Runaways
It was a warm, spring
morning in the park. All the leaves on the trees and plants were healthy with
green, and thick green grass blanketed any spot on the ground that wasn't taken
by the trees and plants. Occasionally, a flower would bloom, giving a red,
blue, white, or yellow accent against the green and brown. Birds called to one
another amongst the trees, squirrels and other small critters came out of their
dens after a season of continuous slumber.
The crown jewel of this park
was a large natural pool that was being fed by a short, but rushing waterfall.
As the water crashed onto the rocks, it sprayed outwards, creating a mist. The
sunlight overhead bounced off the droplets, forming a vivid and beautiful
rainbow that spanned across the base of the falls. The pool drained into a
creek, which journeyed on its own amongst the trees.
A deep cave opened up
underneath the rocky mound where the waterfall descended. It's mouth was just
tall enough to fit an average sized human, about five and a half feet.
Inside, there were remains
of what was once a fire, now cooled ashes and half-burnt logs. Next to the
remains lay a petite, female rat, who was half asleep. She was human-like in
her figure, but also had equal amounts of rat anatomy. Her fur was light brown
and short, it covered all but her hands, feet, tail, and ears. She didn't show
any muscle structure, though she was small and thin. She had fiery-red hair
that fell just midway to her neck. She wore a white, short-cropped shirt that
showed a bit of her yellow-gemmed naval piercing and tight jeans, her naked
tail stuck out in the back. Her head was resting on her bunched up, dark yellow
hoodie.
Amber stirred and slowly
woke up. She raised her arms stretching her back and yawned. She looked around
the cave. Hmm? Wonder where Jeremy went off to? She got up to stand.
She walked out of the cave,
shielding her eyes for a bit from the bright, morning sun. Crouching down by the
pool, she splashed some water on her face to get the sleep out of her eyes; her
whiskers twitched when they came in contact with the cool liquid.
Still crouched, Amber
glanced around the area for Jeremy. Where
did that goofball go?
She then heard a twig snap
behind her and suddenly jumped at the noise. She quickly turned her head around
towards the source and stood up, ready to bolt if she needed to. A maroon and
white shape was poking out from behind one of the trees, trying to conceal
itself as best as it could.
Amber relaxed once she
realized who it was. "You know, for something that's known to move silently,
you're not a very sneaky bat." She giggled.
The being behind the tree
stayed put, but the maroon and white shape hid itself behind the tree.
She grinned and turned back
towards the pool. "Ok, I can't 'see' you now."
Whatever was behind the tree
came out from behind it. It slowly moved towards Amber, treading lightly as to
not step on another stick or make any noise.
Once it reached her, it
covered her eyes with its white paws, and unintentionally covered half her body
with its maroon wings. "Guess who?" it playfully asked.
"Gee, I wonder," she
responded sarcastically. She took the paws over her eyes and moved them
downward. They proceeded on their own and hugged her belly.
Her head turned around and
saw the white fruit bat that was her boyfriend; he was just slightly taller and
bigger than her, but not by much. He was white all over except for his maroon
wings and the insides of his ears, the left had two ring piercings. His black
hair was short but scruffy. He could only wear tank-tops because his wings were
connected to his arms, but it didn't matter, it was Spring and every day has
been warm. Along with his grey tank-top, he had on loose jeans that fit just
enough to hold up on their own, along with an old, leather belt.
She looked up at his bright,
blue eyes. "Morning Jer."
"Morning hun," he replied.
He pecked her on the lips and sat down next to her by the pool.
Both of them rolled up their
pant legs and placed there feet in the cool water, playing footsies and talking
about nothing in particular for a while.
After a moment of silent
bliss, Jeremy broke the silence. "Aren't you glad you decided to come here with
me?"
She nodded. "I really needed
to get away from my mom; I don't know why it seems like she doesn't care about
me anymore."
"Is it because of me? Of us?"
She shook her head. "No."
He looked off in the
distance. "She did seem to approve of me when I first met her, and even when we
started dating." He looked back at her. "I don't mean to bring this up but, did...did
she start drinking again?"
Amber didn't move. Her feet
stayed still in the water and her head looked straight forward at nothing in
particular. A tear rolled down her cheek.
Jeremy wrapped his winged
arm around her, pulling her close to his side. He rested his head on top of
hers. "I'm so sorry. We can stay here as long as you'd like."
"Thank you," she said
quietly.
After they released their
embrace, he reached into his jeans pockets and took out a variety of
odd-and-end foodstuffs. "I managed to find some eatable berries, nuts, and
mushrooms. I couldn't find anything more substantial, and I want to avoid going
into town."
"That's fine." She took a couple
berries from his hand.
"I've always heard rats are
pretty good at scavenging; you should help me out sometime, we can get a lot
more with both of us poking around."
"But why couldn't we just go
into town to get food? I can always go to my place for money, it's not that-"
"No Amber! I don't want you
stepping into that place if you mom's been drinking! Remember what happened
last time?"
She looked away from him.
"Besides, I know this forest
like the back of my hand. I can easily find something more substantial, it'll
just take me longer. That's why I want you to help me out with that, even if
you think you might not find anything." He scratched the back of her head; her
ears twitched as he did so. "Everything will be alright."
She gave him a small smile.
Suddenly the sky flashed
crimson, and the air heated significantly for a moment then cooled. They both
looked up at the sky. Another bright, red flash nearly blinded them despite
their attempt to shield their eyes. Birds and small critters scattered after
every flash. Off in the distance, Jeremy could see charcoal clouds of smoke
billowing up from several places deep in the forest as the taller trees fell in
those areas.
Amber looked around at the
chaos too, but she gave a small squeak and hid her face in Jeremy's chest after
nearly every red flash. Eventually, she just kept herself pressed against
Jeremy's chest.
"Let's just go back to the
cave and wait this out!" he yelled amongst the destruction.
They both ran towards the
cave. Another red flash struck the ground just behind them, lighting it on
fire. They could both feel the searing heat of the flash on their backs, as if
their backs were lit on fire.
Amber let out a loud scream
as she felt the intense heat; Jeremy just gritted his teeth and teared up
trying to tough out the excruciating pain.
When the both got back
inside the cave, they immediately leaned their backs against the cool cave
walls. The sound of destruction was muffled as soon as they entered.
After some time, Jeremy
looked at Amber. "Turn around. I want to check for blisters." She did as she
was told.
He lifted up her shirt up to
her neck. Thankfully she's not fond of
wearing bras, the damage could have been much worse. Her back was covered
with second-degree burns and most of her fur was burnt off, showing her
blistered skin, only a few, light brown patches remained.
He looked over her shoulder,
her burnt back still turned to him. "Hey, um, Amber?"
She turned her head slightly
towards his voice. "Yeah?"
"Um...do, do you mind taking
your shirt off? I-I just don't want you wearing anything tight while you're
back's trying to heal." He started to blush.
She started to blush as
well. "A-Actually...will my hoodie do? I just...I just don't feel that comfortable
being topless in front of you," she said nervously. "At least not yet," she
quickly added.
His face started gaining
it's natural color again. "That'll work. I just want to be sure you're
comfortable."
With her back still turned
to him, Amber lifted her shirt up the rest of the way until it was off. She
then grabbed her yellow hoodie off the cave floor and put it on.
She turned back around and
gave a half-smile. "Ok...I'm good for now."
Jeremy smiled back. "Ok, my
turn." He proceeded to take off his shirt and turn his back towards Amber.
"What's the damage? How bad is it?"
She stood there in shock,
unable to find the right words at what she saw.
"Look I know it's probably
bad; my back hurt like hell when-"
"There's nothing there!"
"What?"
"There's...nothing, just your
bare skin." His whole back looked as if someone took a razor to it and shaved
off all his fur, exposing his skin and muscles.
"What the-" he said as he
reached around with his paw. Sure enough, all he felt was bare skin, the fur
ending just past where his sides and back met. How? he thought. He felt his back a bit more, trying to comprehend
the strangeness of it all. After some time, he put his shirt back on.
He sighed, still turned from
Amber. I've managed to stay hidden all
these years; how did they find out I was here? He turned his head back
towards Amber and gave her a half smile. I
don't want to go; I've found someone to love, someone to take care of...someone
who was willing to give me a chance.
He fully turned around back
to her, beckoning her to come near him. She obliged. "Let's just wait this out.
Maybe this'll all end when nighttime comes."
They both sat down by the
cave wall. Amber sat up as best she could to avoid irritating her back. They
decided to just hold paws for the time being. The muffled destruction was still
going strong outside.
"Once everything clears out,
I'll see if I can find something to heal your back quicker. At least, if they
haven't destroyed everything by then."
They both sat in silence for
the rest of the time. Jeremy rested his back against the cave wall while Amber
fell asleep with her head on his lap, despite Jeremy's protests for her to keep
her back as straight as possible.
Jeremy absently looked
outside the mouth of the cave, the chaos still going strong outside. Why have you monsters come?
* * *
"Amber can you please come
with me this time? We can gather a lot more supplies if we go together."
"...I'm too scared. And I
don't like that you always go out in that...frozen hell, especially with the way
you're dressed. Besides, bats aren't-"
"I know. We bats aren't all
that tolerant of extreme cold, and I'm sorry that sleeveless shirts are the
only ones that'll work for me," Jeremy said irritably, "I'm sorry I'm the way I
am."
She looked up at him and
started to tear up. "No, I didn't mean it like that! You're handsome just the
way you are, even with your large winged arms."
He smiled at her compliment.
She looked outside the cave
entrance. "It's just that...ever since that night..."
He put a paw on her
shoulder, giving it a comforting rub. "Everything's going to be alright," he
reassured her, "and it's my job to take care of you. Don't worry about me; I'll
be fine." I just wish you still had that
scavenging instinct you rats are known to have.
He crouched down beside her
and gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'll be right back; these guys should keep
you company in the meantime," he said as he gestured towards the dark cave. He
gave a few short screeches to notify the natural inhabitants of this cave
what's going on. They gave a collective screech back.
He stood back up and headed
out into the cold winter's night.
Amber and Jeremy hardly left
their found cave since the attack, and the sudden winter made doing so even
less inviting. The only time Jeremy would leave is for scavenging food or other
basic supplies; Amber never left the cave once.
The only sounds Amber could
hear were the cold wind howling softly outside, the crackling of the fire,
distant, irregular squeaks from inside the cave, and her nervous, irregular
breathing. Why am I so scared to go with
him? Why am I so scared to help him as he's done for me? She felt nothing
but the freezing air around her; the small glow of the fire and her yellow
hoodie did little to prevent it from piercing her skin.
Jeremy came back with some
more wood for the fire, partial bottles of water, berries, and a couple
rolled-up sleeping bags that have seen better days. Most of these items were
stored in a beat-up, black shoulder bag he also found. His white fur was even
more white from the snow, and his maroon ears and wings were now white also.
He noticed Amber started
tearing up again and having trouble keeping her ears and tail warm. Ever since
that night, their special night they planned on a whim, she hasn't been the
same. Normally, she's very bubbly and full of life whenever she's around him,
that was one thing he loved about her. But now she's constantly scared.
He wished he could do more
to keep her warm in this frozen wasteland they used to call home. She was only
wearing a dark yellow, pull-over hoodie and a pair of tight jeans; her long,
naked tail stuck out in the back. He was only wearing a grey tank-top, because
those are the only types of shirts he can wear because of his wings, and a pair
of loose jeans held up by a black, pleather belt. The freezing air bothered him
some, but taking care of Amber was a priority for him.
While he was aware that he's
struggling to keep warm just as much as she is, he scooted over to Amber's side
and held her in his skinny arms, while his thin, maroon wings embraced her
further.
"I'm sorry...this might not
help much," he apologized.
"It's ok..." she said as she
stared transfixed at the fire. "But what about you? Even before all of...this, it
was at least brisk out that night. I get that it's because of your anatomy but
-"
"Don't worry about me."
"Jeremy I -"
"Don't worry about me. I've
been through worse than just being cold. You know that right?"
She nodded.
He started petting the back
of her head, ruffling her red hair some. "Someone, or something, doesn't want
me gone just yet."
She laid her head on his
soft chest, feeling his heart pound rapidly. "You're just as scared as I
am...aren't you."
"...Y-yeah."
She sat up and looked at him
and he did the same, both scared about what will happen now. They shared a
reassuring kiss, giving them a brief moment of ecstasy, before Amber rested her
head back on Jeremy's chest. He rested his head on top of hers, and kept his
wings wrapped around her.
"You know I love you."
"Mmm. I love you too."
The dull hum of the wind
outside and the steady crackling of the fire lulled them both to sleep; but the
fear they both shared was still wide awake in their minds.