Chapter 1: Wrong day to be nice
Chapter Text
Out of the bed since less than an hour, barely ate anything for breakfast and yet they were already in their shoes, wearing a thin black jacket, and about to leave the house. Just when they were opening the door, they heard their mother from the kitchen.
"Have a good day Asher! Please come back for diner. Tonight, it's pizza."
"Okay mom. Later."
Asher answered with an happy tone, but as soon as they got out and closed the door behind, their fake smiled immediately vanished. Hands in their pockets, they started walking down the road without real destination in head.
"Hello, lamest summer ever. Do your worst..."
For the first day of summer, the neighborhood was strangely calm. The street was desert. Well, it was still early so maybe Asher was the strange one for already being out...
I bet she would have been out too... They thought, looking down.
As they continued walking, they eventually saw people some houses ahead. A women was hugging a girl and covering her cheeks with kisses. The girl didn't seem to share the joy tough. Then as they got closer, Asher recognized her, Luz Noceda. She was in their class and they had be in teams in homeworks once or twice. She was an original to say the least. Always drawing weird monster, sometimes even building them! Honestly, facts are facts, she was a bit weird. Not that she was mean or anything tough. She just put her passion in a super unusual way. No reason for the whole grade to avoid her like they did. With a bit of luck they'll be nicer when the school will start back after the summer.
Then, as the mother went in her car and leaved, Asher was finally close enough to talk. They were about to say hi to Luz when the girl started digging inside the trash can next to her. That sure was a strange sight...
"Hey Luz, what..."
"Tiny trash thief!"
And just like that, the latina started chasing after this thief. Before they realized it, Asher was running behind her. They had followed mostly by reflex but since they had nothing better to do anyway, they just decided to help Luz getting her stuff back. From what they could tell, the so called thief was an owl with a bag. Dang that bird was fat! Luz surely loved whatever it stole from her. Suddenly the bird entered an old wooden house and Luz immediately followed it inside. Asher barely entered the building before a bright flash blinded them.
When their sight finally came back, Asher realized to things. First, despite the house being made of wood, the room they were in had wall of fabric, like a big tent. Second, Luz wasn't in that room. Looking around, they saw an opening in the fabric and took a look. They immediately saw Luz running back and barely got time to get out of the way before the girl stormed inside the tent. As they tripped over one of the many weird objects in this place, Asher fell on their back and saw a woman in a red robe entering with an angry look her face.
"You're not going anywhere." she said.
Then echoed Luz's scream as the woman ran after her. Asher got up and saw the woman lifting up the wall where Luz mostly escaped. The kid was shocked beyond limit at this instant. They were just trying to help a classmate recovering her stuff and they somehow ended up meeting a dangerous woman. Then again, who lives alone in a crumbling house lost in the forest? Still, that kind of problem was for later. Now, they had to make sure Luz wasn't abducted or wathever was on the program. When done, they would immediately call the police. And so Asher lifted the fabric, ready to run after them. Their determination instantly vanished...
They weren't in the forest anymore... They were in a lively town, with old buildings and monsters everywhere! Orcs, cyclops and other sharply fanged creatures walked among these streets. At first the kid stayed paralyzed from shock and fear until one of these monsters came from their side. It was at least two meters tall, all in muscles, and had as face nothing else than a gigantic mouth.
"What kind of freaky creature are you?" asked the monster leaning toward them.
Having these razor sharp teeth next to their eyes managed to broke Asher free from their shock as the started running in the opposite direction as fast as they could. The more they ran, the more reasons to be afraid they got. Everywhere the looked, there were even monster, all looking at them with big eyes. In their panic, Asher ended up crashing in the stall of some store and as they fell, they heard many breaking sounds.
"Seriously brat!?"
Alerted again by that yell, the kid lifted their eyes and saw a black skinned monster with devil's horns and a pointy tail glaring at them with his red eyes.
"If you cherish your life, you better pay for what you just broke dumb kid!"
Cherish their life? Was he really gonna kill them for that!? Completely terrified, Asher crawled backward with teary eyes.
"I'm sorry! It was an accident I swear! I don't have any money."
They were stopped when they felt their back hitting on something. They slowly looked behind wondering what nightmarish demon it was next. It happened to be another giant. Clothed in black and wearing a crow mask, the giant grabbed Asher by the collar and lifted them to his face.
"You're in big trouble kid. You show your freak face all around town, you disturb order and now you refuse to pay! If you can't live in society, you don't have your place in it!"
***
The floor hit hard as the giant throw them in the cell. The sound of the gate crashing down made them shiver as heavy footsteps echoed further. With we eyes, Asher hugged their knees in the corner of the cell. This has to be a nightmare, right? Back this morning, they were just complaining about a boring summer and now they were in this unknown nightmarish town, prisoner of giant (probably flesh-eating) monsters inside this dungeon that could have been Dracula's. They were just trying to be nice to a classmate! Would they ever get back home?
"Hey there. You're human, aren't you?"
This joyful voice took them out of their lamentations as they looked up. The other side of the gate, there was a girl their age. Well, a pink catgirl their age... She had furr on her skin with a long tail and animal ears. She wall also purple everywhere, be it her furr, her hair or her eyes. Asher probably stayed surprised for too long since the girl asked again.
"You're human, right?"
"Huh... Yeah. I'm human. I'm surprised you can tell. I was starting to think humans don't exist here..."
"Hehe. It's true we're not that much, but there's still a couple here and there.
This innocent smile sure contrasted with all the creepy stuff Asher had seen since getting here. Yet what she said got their attention.
"We? You mean you're human too?"
"Yup! Doesn't seems like, right? I got cursed."
"Oh. Sorry..."
"Don't worry. I got lucky in a way. Some curses kill or turn into mindless monsters. Pink catgirl isn't that bad."
"Well, that sure is a good way of seeing things."
"That's how I am. Enough chitchat tough. Time to get you out!"
And just like that, she pushed the lever on the wall and the gate lifted. Shocked yet again, Asher stood up and slowly existed the cell looking the girl with big eyes.
"I got something to do here real quick." she said. "But right after, I'm getting you out of here. Come on!"
Therefore, Asher followed the girl as they walked to the other side of the floor. This gigantic hole in the center was terrifying enough for them to stay as close to the wall as possible. Then, when they were about to enter a corridor, the floor started to shake.
"What the heck is that!?" panicked Asher womdering if there was seriously a earthquake here and now.
"Probably just a prisoner make a havoc." answered the girl like it wasn't a big deal. "That kinda helps me. Maybe the contraband room will be unguarded."
"You're searching for contraband?"
"Well... To be exact, I'm searching for a cure to my curse. Since prisoner have generally weird stuff when they get caught, I figured it worthed the shot to take a look in the batch."
"So you sneaked inside a prison!?"
"Don't be silly. This place is a big deal. I just let a guard capture me and I escaped when he leaved."
"Why... Why would take that kind of risk?"
"I can't exactly go back on earth looking like that, can I?"
That phrase caught Asher off guard. They hadn't tought of it yet but they had to find a way back home. And since this girl was human too, she obviously wanted the same. But like she said, she couldn't go back in society looking like that. She would ended rat lab like in a x-men scenario. Since... since how long had she been looking for that cure?
"Do you mind if I ask your name?" Asher asked hesitantly.
Up until now, the girl had a joyful voice. Yet, after talking about how she couldn't go home even if she wanted to, obviously her tone would lose its energy. And so it did.
"That's not really important. Let's just find my cure and get you out of this place..."
Thus, the two kids continued in silence until they got to a giant door with "CONTRABAND" written in big letters. They opened it and found a big pile of objects of all shapes and size.
"You gotta be kidding me!" yelled the catgirl to Asher's surprise.
"What's the matter? I tought that's what you looked for."
"I don't know what my cure looks like! That's why I'm searching for it. I was sure it would be stored and classified. I would simply take the "cure" section and find help to identify the good one. No way I can take all that..."
Seeing the girl clenching her fists with anger and frustration, Asher couldn't help but feel sorry for her. They put a hand on her shoulder to share their support and it seemed to help a bit as she relaxed her hand. After a short silence, she spoke.
"Thanks Asher."
Wait what? They never gave her their name, did they? They were about to ask when they heard a powerful explosion from outside. Both of them hurried to the window and saw a fight raging down. A giant was breathing fire while a woman was waving a staff left and right. After monsters and curses, of course magic was a thing! Wait wasn't this girl Luz!?
"Hey!" shot Asher to the catgirl. "You know how to leave this place, right? This girl is human too! We have to get her out of this mess!"
"Grab my back! We'll take a shortcut!"
"What?"
"JUST DO IT!"
Asher immediately put their around the girl's shoulders and hanged tight. The girl then jumped by the window and landed on the roof of another building lower. She started to run all four. They were going at inhuman speed as she jumped from roof to roof. Then, just as they got to the ground, fireworks started blowing in the sky. The giant was down and knocked out for most likely a couple of hours... if wake up he would. Asher then ran toward Luz and the woman. When she saw them, the young latina yelled her surprise.
"ASHER!? What the heck are you doing here!?"
"Believe it or not, I was just trying to help you getting that owl! Please tell you got your stuff back..."
"Wha... Huh yes, I did. You were really behind me back then!?"
Of course she didn't realize...
"Well" sighed the woman with complete disinterest. "Guess I'll just have to send you both on earth."
***
"I wanna stay and become a witch."
With these words, Luz blew everyone's mind. The lady, or Eda as her name, started to argue on the bare madness of what the kid was saying but in the end, she agreed. Luz was beyond happy. That was a fan of magic stuff for ya. Then Eda turned to Asher.
"What about you? Don't tell me you wanna become a witch too?"
Asher didn't answer right away. They just looked at the magic door. This was the way home. They just had to walk in and everything was back to normal.
"You can make that door anytime, right?" they asked to the witch.
"Huh... yeah?"
"Then I won't leave right away. There's someone here I wanna help. I hope you won't mind me staying here too. Don't worry, I'll work for the rant."
It had been a year since she disappeared. She had changed so much, yet Asher was now certain of it. This cat girl was Kipo Oak, their best friend and first crush.
Chapter 2: Cat hunt in the monster town
Chapter Text
How much time had it been since they last were happy to wake up? Probably a year... Most of time, she was the first thing on their mind when they woke up and if she wasn't, then something would eventually bring her before lunch. Asher missed her. She had been their closest friend since forever. Asher probably had a crush on her even before learning what it was. Then she disappeared... At first everyone was worried, but the question was simply about when the police would find her. Then as weeks passed, it became 'if'. When it reached two months, most of the school came to the conclusion she was dead so either they didn't talk about her at all or made up theories of where her body would be discovered. After a full year, Asher had come to lose hope too. They tried to go on, at least in front of everyone, but the wound would simply not heal. Nightmares, anguish and more...
Yet, on this second day of summer break, Asher finally woke up with a smile. The reason for that was very simple. Kipo was alive! As crazy as it was, they met her again in a world of witches and monsters. Sure she was now more... feline, yet she still had her joyful smile and optimism. Kipo was alright and they could see her again! It's with these thoughts that Asher leaved the small room they slept into. From what they could hear, that is nothing, nobody else was up yet. As they walked down the stairs, they to took their phone to check the time. Only 5:21!? Dang... Well, since it was that early, they might as well make something to thanks that witch who let them stay in her house. Her name was Eda, right?
As they got to the living room, Asher saw the kitchen and was shocked to see a refrigerator in there! From what they had seen this far, this town seemed about human medieval in progress, yet fridges were a thing apparently... Maybe they could make breakfast for everyone? They did say last night that they would work for the room. And since they had something to do today, at least making breakfast was a good way of proving they weren't a slacker.
With that goal in mind, they quickly walked to the fridge and took a look at what was available. This much seemed to fit with the town... Many pieces of meat with thick skin, vegetables that yelled 'poisonous' on humans standards (hopefully they weren't) and some fishes. Said fishes seemed to the teen like it was the only thing they even so little familiar with. They took it before looking for dish and a way to cook it, whatever was available here. Dishes were easy and Asher had the surprise to see a tiny portable stove they remembered seeing on an add two months ago. If this stuff was from the human world, then it suddenly made sense the was technology here.
Asher wasn't a chief, but the had a few forest trip with their uncle. Cooking a fish, they knew how. Taking out bones, putting the fish slices in a frying pan and turning the stove on, breakfast would be ready in a blink. To their joy, they were already placing the meal in dishes when the heard the craking of wooden stairs. Not forgetting to turn off the heat, they turned to see Eda walking down with Luz behind her.
"You really don't remember me? After this whole wadness yesterday!?" was lamenting the latina.
"Easy on the details, kid. I'm barely awake right now."
And indeed, the woman looked sleepy. Well either that or sick... By lifted a figure, she made a cup fly into her hand before stepping in the kitchen. There she had suprise to see the breakfast ready and another kid smiling at her.
"Oh right, there were two of you. Smells nice. Hey could you lend me the apple blood while you're there?"
"Apple... what?" asked Asher, highly doubting their ears.
"Nevermind." answered the witch before grabbing a pot and filling her cup. She took a sip and a plate before going to a chair. "Seriously tough, good job kid. Remind me you're name again?"
"I'm Asher Berdacs." they said amused.
"I didn't know you could cook." said Luz while taking her plate.
"Well, to your defense, we never really hung out outside of school so I would say it's normal."
"Hehe. True."
Asher was about to join them in eating when a tiny furr ball entered.
"The king of demons smells delicious aromas and demands his plate!"
And that when it struck on Asher, the was someone else living here! They had completely forgot about this guy.
"I'm so sorry!" they apologized before taking another plate in the cupboard. "Coming right away."
Careful not to throw the food on the ground, they put half of the last meal in the second plate and leaned to give it to the tiny creature.
"Grateful." he said before going to the table.
Just like that, the four of them ate in a good mood. Asher didn't know yet how long they would stay in this world, but it was nice to see this place where they would stay looking that peaceful.
"So, Eda" suddenly shot Luz with her sparkling magic fan's eyes. "What will be my first magic lesson? When will I get my own staff?"
'Oh gosh' internally sighed Asher. From what they had seen last night, this would take some time. At this point, it was better to quickly ask her favor and leaved the magic to witches and wannabe.
"Sorry Luz. I'm borrowing her for a sec." they said before turning to the witch. "So, miss Eda. I said I would work for the room but I was wondering if it could wait to tomorrow? I got something really important I have to do in town today."
"So that's why the meal?" she smirked. "Gaing the other's favors before starting a negotiation is a good way to win. Okay, go have fun. Oh and if you get lost or captured again, just stay alive until the sunset. I'll go look for you when I see you're not coming back.
"Thanks!"
And with that, Asher quickly leaved the room as magic stuff was again the topic behind them. They slightly freaked out when the door said good bye to them but waved back before leaving. Now, time to find Kipo!
***
That... sounded easier in their head. After nearly three hours of exploring the town, it became apparent they wouldn't just stumble upon her in a corner. Time to change of method. Until this point, Asher had done everything they could to evade the locals. They were frankly terrifying the teen. Luckily, no matter how they looked, they were just people living here. Sure there were weird looks toward the human, but with Asher staying out of their way and doing their best not to stare, things went well. But now they would have to talk to these creatures. Horray... That said, it would be pointless to just ask everyone they met on the street, no matter the world. Best choice was someone who was outside day long and saw a bunch of people. A merchant would be good. Luckily, after just four more minutes of walk, they finally found one. It was a small stall with bunch of fruits. The guy behind wasn't that weird, well for the place that it. He had human-looking skin and black hair. The two big differences were his pointy ears and his lone big eye. As they walked toward him, the human to a deep breath. 'Remember, don't stare'.
"Can I help you?" asked the merchant when he saw them. His tone was rigid, but not aggressive.
"Hum yes. I'm looking for someone. Is there a chance you saw a girl with purple furr around?"
"She got you too?" he said raising his only elbow. "Sorry kid but dips on that thief."
"Oh? She stole you something?"
"You bet she did! Just this month she came three time and took my biggest iciananas! These things aren't cheap y'know!"
"I'm sorry for you. Do you by chance know others place where she comes often, I could try to catch her."
The cyclone looked at them with doubt. Before talking again.
"You don't look like a witch and, sorry to say it, but neither like an athlete. You really think you can catch her? That demon or whatever can jump on the second roof in a blink and run damn fast."
"I know a trick or two."
"If you say so... I heard the fishmen are her favorite target. They're a couple of streets further."
"Okay thanks!" they said as they started running in the direction they were indicted.
Like he said, after only five minutes of running, Asher reached a spot full of fish shops. Hell was the smell terrible around, but not as much as the products. There were some fish that looked a bit like those on earth but most of them were absurd. Some looked like sharks with two heads and arms while other were winged swordfishes. And were just the normal enough for Asher to have something to compare.
There wasn't much to do now. They weren't even sure Kipo would come today. Kipo stealing food, that was unexpected... Then again, she was alone in a world without humans. The girl had to eat somehow. Tossing that thought aside, Asher sat on a bench next to the road and looked around. The place was lively. Groups were happily joking with a drink of some sort and couples were carrying bags full of food. There was even a man point different stalls to a young girls. Was he teaching his daughter about groceries? The more they saw these creatures, the more normal they seemed to Asher. They were just people living their life. If anything, Asher was the weird one here.
Suddenly, Asher felt something grab their wrist and drag them. Panicked they quickly turned, only to see the girl they were looking for. Kipo was wearing a black cape with a hood on her head. Asher was about to talk when she put a finger before her lips, telling them to stay silent. They obeyed and followed the girl into a small alley. Only then did Kipo put down her hood.
"Why are you still here!?" she asked, seemingly angry.
"You're serious, space girl?"
The girl was muted by the shock. This was the nickname they gave her when she started being interested in astronomy. If any doubts had remaining in Asher's mind, they were now all gone. This was undeniably Kipo Oak.
"I tought you were dead, Kipo. You really expected me to go back home when I know you were here the whole time!?"
"Ash..."
She couldn't finish as Asher suddenly hugged her with all their force.
"I missed you so much."
Kipo stay stiff for a moment, Asher even feared that this time apart had put a rift between them, but all that vanished when she finally hugged them back.
"I missed you too, woodchuck."
IcedShadows on Chapter 2 Wed 07 Apr 2021 07:59PM UTC
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Demi_Dragon on Chapter 2 Wed 07 Apr 2021 09:38PM UTC
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Alpinemaster (Guest) on Chapter 2 Wed 28 Apr 2021 05:47PM UTC
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