Legend of MerecyaFusion of Worlds

Chapter 2: Strangely Familiar

The sounds from the cave were getting louder as Justin got closer. There were grunts of anger and the sound of a blade whisking through the air at a fast pace. Justin hesitated to move towards the sounds, but he moved closer nonetheless. Who ever was in there they were upset about something. Justin silently crept up to the entrance of the cave. He saw the teenage wolf in jeans and a black T-shirt practicing with a greatly decorated short sword, hitting a punching bag repeatedly with it. Justin just stood there quietly and watched.

"What do you want?!?" he asked in a pissed off tone, not even looking back at him. Justin was startled at his question, how could he know he was there? “God...I picked up your scent, don't you know how to use your senses? Now, what do you want?!?" the wolf demanded, still hitting the bag with his sword.

"Sorry, I was just passing by and I saw you training and-" Justin started.

"Are you from around here?" he turned around to look at him. The wolf didn't think he looked that street smart. "Should you be around here? You don't look like someone who can defend themselves in this city" he said with a small laugh.

"Oh really" Justin said as he raised his hand and it glowed a light blue, within a second the punching bag blew into pieces and the wolf stood there in astonishment.

"Whoa! What technique was that!?" he asked surprised.

"I don't know, that’s only the second time I've used it" Justin explained. He had learned it as a human and only used it in emergencies. He never told anyone he was able to use a bit of magic, but it seemed as if furs used it.

"Well...I'll get going now" Justin said moving back towards the entrance.

"Wait a moment-" the wolf said with out giving it any thought.

"What is it?" Justin asked turning to look at him. The wolf seemed to be confused not knowing why he'd done that, but he figured out what to say and continued.

"Um...are you entering the tournament?" the wolf asked looking at him sort of blankly.

"No, why?" Justin asked wondering why he'd care.

"Well...how about we enter together? With my fighting and your magic we could win!" he said putting his sword down. Justin was confused, first of all he didn't even know this fur and second of all why would he choose to enter the tournament him?

"Enter a tournament with you!? I don't even know your name" Justin said.

"My name is Ristan, and I was just wondering if you’d enter with me" the wolf said almost begging.

"Okay, but when do we sign up then?" Justin asked concerned that it was the day that the sign up ended and that he had no idea where the Senyea University even was.

"We have to go right away!" he exclaimed looking at a neat post-modern wrist watch. Ristan grabbed Justin's arm and hurried out of the cave.

After about half an hour Justin found himself looking at the neatest building in the city. It was completely made of glass and was the height of a skyscraper. Many furs were working, studying, and teaching inside. It was in the eastern sector of the city were most buildings for schooling. Justin and Ristan entered the university. Inside there was a large circular desk.

"Why are we signing up here?" asked Justin.

"The university is sponsoring the tournament this year" Ristan whispered.

At the large circular desk a female skunk fur was sorting some papers out when she looked up and saw the two young furs.

"How may I help you?" she asked.

"We're here to sign up for the tournament" said Ristan.

The skunk looked them over carefully before asking if they were the required age.

"Yes, I'm fourteen and he's..." Ristan began but couldn't finish because he knew nothing about his new fighting partner.

"Thirteen going on fourteen" said Justin picking up where Ristan left off.

She looked at them for a moment and then sighed.

"Hope you boys know what you’re doing, you can get hurt quite a bit out there. Now before I can enter you I need to know your names" she said rummaging around throughout the desk drawers to find two registration forms.

"I'm Justin and this is Ristan" Justin explained to the secretary.

"I'll need your last names as well, please" she said reaching for a pen.

"Ristan Wolfe and..." he queued Justin.

Justin didn't know what to say, he didn't have a last name. He had no parents and no memory of his heritage. However one name did come to his mind, it seemed that he remembered even though he was never told.

"...It’s Vulpine" Justin said as it came into his mind.

"Okay then, please fill out these forms and...what day is it today?...oh yes, Tuesday. Well tomorrow you two will meet here again with the rest of the furs who signed up and we will review the events that are to start next week" the skunk explained.

After they filled out the forms and submitted them they left the university. Ristan and Justin went down to the small restaurant where Pasca worked. Justin was greeted immediately with "hi Justin, who’s your new friend?" from Pasca.

"This is Ristan, I met him at the park that the tournament is being held in" Justin explained.

"Oh, are you entering the tournament?" Pasca asked Ristan.

Justin felt sort of nervous about Ristan's answer.

"Well me and Justin are entering together" Ristan said happily.

Pasca shot a confused look at Justin. He shrugged.

"I'm not gonna find my way home anytime soon so I might as well do something to remember here" Justin knew it wasn't the best answer but it was the only one he could come up on such sort notice. He didn't want to tell her that Ristan was pleading for him to enter as his partner in the tournament while Ristan was standing right beside them.

"Well, I want you to be extremely careful, okay?" Pasca said picking up a stack of plates of one of the many tables. "I've got to go take these to the kitchen, I'll be right back".

Justin was surprised that the conversation ended so quickly, he thought that there would bit more resistance then that. He was happy however that he was able to enter the tournament, he didn't know why though.

"Well, I should be goin'. I'll see you tomorrow then" Ristan said heading for the door.

"Ya, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye" Justin replied back before he left.

Justin sat down and waited for Pasca to come back from the kitchen. Though he didn't show it, he was really nervous. Tomorrow he was going to meet the other furs who would be in the tournament. He imagined tough, battle scarred furs that could easily pound him to death and secretly he wished he could disappear from Merecya as quickly as he came, but he noticed that he was getting used to being a fur. He was getting used to his tail, wearing clothes over his furry body didn't feel as uncomfortable as before and, for some reason being a fur seemed to be right to Justin somehow. So many things were rushing through his mind at that moment, but what he thought about most was his sister who was probably back home in New York looking for him. He was scared that he still might be a fur when he was to go back home, and that his sister would never believe that it was him. That’s even if he got back home. Although this sort of felt like home, he didn't know why but everything was sort of like deja vu even though he had never been to this world in his life, let alone this city. Pasca came back from the kitchen helping Tanya with a few trays that had cups of coffee and tea on them.

"I'll be with you in a moment Justin, I've just got to serve some people first" she said walking over to a few of the occupied tables.

Justin knew that since Ristan was gone they were going to talk about him entering the tournament. Pasca came back and put the tray on the table, then sat down. She looked at him a moment, her eyes filled with concern.

"Justin, are you sure you’re up to this? I mean, this is pretty dangerous for someone-" Pasca started.

"-for someone like me?" Justin finished for her.

"Well...yes. I'm sorry, but I don't think it’s really for someone as small as you" Pasca explained wishing she hadn't used those words.

"But, I'm not small. I'm 5'11" he replied quickly.

"I mean small as in "muscular small", not small as in height" Pasca corrected him.

"I'm not entering for hand-to-hand combat, I'm entering with sword and magic skills" Justin countered.

"Sword skills maybe, but magic!?! You’re...you're only human, humans can't use magic" Pasca stumbled over her words.

"I can use magic though! I even used it when I was still in my original body" Justin explained.

"That’s amazing Justin! Why didn't you tell me this before?" Pasca asked surprised.

"Well I've always known that I was different. The music I listen to, the way I look at things, who I hang out with, the way I am; all of these things set me apart from other people. I don't know exactly what it means, but I know it means something" Justin said slowly.

Pasca looked at him curiously. She wondered why he said that. He seemed to be like any other teenage fur, although he used to be human.

"So, are you coming to the demon ball game tonight?" she asked changing the subject.

Justin stared at her puzzled.

"I can't, I don't have a ticket" Justin replied.

"I got two more tickets today on my break. I thought you’d like to go" Pasca said with a smile.

"Like to...I'd love to!" Justin exclaimed in surprise as Pasca gave him the tickets.

"Great, but be careful with those, there’s no more after that" she said.

"Thanks!...but who is the other ticket for?" Justin asked.

"Whoever you want it to be for. I bought two so you could take someone along with you who you know, that way you'll have someone to talk to other then only my friends being there. You've become friends with a fur already, haven't you?...Ristan, wasn't it? Why not invite him?" Pasca said getting up from the table.

"But I hardly know him" Justin said leaving the table to follow Pasca.

"You might as well invite him though, you should give the ticket to someone though, don't let it go to waste. Besides you may get to know him better" Pasca pointed out.

"Okay then," Justin agreed "I'll go ask him if he wants to come". Justin headed for the door.

"Be back soon. The game starts at eight" Pasca said quickly before he left.

************

Justin liked how the wind flew through his fur, it felt neat and it didn't feel any colder then it was that morning. Although it was getting cooler and the sun was setting in the sky. He knew he had to hurry, it was already six o'clock.

Justin felt strange. Not only had his physical appearance changed but so did his senses. He noticed that he didn't need the glasses he had when he was human; his sight was greatly heightened, along with his sense of sound and smell. Other advantages came from being a fox fur as well; more agility, more strength. But some things weren't so good, he found that he was very jumpy and some of the slightest things startled him. Justin kept telling himself he was just going to have to get used to it.

Justin walked for about fifteen minutes until finding the cave were he had met Ristan. Even though it was dark out Justin could see it was Ristan's cave. Justin knew for some reason that Ristan doesn't live in that cave. Ristan has to have parents Justin thought to himself as he slowly walked towards the cave. He looked inside but saw that Ristan definitely wasn't there. He quickly looked around the park, remembering that he had to be back soon. He jogged towards the end of the park thinking about checking some of the small houses across the street. Justin hoped Ristan would be around there, he sort of wanted him to come with him. Just as he was about to leave the park he saw a figure in the dim eerie light that was cast by the gothic lamps that dotted the park. The figure was coming from the street that had all the houses on it. As the figure got closer Justin could see that it was Ristan. He ran over to him. Ristan looked surprised, but smiled nonetheless.

“Hey Ristan” Justin said, breaking the silence.

“Hi. What are you doing here?” Ristan asked curiously.

“To ask you to come with me to a demonball game” Justin replied holding out one of the tickets. A wolfish smile crossed his face when he saw Ristan’s shocked expression. ”So do ya wanna come?” Justin asked.

“Of course I would!” Ristan said happily. “When do we go?”

“Hold up, don’t you have to ask your parents first?” Justin asked.

“Um…I don’t have any…I’m an orphan, I know it sounds dumb, but I ran away” Ristan said reluctantly. He looked down at the ground as though he was ashamed.

“Why?”

“My parents didn’t want me, they were always out at parties getting drunk…I really don’t want to talk about it” Ristan said with a sigh.

“Well, if you’re coming we better get going” Justin said looking at a large lit-up clock in the middle of the park.

“Ya, the ferry will be leaving soon for Stadium Island” Ristan said as they started to make their way back to the restaurant.

“Ferry?!? What are you talkin’ bout” Justin asked surprised at what he heard.

“You know, that’s how you get to the island” Ristan said looking at him weirdly.

“Um…no” Justin was still confused.

“You have to take a ferry to get to Stadium Island where the game is going to be” Ristan explained still looking at Justin as though he was nuts.

“Sorry, I didn’t know anything about that” Justin told him.

“Wow, you really aren’t from around here” Ristan said with a small laugh.

They walked back to the restaurant where Pasca and her friends were waiting for them. Tanya, Laura, Sandy, and some a few other furs were there with Pasca. There was a male green dragon, a male raccoon, and a female tigon (a cross between a lion and a tiger). The dragon was wearing only jeans leaving his scaly chest uncovered, but Justin guessed that it would be hard for him to wear a shirt because of his gigantic wings. He was talking to Sandy not even noticing that the two younger furs had joined them. The raccoon was wearing baggy navy blue pants, a red T-shirt, and a dark blue fall jacket. He was just sort of standing around listening to the conversation between Pasca, Laura and Tanya, but not really in it. The tigon was wearing a small purple tank-top and white bell-bottoms, being a bit short the tank-top showed her slim abdomen. She was pretty slim and very tall. She seemed to be fixated on a painting on the wall of a small rainy rural town. She also didn’t notice Justin and Ristan coming into the restaurant. Pasca did however.

“Thank god you’re back, we have to leave right away” Pasca said when she saw them.

“Who’s that?” the raccoon asked curiously.

“Oh, sorry. Kevin this is Justin and Ristan. Justin and Ristan this is Kevin” Pasca introduced Kevin to them.

“Hey, hopefully our team will win this time” he said shaking their paws.

“I don’t think they’ll win against Port City, their really good” Ristan replied.

“Well, we can always hope” Kevin shrugged.

Kevin seemed like the happy-go-lucky type to Justin. He had only met him a few seconds ago, but somehow he could tell.

“Okay, we really have to get goin’. The game starts in an hour and a half” Pasca said looking at the clock on the wall.

“Alright, I brought the pick-up so everyone can just get in the back” Sandy said hearing Pasca’s comment at what time it was.

Though he had just been there a couple of minutes Justin had just taken notice to what Sandy, Laura, Tanya, and Pasca were wearing. They weren’t in their waitress uniforms. Sandy was wearing jeans that had been cut off into shorts, very short shorts and a white T-shirt with WERE-HIGH written on it in big, bold red letters. Her clothes gave her a sort of valley girl look, which seemed to suit her. Laura was in black sweatpants and a white sweatshirt advertising Senyea City’s demonball team, the Prowlers. Tanya was wearing dark blue pants, a tight maroon T-shirt that seemed to show her furry female features without actually showing them, and a black undone bomber jacket. Pasca was just dressed in normal jeans and a plain beige long-sleeved shirt, but he had to admit they looked pretty good on her.

Everyone piled into Sandy’s rusting pick-up truck as quickly as possible; nobody wanted to miss the game.

“So does Sandy live on a farm?” Justin asked Pasca when everyone was sitting in the trailer except for Sandy and the tigon that were in the front.

Pasca laughed, “The clothes and the truck sort of gave it away. Yes, she does live on a farm not far north of here”.

“Ya, she was born on the same farm she lives now” the dragon said sitting across from Justin.

“Oh, I don’t think I’ve introduced you to Kent Blazer” Pasca said almost forgetting that he was there.

“Hi” Justin said quietly, having met enough new people that day.

The dragon gave a small hand movement as a sort of greeting.

“And the tigon up in the front with Sandy is Ruth” Pasca said pointing to the front of the truck.

“She has had a sort of rough life, but I won’t get into that now” Pasca said with a sigh.

Justin decided to leave that conversation alone for the time being, he didn’t want to ask Pasca to explain it to him while the Tigon was around them. That would be talking about her behind her back. He just thought about Stadium Island and the demonball game. Little did Justin know that he would be visiting the same place again very soon.