Work Text:
“So…” Arms crossed, Jack bit his lip, feet resting right by the firepit, “What are we…going to do?”
No one spoke. Every single one of them was sitting around the fire. Awkwardly silent. Some of them were curled up with other people. Ant was lying on one of the logs, ears flattened out slightly as Velvet played with his hair. One of his eyes opened, pupil slitted in the brght firelight as he looked over. His tail flicked when someone sat down too close for his liking. If Tommy was right, he was pretty sure that Ant was purring softly. Rolling his shoulders, he pushed himself up, twitched his nose slightly. George was staring at the fire, completely spaced out from the look of it with a jacket wrapped around his shoulders and his eyes blanked out. New, icy white freckles sat across his cheeks and nose. Sitting beside him, Dream was staring at his hands almost in shock. Looking at the faint glow to his fingers. On Dream’s side was Sapnap, and on George’s other side was Bad. Then Skeppy, leaning into Bad as Bad tried to comfort their verbally-catatonic friend (George, obviously. Personally, everyone was more relieved that George shut down, considering he had kind of…yeah, it was a long story but they didn’t have to worry about those werewolves coming back).
Connor, Callahan, and Alyssa were curled up together. Ponk was trying to heal other people’s wounds while Punz was sitting with Sam on top of the bus, keeping guard. Alyssa kept shifting uncomfortably, Callahan was tugging his hoodie down. Puffy was trying to clean out her hooves with Schlatt’s help and a knife, because she’d managed to walk into mud barefoot (bare-hoof?), and now her hooves were absolutely messed up with mud and rocks and she did not like them. It was actually pretty interesting to watch, and oddly satisfying? From the look of it, it probably was a lot more comfortable after cleaning the gunk from her hoof.
“We should get you into a farrier or something. See if we need to treat your…” Phil tipped his head to the side, shifted in his lawn chair, “hooves differently.”
“Oh, showers are going to be awful.” Puffy groaned, rolling her eyes. Then, she glanced at Tubbo. “Let’s hope that you don’t go goat. Or sheep. Or ram. Whatever you end up being.”
Holding up his hands, Tubbo snorted. “To be fair, if all things go right, I’ll probably just be at least mostly human?” He glanced around. Started counting. “I mean, Purpled. You’re human, yeah?”
“Presumably.” Purpled replied, shrugging. “I can make things float. Sometimes I have to touch them. Other times.” He looked over, scowled at a nearby soda can. It started to float up. Then, Purpled snapped his fingers, and it slowly started to go back down. Landed gently on the rock it had started on.
Wide eyes glinting in the firelight, Fundy stared at him. “How did you—“
“I got my powers at the start of the—this.” Sniffing, Purpled rubbed at his face. Curled up and shrank into his seat with a pale expression. “Excuse me. I think I need to go.” He got up and walked off into the woods. On top of the bus, Sam said something to Punz. Stood and slipped off of the bus using the hood, then followed Purpled. Tommy glanced back after them, saw Sam pull Purpled into his side and rub a hand up and down the young man’s arm.
“I don’t feel too hot. Hey, Lyssa and I are going to bed, okay?” Connor asked, getting up with Alyssa. There was a nod. Everyone went kind of quiet. Jack stretched forwards, let his feet dangle in the fire for a second.
“Sapnap, you should see if the fire helps you. If you’re feeling bad.” Jack said, looking over. Glancing at Dream, Sapnap patted his friend’s knee and then slid down. Stuck his hands into the flames, took a deep breath. Little, fiery red slivers of light went from his fingertips under his clothes to his body, and Sapnap settled a little bit and closed his eyes. Ant slowly pushed himself up and stretched himself out, let out a sound Tommy was pretty sure was a meow, then froze like he didn’t mean to do that.
“We’re not bringing it up.” Techno announced. “First off, we got attacked by a group of were-beasts. So, uh…Alyssa and Connor? Probably turning.” Looking over, Techno added, “You barked like a fox in your sleep. Charlie, you look weird. No offense. I know I turned into something freaky. George and Dream have something going on with them. You,” he pointed at Puffy, “have hooves and sheep wool now. Who am I missing? Punz, Purpled, Sam, and Ponk have powers. There, we’re done talking. If Alyssa and Connor change, we do what we can to help them.” Next to him, Wilbur nodded and then leaned into him. Tommy felt fingers card into his hair—Niki’s, undoubtedly. Minx and Karl were fetching food from the back of the bus, Quackity with them. Not for dinner, they’d already had that. Nah, this was just regular, good old snacks.
Settling back, laying his head in Niki’s lap and looking over at Ranboo, Tommy closed his eyes.
+++
They woke up to Alyssa screaming in the middle of the night.
Jolting, Tommy raised his head to find there was a wolf in the bus and Callahan was carrying Alyssa out with Ponk on his heels. The wolf moved to follow. Then, Schlatt lunged forwards. Tackled the wolf and slammed it into the seats, lying down on it. “Connor, stop it! Stop struggling, you’ll be fine!” Schlatt yelled.
The lights turned on in the bus courtesy of Skeppy, who was in the driver’s seat. The wolf was a brown color, with blue eyes. There was a flash of lighter brown on the underside of its jaw, down to its chest and then its belly, as well as the inside of its legs. The paws were the same sort of oatmeal brown tone. The wolf was also huge, the size of the wolves they had seen the day before. Around them, the whole bus was a cacophony of noise. People yelling and trying to figure out why the lights were on and why they were awake.
“Everyone stop!” Kristin bellowed. Immediately, everyone quieted. Looked to her. Including the wolf. Taking a breath, Kristin sat up. “Thank you. Alright, Connor?” The wolf raised its head. Looked over at her. Then, it dipped its head. “Alright. Everyone, this is Connor. He’s probably a werewolf or at least some kind of shapeshifter. If I have a guess, Alyssa’s probably turning, too. We’re all going to be fine.” She made her way to Connor, and Schlatt let him go. Gently, Kristin placed her hands on either side of Connor’s muzzle, rubbed her thumbs under his eyes and then leaned forwards to kiss the top of his head. He let out a sound like a whine. “I know, I know. You’ll be alright, sweetheart. We’ll figure it out, okay?”
Connor groaned. Then, he laid down on the seat, half in Schlatt’s lap and elbows digging into Schlatt’s legs. His chin rested on his paws, and he let out another long groan.
“Do you need anything? Are you hungry? Tired?” Connor looked at her and boofed. Holding out her hands, Kristin gestured with each one slowly. “This is hungry. This is tired.” Connor leaned his head forwards and touched the hand signifying hungry with his hand. “Alright. Phil, do you mind going to the back and getting some of the, uh…dried jerky? That’d probably be best. And get another bag for Alyssa, too, alright?”
“Yup. On it.”
Ponk headed back up the stairs. “Uhm, mild complication?”
“Do we have another wolf?” Techno asked, and Tommy made his way over to the window. Sure enough, there was a wolf. And also…
“Does Callahan have antlers?”
“I don’t know but they’re not hurt!” Ponk yelled, throwing his arms up.
“Just get them in.” There was a nod, and Ponk called for them both. After a moment, Callahan helped Alyssa inside. Sure enough, he had antlers, sort of. Puffy dragged him over to her and Minx’s and Niki’s section of the seats. She touched his hair, gently, started checking his head for something. Probably skull fractures, if Tommy had a guess.
Alyssa was a regular-looking wolf. She had the same, classic patterning that Tommy had seen. However, she was a bit more of a golden-tawny brown than just gray. Very pretty, and her eyes were their normal, blue-gray color. She hopped up next to Connor, settled down with a snort. Phil opened the pack of jerky and then handed it to her, and she made a sound like a groan before shoving her face into the bag and eating.
Tommy glanced over at Charlie. Then Fundy. Charlie’s skin was turning green, slowly. Fundy looked significantly more fox-like, Tommy groaned before dropping down beside Tubbo and Ranboo, grabbing his blankets and wrapping them around him, and hiding his head under his pillow.
It was way too late for this kind of shit.
+++
It was one of the first times they went out hunting, and they were in the backwoods.
Up ahead, Connor and Alyssa trotted along in their wolf forms, pelts shining in the sunlight. They weren’t going for big time animals like elk or anything. More of just rabbits or something to trade. And that was just some of the others. Tommy was looking for fruit, because they knew that there was fruit like apples and oranges and peaches in the woods somewhere. Connor and Alyssa were basically his little protectors as he walked out to go and find said fruit because they couldn’t get it anywhere else and the canned fruit was so sugary.
Glancing around, Tommy took a breath. Looked about. Sunlight dappled the paths, and he took a breath of the crisp, early autumn air. Leaf mold and dead brown leaves coated the earth. His feet crunched in the little rocks. For a second, he actually felt like he might have been standing in the middle of some kind of Minecraft world.
Behind him, something hissed.
Something familiar. Freezing, Tommy whirled around. Caught a good look at the creature. It was a mottled creature in various shades of oranges, yellows, and reds, even some browns. All the colors were starting to fade to grays and blacks and browns. Black eyes stared at him. Dark lips were drawn back into a grimace. It started hissing, skin flashing from the middle of its chest and then spreading out across its skin.
“Connor!” Tommy yelled, stumbling back at the last second. Then, the creature—a creeper, it was a fucking creeper —exploded. He went flying through the air. Something slammed into his back, his head snapped back against the same thing. It was a tree trunk. Everything went dark.
He came to with a wet nose poking into his neck and the thick, heated smell of gunpowder in the air. Opening his eyes, Tommy groaned. Tasted copper in his mouth. Then, slowly, he lifted his head slightly. Swallowed back the feeling in his mouth. Everything hurt. He was definitely going to get some bruises later.
Connor was nudging his face. Reaching up, Tommy tried to grab onto his fur. Groaned once. “Hey, Connor.” He mumbled. Swallowed. Sucking in a breath, he tried to push himself up. Groaned in pain and then reached back. There was blood on his fingers when he pulled his hand away from the back of his head. “Ow.” He tried to move again. Connor pushed him down.
Then, he laid on Tommy.
“What are you doing?” Tommy asked, feeling Connor shift lightly. He wouldn’t lie, Connor was a warm, thick-furred dog, and it was nice. But also…Connor was…laying on him? Which was weird? “Connor. Where’s Alyssa?”
Connor lifted his head and then looked back towards the bus.
“She went there?”
Connor barked softly. When Tommy tried to lift his head, Connor immediately used his chin against Tommy’s forehead to push him back down. Sighing, Tommy gave up and let himself be pinned.
“You’re not letting me up, are you.”
Connor let out a groaning noise, remaining where he was.
Eventually, Tommy could hear footsteps. He glanced back. “Tommy?” Ponk asked. “Why is Connor—“
Connor raised his head and barked. Ponk walked over, and Connor allowed Tommy to sit up. Gently, Ponk touched the back of his head. There was a warm sensation that Tommy couldn’t quite describe. Still, when Ponk pulled back and wiped his hands off on his jeans, Tommy didn’t see any blood.
“You were hurt. He was stopping you from moving.” Carefully, Ponk helped him stand. Connor wreathed around Tommy’s legs, then stubbornly remained at his side so that Tommy could use him for support. Ponk had an arm around his waist, and Alyssa was right beside them. “What even did this?”
For the first time, Tommy looked around. The trees closest to the creeper were wrecked and some of the dirt and rocks had been scattered around. Exhaling, Tommy looked back. “You know how we do Minecraft?”
“Yeah?”
“And how Jack and Sapnap are blazes, Bad and Dream and George found some mooshrooms, Skeppy and Bad look like their skins?” Ponk nodded again. Sighing, Tommy looked over. “I’m pretty sure that I saw the autumn to winter version of a creeper."
Ponk stared at him, wide-eyed.
+++
When Tommy got back, someone had brought Albertsons chicken strips, mashed potatoes, and sweet rolls for dinner.
Gently, Ponk and Connor—who still hadn’t shifted back to his human form in the three days since he had turned—settled Tommy in his chair by Tubbo. He took the plate that Tubbo and Ranboo handed to him. Then, he got handed a little bowl of peaches soaked in the syrup they came in plus some cinnamon. Very good, slightly warmed in a way that made it so nice to eat. The bus was parked, everything was packed away. The seats were all straightened back up and his back hurt like shit. So, normal.
Shifting, Tommy spooned some peaches into his mouth and looked down at his phone. He had some text messages from his mother, and some new numbers to give to Tubbo for his family. Pausing, he glanced up at Dream. Even though they were basically at the complete other side of the bus, Tommy could tell that Dream was texting someone.
Tubbo leaned over. “He’s trying to text his sister. Drista. He’s been texting his family on and off.” Looking over, Tubbo sighed. “I get how he feels. I did that with my parents while you called them. Til my phone died.” Nodding, Tommy sighed. Stared down at his food. Stirring it around with his spoon, he took a slow breath until he really felt like he was breathing. Like he was really getting air.
“Yeah.” Humming, he ran a hand into his hair and tipped his head back. He sighed, looked over to Tubbo and Ranboo and smiled as best as he could. “Anyone want to bet on which one of us changes first?”
“Nope. No. Not doing that.” Ranboo immediately said. Tubbo and Tommy exchanged a glance.
Instantly, they busted out cackling.