Chapter #4The First Shift. by: Unknown Yatsi awoke to find himself drowning. Water forcing itself up his nose, make him choke and puke out the liquid. He sat up gasping the breath of life only to find a fist meeting his nose and sending him back lying down.
"And that's for making us worry a fierce one, you jerk." came Kakarov's perpetual gruff voice.
As Yatsi's vision cleared from white lights, the blurry blobs before him conformed to become the faces of his friends. Tesla, Tanja and of course Kakarov whom held the jug with which he'd splashed water over Yatsi's face to wake him.
"Wakey, wakey, Kapitan idiot!" Kakarov said.
"I'm alive?" Yatsi asked. His forehead felt sore. He bet if he looked in a mirror, he'd see the mother of all bumps.
"Not for long you're not, comrade. I ought to brake your silly little neck. I was worried sick about you. I had stalked the halls, the basement, even the stinking attic in search for your worthless rump."
Tanja intervened, more gently and soothing than Kakarov, as usual. Her expression was a motherly myriad of concern, annoyance and relief: "We were really worried about you, Yatsi. We didn't know where you had vanished so suddenly without warning. We looked everywhere and couldn't find a trace of you."
"One moment you were with us; the next: poof. Gone. Don't scare us like that." Tesla admonished.
But Kakarov wasn't done giving Yatsi the short end of his tongue: "What did you have? Half a bottle of Red Bear. You pussy. You wouldn't be able to hold your liquor if your ruddy life depended on it. Next time you hit the wall, do so where I can find you so I can drag your intoxicated arse back to bed."
"I wasn't drunk." Yatsi said simply, sitting up and crossing his legs. He rubbed his forehead gingerly, but the stinging pain made him winch.
"Oh yeah? Then what were you doing here: the most hidden part of the bleeding house for pity's sake, you idiot?"
"I hit my head. I think. I was going to return to you guys shortly." Yatsi said.
Tesla tilted his head too the side; his face with an quizzical expression: "Hey Yatsi, what's up with your hand. Don't tell me you ran off for a tattoo?"
"Oh wow, that's cool. Where can I get one?" Kakarov asked, impressed.
A dark cloud crossed Yatsi's face as he peered at his hand. He looked spooked. For a moment he had thought maybe Kakarov had been right. That Yatsi had been overcome by drinks. But the mark...that same strange symbol...he hadn't dreamt it being drawn on his hand, as if by a ghost, after all. It was real. Yatsi felt like waking up from a nightmare, only to find the next cycle of nightmares facing him.
Tanja looked at Yatsi with further concern: "You okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost."
Nah. Just a fricken symbol disappearing from a scrap of paper and re-appearing as ink seared into the flesh of my skin. Nothing remotely supernatural at all! Yatsi wanted to say.
Then Kakarov pulled him up: "Come on, birthday boy. It's half past sleepy time. We should be in bed."
"Wait? What?" Yatsi asked with confusion: "How late is it? What's the time?"
"Well if you must know, IT'S ONLY BLOODY MIDNIGHT!" Kakarov shouted in his ear.
"I've been asleep...that long?" Yatsi asked stunned.
Tesle grinned: "Now you know why we thought you were maybe kidnapped or something. You missed half the party. Although I suppose you can count yourself lucky on that count. Actually we should be thanking you. We were sent to find you by your mother, and we got to skip cleaning the after mess. Nice move, Yatsi."
"Wow. Sorry. Really sorry. Didn't mean for that."
"Forget it." Kakarov said; his usual robust self back: "Come on. Just tell me: where the hell'd you get a tattoo parlor in this place?
"Fisrt tell me, Yatsi-" Tanja interjected as they made their way downstairs: "What were you doing there, all alone?"
Yatsi didn't know what to say. Instead, he gave her the badly damaged box and the paper-scrap he had found within. Tanja looked at the seemingly useless items with furrowing brows: "Okay, I don't get it." she said looking up. "You're gonna have to explain them to me, Yatsi."
At the bottom of the stairway, Yatsi saw that all the tables, chairs, food and people were gone. The aftermath of the party was all that remained in the form of the village dogs feasting off scrap leftovers that had fallen to the floor.
"Be off with ya, ye mongrel mutts!" Kakarov barked at them, throwing a fork to make them scatter back outside.
"You can't read this, Tanja?" Yatsi asked.
"No it's all gibberish."
"Let me see." Tesla requested, his arm extended. He studied it for a while and just scratched his head after Kakarov's ever impatient prompt at what the blazes the paper scrap was.
"Just a bunch of nonsense words." Tesla answered, one eyebrow raised.
Kakarov confirmed in turn that he couldn't decipher what the paper was supposed to mean either.
"You all seriously can't read it??" Yatsi asked astonished.
"Where'd you get it?" Tesla asked in turn.
Yatsi smiled slyly: "Kohler."
"You're kidding?" Tesla asked; this time with both eyebrows raised 2 inches: "That jerk-off? I wouldn't even have touched that box if I'd known it was from that complete nutter."
"Yeah." agreed Kakarov: "That one's lost his most of his marbles of late. He's more batty that bats themselves are. He tried to gut me with a broken bottle once. Crazy basterd."
"Yeah, but you probably asked for it." Tesla sneered.
"He scares me. He's always so sour." Tanja intoned the last affirmation that none of them regarded Kohler very highly.
Yatsi ignored them: "He said that the little box was relic from my grandfather, Alendrenski. That it was for my 18th name day."
"That's what HE said. Hope you didn't pay the bugger anything. You didn't, did you?" Kakarov asked with a seriousness that implied you'd have to be mentally deranged to have done so.
"No. He just gave it to me - with the usual insults - then left. Disappeared without a trace." Yatsi said.
"Kind of like you did, heh comrade?" Tesla smiled.
"Right. Sorry about that. Again."
Tanja suddenly yawned: "I'm tired. Can we go to sleep. We can continue this discussion tomorrow. Preferably after noon."
"Great. Now I have to walk an hour to get back to my hut." Yatsi complained.
"Forget it. Come sleep in my house for the night. You'd get to be wolf food before you even made it past the red square." Tesla said patronizingly.
"I don't want to impose-"
"Oh shut up, comrade Yatsi. Nobody cares what you think right now. Goodnight Kakarov." Tesla lifted his fur cap to him.
"Wait, don't I get an invitation??" Kakarov moaned.
"One: you can wait until you're married to my sister before I'd let your unworthy rear-end in MY home. Two: you live across the damn street; you don't need shelter." Tesla sneered.
"That's not fair!!!" Kakarov raged.
"Goodbye my love!" Tanja said, blowing a kiss in his direction. Kakarov looked miserable left behind.
=====
Yatsi catched the blanket too late; it smacked into his nose with a thud.
"Ow."
"Right. There's your bed. There's your soap. There's your blanket. Sleep well and don't let the bed-bugs bite. Or was that ear-crawlers? Can never remember. Keep your eyes closed and your hands the heck out off my sister's room. Oh wait, you're not Kakarov. Whatever. Don't do so anyway. Anything else you need, comrade?" Tesla rambled off.
"That really hurt my nose, you know." Yatsi said.
"And a good night to you too!" Tesla smirked.
SLAM! The door reverberated for a few seconds before reaching equilibrium.
Almost like a child that was keeping a secret cash of candy away from his parents, and just waiting for them to leave, Yatsi ripped out the piece of paper on which the Mark and its instructions had stood.
What was that all about?! They couldn't read the paper! None of them could! What was going on!?
Yatsi was glad on hindsight that he hadn't told his friends about the Mark having moved from the paper to his left hand. They'd have thought him insane. Or more humiliatingly: drunk.
He read the instructions over and over once more. This time with far less incredulous snorting disbelief after having seen the supernatural event that had resulted in him having a blistering tattoo edged into him!
If he was to believe anything that the stupid set of instructions said, then he could shape shift. Just like a werewolf in the folklore! Although it appeared the shapeshifting was limited only to humans. Interesting.
But wait. If all this hocus pocus garbage was actually real, wouldn't that be seeking for trouble if he used the Mark? Then Yatsi remembered that he'd have to supposedly only stay in that form for one day. The shifting would not be permanent. Like Pandora whom could not contain her overwhelming curiosity, so too could Yatsi not contain his.
However, after half an hour later of nothing happening, Yatsi felt like the fool Kohler said he was. He'd voiced random names of his friends and family. Thought about their faces. Chanted outloud the instructions as if recounting a spell. Obviously this Mark had some secret so as to activating its powers. Something more complicated. Ugh. He'll figure it out later.
Sinking his head into his pillow, Yatsi wondered what he'd actually do if he had the ability of shapeshifting mastered at his finger-tips.
Oh I know. Minsc. I'd make myself whatever she found ideal in a mate. Ah who am I kidding? She's only into girls. Fate is a bitch.
As Yatsi was dozing off into the nether realm of the dreamworld, he didn't notice the Mark on his hand glow an eerie green.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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