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Biohazard

By LeCount

[Earth 2XXX]

"Are you sure about this, honey?"

"Yes, Mom." Mikhail sighed and nodded his head, his shaggy brown hair falling in front of his equally brown eyes. He walked around the island that divided the small kitchen over to where his mother was taking care of the remains of the night's dinner. "You know I've been going out into the woods since I was like five."

She finished throwing some chicken into a tupperware container and turned to him. "And you know I worry about you every single time." She turned again and walked over to the sink and began washing her hands.

"I'm twenty now. I think I know how to take care of myself."

"And I'll still be worrying about you when you're fifty. It's what moms do." She walked over and hugged him (which required some effort on her part because she somehow managed to be shorter than him and he was only five and a half feet tall) and then began pushing him towards the glass door that led out to the back of the house. "Now get going or you're going to miss it."

"And don't forget to take some pictures on your phone for me!" He heard his sister shouting down from her room upstairs.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with?"

"Nah. You might be on vacation, but I've gotta finish up this paper that's due tomorrow."

" 'Kay. See everyone tomorrow. Love you all." He turned and pulled open the sliding door and jumped out onto the lawn. He slid the door shut behind him and then began to dash across the damp grass towards the large forest several feet behind his house. The dark trees loomed before him, growing larger and larger. Then, the world got darker as the night sky disappeared behind the canopy of leaves.

Mikhail sat down on a fallen log. All around him, the sounds of nature echoed throughout the dense forest. He reached down and pulled the legs of his jeans up. He knew the ground ahead was going to be a bit muddy and he would very much prefer not to get covered in it. He knew these woods like the back of his hand, having grown up right next to it. He'd broken his first bone falling out of the old, dead oak tree on the hill; he'd gotten his first kiss in the small flower glade behind the tree-house his dad had built him when he was nine; and he'd spent an entire night in that very same tree-house crying when his dad had died. While he'd had fun at college seeing the new exciting sights of the big city, he had missed these woods every single day. The fresh air, the clear night sky, the sound of birds and animals- it was familiar and comfortable.

He had been looking forward to his first vacation and he was especially glad that it coincided with tonight. There was supposed to be a full lunar eclipse tonight and he knew of the perfect place within the forest to watch it from.

He stood up and started hiking again, the soft mud squishing underneath his boots and began to walk deeper and deeper into the dark woods. Slowly, the ground began to slope upward steeper and steeper and he found himself getting out of breath. All the time spent studying this semester had apparently started to get him out of shape. He made a mental note to exercise a little bit more.

Finally, the trees broke once more and he emerged out onto an empty patch of grass. He stood at the top of a small cliff. It wasn't too tall, but tall enough that he could see over the tops of the trees below it and the night sky was clear and close above him. Far off in the distance, he could make out the lights of the nearest city. That jungle of concrete and glass that was getting closer and closer every day. One day, he knew, that it would reach his forest and he would lose something that was a part of him forever.

He sighed and flopped down on the soft grass, staring up at the starry expanse above him. The moon shone bright and full, just barely starting to darken. Mikhail smiled and closed his eyes for a moment, perfectly content. He opened them and stared up at the moon, watching it slowly darken further and further.

A bright light distracted him. He watched it arc across the sky, crossing in front of the moon. He would've dismissed it as a plane or perhaps a shooting star, but those easy explanations came to an end when it suddenly came to a stop. He cocked his head, confused and stared at the strange anomaly in the night sky.

He sat up and squinted at it, incredibly confused.

It began to get larger and larger.

Mikhail jumped to his feet.

A bright white light shone down on him and a strong wind shook the trees behind him. Mikhail stared up at the object and the light shone directly into his face blinding him.

***

The icy chill of cold metal pressed against his cheek woke Mikhail from his deep slumber. He groaned. His head was throbbing like someone was pounding it with a hammer and he could feel a steady stream of drool trickling out of his mouth. He moved his head and tried to reach up to wipe it away, but found his hands were bound with what felt like leather straps.

Slowly he tried to ease his eyes open. A harsh, white light shone down on him from above directly into his eyes sending stabbing pains shooting through his already aching head. He turned his head to see a blurry shape standing next to him. The shape rushed over to another blur standing in front of what looked like screens of some kind.

"Ah, Aqo! Aqo! It's waking up."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Hik, unless the captive is actively dying you aren't to disturb me while I'm working."

"But, but... I've never seen one of these before! We've never gotten to modify an entirely new species before."

"Which is why I need to concentrate. Now, shut up and make sure those bonds are secure."

The pounding in Mikhail's head had finally started to lessen and as such his eyes finally began to focus. The shapes of the room started to sharpen and what he saw made no sense. The room was primarily composed of smooth metal. The surface he was laying on was a small table made of the same metal that protruded seamlessly out of the floor. The monitors on the wall across from him were covered in flashing figures and diagrams that seemed utterly incomprehensible to him. He didn't see any sign of a door. He looked at his captors.

A primal fear ran through his body and he instinctively tried to pull out of his bonds. Every single atom of his being was screaming at him to get away from the creature that stood over him. When Mikhail had been a child, he remembered his older sister had an antique porcelain doll that she adored. One day, she had done something to upset him (he couldn't remember what it was anymore). In retaliation he had snuck into her room and pushed it of off its place of honor on her shelf. It had plummeted to the floor and Mikhail was so sure it would shatter. It hadn't. Instead, a horrible crack extended out from its cold, ceramic lips, a gaping gash almost cutting its perfect face in half. What he was looking at now reminded him of that broken doll. Its face was stone-like and perfectly serene. Out of both sides of its hard, purple lips stretched an opening, like the crack in the doll's head. Mikhail could just barely make out deadly sharp teeth within the creature's mouth. Mikhail thanked every god he'd never believed in that it was wearing clothing that covered most its body.

The creature reached down and slowly stroked Mikhail's cheek sending a shiver running down his spine. Out of its "mouth" came a noise like glass grinding along glass. Mikhail assumed it was laughing. "Aw, it's afraid. How cute."

"What are you?" Mikhail somehow managed to stammer out through his chattering teeth.

It laughed again, louder this time. "What are we? Do you really think you're in a position to be asking questions of us? I, personally, think the better question is what do you call yourself?"

"I... I'm Mikhail."

It stood quiet for a second and he got the feeling he had upset it somehow.

"No. From your tone that's very obviously what you call yourself personally. I suppose I need to be more direct with you. What's your species? Aqo has been unable to find anything like you in our database, which considering we're in a sector protected under the treaty, that isn't terribly surprising. Still, we need to know how to advertise you."

"Advertise me?"

"Yes, you're going to fetch us a pretty penny from someone who is into more... exotic pleasures."

Another chill radiated through Mikhail. "What do you mean by that?"

"It doesn't matter." He reached down and grabbed Mikhail's neck. Its mouth opened slightly exposing more of the sharp teeth. Underneath its clothing, its body moved in an unnatural manner. "And anyway, you're dodging my question and, well, nobody would know if something as rare as you was a little bit 'damaged' in transit."

"Human! I'm a human."

"Good, good." He turned to his companion. "Did you get that, Aqo?"

"I most certainly did, Hik. Genetic sequencing is almost done. I just a few more minutes and then we can start searching for buyers."

Hik turned back to Mikhail. "It's a shame whoever buys you is going to want a few changes made. You're such a... pure specimen. I'd love to have some fun with you myself." He leaned down close to Mikhail's ear and whispered. "In fact, I might just have some anyway. Like I said, nobody would ever know."

The entire ship shook and the sound of an explosion echoed throughout the metal room and then the entire ship seemed to lurch forward. The tremor sent Hik tumbling to the ground and Mikhail felt himself breathe a quick sigh of relief.

He looked over and saw Aqo angrily pressing several buttons and one of the screens went black before a video feed popped up of another one of these creatures sitting in what looked like a command room. Behind the creature were what looked like clear windows. Outside of them, a rainbow of colors flashed by in a mesmerizing blur.

"Exa, what is going on up there? Do you want to damage our cargo?"

"The Guardians detected us. They got a hit on our engine before we managed to jump into quantum space and we didn't have time to set a destination."

"Then..."

"Yes. Hik!"

Hik pulled himself up off the floor and faced the console. "Yes, sir?"

"Go prepare the other cargo for a crash landing."

Hik made a strange gesture that Mikhail assumed was their form of a salute. "Yes, sir!" He turned and touched the wall. The metal in the wall seemed to melt away into the floor leaving a door shaped hole that lead out into a hallway. Mikhail could see flashing lights and heard the distant wail of alarms. Hik stepped out into the hallway and the door reformed itself behind him.

Another explosion shook the ship and cracks began to snake their way up the metal wall.

Exa slammed his fist and the video went fuzzy before stabilizing itself. The engines just completely blew and we lost most of the port side of the ship. Aqo, prepare for an emergency landing."

"Yes..."

A loud screeching resounded throughout the room and the video went black. Aqo quickly looked around, noticing the growing cracks. "Son of a..."

The floor beneath Aqo ceased to be, breaking into pieces sending him hurtling into the void. Mikhail struggled against his bonds that held him. The floor continued to crumble in the room getting closer and closer to the table. He managed to get one hand free and was struggling to free the other when the table he was on broke off from the ship. Mikhail felt his stomach lurch as the ship fell apart, debris raining down around him. He forced his eyes closed as he fell into the rainbow light.

***

Mikhail awoke to the pungent odor of smoke burning his nose and filling his lungs and he heard the loud crackling roar of fire close by. His eyes shot open and he scrambled into a sitting position desperately looking around for the flames. He found that he was underneath a small, domed piece of the ship that had embedded itself in the ground. It surrounded him on all four sides with a small hole in the side farthest from him. He could see more of the crashed ship engulfed in flames outside. The dull, flickering light from filtered into the small space, barely lighting it. Out of the deep shadows crawled a large black wolf. Across one of its eyes, the fur was white as snow, although stained by soot from the flames. Its teeth glimmered in the light of the flame.

Mikhail let out a yelp and scrambled backwards, pressing his back up against the smooth metal of the tiny shelter. The wolf crawled over to him, its yellow eyes staring directly at him. It opened its mouth and Mikhail knew he was done for.

"Oh, good, you woke up. I was worried there for a bit." It somehow spoke in an oddly human sounding male voice while it flashed its fangs in what Mikhail assumed was some kind of an approximation of a grin.

Mikhail sat there stunned.

"What, can't you talk?"

"Uh, I, uh, yes."

"You're acting like you've never seen a Tholan before."

"Well, that's because I kinda haven't."

"Wait. Really? Then that means... No." The wolf scooted even closer to Mikhail and sniffed at him. "You can't be what they picked up in the protected system?" Mikhail noticed now that it was wearing a black shirt and black pants that matched the color of its fur.

"I guess?"

"Oh my goodness, this is so cool. What's the name of your species? What's your planet like? Do you have...?" Here the wolf made a noise with his mouth that Mikhail was certain he'd never be able to replicate.

"Uh... I'm a human. My planet is, well, it's hard to describe I guess?" Mikhail tried to sit up more and winced as pain shot through his side.

"Oh no. I didn't have a chance to examine you after I pulled you in here from the rest of the wreckage. I am... was a nurse on my planet. Let me make sure nothing's too banged up before you try and move anymore."

The wolf crawled over and began to prod at his side. Mikhail pulled away from the strange feeling of the paw pressing into his side.

He seemed to notice the brief look of fear on Mikhail's face. "Oh no. I'm so sorry, I just assumed you'd be okay with me touching you, but that was dumb- I was being dumb. This must all be such a shock to you." He held his paws up in what was probably supposed to be a non-threatening gesture which was rather ruined by the sharp claws at the end of each... finger? Toe? "But really, I just want to make sure that you're not hurt too badly."

"It's fine. You're fine."

Another toothy grin. "Good. Now hold still." The wolf proceeded to poke and prod at most every part of Mikhail's body. After his thorough examination was finished, he leaned back. "Well, I'm not one-hundred percent positive, since I don't know your species' physiology, but you seem to be mostly fine. Just bruised. Gonna be more sore than you've probably ever been in your life, but fine.

"Yay?"

"Well, the alternatives are things like you bleeding internally from the trauma of impact rupturing something important, so yes, yay."

Mikhail let out a weak cheer. "So, uh, where are we then?"

"I have no idea. I was in a cell on their ship when it started crashing. Seems like we were the only two survivors. I woke up out there on the grass and then not far from me, you were still knocked out."

"Why'd you drag us in here?" Mikhail gestured at the tiny room.

"Well... It was getting dark and... I think I saw something out in the woods."

"Like an animal?"

"I think so, I didn't get a very good look at it, but I didn't really want to take any chances."

Mikhail looked over at the small opening in the metal and hoped it was small enough to keep whatever the wolf had seen out.

"So, uh, I never actually introduced myself. I'm Elam." The wolf held his paw out looking far too much like a dog back on Earth that was doing a trick.

"And I'm Mikhail." He grinned and shook the wolf's paw. "So you said you're a... Tholan?"

"Yeppers."

"And what we're the things that kidnapped me?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen that particular species in my life, but as a whole, they don't seem particularly pleasant. All I was doing was walking home from work and I made the mistake of trying to take a short-cut through a dark alley. Next thing I knew I was strapped to a table on their ship and one of them was standing over me."

"I was just watching an eclipse when they grabbed me."

"Pleasure-slavers are the worst."

"Pleasure-slavers?"

Elam glared at him. "It's going to be hard remembering you don't know these things. They're organizations that kidnap people and then reprogram them to be addicted to sex before selling them to the highest bidder. Sometimes if the bidder pays enough, they're even modify them a bit to please whatever twisted fetish they want. It's really just a positively awful business. We got lucky. Another day or so and we wouldn't have been able to live without them."

"Yikes. So then..." but before Mikhail could finish his question, the sound of something hitting the ground came in from outside. Elam looked over at Mikhail and held his finger up to his mouth. The two quietly crawled over to the opening and peaked out.

It looked like another piece of the ship had just crashed down from the sky. On top of the slick metal surface lay one of the aliens that had captured him. It was staring in their direction, its eyes unfocused and dead, but the creature itself was obviously still alive as evidenced by its pained gasps. A streak of violet liquid leaked out of a large gash on its face.

Mikhail turned to Elam. "Should we help him?" He whispered.

Elam shook his head and held his finger up again.

The shrubbery that surrounded the trees to their right rustled. Mikhail watched in horrified silence as a large beast emerged from within them. It was large and white and looked very much like a wolf, but unlike Elam its features were feral and monstrous. It made its way over towards the injured alien on three-toed paws the size of dinner plates. It stopped in front of the alien, reaching its nose down and sniffing. It turned away and Mikhail assumed that it was uninterested in this particular prey. He was quickly proved wrong when its fluffy white tail uncoiled into three tentacles lined with sharp, barbed teeth. They reached down and picked up the alien, grabbing it by its limbs and lifted it into air.

The tail tentacles then pulled themselves up the back of the creatures, taking the skin with it and leaving only a gaping void. Then the tails began to pull the alien apart. A horrible, agonized scream echoed through the forest followed by an even more horrific wet, tearing noise as the alien was ripped apart. The pieces were dropped down into the hole in wolf-creature's back. The tails lowered once more, closing what Mikhail now knew was the monster's real mouth and curled back together, looking once more like an innocent tail. It then turned and looked directly at where the two were hiding. Its eyes were a crimson red and Mikhail felt his heart stop beating, sure that they were next.

Instead, it turned and walked back into the dark forest.

Mikhail felt sick to his stomach and completely terrified. He turned and looked at Elam. The wolf looked back at him, his expression just as shocked and horrified as Mikhail knew his was. "Please tell me you know what that was." He managed to squeak out.

Elam shook his head. "I have no idea. I had though I smelt something else canine-ish, but that, I've never even heard of something like that in my worst nightmares."

"Do you think we're safe in here?"

"I think... I hope it was too large to get to us in here if it comes back, but its tail..."

Mikhail began to crawl back towards the rear of their shelter. "We should probably stay away from the entrance just in case."

"Yeah. Good idea." He crawled over and sat next to Mikhail.

"So what are we going to do about..?." Mikhail gestured wildly.

"Well, we can't stay here, that's for sure. If we're lucky, there'll be some kind of civilization on this planet. Hopefully advanced enough to have space travel. If not, well, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Mikhail thought of his family. The way his mom had worried about him before he had left. "I hope we find a way home."

Elam stared at him sadly. "You really don't know anything, do you?" He reached over and placed a paw on Mikhail's leg. "Your solar system is protected by a treaty that was made a long time ago. It was supposed to protect certain places from the influence of Engineered races. You know something about the rest of the universe that nobody else on your planet knows. You've been exposed. If you try to go back, the Guardians will kill you before you get anywhere near you planet."

"Then I...?"

Elam looked down and whispered, "You can never go home."

Mikhail realized he had started to cry.

"I'm sorry." Elam grabbed his hand between his paws and squeezed. "I know it sucks, but don't worry. If we get off this planet, you'll have a whole new universe to explore. You'll be able to see things you never thought could possibly exist, learn about new worlds and species, try new foods. It'll be an adventure most people could only dream about. And if you need a place to stay, my family is so nice. You can come live with us. I'm sure they'd love to have you. I know it won't replace what you've lost but... you can still have hope for the future, right?"

Mikhail wiped his eyes on his arm, trying to stop crying. "I guess," he managed to choke out despite not really meaning it.

Elam reached up and hugged him, holding the human man tight to his body. "You'll be fine. I promise."

Mikhail reached up and felt the soft fur under his hands. It reminded him of his dog back home. He slowly rubbed it and started to feel a little better.

"Good, now just take deep breaths. We're going to get through this."

***

The bright morning light shone into the tiny shelter landing directly on Mikhail's face. He groaned and covered his face with one of his hands. Every single movement ached slightly and he felt utterly exhausted. All night the ground had been cold and hard and he'd been entirely unable to get more than a few minutes of sleep in small bursts. He'd finally managed to fall into something resembling a deep sleep when Elam, probably growing tired of his restlessness, crawled over and let Mikhail use the wolf as a pillow and heat-source(it was shocking how much warmer he was than Mikhail, it had been like snuggling a small heater). He opened his eyes and looked around wondering where the wolf had gone. He sniffed at the air. Over the lingering odor of burned everything, he could vaguely make out the smell of cooking meat. Curious, he crawled out of the shelter.

In the bright light of the morning, the small clearing created by the ship's crash looked entirely different. Mikhail stared in awe at the plant-life that circled it. The trees looked similar to those on Earth, but their branches were intricate curves rather than straight and narrow. Even more shocking was the color of all the plant-life; everything was a vibrant shade of blue- the trees, the bushes, even the grass itself. He looked up, suddenly curious as to what an alien sky would look like. The sky was a pale violet color. Lazy, white clouds floated slowly in the slight breeze. What looked like large rings dominated the skyline and two suns- one similar in size to the one on Earth and one smaller- demanded attention as well.

Something tapped on his shoulder and Mikhail yelped and jumped forward, falling to the ground and rolling to face whatever had startled him. He was greeted by a laughing wolf.

"I'm so sorry." He managed to choke out between his giggles. "I didn't mean to startle you, but the look on your face was just priceless."

Mikhail pouted. "I thought you might've been one of those monsters."

"Yes, because they would've gently touched your shoulder. 'Please, sir, might I perhaps eat you? Just a nibble? I'm ever so hungry.'"

"This is a serious situation."

"Yeah, but being all doom and gloom about it is just going to make things worse." He offered Mikhail a paw. "Now come on and get up, I caught us some food."

Mikhail took the help and gingerly got to his feet. He ached even more now. He followed Elam over behind a large pile of metal debris. A small fire burned brightly and steadily. On top of a small fragment of metal beside it sat several small sticks skewered with tiny cooked animals. A few uncooked ones sat untouched on top of a different piece of metal lay a few uncooked specimens. Mikhail looked closely at them. They looked like some kind of weird mix between a platypus and a miniature alligator with six legs. He shrugged. The cooked meat smelled good enough. He sat down beside the fire and picked up one of the sticks and began to eat it.

At the moment it tasted like the most delicious thing Mikhail had ever put in his mouth. He devoured the meat and quickly picked up another stick. He looked over at Elam who was just sitting there watching him. He swallowed what was in his mouth and then spoke, "Don't you want any."

He could swear the wolf was blushing. "Oh, no, I'm fine. I already ate."

Mikhail looked around, seeing no signs of any other food having been consumed. "Could've fooled me."

He looked down meekly. "Well, Tholans don't necessarily have to eat their food cooked and well... When you're hunting and you get the taste of fresh, hot blood in your mouth, you know how it is..."

"Not really, but whatever floats your boat. I'm not gonna judge you."

He looked up shocked. "That's not saying we eat everything raw. I mean, most species once they discover cooking usually prefer their foods that way which is why I just assumed you wanted yours that way, but instincts happen sometime."

"It's fine, you're fine."

Elam smiled and rubbed the back of his head with his paw. "Sorry if I'm over explaining things. I'm just trying to help you out. Last night you seemed pretty out of your league."

Mikhail finished gobbling down his third... whatever, and reached for a fourth. "Yeah, being told you'll never see your family again kinda does that to a person, but I'm fine right now. It really helps that wherever we are," he gestured around them, "is really beautiful. It's like something out of a dream."

Elam picked up one of Mikhail's discarded sticks and poked at the fire. "This planet really is quite beautiful. Which is why I'm positive somewhere like this would've been colonized by now. Hopefully, there'll even be a town somewhere near here."

"So you think we should go try to find people then? Wouldn't it be safer to stay here with whatever that was last night prowling around?"

"Normally, yes, but we have no way of knowing if we just got lucky last night. For all we know, it could come back tonight and find us this time."

"Point taken. So," Mikhail got to his feet. "How should we go about this?"

Elam stood up as well. "I guess we just pick a direction and start walking."

"Any direction at all?"

"Do you have a better plan?"

Mikhail shrugged. "Not really, I suppose."

Elam squatted and dug up some dirt that he proceeded to dump on the fire which flickered and died. He stood back up, walked over to Mikhail, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into the forest.

***

Mikhail gasped for air. "Can we... take... a rest now?"

"Stop being a baby, we've only been walking for like, three maybe four hours."

Mikhail leaned up against one of the trees and sank to the ground. Every single part of his body felt like it was on fire, he could barely breathe, and he felt like he was going to be sick to his stomach. Whatever it was he had eaten for breakfast was most certainly not settling on his stomach. Elam stopped walking and turned, shaking his head, to look at him.

"Fine. I suppose we can take a little break."

"Thanks."

Elam walked over and sat down on the grass next to him. "You know if we keep up this pace we're never going to get anywhere."

"Please... stop talking." Mikhail let himself fall off the tree and onto the soft grass. He stretched out, his muscles and joints screaming in protest. "I think I'm actually dying."

"Yeesh, how out of shape are you?"

"For the last year or so I've pretty much only been sitting in a chair all day every day. I think the better question is how are you not even phased by this?

"My special and powerful canine strength." He stuck his tongue out at Mikhail.

Mikhail glared at him.

"Fine, fine. I'm a nurse back on my planet. You'd be surprised at how much exercise you get in that career path. I mean have you ever tried to lift and unconscious Jemxeng onto a stretcher?"

Mikhail glared at him.

"Right, right. Forgot for a second. Anyway, what do you do that you apparently never get any kind of physical activity?"

"I'm a student at a university."

"Really now? What for?"

"Engineering. Really, I wish I could've gotten a better look at that ship. It would've been fascinating."

"Well, you'll get plenty of chances to study our fancy technology when we reach civilization." Elam hopped to his feet. "Now come on, that's enough of a rest. Let's get going."

Mikhail groaned, but stood up anyway. "You're going to kill me before we get anywhere."

Elam grinned. "Cry more why don't ya." He turned and started walking.

***

The suns were finally setting over the horizon. The rings around the planet scattered the dying light in a way that was absolutely magical and the dusk sky was a color that Mikhail had absolutely no words in his vocabulary to describe.

The two had stopped by a particularly large tree and Elam was attempting to find the easiest way to climb it.

"Why are we doing this again?" Mikhail whined.

"Well, I'm hoping that if we sleep high enough above the ground then if one of those creatures comes around it won't be able to get to us, but if you want to take your chances on the ground, then be my guest."

Mikhail walked over and lightly punched the wolf in the arm. "You're such a meanie, you know that."

The wolf tried to look upset, but his wagging tail gave away that he was joking. "Me? How could you say such a thing?" He turned back to the tree. "Anyway, there are some holes in the trunk here we can use to get to the bottom-most branches and from there it should be an easy climb to the top."

Mikhail groaned. "But everything hurts already."

"Seriously, nothing is stopping you from staying on the ground."

"Stop being right."

"Never. Now come on before it gets dark." The wolf hopped up on the trunk of the tree and began to climb. He quickly reached the branches and perched on one looking down at Mikhail.

Mikhail walked over to the trunk and put his hand in the lowest hole and started climbing. About halfway up he had to stop and catch his breath. His arms and legs burned with the effort and he was sure he wouldn't make it the rest of the way. He heard something moving in the forest behind him and his breath caught in his throat. He quickly scrambled up the rest of the way to see Elam grinning at him.

"You finally made it. I was getting worried you really were gonna end up sleeping down there."

"I... hate... you... so much... right now." Mikhail managed to gasp out despite every word burning.

"Come on, we gotta get a little bit higher." Elam started scrambling up more branches.

"Hatred... rising." Mikhail followed his companion anyway.

When the two finally reached a point that Elam deemed high enough the two stretched out on several branches that had wrapped themselves together forming a make-shift canopy. They lay in silence for several moments. Down below they heard something claw against the tree and when Mikhail leaned over he was one of the creatures scratching at the trunk, looking up at him. He quickly rolled back onto the platform and stared at Elam.

"See, told you we'd be safe up here. Now get some sleep, we're going to be walking even more tomorrow."

Mikhail closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

When he woke up, he found that once again Elam had already prepared food for them. After a quick breakfast, the two started walking once more.

Their routine continued for several day. Eat. Walk for the day. Make stops at the many ponds littered around the forest for water. Climb a tree for sleep while the creature prowled beneath them. Mikhail found himself becoming used to it, surprising himself when he realized he was starting to be able to keep up with Elam. Despite the bruising starting to fade though, the full-body aching remained he. He briefly though about asking Elam about it, but just dismissed it as him getting more exercise than he'd ever gotten before in his life. He'd even noticed the fat he'd accumulated around his body starting to disappear which only strengthened his assumption. Honestly, he was pretty happy about it too. Even with the aches and pains, he'd never felt better.

What he was even happier about though was the prospect of seeing the universe. Some nights as they lay in a tree, Elam would ask about Mikhail's home, about what Earth was like. Mikhail would tell him about the planet: its people, its cultures, its technology, and in return Elam would tell Mikhail stories about world's he'd seen, about wonders and technology that Mikhail would never have been able to imagine in his wildest dreams.

One night, as they were sitting in the tree talking about their families, Mikhail remembered the cell phone in his pocket. He pulled it out of his pocket and held down the power button, thankful for once that he never actually kept the thing turned on. The phone screen lit up and slowly the device powered up. Elam stared down at the phone in awe.

"Wow, your world isn't anywhere near advanced enough to do anything."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Humanity thanks you. Hmmm, first let's..." He opened up his camera app and pointed it and himself and Elam, quickly pressing the button to take a picture of the two. "Got it. Now let's see..." He pulled up his pictures and found one of his family. "Here look." He held the phone up for Elam to see.

"Who're they?"

"That's my mom and my sister." Mikhail pointed at them in turn. "And that's my dog." He pointed down at his old black lab hanging around the bottom of the picture.

Elam stared at the phone for a moment entirely silent. He slowly turned to look at Mikhail. "What the hell?"

"Yeah, back on Earth we have pets that look exactly like animal versions of you."

Elam leaned back against the branch and stared up at the sky. "I think I need to go to bed now and have a small existential crisis."

Mikhail laughed. "Alright. Night." He leaned back as well and closed his eyes.

After about a week, their routine got disrupted. Mikhail had found himself needing to take another rest and this time Elam had decided to press ahead without him to scout the terrain. As Mikhail leaned up against a tree catching his breath, he heard something crashing through the forest from the direction Elam had left in. He turned to look just as his friend came crashing out from between two trees.

"Climb now!" the wolf shouted at him as he jumped onto a tree and used his claws to start ascending at an extremely fast pace.

Mikhail stood still, stunned and confused for a moment before he heard something else running in their direction. He reached up and grabbed the tree trying to find any kind of purchase. He found a handhold and slowly started to climb as whatever was chasing Elam got closer and closer.

He looked over right as one of the creatures came bursting out of the undergrowth and came running right towards him.

Mikhail thrust himself upward, just barely managing to grab the lowest branch. At the same time, he felt one of the creature's tentacles wrap around his leg; the teeth cutting through is jeans and into his flesh. He gasped out in pain and let go of the branch. Right as gravity took hold and he began to fall, he felt Elam's paw wrap around his arm. He looked up to see the wolf desperately holding on to the tree while trying to pull him up.

"Come on and help me, damn it." Elam grunted at him.

Mikhail grabbed onto the branch once more and tried to pull himself up, working with Elam to fight against the pull of the tentacle on his leg. The teeth dug into his leg harder, trying to keep their strong hold and Mikhail felt blood dripping out of the wound. Finally, after what felt like forever, the tentacle released his leg and he scrambled up onto branch. Elam quickly helped him climb higher up in the tree. The creatures roared angrily up at its lost prey.

When they had reached a high enough branch in the tree, Elam stopped and turned to Mikhail. "Let me see your leg."

Mikhail pulled his tattered pant leg up. Deep gashes circled his leg where the beast had wrapped itself around it and blood welled up out of the wounds.

"Shit. That's worse than I thought it'd be." Elam pulled his shirt off exposing his (surprisingly toned) torso. "Hold still, this might hurt a little." He reached over and began wrapping the shirt around the wound. Mikhail gasped out in pain and the world started to spin a little. "There, got it. That should stop the bleeding. I'd like to clean the wound, but we'd need a river or lake or something for that."

"So, what happened down there? Why was that after you?"

Elam grimaced. "When I went ahead, I kinda sorta... tripped over it while it was sleeping."

"How did you not notice it?"

Elam looked like he was blushing under his fur. "I was daydreaming. Don't worry about it. Anyway, we should probably should stay up here for the rest of the day. It probably won't be safe to climb down until we're positive that it's left for real."

Mikhail decided to ignore the rather obvious change of subject that Elam had just pulled off. "That's fine. I'm kinda woozy after that."

Elam frowned "That wound was bleeding a rather significant amount. Hopefully there isn't anything coating those teeth that stops blood from clotting. I'd assume not since they seem to primarily function to provide grip and to rip its prey apart, but still one can't be sure with an unknown species like that."

Mikhail forced a laugh. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." Then he passed out.

***

Mikhail's head pounded as he slowly forced his eyes open. He was laying on the ground of a clearing. A few feet away, Elam crouched by a fire, poking at it with a stick.

"What happened?"

Elam jumped in surprise and on his tail. He yelped in pain before getting back to his feet and walking over to Mikhail. "You got attacked by that thing and then passed out from blood loss, remember?"

"Not really. I just know my head feels like it's getting hit by a hammer."

"Yeah, that sounds about right. You feel ok otherwise?"

"I guess." He looked down at the shirt tied around his leg, it was stained with blood. "Oh, was it really that bad."

"Yeah. You've been out for two days."

"Yikes." Mikhail sat up and rubbed his head trying to get rid of the ache. "So, what should we do now?"

"Well, first you need to eat something. I'll go catch you some meat."

"Yeah, sure." He laid back down on the ground and closed his eyes. He heard Elam dash off into the trees and then he drifted back into a fitful slumber.

"Oi, Mikhail. Wake up." He felt a hand shaking his shoulder. "I have food, get up and eat."

Mikhail slowly forced his eyes open. His head wasn't pounding as badly, but he still felt absolutely tired. Elam sat next to him holding several pieces of cooked meat.

"Come on, sit up. I'll help." He used his free hand to lift Mikhail up and dropped a small piece of meat in Mikhail's mouth. Mikhail forced himself to chew and swallow. His stomach growled loudly in response.

"See, was that so bad?"

Mikhail shook his head.

"Now come on, you need to eat more. Lots of blood to replenish."

They continued like this for several minutes until Mikhail found himself unable to eat any more. He pulled himself out of Elam's grasp and sat up on his own.

"Whoah, careful there!"

"Don't worry about me. I'm feeling a bit better now. How far did you carry me, anyway?"

"Not too far." Elam picked up a piece of meat and began to nibble on it. "You weren't even out for a day, thankfully."

They sat in silence for several minutes while Elam ate.

"So, what's your family like? You haven't really talked about them."

Elam shrugged. "Well, you'll definitely get to know them when we get off this planet, but have a mother and two little sisters- twins. Dad died when I was only four or five years old. Don't remember him much. Thankfully, Mom had a pretty nice job, so we didn't end up anywhere... bad on our planet. Still, I think Eva and Via will like you a lot." He chuckled. "They'll probably die of shock when I turn up with a forbidden alien on their doorstep after being missing though." He stopped talking and looked up at the violet sky above them. The rings around the planet sparkled in the evening sun.

Alien. Mikhail sat in silence for a moment and thought about how weird it was that he was the alien in this situation. He was the abnormality. Then he sat up, confused. "Wait, I didn't really think about this before now, but, how the hell are we talking? There's no way we speak even remotely the same language. I don't even think your mouth can physically make some of the sounds I've heard you use."

Elam shrugged. "Probably something the slavers did to you before you woke up. You wouldn't be much use to them if you couldn't understand their or their clienteles' commands."

"Ah." More silence.

"Anyway, it's almost night. We need to get up into a tree now." He stood up and walked over to Mikhail. He bent down and helped Mikhail to his feet, supporting most of his weight. The wobbled over to the nearest tree and Elam helped him climb up the first few branches. After the initial climb, Mikhail was able to make the rest of the climb on his own and eventually the got safely settled in for the night.

***

Mikhail awoke before Elam that morning. The black wolf lay on a nearby branch with his back to Mikhail, the morning light shining softly on him. His tail wagged slowly in his sleep and his ears twitched. Mikhail smiled watching his new friend. After a few moments he sat up and stretched. He felt great honestly, compared to yesterday, he felt full of energy. Jittery and ready to go. A soft noise caught his attention and he strained his ears. It was faint, but it sounded like a river or a stream, and not far away either. The thought of cold, running water excited him. Up until now, all they had found was small ponds and lakes that they'd been using to get drinkable water from. Thankfully, all the water on the planet was crystal clear, seemingly untouched. He quietly climbed down the tree, being careful not to disturb Elam, and walked in the direction of the sound.

After a few minutes of walking, he stumbled out of a particularly nasty patch of some kind of thorny plant and landed on the banks of a small river. The cool, clear water rushed in front of him. He crawled over to it and dipped his hands in it feeling the liquid wash over it. The brown dirt that had been coating his hands practically melted off and Mikhail realized just how dirty he felt. He sat and thought for a moment before he began to take his clothes off.

After a few moments, his clothes sat in a neat pile on the riverbank and he stood naked. He walked down into the river and began to wash himself. After a few minutes of scrubbing he looked down his body. He looked so different from the man who had gotten winded hiking through the forest a week ago. All the fat he had accumulated was gone. His flat stomach even looked like he was starting to develop abs- something he'd never dreamed of having in his life. He looked at his arms and legs. Those were starting to look more developed too. The wound on his leg was already nothing more than a scar, which was strange for how deep it had seemed. His hands looked and felt a bit swollen, but that probably just had to do with all the tree climbing. He also thought he might be hairier too, but that was probably just the strange lighting of the planet. His cock looked strangely puffy and oddly red though, which concerned him. He reached down and felt it. Nothing hurt. In fact, it felt rather overwhelmingly good. A small moan escaped his lips as he rubbed it. He began to stroke it more and more vigorously, sending pleasure shooting through is body. After a few minutes, he came, the white cum shooting out and clouding the water around him. At the same time, Elam came crashing out of the forest.

"Mikhail, why didn't you wake me up? When you weren't there I thought something had happened. Thank goodness... I could... smell you..." He stopped talking as he comprehended what he had just stumbled on to, seeing Mikhail holding his still semi--hard dick in his hand, staring directly at him. The wolf stared for a moment in shock, his mouth hanging open quite comically, though his tail was wagging, before he covered his eyes and turned away.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry I didn't realize that... What I mean is... You see... I'm going to go now, sorry." He rushed back into the forest.

Mikhail washed himself off once more before he climbed out of the water and put his clothes back on. After a few brief minutes of walking through the forest, he found Elam leaning against a tree, his eyes closed. He appeared to be thinking about something.

"Hey there."

The wolf jumped. "Hey." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Sorry about that back there."

Mikhail laughed. "Don't worry about it."

"Anyway, I've been thinking, and we should probably follow the river. There's a better chance of finding a town or something if we're near water and it'll give us a reliable source of water." He stopped for a moment and mumbled "If someone can control themselves in it, that is."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Come on, let's go!"

***

Two days later as they walked along the river, Mikhail noticed something odd. He was the same height as Elam. He distinctly remembered Elam being taller than him and having to look up into the wolf's eyes. He reached up and scratched his head, accidentally rubbing his ear in the process. It was pointed.

He stopped walking.

Elam turned. "Something wrong?"

"I think something's happening to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at me. My body is very clearly not the same as it was."

"Let me see." Elam walked over and began to inspect him. He stepped back and crossed his arms, frowning. You're right. You smell different too. I don't know how I didn't notice it before now."

"So what's going on?"

"It's pretty much unheard of, but I think when that thing attacked you, it infected you."

"What."

"I think you're turning into one of them."

"What?"

"I think you're becoming one of the beasts that attacked us."

Mikhail began to panic. "Well can we stop it?"

Elam shrugged. "If we can get you to civilization in time, there's plenty of ways to stop transformations, though you'll be left with whatever changes you got. You can probably fix those up afterward at a clinic though. Really, all the more reason for us to move faster."

"How long will it take?"

"Well, it seems to be going pretty slowly so far if it took us this long to notice, so I'd give you another week or so."

"Oh good, I have a whole week before I become a terrifying hellbeast. Great. Wonderful."

"I get it. You're freaking out right now, but standing around isn't going to help anything."

"Yeah. Don't freak out says the one who isn't turning into a horrible monster." Mikhail began to walk again.

Elam walked over to him and placed him arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna abandon you."

"Thanks."

***

Two days later they found the boat. They almost missed it really. Elam was too busy watching the forest and Mikhail was preoccupied with examining the growing forest of hair spreading across his body. Luckily, Mikhail also tripped over an oar.

Elam rushed over. "Are you alright?"

Mikhail rubbed the knee he had landed on. "Yeah." He reached down and picked up the oar. "What is...? Oh my god!"

"Is that a...?

"Yeah." He stood up and looked around, quickly spotting the rotting canoe sitting on the shore of the river. "And over there's the boat it goes to!"

The two rushed over and began to look at it.

Elam turned to Mikhail, his tail wagging. "That means there are people here. And they're close by!"

"I'm going to climb a tree and see if I can spot anything."

Mikhail ran over to forest and quickly scaled the nearest tree, bursting out of the top. Off in the distance he could see the tops of buildings piercing the horizon. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest with joy. He resisted the urge to jump out of the tree and run yelling to Elam and looked around further. After a few moments, he noticed a small building nestled among the trees, a tiny chimney poking above the canopy of leaves. It wasn't far at all. This time he did jump down the tree as quickly as he could.

He ran back to Elam, who was standing by the river, looking at the boat some more.

"Did you find anything?"

He stood and panted for a moment. "Cabin... That way..." He pointed in the direction he had seen the building.

"That's great! Come on, let's go!" Elam grabbed his arm and began to pull him.

"Coming. Coming."

The two slowly pushed their way through the trees and plants in the direction Mikhail had seen the building. He ran ahead of Elam. "Hurry up, we're almost there."

"When did you get fast?" The wolf shouted at him.

"When did you get so slow?" He shouted back and giggled.

Mikhail stopped as his heart skipped a beat and the world swayed around him. Elam rushed past him, laughing as he took the lead.

Mikhail gasped and fell to his knees as red-hot fire shot through his body. He clawed at the ground and tried to call to his friend for help, but all that came out was a choking rattle. Still, that was enough and Elam turned and rushed over to him.

"Mikhail? What's wrong?" He crouched down on the ground next to him.

Mikhail tried to talk again, but the pain intensified and instead he let out an agonized scream.

"Oh no. I think I know what's happening. I'm going to get your clothes off. Trust me, it'll help." He gingerly helped the writhing human pull them off.

Mikhail looked down at his nude body. Underneath his skin it looked like liquid was flowing across his body as his muscles moved and reformed themselves. He heard the sound of his bones breaking, and with each and every snap and crack, more agony ripped through his very soul. He felt like he was on the verge of passing out from the pain as the edges of his vision started to go black, but something prevented him from doing so.

All of a sudden he found himself unable to breathe. At the same time, his stomach felt like it was twisting itself into knots. He managed to get to his knees and began to retch. The pain in his abdomen intensified once more and dark, red blood came shooting out of his mouth staining the ground beneath him. He gasped in panic at the sight, finally regaining his ability to breathe, and started to choke.

He felt Elam rubbing his back. "Mikhail, I know it's hard right now but please, just try to focus on breathing."

He coughed again, harder this time and more blood splattered on the ground clearing his airway. Cold, crisp air filled his lungs as he gasped. He heard a sharp cracking noise coming from his hands. He looked down at them just in time to see them begin to contort, the bones within them pushing against his skin as they broke, moved, and reformed, twisting his hands into something far more animalistic. He cried out as his fingernails popped off; the pointed tips of dark, black claws pushing their way out of the raw skin. He felt a similar pain begin in his feet and assumed the same process was occurring there.

The painful heat slowly moved its way down his spine, stopping and centering at the area where his tailbone was located. The ache began to push its way out of his body toward the surface of his flesh. Mikhail groaned as his spine and skin stretched, a tiny nub of a tail forming above his butt.

Finally, the transformation ended. Mikhail collapsed, the cold ground cooling his body. He panted and shook, trying to calm himself. He rolled to look up at the violet sky. Elam sat down next to him.

"Don't try to move for a bit. Your brain is going to take a bit to sort out all the changes."

"What... the hell..."

"I'm really sorry you had to go through that. That was the stage of the transformation where all of your internal organs, bones, muscles, and such reworked themselves in preparation for... more extensive changes."

"Oh... is that all?"

"I was hoping we'd be able to get to some kind of civilization before that happened. That step in particular is why the injections most people get when they willingly change themselves are loaded with pain killers and aphrodisiacs. It makes it an infinitely more pleasant experience. Although, that does have some problems associated with it."

Mikhail tried to push himself into a sitting position. "Like what?"

"Oi, get back down. I said no moving."

Mikhail let himself collapse back down to the ground.

"Well, the biggest problem is that it's rather easy to become addicted to the process. The thrill and pleasure of the change: it becomes like a drug to them. Then, when any kind of safe place that offers their services become too expensive or refuse to serve them anymore, they turn to shady, back-alley genetic shops. The problem with those isn't that they're dangerous-well, most of the time that is- it's that they're usually funded by pleasure slavers like the ones that abducted the two of us. Their genetic cocktails usually contain more of the addictive stuff too, so their clients' issues only get worse and worse until they're deeply in debt to the parlor and that's when they offer them a contract. One year of work for them and your debts are gone. By that point though, you're too far gone, too addicted, too desperate to question what the work is or read the contract. Then you sign it and are given over to the shop's benefactors. They do their work on you, sell you off to the highest bidder, and then even if the contract you signed was real by the time the year is up, you're too addicted to the new life and body to care about whoever you were before."

"That sounds terrible."

"It is. A few times people that were rescued from those deals ended up in the hospital where I worked. It... wasn't a pleasant experience trying to help them, and, honestly, they probably just ended up right back in the same position after they left." He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have gone into so much detail about this. I've probably been making space sound like such a terrible place. I promise when you get off this planet it isn't just going to be crime and corruption."

"Don't worry about it." He slowly stretched and got to his feet. He picked his clothes up off the ground and put them back on. Elam glared at him. "Oh don't look at me like that. I'm fine now. Come on, let's go, that cabin shouldn't be too far now."

Elam stared at him skeptically for a moment and then got to his feet as well. "If you say so, but if you collapse on the way there, it's your problem, not mine."

***

The cabin loomed empty and dark in front of them as they pushed their way out of the forest. Plants and vines were crawling up the wooden sides of the building and the windows were covered in dirt and dust. A small road choked with weeds made its way up the building and the light poles that lined it were dark and covered in rust.

"Wait here for a second." Elam rushed down the road and around a bend in it disappearing behind the trees. Mikhail walked over to the cabin and tried to peer in a window. The inside was dark which coupled with the sheer amount of dust on the window made it hard to see inside. Still, it was clear that nobody lived here anymore. He walked around towards the front of the building, stopping to stare worriedly at the large, deep claw marks that scarred the wood on several parts of the house. He stared at the large door. It looked sturdy and was most likely locked. They'd probably have to break a window or something to get inside.

The sound of claws hitting stone startled him and he turned back to the road to see Elam dashing back towards him, grinning madly.

"There's a... larger road... not far from here." He panted, out of breath. "I think I we follow it, we can find a city or something pretty easily."

Mikhail grinned back. "That's great." He looked up at the sky and the quickly setting sun. "Still, we should probably find a way to get in here before it gets too dark."

"Did you try the door?"

"No, but I assume it would probably be locked."

Elam reached around him and wrapped his paw around the door handle, easily turning it. "See, easy."

Mikhail turned and glared at the wolf, who stuck his tongue out in response. He turned back to the building.

He pushed open the door to the cabin, his claws scraping on the wood as it slowly squeaked open on its rusty hinges. A cloud of dust burst out, getting itself lodged into his nose and sending him into a sneezing fit. Elam pushed past him into the cabin.

"Hey. No fair."

"You'll live." He shouted out at him.

A few more minutes passed as Mikhail struggled to get his sneezing under control. His nose seemed so much more sensitive than it used to. Finally, light-headed and dizzy, he entered the cabin.

Elam sat in a chair by a fire in a grate, grinning at him.

"Shut the door and come sit down. It's a pretty nice place we managed to find all things considered."

Mikhail moved over and sat down next to the wolf. He looked around the room. It was a small, dusty living area with the fireplace as its centerpiece. Empty picture frames lined the walls and a small bookshelf sat in the corner. A small table divided the room from what Mikhail assumed was probably some kind of kitchen-space (although he couldn't identify any of the machines that lined that wall).

Elam tossed a small, hard brown lump of something at him, hitting Mikhail in the face. Groaning, he picked the object up off the floor and stared at it, confused.

"Eat it. It's not gonna hurt you, it's just meat."

Mikhail took a bite. The meat was rubbery but delicious. He quickly devoured the rest.

"There's actually a pretty large supply of non-perishable food back there." Elam pointed at a door over by the kitchen. "Most of the stuff in there won't expire for another century."

"That's good, uh, pretty good."

"Yeah, I figured I'd rest for a bit and then cook us up a meal. It'll be nice to use real equipment for once. The stuff here isn't all that old either. I recognize a few of these brands. Heck, my mom still has that exact model of reconstituter." He pointed at the device that looked like it somehow managed to be entirely round, but also have sharp edges. It made Mikhail's head hurt to look at it, so he turned back to the fire. The warm heat was making him feel rather drowsing and he could feel himself starting to have trouble keeping his eyes open.

Mikhail shuffled in the chair and laid his head back. The cushions were incredibly soft. It felt nice to be sitting in something real again. He closed his eyes for a moment.

***

"Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up."

Mikhail slowly opened his eyes to see Elam standing over him. He closed his eyes again. "I don't wanna."

"Fine, then I guess I'll eat this stew I made all by myself."

Mikhail sniffed at the air. A pleasant savory aroma filled the air. He opened his eyes and glanced over at the kitchen. The table had a steaming pot sitting on it. Also, somehow, the lights in the cabin were on, filling the room with a soft yellow light.

As if sensing his confusion, Elam spoke, "I went outside and found a generator in a shed. You could barely see it because of all the trees that've grown up around it, but at least it still works. Also, you know if you want to sleep there's a bedroom over there." He pointed at the other door in the room. "Probably more comfortable than being curled up in a ball in a chair."

"Shut it." Mikhail grumbled. His stomach also grumbled. "Fine, I'm getting up."

He reluctantly pulled himself up out of the comfy chair and walked over to the table, looking inside the pot. He couldn't identify any of the ingredients but it looked delicious nevertheless. Elam handed him a bowl and spoon and gestured towards the ladle sitting in his creation. "Dig in."

Mikhail spooned a small amount out into his bowl and took a tentative bite. The explosion of flavor in his mouth brought tears to his eyes. He snatched the ladle away from Elam, who yelped in surprise and filled his bowl nearly to the point of overflowing. He sat down at the table and proceeded to start shoveling food into his mouth.

Four serving later Mikhail lay stretched out on the floor in front of the fire. For the first time since they had crashed, he felt completely content. He could hear Elam over by the bookshelf seeing if he could find anything entertaining.

"Oh my goodness, Fire Guardian Darkarei! I used to love this series when I was a kid."

"I can't believe you all use physical books still."

"Eh, digital stuff is popular, but there's just something about being able to hold the story in your hand and feeling the weight of it that keeps it from dying out. You'd be surprised at how many species feel the same way. You know, there's an entire planet that's a library. It used to only be a day or two's journey from where I lived before this."

"That actually sounds pretty awesome."

"Yeah, we'll have to..." He stopped abruptly with a strangled choking noise.

Mikhail sat up. "What's wrong?"

"I... There's an old newspaper here."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I know where we are now."

"You do? That's great!"

"No." He walked over and sat down in one of the chairs and curled up into a small ball. "It really isn't."

"What's wrong?"

"We're on Shouxou!"

"That means nothing to me. You're going to have to be more specific."

Elam took a deep breath. "About thirtyish years ago, Shouxou was first discovered. As you've seen, it's quite a beautiful planet, so of course it was immediately bought up to be used a resort planet. Ten or so years pass, everything's going fine. One main city, Oerym, has been built and is doing quite well, but the owner of the planet thinks he isn't making money off it fast enough. So he decided to sell a parcel of land to a bio-technics company. Luna something or another. It's not important. What is important is that about two years later, there was some kind of... accident at their facility. Some kind of contagion was released by accident and it got bad fast. It was an extremely potent transformative agent. The company acted quickly enough, the planet was quarantined as a precautionary measure even though they thought it was contained, but then people in Oerym started exhibiting symptoms. The viral agent had gone airborne. After a few days, nobody was left on the planet, they'd all become horrible monsters. Since then, Shouxou has been in a permanent quarantine. It's become a textbook example of several different ethical quandaries as well as being the biggest cause of several regulatory laws that were passed on those kinds of companies since then. I thought that damn creature seemed familiar and it's because I learned about it in school. They were called 'Goreensh'la.' It's a word from some archaic language meaning 'chimera' because they're the result of several different species' DNA getting mixed together into the viral batch that got released." The wolf was practically hyperventilating at this point. His tongue was hanging out and he was panting rapidly.

"Elam, calm down." Mikhail got up and sat next to the wolf, placing a hand on his paw.

"No, you aren't getting it. You're infected. I'm probably infected. This is really really bad. We're not getting off this planet. Everything I promised you was a lie and we're pretty much doomed. I'm so sorry." The wolf started to cry. "I'm so so sorry."

Mikhail pushed his way into the chair and embraced Elam, who sobbed into his shoulder for several minutes before calming down a bit.

"Sorry. It's just... this is a lot to take in at once."

"It's not a problem. We're even now though."

"What?"

"The first night we crashed here, you helped me calm down when my world was crashing down around me. And now, I promise I'm going to be here with you no matter what."

Elam forced a sad smile. "Thanks for that." He wiped his face with the back of his paw. "Come on, we should get to bed. Don't think we aren't still going to try to get to find a spaceship."

"But, what about the virus?"

"What about it. Like I said, there are ways to stop this." Elam grabbed his paw and drug him towards the bedroom.

Inside the room was a surprisingly large bed and not much else.

Elam dragged him over to the bed and sat down, pulling Mikhail down next to him.

"I have something to admit. The last few days, I've been finding myself... you've... I think I want to be with you."

Mikhail sat in silence for a moment. "You mean like..."

Elam leaned over and kissed him.

Mikhail was stunned for a moment, but quickly found himself reciprocating the gesture. The kiss stopped and Elam stared at him expectantly. He pulled Elam down onto the bed. They lay there, pressed up against each other for a moment. The contact felt good and he felt Elam's heavy breathing begin to calm. The wolf looked over at him, a gleam in his eyes. He began to rub up against Mikhail.

The contact sent shivers shooting up his spine. Mikhail gasped sharply. Elam pulled back. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Forget about it. I'll go sleep in the living room." He moved to get up, but Mikhail stopped him.

"No don't stop."

The two quickly shed their clothing and lay in the bed, exposed to each other. The pointed red tip of Elam's cock poked shyly out of its sheathe and as he reached down to play with Mikhail's it began to extend. Mikhail moaned and the wolf's claws teased at the sensitive skin. The wolf grinned and reached down, his tongue licking at the flesh. Mikhail moaned louder as a familiar heat began to congregate around his dick. Mikhail suddenly looked surprised and pulled back, looking down in shock and awe. Veins pulsed and his cock seemed to fill with more blood than ever before, becoming bright red. It began to push out farther and farther, growing larger than it had ever before. The mushroom head began to stretch, extending out into a sharp point. In a few moments, it looked identical to Elam's sitting across from him.

"That was the hottest thing I have ever seen." Elam turned and lifted his tail, exposing his tailhole. It looked oddly enticing to Mikhail. As if acting on instinct, he suddenly found himself thrusting his cock deep into it. Beneath him, the wolf moaned and writhed in pleasure, his claws tearing into the bed. Mikhail continued to push into Elam, the hole almost seeming to suck his dick into it and massaging it in the process. He paused for a moment, feeling as though the base of his cock was swelling.

"Don't stop." Elam moaned quietly.

Mikhail thrust one more time, the hardest he had so far. His dick made a small popping noise and he entered the wolf and pleasure exploded through his body, white stars dancing in his vision as he came into Elam. Below him the wolf let out a loud, panting moan as he sprayed white cum onto the bed.

Mikhail collapsed onto the bed and tried to pull out of Elam, but found that he was stuck. "What?"

Elam giggled. "Seems like you, my friend, have grown a knot. You're not getting out of this for quite a while."

Mikhail wrapped his arms around Elam and began to snuggle his companion. "That's fine by me."

***

Mikhail slowly woke up from his deep sleep pressed tight up against Elam. The wolf was warm and soft against him. He yawned and pushed his face into his back, rubbing up against the silky, smooth fur.

The wolf rolled to face him, smiling his dopey smile. "I see you finally decided to wake up."

Mikhail laid his head on his chest, his and closed his eyes again." Mhm."

The wolf wrapped his arms around Mikhail for a moment, holding him close before pulling back and taking the blankets with him. Suddenly, left naked in the cold morning air, Mikhail sat up. "What the hell?"

Elam giggled. "I figured it was the only way to wake you up. Otherwise you would've just tried to lay there all day and it would only take so long before I gave in to a repeat of last night."

Mikhail stretched and climbed out of the bed and started to pick up his clothes. "Well why can't we?"

"Cause we've gotta get to Oerym, that's why."

Mikhail pulled his sweater over his body and frowned. It didn't fit anymore.

Elam walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't really need it anymore." He rubbed at the layer of fur growing on Mikhail's body.

Mikhail reached down to pick up his pants.

"Uh-uh. Don't think those are going to work for you either."

Mikhail reached into the pockets of the pants and pulled out his dead cell-phone. "Then how am I supposed to carry this around with me? It's all I have left of home."

"Give me a second." Elam picked up his old clothes and walked out into the main room of the cabin.

Mikhail stood there for a second suddenly feeling very naked. He looked down at his body. He couldn't believe how much it had changed. The most obvious change right now was still his cock, the pointed-red canine head barely poking out of his new sheathe. But other changes were apparent if you looked closely. Like Elam had said, brown fur had started to sprout across his body- the patches on his chest and abdomen were the thickest at the moment. His hands and feet were... oddly shaped- as if the bones inside of them were protruding in odd ways. Then there was obviously the black claws that his nails had stretched into. He reached up and rubbed at the pointed, canine ears on top of his head, those would take some getting used to. And, as the small wagging feeling behind him reminded him, the tail. He reached back and felt it. It had gotten longer and started to split. Tails, he corrected himself.

Elam walked back into the room carrying a small bundle in his arms. He handed it to Mikhail. "Here you go."

"What is it?"

"It's a little bag you can tie around your arm. That way even if you change more it won't rip or fall off. I made it out of your clothes."

"Huh, that's pretty handy. Thanks, I suppose." He reached up and started to try to tie it around his upper arm. Every time he thought he had just about got it, he fumbled with it due to the shape of his new hands and claws.

"Here, let me help you with that." Elam reached over and deftly tied the knot.

"Thanks." Mikhail sighed and stuffed the phone inside the bag and turned, walking out the door. "Come on, let's go."

***

The two walked down the cobblestone road, their claws clattering against it with each step. In the distance, they could see Oerym beginning to appear on the horizon, the tops of glittering towers piercing the sky. Elam stopped.

"What's up?"

"We should stop for the night."

"Why?"

"I think I smell something."

"Sure, whatever you say."

The two climbed into a tree. When they were safely in the branches, Elam turned and faced Mikhail. "So, tomorrow when we get to Oerym, the spaceport should be in the very center. It shouldn't be that hard to get there. One of the ships left behind has to still be working."

"Yeah." Mikhail smiled. "I can't wait for us to finally be off of this stupid planet."

Elam looked away. "Yeah."

***

The next morning, Mikhail awoke to find he was alone. There was a note sitting on the branch where Elam had been the night before. He picked it up and climbed down out of the tree, sitting on the road to read it.

"Mikhail,

First of all, you're probably wondering where I got paper and a pen from. I snatched it when we were in the cabin. So, don't' worry about that particular mystery. Now, on to the important part of this note.

I'm so sorry.

I've been lying to you about the extent of my changes. After we discovered the planet we were on, a lot of things began to slide into place. I realized why I hadn't quite been feeling right since we landed. Thankfully, it was so easy to hide them since my form was already so similar to the wolf-chimeras'. Still, I held out hope that maybe we could make it. Maybe we could stop it. Maybe we had a chance. But, last night, the last stages of the change began to happen and I could feel my mind begin to slip It... it's becoming harder to think really. I'm having trouble finding words and, well, my memories are fading. I decided to get as far away from you as I possibly could while I was still myself.

You have to get to Oerym. Get to a ship. Don't let this all be for nothing. I've never cared for someone like I've cared for you which is why I'm begging you, please, don't try to find me. You still have a chance. See the universe.

One last thing: if you end up on the planet called Altire, find my family and tell them what happened to me.

Love, Elam Vyii"

Mikhail didn't know how long he sat in silence staring blankly at the note. He could feel hot tears sliding down his face.

"I can't believe this." He whispered to no one. He was alone. He carefully placed the note in the pouch Elam had made for him and got to his feet, wiping the tears from his eyes.

He slowly began to walk towards the city, the sound of his claws echoed in the silence.

***

Mikhail walked slowly as the road slowly changed from rustic cobblestone into smooth asphalt. Ahead of him, glimmering spires rose into the sky. Oerym. Towards the center of the city he could just barely see the roof of what he assumed must be the spaceport- his goal. An eerie wind blew through the silent, dead streets that were littered with abandoned vehicles. Mikhail felt his ears press against his head and his tails slowly lowered between his legs. Everything about the dead city screamed with a sense of wrongness and he was positive that there had to be Goreensh'la living within some of the countless ruined buildings. He remembered what Elam had said about how quickly the virus had swept across the planet years ago.

Still, he couldn't help as he walked between the dark, towering buildings but imagine the city in its height- People walking the streets living their lives, the spires glittering in the dark night sky, massive spaceships coming and going- it must have been beautiful. He hoped that maybe he would escape this planet and see other worlds that were still full of life, still full of happiness and joy. See the worlds Elam had told him that they would visit together. He stopped as the familiar heat of a major change started to spread across his body.

Mikhail fell to the ground and screamed as the hot, shooting pain began to concentrate in his back and face. The skin on his back felt like it was going to fall off it hurt so badly as small seams began to appear in his skin and the bones underneath began to change, but that was quickly overshadowed by what began to happen to his face. Bones cracked loudly and painfully as the small muzzle he had begun to develop started to slowly push out farther from his face. He clawed at the ground and watched as his mouth and nose slowly extended further and further; the bones and muscles within grinding and expanding trying to form the canine snout he had become too familiar with recently. Finally, the pain subsided and all that was left was a dull ache in his jaw. He reached up and rubbed it with his paw, gritting his teeth. Then there was a snap and he tasted a large glop of a blood in his mouth. He spit at the ground. One of his teeth skittered across the pavement.

He reached up and felt inside his mouth with his paw, knocking out more teeth in the process and felt the tips of sharp fangs beginning to push through his now empty gums. He realized he probably should be feeling panic at this new development, but he felt oddly numb to the process at this point. He just felt tired. Wouldn't it be easier to just give up and go back to the forest? To live. To hunt. It would be so much easier. It would be so much better. He would be alive. He would be happy. A roar echoed from the trees behind him. He wouldn't be alone. He clasped his head between his paws and shook it, more teeth dropping onto the ground. Those weren't his thoughts. He wanted to get to the spaceport. He wanted to escape. The monster he was becoming wanted to stay. He got to his feet and began to quickly walk towards the center of the city once more. Behind him another roar reverberated in the silence.

Slowly but steadily he made his way farther and farther into the twisting streets of the city. Every time it felt like he was making progress, something blocked his path: fallen buildings, streets clogged with abandoned vehicles, deep cracks in the ground that opened into the sewers and he had to find another route. But still, he was making progress. At one point he came across a building that still had windows in it that were bright and mirror-like in the setting suns' light. He walked over to them and examined himself. He barely recognized himself. Brown fur had covered most of his body at this point, including his face. His hands were twisted by the claws that had sprouted from them and feral red eyes stared back at him. Nothing remained of the happy student that was on the phone in the bag Elam had made for him. Nothing remained of his old life.

A clatter and growl from a few streets over broke Mikhail from his stupor. He turned and looked at the direction from where the sound had come. In the direction he had come from. His nose sniffed at the evening air. A strangely familiar musky scent wafted towards him. A Goreensh'la slowly stalked around the corner, its amber eyes surveying the area. One of those eyes had a small splash of white in the black fur surrounding it. Elam had found him.

Mikhail turned and took off in a sprint towards the direction of the spaceport. Behind him he heard the creature, heard Elam growl, and then large paws pounding against the pavement. As he ran, tears burned his eyes. There really was nothing left of him. Elam was nothing more than a mindless beast now.

He turned a corner and the spaceport loomed high in front of him at the end of the long, straight boulevard. It was just one quick sprint to freedom now. Suddenly, the heat of the transformation began to coalesce once more.

"No, not now damn it." Mikhail tried to run but fell as his feet stopped working properly.

"No. No. No!" He looked down as the bones in his feet began to crack and break, moving beneath the skin. His feet stretched at odd angles as they changed to a more digitigrade position like those of the beast chasing him. Finally the pain subsided, but his feet still didn't want to function. His brain still hadn't quite processed the change. He reached down and rubbed at them, trying to restore the feeling. Elam rounded the corner and charged. Stumbling, he tried to force himself to stand, but fell and landed on all fours.

Everything clicked and he began running. Building passed him by rapidly as the spaceport loomed closer and closer. Behind him he heard Elam roaring in anger as his prey began to escape. He braced himself as the glass windows on the front of the port building approached and he rocketed through them. Shards of glass flew through the air and crunched beneath him as he landed on top of them, cutting his paws. Still, he ignored the pain and began to charge through the empty building. Abandoned luggage and over-turned furniture littered the dark corridors, but he could see clearly in the dim light, his new eyes easily adjusting to the dark.

He emerged from the building once more. Abandoned spaceships littered the large expanse of pavement and metal in front of him. He quickly scanned, searching for one he could access, his eyes settling on a white one not far away that had a ramp leading up to its only door. He dashed towards it. Behind him, Elam slammed into the wall he had just been standing in front of.

Mikhail's claws clattered as he ran up the metal ramp. He stood in front of the door, but it didn't open. He looked around for a switch of some kind to open it. A small button glowed faintly, far above where he could reach without standing on two legs. He lifted a paw and braced it against the slick, metallic side of the ship. Slowly and carefully, he lifted himself up, his claws grinding against the metal. He slammed his nose into the button and yelped in pain. The door ground open slowly. Behind him, he heard Elam reach the bottom of the ramp.

Mikhail stumbled into the spaceship, landing hard on his side. He hurriedly scrambled to his paws and slammed his hand into what he hoped was the button to close the door. Outside, the beast that used to be his companion, used to be Elam, rushed up the ramp.

"Sealing airlock doors. Please stand clear." A soothing electronic voice chimed over an unseen speaker.

The sound of long-dead machinery slowly coming to life once more filled the small chamber. Hydraulics hissed and metal ground against metal as the door slowly began to slide close. Mikhail watched in horror as Elam began to rapidly close the distance. If he made it into the ship before the door closed, then everything was lost. Worst of all, there was a small but incredibly vocal part of Mikhail that hoped for it. Hoped that maybe they would live out the rest of their lives as mindless beasts because at least they'd be together. Mikhail stared into Elam's amber eyes, searching for any kind of recognition. For some reason to stay.

He saw none, just a feral hunger.

With a surprising burst of speed, the door slammed fully shut and, with a soft click, locked out the outside world.

"Please stand by. Commencing decontamination procedures." The voice intoned once more.

A soft, cool mist began to spray out of hidden vents in the wall. Mikhail leaned up against the wall of the airlock and slowly slid down. Standing on his hind legs was getting to be too hard now. Still, he was able to curl himself into something resembling a ball. He stuffed his snout into his chest and listened, his canine ears perking up. The sound of claws desperately scratching on metal echoed out from the other side of the outer door. Slowly, the scratching became slower and slower before stopping. A long, mournful howl cut through the silence. Mikhail howled before he even realized what he was doing. He waited a few seconds for some kind of response but none came; there was no noise besides the quiet hiss of the mist.

"Decontamination complete. Thank you for your patience."

The inner door hissed open. Mikhail uncurled himself and lifted himself onto all four of his feet. He knew the stance should have felt odd, but instead it felt so very right. He padded through the now open door and found himself in a dark hallway. The lights seemed to sense his presence and flickered to life. The hallway was covered in white tiles. The brightness of it hurt Mikhail's new eyes and he found himself squinting as he turned left and walked down it. As he passed by doors, they slid open: what looked like a lounge, a kitchen, several offices, and then finally a bedroom. He stopped for a moment and then lumbered into that room. The walls were covered in pictures of a family of alien. Some kind of lizardy things. They looked happy. Mikhail briefly wondered which one of them was prowling through the vast forests now.

He hopped on the bed and stretched, his three tails uncurling and raising up into the air. As the adrenaline finally began to wear off, the events of the past few weeks finally began to catch up with him and a wave of fatigue washed over him. He lay down on the bed. The blankets soft and warm underneath his furry stomach. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

He dreamed of the blue forests. The violet sky was dark above him, the rings that surrounded the planet glimmered. He rushed between the trees on all fours, the wind whistling through his fur. His mouth was open and the scent of prey washed over him. He leapt and one of his tails lashed out, grabbing the small animal and tearing it in half. He skid to a halt. The mouth on his back opened up and his tail dropped the morsel into the gaping maw. Mikhail savored the taste of the warm blood and panted happily. He heard a noise behind him and quickly turned on full alert, but quickly calmed. Out of the forest came his mate. The other canine had fur that was as dark as the night sky, but a single white splotch covered its left eye. He walked over and nuzzled the other wolf-creature. One of his tentacles reached over and grabbed the other half of the animal he had killed and offered it to his mate. The other creature grabbed it from him and devoured it before rubbing up against him whining. He grinned wolfishly (a feat that honestly wasn't that impressive or surprising considering he was, in fact, a wolf) and tackled his mate, knocking him to the ground.

Mikhail woke from his slumber, coughing out foam. He opened his eyes. He was biting the pillow that had been on the bed. He stretched and reached up, sliding his finger between his teeth to pick out a particularly stubborn piece.

He froze.

He had fingers.

He quickly glanced around the room and located a mirror on the opposite wall. He leapt to his feet (Feet!) and rushed over to stand in front of it.

He was human! Mostly at least. The first thing that caught his attention was his eyes. They were still the same feral eyes he had had while he was a canine. His brown hair was longer and wilder than it had been several weeks ago. It could more accurately be described as a mane now than anything else and it almost entirely obscured his ears which were back to the side of his head, but still pointy. His body was also still pretty hairy as well and all the muscle he had gained over the past few weeks was still there as well. He looked down at his cock. It was enveloped in a thick, furry sheathe and he could see the sharp, red point of a canine dick peeking out of top. He shrugged. He kinda enjoyed it to be honest. He held up his hand. His fingernails were still sharp, black claws. He reached behind him and rubbed his back. The skin there was smooth and seamless once again. A flicker of movement in the mirror caused him to focus on it again, he turned slightly to look at his back. He still had a long, brown tail, it was still more a tentacle then a tail, and he could see sharp fangs barely hidden beneath the fur, but now it was just a single one and it was currently wagging. He smiled and saw that his teeth were still a little bit pointy as well. Overall, he was pretty satisfied with how much the changes has reverted, finding himself to be pretty damn sexy, though he wondered why they had done so on their own.

He walked over to what he assumed was the closet and rifled through it, eventually finding some kind of robe that mostly fit him. He untied the bag from his arm and set it on the desk in the room. He slid the robe on and then walked back out into the hallway.

His growling stomach led him back to the kitchen he had seen earlier. He began to dig through the cabinets seeing what supplies still remained in the ship and was very pleased to find that their food stores were still relatively full and just like the stuff in the cabin, most of it was still unexpired.

He managed to find himself some kind of meat product (he found himself really craving meat now. Especially fresh meat), what he believed to be a stew that would heat itself up when he opened the package, and some kind of drink, or at least what he hoped was a drink- He had never heard of whatever the food the 'juice' was made out of. He gathered up his make-shift breakfast and walked over the lounge.

When he entered the room, the far wall slowly faded from the white tile that the rest of the ship was made of to a transparent glass-like material. Outside, the sky was bright (how long had he been asleep anyway) and the suns shone down on the spaceport. Mikhail sat down at a table next to the window and stared out at the serene vista and frowned wondering where Elam was now. He hoped he was happy. He remembered the dream he had last night and felt a sharp pang of sadness. He remembered the note sitting in his bag. He couldn't be sad. Not now. Elam would want... would have wanted him to leave, to try to find some happiness.

After the small but satisfying meal, Mikhail made his way towards the front of the ship. The cockpit was a small, dust covered room filled with controls and screens that didn't make much sense. Using his vast wealth of engineering knowledge he had accumulated in his few semester at university, he managed to find a small switch that seemed like it was some kind of on button and pressed it. One of the screens flickered to life.

"AI module: T.S.E.I booting. . ."

After several seconds, the rest of the screens burst to life filled with diagrams and graphs and scan that Mikhail couldn't make any sense of. He sat down in the chair in front of the console.

"What are you? Your species isn't in any of my databases." Mikhail jumped at the sound of a female-sounding electronic voice coming out of the console.

"A human. I've got that question a lot lately."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Might I ask your name?"

"I'm Mikhail. Pleased to meet you as well. I'm guessing you're the ships AI?"

"You would be correct in that assumption."

"Do you have a name?"

"You can refer to me by my designation Tsei."

"Tsei. What a nice name. Well, Tsei, what do you say about getting off this planet."

"Food and fuel stores are running low. Furthermore, as your lifesign is the only one detected, we are undermanned. Should any vital systems malfunction, the safety of the ship would be compromised. As such, I highly recommend stopping at one of these destinations to resupply and hire on a crew before attempting a longer jump."

The screen in front of him filled up with a small list of what Mikhail assumed were names of planets. An entire universe to explore.

"Where would you like to go?"

He smiled. "Surprise me."