoring the blood that had splattered on the walls and floor. He went outside and felt the wind blow across his body, but it didn't feel cold."

"I don't really like the snow..." he heard Jet say. "It's dangerous."

"I need to get your mind off of that" Sam said. "Let's go for a ride..." Sam started moving the wings as though he had them his entire life. They started flapping, blowing snow off the ground. "Amazing!" Sam said with excitement as he felt his feet leave the ground. He gave one powerful flap and found himself soaring high into the sky. When he reached five hundred feet he steadied himself. "It feels so natural..." Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You give it a try!"

"What?" Jet suddenly found himself in control of the body. The initial surprise caused them to fall a short distance, but he quickly recovered. At first Jet seemed a bit unsure of what to do, but soon found himself soaring all over the place. He did manners of tricks such as flipping, dive bombing, and gliding.

"Where'd you learn to do all of that, Jet?"

"I don't know! Jet said with excitement as he continued having fun in the air. "It just came to me!" He and Sam laughed as they continued soaring through the snowy sky.

After an hour of the two of switching back and forth for control they decided to head back. "I'm starting to get tired..." Sam said.

"Me too..." Jet agreed. He flew them back to the house. When they landed the wings were pulled back into their body before they separated.

"Whoa..." Sam groaned. My body is sore." He reached behind his back and felt the tears in his shirt. He looked over at Jet who was lying on the ground, whimpering from exhaustion. "I don't think this is something we'll be able to do every day... how about we wait until Spring- when the snow clears up."

"That sounds good." Jet smiled.

It was early Christmas morning. Like the previous year Sam's parents came to visit him and his grandfather. When Sam introduced Jet to them they had mixed reactions. Sam's dad was a bit curious- his father had mentioned to him once that he worked with Doubu, but never had he seen one so close that talked. Sam's mother on the other hand was quite nervous around Jet at first since he resembled a wolf so much. She quickly warmed up to him, though, when she saw how close he and Sam were.

"I think it's adorable how attached he is to you Sam. It reminds me of you and your brother when you were younger." The mood around them got depressing.

"How is Tyler?" Sam asked.

His father answered. "The doctors said there's still no sign of him waking up."

"I see..." Sam sighed before his mood improved. "So how long are you going to be here?"

"We head back in two days." Sam's mother answered. Tears started pouring down her face. "I wish you would come back with us..." She quickly embraced Sam in tight hug.

As she was crying into Sam's shoulder Sam gently patted her on the back. "I miss the both of you too, but I have a life here now."

"We know son" His father said as he placed a hand on Sam's other shoulder. "Your mom and I wouldn't want you leave your friends for your old life."

"Thanks, dad." Sam said as his mother let herself off of Sam and wiped her face.

"Where is your father anyways?" Sam's mother asked.

"He said he needed to work overnight so he wouldn't have to work until after New Year's."

"But's eight in the morning... he's not going to miss Christmas, is he?"

"Wouldn't matter to me if he didn't show..." Sam said under his breath.

"What was that?" his father asked, having heard him. "Did something happen between the two of you?"

"I don't want to talk about..." Sam shrugged.

"Sam, tell me what hap-" his father was cut off by the doorbell. Sam and his father were both silent as his mother went to answer the door.

She opened the door. "Yes?" Standing on the other side was a police officer.

"Is this the residence of Arthur Shepard?" he asked. Sam's father went to the door.

"Yes, I'm his son. Did something happen?" The officer was silent.

It was ten at night, Christmas Eve. "It's such a surprise to see you here, Charlie" Arthur said as they walked down the hallway. "I would've thought you'd rather spend time with your own family."

"Oh..." Charlie shook his head. "My parents always go to Mexico for Christmas, and you know how I am with the heat."

"Well it's still a surprise to see you. I have a surprise too. Since you left we got our own Doubu egg!"

"Is that so...?"

"You don't really seem surprised..."

"Oh I am! I just have... other things on my mind right now..." Charlie looked away.

"Cheer up, boy! It's almost Christmas!" Arthur's words did nothing to improve Charlie's mood. Arthur sighed. "I guess I'll have to give you an early Christmas present then..." Arthur reached into his pocket. "I was planning to send this to you after we submit our final report, but since you're already here..." He pulled out a black flash drive and presented it to Charlie.

"What's that?"

"It's our entire report, the one we'll be submitting in a few months. It details all of the findings we've found thanks to the egg and when Jet was here. There's still more we can add to it though... and the part we've already submitted is already creating buzz amongst the Doubu research community."

Charlie was silent. For a moment he had a grim look on his face when Arthur told him how much people were talking about it. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Well you, Doug, and Cynthia are all young compared to me and Julia. This data will be for the three of you to use when you decide to go out and form your own lab." Arthur tried to hand it to Charlie who was a bit hesitant to take it.

"I don't know if I deserve this, Arthur..."

"What are you talking about, Charlie? You're a part of this team regardless of how long you've been here. Now take it!" Arthur grabbed Charlie's wrist and placed the flash drive in his palm. "Was that so hard?" He let go of Charlie's wrist. Defeated, Charlie sighed and placed the drive in his pocket. "Now let's go tell the rest of the group you're here." Arthur led Charlie to the lab where everyone was.

"Charlie!?" Cynthia shouted as she stood up from her computer. "Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!" She gave Charlie a quick hug.

"Have your studies been going well?" Julia asked.

"Oh yes. I'm doing very well in school."

"You've come a great time!" Doug said. "We've just discovered something about the eggs exterior."

"Really?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah! Let me show you at my computer!" Cynthia said with excitement. The five of them gathered at her computer. On the screen was a picture of the egg. "On the outside the egg may appear smooth, but when we zoomed in at fifty times magnification and found these..." She brought up another picture that showed hundreds of tiny bumps. "The eggs are actually textured at a microscopic level, so we can't feel it. That's not the interesting part though!" She brought up another file. "I recorded a video of what happened when Doug pressed a glove finger against the egg and here's the result..." The video played very slowly. "Pay close attention to the bumps..." The instant the finger touched the egg, fibers popped up all around the area of contact.

"What are those?" Charlie asked.

She zoomed in on the fibers. When close enough it revealed that all of the fibers had sharp points at the tips. "We're not sure what exactly the purpose of these is, but it definitely has to do with the awakening of the Doubu..."

"Amazing..." Charlie said as he slowly backed away from the group. The four of them weren't paying attention to him, only on what was on the computer screen. Charlie scoped the room and saw where the egg was being kept. He slowly approached it. When he was up close he took a hard gulp and just stared at it. His knees were shaking, but from what he wasn't sure. He didn't know if it was because of the being so close to an actual Doubu or if... "I really don't want to do this, but considering the alternative..." He glanced back at the others who were still glued to the screen. "I'll make it seem like an accident... I'll act like I didn't see the glass case surrounding it..." Charlie groaned at the bad excuse, but he didn't have time to back down now... He brought his hand up to the case and pushed at it, sending it over the edge of the table.

The sound of glass shattering followed by a loud crack filled the room and immediately got the attention of the other four. They all looked down at where the egg used to be. They didn't say anything; they just quickly rushed down to see if it was alright. Even without them saying anything Charlie could see in their eyes that rage was slowly building in them. He took this opportunity to slowly make his way to the exit while they checked on the egg. He was confused as to why none of them had said anything by the time he got to the door. He looked back towards them and was confused even more when he saw each of them had a smile on their face. He thought they must have lost it. He was about to open the door until he heard Julia say something.

"Arthur... A Doubu hatched from an egg not touched by a human!" Charlie's eyes widened.

Cynthia chuckled. "More like it was forcefully cracked open, but it's alive nonetheless!" Charlie could see they were getting excited about what had happened, but he didn't know what they wanted to do to him: Praise him for making this happen, or punish him for endangering the project. He decided the best thing to do was keep his hand on the handle of the door.

"This alone could save our lab!" Doug said with excitement. "We won't even need to use the other material we've found!"

The four of them shifted so that Charlie could see what they were looking at. He could see a little white Doubu lying on its side, slowly breathing. Slowly the Doubu got up and sat on its hind legs. The room was filled with excitement. "Do you hear something?" Cynthia asked. "It sounds like growling..." All of their eyes focused on the small Doubu. Suddenly its eyes flew open, showing eyes that were completely black. "I've never seen that befo-" Before Cynthia could finish her sentence she found herself gasping for air after the Doubu leapt past her and slashed her throat with its nails. Her hands went to her neck to try to stop the bleeding, but each breath she took filled her lungs with blood. Slowly she drowned.

Julia screamed as the three of them stumbled back. The Doubu looked at the person closest to it; Doug. It growled as Doug got back on his feet. It charged straight into his chest. The sound of cracking bones filled the room. The impact blasted Doug to the back of the room. The back of his body collided with the wall near Charlie, causing the sound of bones breaking to fill the room again. Charlie stood there in fear, his hand still of the door knob.

"What's going on, Arthur!" Julia screamed with panic as she and Arthur started to run towards the door.

"I don't know! Doubu are supposed to peaceful by nature!"

"Well this one isn't! It must have something to do with-" Suddenly one of the large computer monitors flew straight into the side of Julia's head. Her body twitched as her skull was shattered.

Arthur watched in horror at what happened. He looked over at the other end where he saw the Doubu going berserk and ramming its head against whatever it could. Arthur must have caught its attention since its ears suddenly perked up and charged at him. Arthur looked at Charlie who was still frozen in place at the door, watching the whole thing. "What the hell are you doing!? Run!" When he was ten feet away from Charlie the Doubu tackled him to the ground. Black eyes stared at Arthur. For some reason it seemed a bit hesitant. Arthur took the chance and looked at Charlie. "Run you fool!" His yelling caused the Doubu to sink its teeth into his throat and tear it out. Charlie's eyes widened as his senses came back. He quickly went through the door. The Doubu growled at his direction and rushed off after him.

"Oh God! Oh God! It wasn't supposed to happen like this!" Charlie shouted as he dashed into the hallway. In his panic he ran the opposite way of the exit. As he turned around he saw the Doubu burst through the crack in the door. With nowhere else to go he kept running forward. He could hear the paws and nails of the Doubu behind him scrapping against the tile floor as it chased him. Charlie quickly opened the door to the living quarters and quickly closed it behind him. He sank to the ground with his back against the door. Moments later the Doubu impacted against the door, causing a small dent in the metal. "Shit!" The Doubu kept up the impacts. He knew it wouldn't be long before it broke through.

He pulled out his phone and called the last number that had called him. "You son of a bitch! You knew this would happen didn't you!?"

The voice on the other side spoke.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about! You told me specifically to break the egg! You knew that if I did that the Doubu would go berserk!"

The voice spoke.

Charlie's eyes went wide. "You're going to pay for this! I swear you're going to pay for this!" The other side spoke briefly before hanging up. Charlie was starting to breath heavily as he continued to feel the Doubu trying to force its way in. It was only a matter of time until the Doubu caused the door to fly off its hinges, sending Charlie rolling a few feet. He looked at the Doubu slowly approaching him. He knew he was trapped and scrambled on the floor. He reached up towards the handle of a door that was next to him. He opened it and crawled in. He saw that he was in the room that the black Doubu had been kept in, and by the looks of it hadn't been cleaned since they got the egg.

Charlie crawled backwards until his back was up against the wall. The Doubu entered the room. It readied itself to leap at him. It growled for a moment before jumping. "No!" Charlie screamed.

The house was filled with silence from the news. They were told that the lab had caught on fire due to a gas leak ignited by one of the electric devices. The fire took so long to put out that when they found the bodies only they're charred bones remained. They reported that they've found four bodies and are currently searching for others in the building.

It wasn't hard for them to put the pieces together. They knew that Arthur was one of the four bodies. Sam's father took it the hardest when he heard the news. He appeared as though he was going to burst into tears. Sam's mother stayed to comfort him while Sam went upstairs to his room. Jet followed.

Sam closed the door behind Jet and lied on his bed. "Sam... Are you alright?" Jet understood what had happened. "Are you sad?"

"I don't know... Part of me is thinking about all the good times we had together while another is thinking about how he lied to me and hurt you... My mind can't decide whether to be sad or not." Jet jumped onto the bed with Sam. "Or maybe I can't decide whether I want to be sad or not..." Jet whimpered before giving a quick lick to Sam's cheek. "I don't think that's going to cheer me up..."

There was a knock at his door. He didn't answer, but the door opened anyways. It was his mom holding a present. "Mom, I don't think I'm in the mood to open presents."

"I know. I know... but this one is from your grandfather." Sam eyes were filled with surprise. "I'll set it on your bed..." She laid the present at the foot of his bed before heading back to the door. "I need to get back to your father now..." She slowly closed the door behind her.

Sam sat up and stared at the present. The present had a length and width of six inches and a height of three inches. He was reluctant to open it, but his curiosity got the better of him. Underneath the Christmas themed wrapping was a white box. He took off the top and gasped. Inside was a black collar. "Is this?" He couldn't stop starring at the collar. His stare turned into a glare and he tossed the box across the room. "I'm not going to have Jet wear that thing!"

Jet's ears perked up when Sam mentioned his name. He looked over at the box whose contents had spilled out next to it. Jet tilted his head when he saw something. He jumped off the bed and approached the box. He switched to his anthro form and picked up a piece of paper. He brought it back to Sam. "I found this by the box."

Sam looked that letter. It was addressed to him. He took the note and started reading it.

"Dear Sam,

I'd like to start off by saying Merry Christmas.

I know that things between us have become rough ever since our fight.

I just hope you know that I wasn't intentionally trying to hurt either you or Jet.

I know that my words alone won't do a thing so I got you one of these.

Before you overreact you should know that this isn't a regular black collar.

I disabled this collar's ability to tighten so that Jet can wear it safely.

Remember what I told you during the fight? Well now you have two more choices.

You can have Jet wear the collar and go back to the city.

Or he can wear the collar hear.

It's your choice. I didn't want the collar to be the only reason for you staying.

I'd like you to stay so we can start over.

But if you feel you must leave, know that I will harbor no ill-feelings for it.

I've enjoyed the time you've been here and couldn't ask for more.

Nothing can ever make up for what I put Jet through, but I can at least thank him.

You may not have noticed, but when you're with Jet you smile all the time.

I've wanted to see you smile like that for so long; like when you were with Tyler.

I shouldn't compare the two. When you're with Jet I see so much more happiness.

You and Jet share a special link, and I don't want it to be severed.

So take this collar and go wherever you want with Jet.

Love, Grandpa."

Sam dropped the note as tears started to roll down his face. "Oh now I decide to cry..." He closed his eyes as the tears continued to pour out. "It's not fair! Now I'm left with only one choice!"

Jet, still in his anthro form, felt powerless to calm Sam down. He didn't know what would make Sam feel better so he did what he did a lot. He wrapped his arms around Sam. Sam was still for a few seconds before he wrapped his arms around Jet and hung his head over Jet's left shoulder.

News of what happened quickly spread throughout town. Sam's friends came over later that day to comfort him. Sam wasn't emotional like he was earlier, but he appreciated their concern.

The four of them just sat outside on the ground while Jet was taking a nap inside. They were silent. They had already talked enough about Sam's grandfather, but another concern was stuck in their minds. "So..." Emily said. "What's going to happen to you now?" She, Ryan, and Jeremy each looked to Sam who just hung his head down.

"I have to move back to the city with my parents..." Sam sighed. "I don't really have any other choice."

"When do you leave?" Ryan asked.

"Two days..." His answer shocked them. They didn't expect it to be so sudden.

"But why so soon!?" Emily asked. "Can't you and your parents stay 'till New Year's?"

"My dad is staying for a bit to deal with all of the issues that have been coming up. I'm heading back with my mom."

"Why don't you just stay here with your dad and go back when he does?" Jeremy suggested. "Did you consider that?"

"I did... but I don't want to do that." His answer shocked them. Sam looked at them and could see their faces filled with confusion; trying to understand why he wouldn't want to do that. "I don't want things to be hard..."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"The longer I stay, the harder it'll be for me when I leave..." Sam looked away from them. "I just want to get it over with..."

"You jerk..." Emily said under her breath as she stood up. "You want me to make it easier for you, huh!? Fine! This is the last time you'll ever see me!" Emily stormed off.

"Emily! Wait!" Ryan said as he got to his feet and chased after her. Jeremy stood up and looked at Sam who was still looking away. Jeremy shook his head before heading off after Ryan and Emily.

Seconds later Sam sighed as he stared at the horizon. Telling them how he felt was harder than he thought it would be, and he felt as bad as he thought he would. He even felt a small amount of sorrow that grew and grew the more he thought about the years he spent with them and the thought of them not being around anymore. Sam sighed again as his sorrow started turning into a depression.

He wondered if he would ever be able to enjoy Christmas again.

The next day Sam did nothing but sit outside with Jet close by. Neither one of them talked; Jet didn't know what he should say, Sam didn't want to.

The shadows from the trees grew longer as the sun drifted towards the horizon until they were swallowed by the night. Sam was still sitting outside. Jet had fallen asleep in his lap. "So they didn't come..." Sam said under his breath. He had been curious as to whether his friends, if they would even call him that now, would come over. Sam sighed. He looked down at Jet and softly scratched the back of his ears. "Let's go inside Jet. I have to start packing."

Jet's eyes slowly opened. He yawned and stretched his legs before getting off of Sam. "Pack for the city?" Jet asked as he followed Sam into the house.

"Yep..."

Jet tilted his head at Sam's solemn response. Jet understood that Sam was sad, but he didn't know what he could do to cheer him up. "What's the city like?" Maybe getting Sam to talk would cheer him up.

"It's a hectic, crowded place where tensions are high and you can't walk more than five feet without someone yelling at you." Sam chuckled. "Or maybe that's just the schools..." Sam turned his head to look at Jet when they were in his room. "Jet... you need to understand that there won't be as much space as there is here. You won't be able to go outside without me... and not at all without this..." Sam took the black collar that was still in the box it came in. "Could you stand up for me please?"

Jet shifted to his anthro form and stood in front of Sam. Sam hesitantly wrapped the black collar around Jet's neck. He fastened it while making sure not to snag any of Jet's fur. He stepped back and examined it. Jet's hair covered it slightly, but not so much that you couldn't recognize it was there. "How does it feel?"

Jet brought his paws to his neck and felt it. He moved his head around to see if it restricted his movements. "What's it supposed to do?" Jet asked curiously.

Sam immediately sighed with relief from hearing Jet's words. "It doesn't do anything, but you cannot take it off. Understand?"

Jet didn't understand the reason why he couldn't take it off, but he understood that Sam didn't want him to try to take off and that was reason enough for him not to. "I understand." Sam smiled and started going through his dresser, removing all his clothes and placing them onto his bed. When all of his drawers were empty he started packing everything into a small suitcase. Clothes were basically all he had and ever needed besides his iPod and cell phone so it was a relatively quick pack.

After laying out a set of clothing he would be wearing tomorrow he placed the suitcase on the ground and sat on his bed. Jet shifted into his feral form and jumped onto the bed with him. He looked at Sam who seemed to be staring off into space.

Sam couldn't believe he was really going back. He'd lived in the city his entire life before coming here and yet he felt like he was moving to an unfamiliar place. It was similar to how he felt when he moved here but with one key difference. When he moved here he knew no one and had left no friends behind. This time it's the other way around. When he moved here he felt like he was moving from nothing to nothing. But this place was something to him now, and he's about to lose it all, including his friends.

Sam smiled at Jet. Jet was definitely the most important person to him right now, and he was thankful that he wouldn't have to leave him behind as well, but he didn't want to leave his friends either. He wanted to make it as easy as he could to say goodbye to them by leaving early, but he hadn't expected it to end up like it did.

"I'm such an idiot..." Sam said as he thought about what he said to them. He didn't want to leave on such a bad note with them. He didn't fully realize how upset they were until a short while ago when they didn't come.

Jet's ears twitched when he heard Sam's words. He was curious as to what had happened. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." That was all Sam said without looking at Jet. Jet quickly became more curious since he knew Sam was lying.

Sam closed his eyes and sighed, unable to get what happened yesterday out of his. "So that's what you're thinking about, huh?" Sam's eyes flew wide open. He looked at his hands and realized what Jet had done.

"Jet! What are you doing?!"

"You wouldn't tell me what was wrong so I decided to find out for myself. I don't understand why you wouldn't tell me..."

"Because you don't need to know about it Jet. This is my problem and only my problem."

"Why don't you fix it then?" Jet's suggestion surprised Sam. "I can tell you want to apologize to them."

"My parents are already asleep and we leave at five in the morning. There's no time for me to apologize to them."

"How about we go alone?" Jet asked.

"Huh?"

"I know it isn't spring yet... but how about we fly to them?"

"That sounds like a great idea."

After quietly getting out of the house the white wings emerged from their back. It was still as painful as the first time, and they wondered if they would ever get used to that. Shaking that thought out of their mind they quickly leapt into the air.

Ryan and Emily lived in a denser part of the town. The differences were amazing from so high up. The moving lights of the cars made the streets appear to have an aura surrounding them. Their fur being black made it very easy for them to fly closer to the ground without anyone noticing.

When Sam recognized Ryan and Emily's house below they waited until the streets were empty before landing and separating. He quickly went up to the door and knocked. Moments later the door opened. "Sam?" It was Ryan. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in first? I'm kind of cold..." The cold winter wind was piercing Sam because of the two tears in his shirt, and the shirt wasn't exactly thick.

"Uh... sure." Sam quickly entered. "Oh hi, Jet! I didn't realize you were here too."

"Hi." That was all he said as he entered the house behind Sam.

"Did Jeremy get here already?" Emily asked as she walked down the stairs. It didn't take long for her to get her answer as she noticed Sam and Jet. She looked at Sam briefly before her gaze went to Jet. "Well hello Jet! How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Jet's tail wagged slightly. "Are you going to ask Sam that?"

Emily was noticeably surprised by Jet's suggestion. She sighed. "So... how are you?"

"I'm good. A bit cold though..."

"It's your fault for not wearing a coat... Why are you here anyways? I thought you were leaving tomorrow and wanted to make it easier on yourself. Did you change your mind?"

"No. I'm still leaving tomorrow. I just wanted to leave on good terms." Sam took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for sounding like a jerk yesterday. I'm not used to saying goodbye to friends... I didn't exactly have any before coming here since I distanced myself from everyone. I didn't even expect I'd make any friends here..." Sam chuckled. "But the two of you were just so persistent... Thank you." Sam closed his eyes and sighed with relief that he had gotten all of that out. His eyes then widened with surprise as he felt two arms wrap around his neck. He opened his eyes and saw Emily looking at him with a smile.

"I'm going to miss you..." she hugged Sam tighter.

The doorbell rang. Ryan was still standing next to the door and opened it to reveal Jeremy. "Hey, I hope I'm not late..." Jeremy noticed Emily hugging Sam. "What's going on...?"

Emily quickly let go of Sam. "Sam just came over to apologize."

"Crap..." Jeremy said with a sigh. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill which he handed to Ryan. "Looks like you win." Ryan smiled as he took the bill and tucked it into his pocket.

"You two were having a bet!?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Said Ryan. "I bet Jeremy that you would apologize before you left."

"I see..." He looked to Jeremy. "Well I guess you'll have to thank Jet for losing the bet." Sam rubbed Jet's head. "He's the one who convinced me to come even though my parents were sleeping."

Jeremy sighed. "Thanks a lot Jet... wait... you mean you didn't get a ride here from your parents? Did you bike your way here without a jacket?"

Sam smiled. "Nope."

"Then how did you get here?" Ryan asked. "Surely you didn't walk all the way here."

"How about I show you?" Sam looked at Jet. "Does that sound alright?"

"Yeah!" Jet was getting excited. He followed Sam as he went deeper into the house.

"The front door is over here..." Ryan said.

"I know." Sam said. We're heading out to the backyard." His friends didn't ask him anything else as they followed him.

Their backyard was fenced in, giving Sam and Jet privacy. "Allow us to show you something that you'll always remember us by..." Sam said as motioned to Jet. Jet's tail started wagging fast. He jumped at Sam's chest and disappeared into him. Sam's friends were speechless as they gazed at Sam and Jet's merged form. "There's more" Sam smirked as the white wings burst out for a second time.

"They're beautiful..." Emily said.

"They really are awesome..." Ryan said. "I'm kind of jealous."

"Well I probably won't be able to use them much in the city so I'm going to take my time heading back."

"Take care of yourself, Sam." Ryan said. "And feel free to comeback whenever you want."

"I'll try to after I graduate." Sam turned his back to them. "Maybe I'll fly here one day." Sam chuckled before taking off into the air. He briefly glanced back and saw his three friends waving goodbye to him as he disappeared into the night sky.

Please read below for a contest opportunity.

Chapter 3 finally done!

This chapter was originally going to be MUCH longer, but I decided to split it into two chapters instead. The next chapter will be out later this week.

Please comment what you liked about this chapter or the series in general so I know what to focus on. Telling me what needs work would also be helpful.

I'm thinking about having a little contest for the final chapter of the series (Most likely chapter 5). I'm going to let you create your very own Doubu to appear in the finale. If you're interested, send me a PM of the gender and species of your Doubu along with any personality quirks he/she may have and if there is anything special about their coloring. Feel free to give it a name too if you want.

I'll randomly choose from those who submitted an entry and announce the winner when I post chapter four.

I won't feel bad if no one submits anything. I already have my own idea for him/her.

Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!

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A Companion for Life (Part 3)

A Companion for Life (Part 4)

A Companion for Life (Part 2)

A Companion for Life (Part 1)