The Lost One: Loss of Self

Story by jimkoyot on SoFurry

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#2 of Chronicles of the Lost One


So that first rewrite was a huge success compared to my original. one can only hope that the trend continues with this one. So i give you the next chapter of the story! oh and please, please, please leave comments, critique, constructive criticism! can't get better without others to tell you what you're doing wrong!

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True to his word, Kyle's house was only a couple blocks away. Along the way, Sam couldn't help but dip down into a depression. The more he thought into what just happened and what he was going to do, the worse it got. Kyle must had been picking up on it since his questions seemed to become more and more random and confusing. He had to admit though, the more confusing the question, the more it diverted the depression. By the time they reached Kyle's apartment Sam had given up brooding and settled for sulking.

"Well... here's my apartment. It's cozy but I'm not sure what you are used to." Kyle paused to open the door, "why do you insist on being so down about all of this anyways? Is it really that bad? I mean, I know lots of people who would love for this to happen to them!"

Sam just hung his head as he walked past Kyle, "it isn't so much THAT it happened. Hell if you had known me before this incident I would have been amongst the list of those who wanted this to happen. No, it is the how and why this happened that I am sad."

"Well go ahead and get comfortable." He walked off into the adjacent room while Sam surveyed the array of furry art and paraphernalia neatly distributed around the room. Sam tried to whistle appreciatively but found his new tongue and lips didn't do so well for that. Kyle came walking back in with a couple sheets and a pillow now, "so how did this happen, or do you mind me asking?"

"I would like to say it's a long story but I'd be lying. I really don't even know if I should be telling you this but here goes." Sam told the whole story starting with the accident on the freeway up to him escaping the hospital. He shuddered a few times at the memories, especially the night of the attack on the train but dutifully explained everything. "After that was when I came stumbling up to your store and the rest is history."

"Wow. Okay maybe you do have some form of reason to be down but that doesn't mean you should use it. I mean hell, you have the body of a goddess! Long slender legs, perky breasts, trim waist... what?" Sam was staring at him in absolute horror. Here he had been changed against his will into a female creature and Kyle was telling him he had a great body. "No seriously, what? What'd I do?"

"Please don't talk about my body that way. It is one of the sore subjects with this transformation." He hoped Kyle would drop it. Losing his gender was the most destructive aspect to his psyche.

"Why is that? I know plenty of girls, hell even guys who would love to have that--"

Sam quickly covered Kyle's mouth before he could shove his foot any farther in. Taking a deep breath in to clear his thoughts he explained, "I am well aware how much people would love this. Hell I had fantasized about it a time or two myself but this is not something I wanted. I don't even mean the changes. It's the gender that I dislike. I WAS a man! Six foot, two hundred pound, eight inch wang man! To be reduced to a five-foot-four girl was not very high on my ideas for a good vacation! So please, please don't bring it up any more."

Kyle felt like crap all of a sudden. Complimenting a girl on her appearance was something he always tried to do whether he was looking for a date or not. His enthusiasm has now gotten him in trouble. "Oh. I'm sorry Sam. I didn't know it was that bad."

"I know. I do not fault you for that. I wanted to keep it unknown but you seem to be rather... enthusiastic and stubborn." Sam smiled. The poor kid meant well but seemed to have his efforts misplaced. "Anyways, I'm sure there are other things we should be doing than standing here letting the flies in. Why don't you give me the grand tour and we can work out some sleeping arrangements. I'm sure you aren't planning on staying up all night?"

Kyle gave him the quick tour so he knew his way around. The apartment was only a studio since he didn't take up much room himself. As he said, it was cozy and comfortably furnished. The couch, which was Sam's choice for a bed, was a thick stuffed leather piece. Kyle had insisted that Sam take the bed but he wouldn't allow it. Sam was actually excited to sleep on the large couch. He had always been used to sinking comfortably into thick furniture like this. Unfortunately he didn't sink in nearly as far as he hoped he would. He tested the piece again and found it to be as soft as he thought, chalking it up as just another thing he'd have to get used to.

An hour of tossing and turning left Sam frustrated. He was tired but couldn't seem to fall asleep. It might've been the strange location, he wasn't sure. He scratched at his chest in thought. Try as he might to ignore it, the presence of soft mounds on his chest kept stealing his attention as he scratched over them. Eventually an errant claw raked across what he figured was his nipple beneath the fur and sent an electric shock though his body. The sheet covering his torso was removed rather quickly as he took stock of what happened. As the tingling sensations slowly faded both nipples started pushing through his fur. He parted the fur around both and took a closer look at them, noticing they were now thick and puffy. In the low light he wasn't sure but they almost looked as white as his fur. He lightly rubbed the sensitive nub to feel the texture but stopped at the similar but more erotic sensation that spread through his body, leaving a light throb in his nethers. He sat up partially to take a closer look at things. Touching his other nipple proved to be more sensitive and got his tongue to loll out. It took him a second to realize his tongue was close to a foot in length, about the thickness of his thumb and pointed at the end. It flicked around and curled at his whim and he realized it thickened as he pulled it up and thinned the farther he stretched it out.

A mechanical click forcibly dragged him away from his examination. Kyle was standing there with a camera at the ready. He quickly sucked his tongue back into his mouth and pulled the sheets over his body with a growl, "I do hope you can explain why you have a camera, Kyle."

The growl shocked Kyle enough to wake him from his trance, sounding more primal and animal-like than Sam's demeanor betrayed, "I, ummm, err... nothing?"

Sam just curled back up on the couch and tried to sleep as Kyle shuffled off back into his room. A strange dream came to him that night. A tall draconian anthro stood there beckoning to him. As he walked towards them the dream shattered at a loud screeching.

Kyle's alarm was blaring at him from the other room. The offensive sound was cut short only to be replaced by another offensive assault of his ear drums, "oh, shit! I gotta get ready! Pants, where are my pants!" Kyle continued his yelling for another couple minutes until he had gotten into the shower. Sam finally noticed the time on the DVD player read 7:45. He just groaned and thought back to the dream. It seemed strange and unusually realistic. Kyle interrupted his thoughts again as he finished up his shower and made a ruckus of getting ready again, bursting out of his room with a couple bags in hand and the camera around his neck.

"Kyle, what the hell. Its barely eight in the morning." Sam was immensely tired and really didn't want to get up.

Kyle jumped back at the sound of his voice, "oh! Oh it's just you. Sorry Sam, I forgot I need to set up at the convention. I'm doing the photos for the costume contest. Which reminds me," Kyle took a quick photo of Sam laying on the couch with the sheet mostly laying on the floor and covering next to nothing. "Hah, there. Now I have a picture of you. So you ready to go?"

Sam was so groggy he didn't even realize what was going on, "go? Go where?"

"To the convention! It starts today and I need to get there by nine!"

"But... I only got three hours of sleep and I'm still naked."

"Oh, yeah. Well I have a couple small shirts that would probably fit. You'll probably have to wear my kilt for any bit of lower body coverage."

The kilt comment woke Sam up a little more and he sat up to find Kyle already left the room. His legs were still unsteady as he slowly made his way into Kyle's room, "kilt? Why exactly do you have a kilt?"

"Hmm? Oh I go to renaissance faires as well." Sam nodded in understanding as a shirt that was definitely too small for Kyle was offered, "besides, I may be a fur but I don't dress up. I reserve that part of my income for the faires."

"Fair enough." Sam pulled the shirt over his head and noticed it was loose fitting but seemed cut for a woman, "is there a reason you have a girl's shirt in your closet?"

"It's not what you think. I bought that shirt for an ex. We were going to that concert. She wound up dumping me the day before and I already had the shirt in my closet and it hasn't moved since." Sam was surprised to notice he lost the pep in his talk.

He looked down and noticed the shirt said Green Day across the front, "that was an awesome concert. I went with my sister and her fiance. I'm really going to miss them."

"Well that's enough moping for us. Here's the kilt. I do hope it fits decently." The pep was already back in his voice.

"Green Day shirt and a kilt. Very amusing combination though I like it. Grab me something with some caffeine and I'll be ready to go," a large yawn escaped Sam as if to emphasize his point.

Unfortunately, Kyle didn't have anything with a low dosing of caffeine on hand. Sam was practically vibrating on the back of his Ninja from the Monster. They both were thankful the elixir wore off slightly by the time they got to the convention, though Sam was still giving Kyle angry glares every once in a while. Not to mention the glares from speeding down the freeway with him only wearing a kilt. It was bad enough having his tail flopping around in the wind behind him to have the kilt flying high and exposing his rear end. Sam noticed them barely setting up the check in booths outside the convention as they walked up.

"Kyle, what time is it again?" Sam was worried that they might've been too early.

"It's... almost nine. Why do you ask?"

"Well... they're still setting up the admissions and that usually happens two hours before openning. I thought we had to be here at nine to get in?"

"Well, in all honesty, I'm the one who has to be here at nine. The doors don't open to the public today until eleven. I'm sure they'll let you in with me though." He seemed confident in his abilities to get Sam inside. When they got to the first attendant who was set up they were given a lot of trouble. First he wanted to see some ID for Sam, which he didn't have. Then they wanted to know why Sam was registered under Samuel which is obviously a man's name. Eventually Sam had to play the woman-in-distress card.

"Please sir? Kyle dragged me out of bed after only three hours of sleep, I had a rough day yesterday, he embarrassed the hell out of me on the highway on the way here and now you're telling me I have to stand out here and wait for two hours before I can go in." Fortunately for his case the whine was completely genuine and truthful, giving it that extra bite to sway the man. He even tried throwing in some pouty eyes to add to the effect with great success.

"Alright, alright. Knock it off with the cute factor and you can go in! Yeesh, they don't pay me enough to deal with you kids."

"Thank you! Now Kyle, show me to some benches so I can sleep a couple hours." Kyle just shook his head as Sam tried to cover a huge yawn. They strolled in, Kyle stopping right inside the doors.

"Sam uses whine and pout. It is super effective."

Now it was Sam's turn to shake his head, "I resent that remark. I merely told the truth and pouted for full effect. Don't judge me."

"Oh, i'm just messing with you. It won't take me long to set up and there are some benches over at the food court you can nap on. I'll come get you when I can."

Sam just nodded his head before walking off. The food court took a while to find amidst the crowds of vendors and artists setting up booths. It was the shining light in Sam's eyes when he came upon it though. The soft booths were a godsend as he settled into one of the corner setups to relax, quickly fading into a deep sleep.

His sleep was interrupted by a twisted dream that began on the train. Littering the floor around him was the twisted bones and remains of the other passengers. He still adorned his old human shape as the sights around him dragged his attention around. Finally a cold voice called to him from the windows that he would always remember. The agent in red was there saying something about finding her prize catch. Sam didn't care though as he charged, wanting to end her life for what she had done. His attack was turned aside easily, sending him to the blood covered floor. Skeletal hands reached out and restrained him before he could recover. A glance back showed the woman approaching behind him, a naked formless body with a large member pulsing with green liquid. It was the same fluid that transformed him into what he was today. She ripped his clothing away in a rough sweep, a loud, unnatural cackle escaping her maw. The inevitable penetration was rough and painful. Sam wanted to scream at the intrusion and pain but was unable to find his voice. Tears began streaming down his face as he noticed his arms starting the change. She was changing him into what he had become again and the pain was just as bad. He struggled anew against his bonds in hope that he could escape the assault. As the changes completed his vision shifted and moved, hovering over where he was being raped. When the changes hit a crescendo things didn't look right. Things were still shifting and moving beneath his skin and the pain was intensifying. He didn't know how he could possibly handle more pain but he was. As something erupted from the sides of his body a blinding light enveloped him as the dream ended.

"Sam? Are you alright?" Kyle was standing over Sam as he just stared on, wide eyed in fear and shock from his dream. Kyle noticed he was starting to shake and pulled him up into an embrace, hugging him from behind to console him, "shhh, shhh. It's alright, It's over."

Sam let out a sobbing breath he didn't realize he was holding and struggled to not cry. He found Kyle's hand and clung to it as the tears started to flow. The dream had been more horrific than the actual event he had lived through just two days prior. The tears flowed for ten minutes before slowing down, some of the images still lingering in his mind. Kyle's comforting embrace was the only thing that seemed to be holding him onto some sanity at the moment. A last tear dropped from his eye as he glanced back at Kyle with a sad smile.

"Thank you, Kyle. Thank you for being there. I'm sorry that happened." Kyle just rubbed the back of Sam's hand for a moment before motioning for them to get up. As soon as they did someone came walking up to them.

"Kyle! There you are. We're ready for you now and a line has started forming. We'll only need you for about three hours... who's your friend here?"

"Hmm? Oh, this is Sam. She's had a rough couple days and I was just trying to console her." The girl remarks bit a little on Sam but he realized it was something that he'd have to get used to. His appearance wasn't exactly masculine any more.

"Well that's a shame. You going to join the costume contest, Sam? That is amazingly well done, you know." Sam just shook his head, not wanting to get into anything that might stress his already weak grip on sanity. "Oh, that's too bad. You would probably win. Well i'll see you back at the boot, Kyle. Get there soon!"

"I will, thanks Jim," he turned back to Sam who was still practically sitting in his lap. He was about to say something when Sam's stomach growled loudly, "wow. You just ate a lot last night and you're already hungry again, eh? Oh, there is a hot dog eating contest today if you wanted to get some free food. With how fast you put it away you might win!"

Sam just nudged him with an elbow before nodding off in the direction that Jim went. With a silent agreement he stood and walked off. This left Sam to ponder what he was going to do. He noticed that people had already started filing in and were looking around at the vendors. Another growl from his stomach and the prospect of the contest reentered his mind. It seemed like a good idea, if all else to at least get a quick if not free meal in. The sign in sheet was easy enough to find, a few large men already there standing in line. He got a couple questioning looks from the people there but they just shrugged it off as another person who thought they could eat fast. After signing his name and getting his time, a voice he wanted to hear for the past day graced his ears.

Just across the way was his friend Lacy, talking to the artist at a booth just thirty feet away. He walked up with the hope she would at least partially recognize him, "Lacy?"

She gave him a quick glance before smiling at the artist at the booth and turning around to fully look at him, "yes? What can I do for you?"

"I, umm. It... it's--"

She promptly cut him off once she realized what she was looking at, "Sam!? Oh, holy crap! What happened to you?!" She threw her arms around his neck and held him close, "we were so scared. You ran off and we didn't know if you got away or even survived. Oh! I have your stuff out in my car." They stepped back from each other and another single tear fell from his eye. "That agent told me to take it in case we found you or if anything happened to you."

"Thank you. Thank you so much. Can we go get it? I'll fill you in on what happened on the way." As Sam explained, Lacy went from smiling to mortified to happy as the story progressed. "Kyle helped me out so much. I don't even know what I would have done without him. He really is a great guy... He practically saved my life last night."

"Well one of these days you may be able to pay him back. For now though, I don't know how much of this stuff you want to keep." Sam noticed a garbage can right next to where Lacy parked and smiled at the convenience. All of the clothing was tossed out immediately. Sam knew there would be no point keeping any of it. He stashed the basic toiletries into the smaller of his luggage. He pulled out the jacket that kept him warm for years and smelled it. The smell was entirely different from how he smelled now but at the same time he noticed it didn't smell human either. It was intriguing, confusing and mildly arousing all at the same time. With a sad shake of his head the jacket joined his other clothing in the bin as well. The last thing he found, though, nearly put him in tears again. There at the bottom of his bag was the ring he bought for his girl friend, "Lacy. I was going to give this to her." She came over and looked at the ring, "I was going to give this to her when I got back. I wanted to marry her! I... I can't now."

With a sniff and a single tear he almost threw the ring away. Lacy was getting ready to chastise him but he pulled his arm back from the trash. His next action surprised the hell out of her though as he opened it and slipped it over his thumb. His hands were so small and thin now that it was the only finger the ring would fit on. With a light kiss to the ring he grabbed the bag with the remains of his stuff and walked with Lacy back to the convention. Sam was glad to have his stuff, namely his money back, as he had forgotten to ask Kyle to borrow the ten dollar fee to take part in the hot dog eating contest.

He took the stage for the contest and sat at the far edge. A few people commented on his costume and others wondered why such a small girl was up on the stage. Lacy had been curious when he mentioned joining the contest and was waiting out in the crowd to see what happened. Thankfully no one was paying attention to him, thinking it was all a joke, and allowed him to lick his lips without any questions. His mouth was salivating pretty hard when the platter was dropped in front of him but he waited for the signal to go. At the signal he chomped down the first hot dog in three bites without chewing. By the third he was doing it in two bites and, with how much he was salivating, the glass of water was serving no purpose. By the time the final buzzer was sounded he had polished off all but three of them as he chewed on the last he had in hand. A few people in the audience were staring at him but he didn't care. He asked the person who was his judge if he could take the last couple with him, which he agreed to with a wide mouth, and he bounced off the stage to finish munching on the two left.

Lacy caught up to him quickly, "holy crap, Sam! How did you do that?"

Sam let out the most girly burp he'd ever heard, "what? I was hungry."

"I can understand that but... you just polished off twenty eight and topped the rankings by eight hot dogs! I don't think anyone is going to beat you!"

Sam was surprised, "wait. Twenty eight? In five minutes? Are you serious? Even I didn't think I could eat that fast!"

"Well, you did. And you are still eating, too!" Lacy pondered for a second, "so how do you feel?"

"Not as bad as I thought I would. I do feel a little itchy though." He scratched his side and remembered the dream he had earlier with a shock, "uh oh. Ummm, Lacy? I need to go somewhere private. I don't think this is going to be good."

"Hmm? Why is that?" She was confused with the sudden change in demeanor.

"Well... I umm. I had a dream earlier that I changed more from where I am. When I changed in the hospital it all started with an itch. Well I kindof feel an itch spreading from my sides and across my body... We need to hurry!"

"I think there are some private changing rooms in the back of the restroom."

"Your sense of humor is ironic and amusing, Lacy." They smiled at each other while walking at a brisk pace towards the restroom. The itch had been slowly spreading the few minutes it took traversing the convention, increasing in intensity the more it spread. By the time they reached the room and shut the door Sam was pulling off his clothing to get better access to scratching his skin. It had become unbearable to the point he was now lying on the floor to scratch easier. Lacy wanted to help but the heat that was now emanating from Sam was making it tough for her to get close. Without warning the sensations changed for Sam as he arched his back in pleasure.

Lacy watched in fascination as his skin crawled again and some features of his body shrank a little more. The changes were much more subtle but she watched as Sam's ankles thinned, looking much more feline. His height suffered more loss as well as his body shrank five inches overall. The removed mass seemed to be building in his waist as a protrusion formed on each side between the ribs and pelvis. Sam was still gasping in pleasure and looked to be having multiple orgasms. The sensations must have been much better than what he previously experienced. Sam screamed out at a final large orgasm, the two protrusions that had only been sticking out a foot on either side now erupting to eight foot limbs, folding against the walls of the small room. Feathers began to grow and fill in to the new wings as he was basking in the afterglow.

"H-h-h-h-hoooly mother of... wow! Definitely better than falling in a meat grinder." Lacy had a confused expression, "sorry. The first change hurt so bad. It was like falling in a meat grinder and surviving. Really wasn't pretty."

Lacy nodded in understanding, "so. How do you feel now?"

Sam's nervous chuckle got her to smile, "shaky. Very shaky and kindof hungry. Just give me a minute to catch my breath and we can step out of here." Sam took a few unsteady breaths before smiling wide, "I must say... that was better than sex. Instead of just local sensations, it felt like my whole body was experiencing them. How long did it take?"

"Oh, three or four minutes. Not long. Why do you ask?"

"It felt like so much longer." Sam shivered a bit at the memories and tried to stand, "okay, standing isn't going to work on my own. Little help?"

Lacy giggled at Sam's pleading puppy eyes. Grabbing hold of his hand, she braced to pull him up expecting to put up an effort into the task. Sam nodded his affirmative and she pulled. He shot up so fast and with so little effort that her bracing caused her to over compensate. The pair wound up falling against the wall with a squeak, Sam's face landing between Lacy's breasts.

"Oh jeez! I'm sorry, Sam!" Lacy got back up, pulling Sam with her, "I didn't expect you to weigh so little! I mean, you must weight sixty pounds now! It's a little unnerving."

"For you and me both." Sam was starting to get his footing and not leaning as heavily on Lacy, "and why do my heels hurt so much?"

Sam pulled up a foot to look at it, now noticing some of the additional changes. His heel was almost non-existent and definitely not intended for weight bearing. His thigh had also shrunk and was now only two thirds the length of his shin bone. There didn't seem to be any changes to his arms that he could see and his breast size hadn't visibly changed either, not that he really cared.

His foot reached the ground again as he stood on his toes. It felt much more comfortable though he was unsteady at first. Once he had his balance he set to looking at the biggest change. His wings stretched out from below his ribs and much farther than the little six foot square room would allow even if he stood against the wall. The long feathers felt soft but stiff under his hands as he and Lacy traced their lengths up to the smooth fur covering the top of his wings. It took him a moment of concentration to draw his wings close to his body through the stiff muscles that had just formed. Lacy helped him draw them in further with a little stretching and pulling. Once in he felt where the wings were anchored and found a large bony structure beneath his abdominal muscles that had thick, strong muscles holding the wings. It felt strange but he passed it off as just another thing to get used to.

Now confident he could stand and walk, they exited the room. They had only been in there for fifteen minutes but a security guard had been waiting outside the room for them. Apparently her scream of pleasure had attracted the wrong kind of attention but they were able to convince the guard they weren't up to anything sexual in there. Kyle was walking towards the food court as well and Sam took the opportunity to introduce his friends.

"Kyle! Hey, over here!" Sam waved him over exuberantly. Kyle happily obliged with a smile that faded into warm curiosity by the time he was close enough to notice the differences. He hadn't even noticed the wings until they shifted slightly behind Sam.

"Whoa! When did you get wings and are they real?"

"Yes, yes. The wings are real. They just popped out a couple minutes ago. By the way, Lacy, this is Kyle. Kyle, this is Lacy, one of my best friends."

"Lacy, huh? Nice name. Are you a fan of lace?"

"Well thank you, and thank you for helping Sam. I can only imagine what it's been like for him and what would have happened without you. And to answer your question, only on my renaissance costume."

That was all she needed to say and the two hit it off. They got to talking about the faires and partially ignored Sam. Not that he minded, he wanted to step away and be alone for a few minutes. A lot of people attending seemed interested in his appearance but none were coming up to him, occasionally giving a wide berth. He wasn't sure why it was but it didn't bother him. The artists section finally came into view again and he nearly bounced in joy until some commotion came from the entrance to the costume judging section. A large man in a very well made dragon costume came storming out, apparently miffed about the judging being done for the day. He wasn't paying attention to where he was walking and made a sudden detour. He walked directly into Sam, knocking him to the ground.

Sam hadn't quite gotten used to the new body yet and completely lost his balance. He landed on his back, the hard smack of his skull bouncing on the tiles echoing around him. The blow left him disoriented and a throbbing pain behind in its wake. The large man apparently thought it was his fault.

"Who do you think you are, getting in the way of the great Markhnah! A puny thing like you doesn't deserve to lick his talons, let alone grace his presence!" He reached down and picked up one of the wings, surprising himself with the flexibility but infuriating him in the process, "and these things you call wings? Pathetic! An obvious fake with where they attach!"

Sam yelped as the man tried to pull his wing off, only succeeding in jerking him off the ground a foot and dropping him back down. He wasn't done yet though, "and feathers mixed with fur? What atrocious idea was this?"

Markhnah yanked one of the longer feathers from Sam's wing. The shock got Sam to cry out in pain as Jim showed up with a couple security men. They escorted the large man out of the building while Jim tended to Sam. Sam was clutching the spot the feather had been ripped from.

"Hey, are you alright?" Jim noticed the small amount of blood on Sam's hands as he cradled the spot the feather was ripped from, "is that blood? Are you hurt?"

Sam finally found his voice, "I-- I'm fine. Really. Could you help me up though?"

Jim nodded, reaching a hand behind Sam's back to help him up. Like Lacy, he nearly tossed Sam, expecting to be lifting someone much heavier than he was. Once he had Sam up he checked again for where the blood came from. Sam got a little uneasy as he took a moment to get a better look at his 'costume'. Jim arched an eyebrow briefly and glanced around.

"Here I thought you were wearing a costume with animatronics. Would you like me to take a look at that wing or leave it be?"

Sam sighed before walking back towards where he left Kyle and Lacy. Jim followed closely and he gave a questioning glance, "what? I told you I'll be fine. You don't need to follow me everywhere."

Jim just smiled at him, "I would rather not see you get hurt again. A girl as delicate as yourself should be protected and you not being human makes for even more reason to do so."

"Delicate!?" Sam was fuming, "listen here. If I hadn't been shaky from my last changes then I would have leveled that guy's ass to the floor. As it is my balance is still completely shot from the weight redistribution, never mind the fact that I weigh less than seventy pounds when two days ago I was two hundred!"

Sam just stormed off, pissed off and hurt. He was sure Jim was giving him another look but he didn't care. The only thing on his mind was stepping outside to cool off both literally and figuratively. He was originally headed to the bathrooms to sit in one of the changing rooms again but he noticed the back doors. There was no fire alarms attached to them and he took advantage of the opportunity. He popped outside into an alley way that was surprisingly clean. A quick scan and he was alone with no windows anywhere near for some random person to see him. The perfect place to relax to the sounds of the city. He settled in against the wall so a large dumpster blocked his view from the street.

Some time passed and nothing happened. No one came looking for him and none came into the alley. His attention shifted now to his wings and the big question with them: were they functional? His mind had gotten used to the new limbs and he could easily move them how he wanted. The wall left his back as the open alley greeted him. It definitely wasn't wide enough for him to just start flapping where he was but the convention building was only three stories tall. If he could get on top then he could get some full flaps in. He gave a quick test flap from up to parallel to the ground to see what kind of power he had, rewarding himself with a couple feet of lift from the ground. With a mischievous grin he settled down to jump with a solid flap to see how far he got. He knew he could jump pretty high from his escape from the hospital. The muscles in his back and legs were tensing in anticipation when the door into the convention burst open. With a startled yelp Sam sprang into the air, fueled by the quick shot of adrenaline he just received. Before he realized it the skyline greeted him as well as the roof tops below him. He had just jumped fifteen stories into the air and he was about to begin his descent if he didn't do something about it. Deep instincts took over and helped him regain his composure with a few flaps to get him into motion and gliding over the city. He set a rhythm and got a good pace set as he flew. He looked ahead and realized he was flying towards the mountains. A thought hit him as he glanced around at his surroundings; he could travel the world like this! Sure he wouldn't be able to set foot in most human settlements but he definitely could find places to hide out in the wilderness while he went sight seeing. He would have to apologize to Lacy if he ever saw her again for leaving like this. That thought changed quickly though. He would see her again. When would be the real question though.