Post by jonathan on Dec 20, 2009 23:01:40 GMT -5
Jon chose another two vials from the case, a bird and an insect. The labels read magpie and house fly. Magpie. He'd be able to fly, like Jullian's seagull. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind before, but it sounded intriguing. Placing both vials back, Jon took a step away from the group and turned towards an empty wall. Closing his eyes and tuning the rest of the class out, he concentrated on his memory of the opossum at his old house. He took a deep breath, not knowing exactly how it would feel.
His skin began to itch as bristly gray-brown fur slowly sprouted across his body and thickened as he began to shrink. Jon's face began extending outwards into the opossum's snout, and the sickening sound of his facial bones stretching caused him to briefly lose concentration and stop the morph. Squeezing his eyes closed tighter, and concentrating harder, he continued morphing slowly. As the opossum's long snout formed, he felt many more teeth popping up in his mouth and his canines grow longer. His ears shifted and shrank, racing up higher on his skull and growing round and black.
The opossum's prehensile tail grew from his spine, lengthening slowly. His insides gurgled and made noises as organs rearranged and his bones twisted into the opossum's skeleton. Jon had been bracing for this to hurt badly; instead, however, he only felt the dull sensations of it happening. It was odd. He was forced onto all fours, his paws flat against Jullian's multi-colored rugs. Whiskers exploded on his face, twitching as the ship's air conditioning brushed across them. His nose softened, then flattened, turning a gentle shade of pink. Opossums have a keen sense of smell, and Jon found himself unwittingly sniffing the air and attempting to discern the various aromas of the classroom. All of them were different and distinguishable, but at the same time unfamiliar. He opened his eyes.
The morph was finished. He was still facing the wall, but now his view was more level with the bottom of it as he was around the size of a large house cat. He turned back to the rest of the classroom to see how everyone else was doing. It was at this point that the opossum's mind bubbled up beneath his own and Jon felt an dab of panic hit him. He had felt the presence of another creature's mind in his own before, and that was perhaps a bit too familiar for his taste. But instead of some strong presence, instead of the numbing sensation of losing control of his body and being forced to open up his mind, he just felt the opossum there. The instincts. As if it were merely there alongside him.
The sight of all the human predators standing around, so close, caused the hairs on Jon's back to stand up stiffly. He froze, unable to move. The opossum was suddenly very wary, wanting to search out a way to hide or escape. It was hard to quell that desire and relax, and it was an achingly long few minutes before Jon was able to get himself under control. He tried to speak using his mouth, forgetting the though-speak, and it ended up coming out as a few gruff grunts. Eventually he realized it and said, <<I did it! This is crazy.>>
His skin began to itch as bristly gray-brown fur slowly sprouted across his body and thickened as he began to shrink. Jon's face began extending outwards into the opossum's snout, and the sickening sound of his facial bones stretching caused him to briefly lose concentration and stop the morph. Squeezing his eyes closed tighter, and concentrating harder, he continued morphing slowly. As the opossum's long snout formed, he felt many more teeth popping up in his mouth and his canines grow longer. His ears shifted and shrank, racing up higher on his skull and growing round and black.
The opossum's prehensile tail grew from his spine, lengthening slowly. His insides gurgled and made noises as organs rearranged and his bones twisted into the opossum's skeleton. Jon had been bracing for this to hurt badly; instead, however, he only felt the dull sensations of it happening. It was odd. He was forced onto all fours, his paws flat against Jullian's multi-colored rugs. Whiskers exploded on his face, twitching as the ship's air conditioning brushed across them. His nose softened, then flattened, turning a gentle shade of pink. Opossums have a keen sense of smell, and Jon found himself unwittingly sniffing the air and attempting to discern the various aromas of the classroom. All of them were different and distinguishable, but at the same time unfamiliar. He opened his eyes.
The morph was finished. He was still facing the wall, but now his view was more level with the bottom of it as he was around the size of a large house cat. He turned back to the rest of the classroom to see how everyone else was doing. It was at this point that the opossum's mind bubbled up beneath his own and Jon felt an dab of panic hit him. He had felt the presence of another creature's mind in his own before, and that was perhaps a bit too familiar for his taste. But instead of some strong presence, instead of the numbing sensation of losing control of his body and being forced to open up his mind, he just felt the opossum there. The instincts. As if it were merely there alongside him.
The sight of all the human predators standing around, so close, caused the hairs on Jon's back to stand up stiffly. He froze, unable to move. The opossum was suddenly very wary, wanting to search out a way to hide or escape. It was hard to quell that desire and relax, and it was an achingly long few minutes before Jon was able to get himself under control. He tried to speak using his mouth, forgetting the though-speak, and it ended up coming out as a few gruff grunts. Eventually he realized it and said, <<I did it! This is crazy.>>