The Valiants
"You can drop the disguise, you know." Adela said to the other plush beside me, "And buckle up while you're at it.""Fine." he responded, turning back human. He held me in his lap as we drove off, and I couldn't help but feel as though I'd missed something. I turned my entire body towards Adela since I couldn't pivot my head anymore."What's going on?" the other subject asked, worry evident in his tone.Adela sighed. "I've made a mistake." she said."What do you mean you've made a mistake? What's going on?" I heard his voice get louder and his tone become more hysterical. "Where are we going?""Far, far away from here. You are a Valiant," she said, pointing to the other subject, "and I need to know you're safe so I can sleep at night.""Why do I need to be safe?" he asked."Because something is coming." she said, "I can see it. When I was injected with the virus, I gained the ability to see major future events. I saw every major tragedy from the previous five years at least three months in advance, and something bad is coming. I just can't tell you what it is.""Wait, you were tested?" he asked."It was a prank." she answered, "Except, you know, the person who injected me wasn't joking around.""And what happened to him?" he said with a smirk."Let's just say we have a naga in containment that seemed to be what he became.""So he was a snake furry?" the subject asked with the slightest hint of laughter in his tone."Apparently." Adela said, laughing a bit then a lot. The Valiant joined her.I let out some muffled aggravation. Had I been able to speak, I would not have been calm about it."So where are we going again?" the Valiant asked after they calmed down."A small town," Adela answered, "a town where you hopefully won't be found."The rest of the ride was fairly quiet.We eventually made it to a lightly housed area. Adela said that we were here as she pulled up to a shop. I looked inside and saw countless stuffed animals."This is it. You can go," she said, pointing at the valiant, "but you, Alec, have to stay.""Well, bye
then, I guess." the Valiant said."Wait, before you go," Adela started, "what's your name?""Zarvaun Kemrus." Zarvaun said as he got out of the car and disappeared. I never saw him again until I started living with Frostbite.Adela picked me up and carried me into the store and started talking to the owner. The owner was an elderly woman that looked to be in her seventies with bright white hair in a pony tail and wearing normal clothes under an apron."Good morning, Grandma." Adela greeted the owner. I began to look around the store at the various stuffed animals everywhere. None of them looked like they were alive like I was, which made me upset."Morning, Adela! How's my favorite granddaughter?" the owner replied."Not good, honestly. Something terrible is afoot at work." Adela sat me down in front of the clerk."And who is this little cutie?" the clerk asked."Benjamin's eldest son." Adela replied."Oh my," Adela's grandmother murmured, "so it's come to that. Benjamin's finally lost it." Wait, my dad's lost it? What are they...oh no. My brothers! I began to squirm and the clerk realized that I understood. "Oh, it's okay dear. Hopefully the fact that you three are triplets will give them a better chance of following in your footsteps.""Thankfully, that's seems to be the case. All twins and triplets that were injected all turned into the same thing as their twin or triplet or whatever. So your brothers Skyler and Teddy should turn into teddy bears."I calmed down after hearing this. If nothing else, at least they wouldn't feel the pain for very long. I still remained silent, of course. I couldn't talk."I'll take Alec, dear." the clerk said, "He's safe here. No one but the worthy shall protect him."She sounded awfully cryptic in saying that. I began to wonder what she meant as Adela gave me to the clerk. Adela then bid us farewell and left. I was left with the clerk and the hundreds of stuffed animals."Now, this may sound mean, but I'm going to put you on a shelf." I looked at her as she said this, "Those who turn into stuffed animals tend to be good bait for hidden heroes who can protect you. I promise it will only be during store hours. After hours, you can play with some toys I've collected."Seemed simple enough. Just sit around during the day and play at night. Only, it appeared that it would consume a great deal of my life that would seem to be very long. I didn't have a choice though, so I
looked at my feet in resignation.She went to the back of the store and sat me on the highest shelf. This seemed to ensure that only serious buyers would even find me. I didn't see her again until she came around a few hours later, saying she was closing up shop. I hadn't seen very many people in those few hours other than a couple teenagers looking around, appearing too embarrassed to buy anything.The clerk took me into a backroom of the store where a lot of toys were strewn about the floor. I realized only then that I wouldn't actually be able to play with them. I had plush arms now; they had no grip. She sat me down in the middle of the floor, locking and closing the door as she left.In a vain attempt to occupy myself, I tried to grab a box of crayons. To my shock it worked. For some reason I was able to grab and manipulate things with startling ease. Something told me this would come in handy later. I grabbed a sheet of paper and began to draw. I had always been fair at it, I think. But that was before I was turned into this, and I had the mind of a four-year-old then. I tried to draw a horrific scene of what I experienced today and ended up using all the paper to create a detailed story of sorts of my worst day ever. I had not realized how much time had passed until the clerk walked in bidding me good morning.She stopped in her tracks when she saw what I had drawn. It was a very graphic storyline of drawings showing what I saw yesterday. On every page there were red scribblings of what I was feeling at that moment. They said hatred, sadness, frustration, confusion, defeat, and other menacing words that scared the clerk. I just looked down and started to cry as the full weight of the emotions I had been concealing since the lab dropped onto my shoulders. The clerk tried her best to console me, but I wouldn't be. My muffled cries lasted for about an hour before I dozed off to sleep.I had not thought it possible to sleep as I was. I wasn't even tired when my body shut down. I woke up on the shelf where I had been the previous day. I heard the clerk greet someone as they came into the store. They immediately went to where I could see them, their footsteps sounding urgent and with a purpose. He stopped when he saw me. I watched as he approached me, appearing to be aware that I was looking at him. Almost as though he was sure I was alive.He grabbed me off the shelf, holding me like one would a toddler, and walked over to the front desk, saying he would like to buy me. The clerk looked at the teenager. Then back at me. She thought for a second and merely said that he could have me. He seemed confused."Well, fine. How old are you?"
she asked."Nineteen." was his response."Have you ever commited a crime?""No.""If that bear were alive, how would you treat it?""But he is alive, isn't he?" he asked. She smiled."That's why you can have him. I don't sell children, and you look like the perfect new guardian for him." the clerk concluded. My new "guardian" walked out of the store with me in his arms, dumbstruck."Well, that happened." he muttered, walking to his car.He sat me in the passenger seat, buckling me in. "Okay," he said, almost to himself, "If you're alive, say something."The best I could do was shake my head."You can't speak?" Another shake answered this question."But you're alive..." he mused, "I'm Frostbite, by the way. Strange name, I know."I just sat there."I would ask you yours, but...actually, I'm going to count starting at one. Raise an arm when I get to how long your name is." I nodded. Sounded like a smart idea.He started at one and I remained motionless. He waited a second to see if I'd move before continuing on through two and three. When he said four, I raised my arm to signal the length."Now for the letters, in order, in the same way." to completely skip over this, since my name is quite evidently Alec, it took not too long for him to guess my name."Well, Alec. Consider me a brother, if you want." I nodded slightly, "What's wrong?" I couldn't speak. He started the car and drove off, all the time glancing at me with a worried look.When we got to his house, he unbuckled me and held me in his arms as we walked inside. I then realized how abusive my parents were. I guess I never thought about it since I was four, but now I realize they never really held me or hugged me. Not even my triplet brothers recieved love from my parents. It's a wonder my dad threw me into his research."Welcome home, Alec." Frostbite said as he opened the door.