FSE

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A whole new world

A new fantastic point of view

No one to tell us no or where to go

Or say we're only dreaming

[...]

Now I'm in a whole new world with you.

• Aladdin, "A Whole New World"

Morning came after what felt like an eternity, if it can be said that one can feel eternity while one is asleep. Zack woke up first, awakened by an errant sunbeam peeking in through the curtains. After a brief moment of the usual post-sleep disorientation, he nuzzled his face deeper into the fur on the back of Eric's neck.

Wait... fur? Zack's eyes opened with a start as the realization slammed into his brain. Eric shouldn't have any fur. Within a split second, though, he relaxed again. Oh, of course, the fursuits. We fell asleep in the fursuits. Mind calmed back into sleep, he closed his eyes again and pulled Eric in tighter.

It was a beautiful day outside, and sunlight snuck into the hotel room through the barest crack in the curtains. The room was simple yet elegant. A king-sized bed with an intricately carved headboard that resembled a dark, brooding forest currently supported the pair, flanked by end tables designed to look like tree stumps. Across from the bed was the usual big-screen TV and dresser, and across a small expanse of plush rug was a quaint sitting area with a red velvet sofa and twin armchairs of the same fabric.

Their luggage sat serenely against the wall next to the door, carefully placed to avoid upending. The bathroom door sat slightly ajar, and it appeared that little had been done to the room since its tenants arrived. In short, Eric and Zack had arrived with little fanfare and gone right to bed.

The same sunbeam that had wakened Zack before played across his eyelids a second time, and in his annoyance he pulled the covers up over his face. God, I wish I could just sleep. When are we gonna get there...? And with that thought, a second realization careened into the forefront of his mind.

For the second time in about 30 seconds, Zack's eyes snapped open, and this time he glanced around in confusion and disorientation. A... a bed? We fell asleep in the limo. We're still wearing our fursuits. What happened? Where are we? What's going on?

He sat up in a flash, flinging the covers away from his body. Mind racing, he cast his gaze around the room, trying to figure out just what the hell had happened since he had closed his eyes in the limo. He saw the luggage, the TV, the sofa, and window. Everything looked so... peaceful. But peace was the last description one could give to his mental state. His mind was racing so fast he couldn't keep up. He was scared and confused and curious and excited all at the same time.

His sudden flurry of motion easily woke Eric, who always woke up whenever anything more than the barest movement occurred nearby. "What's wrong, hon?" he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Eric, we're not in the limo anymore. We're in a room... I don't know where we are. But we're definitely not where we were when we fell asleep." Zack didn't even glance back at his bedmate; instead he continued to look all around the room, searching in vain for some clue as to the locale they had ended up in.

"I... I guess we're not. But that doesn't make any sense," Eric stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at Zack... and promptly gasped. "Z... Zack..."

"What!?" Zack was near hysterics as he whirled to face Eric. "What's wro...?" he trailed off as his brain registered what was sitting before his eyes. Eric's face had changed. Or rather, it wasn't even Eric's face at all. Instead of the hood that had come with the fursuit, he was instead looking at the face of an otter. An honest-to-goodness, unaltered, seamless otter face. It was as if Zyle had been ripped from the pictures and placed in front of him.

"Eric, you're..." Zack began, but couldn't even finish the sentence. He was dumbfounded. This was impossible. The fursuits had been good, accurate to the finest detail, but they were still fursuits. The otter that was supposedly Eric that was in bed with him was most definitely NOT wearing a fursuit, however.

"It's... it's not just me, Zack. Look at your hands." Eric said quietly.

Zack glanced down and started. His hands were... paws. Tiny nails extended from the tip of each finger, and delicate fur covered them entirely. Said fur extended all the way up his arms as far as his shoulder to where he could no longer see. He reached up to feel his face, and almost sneezed when his hands grazed a set of short whiskers, producing an overwhelming tickling sensation.

"Eric, what's going on? We're... otters." He spoke the last word with a hushed tone of simultaneous awe and disbelief, and the reality of the situation finally started to sink in. Thankfully, in his heavily-engaged mental state, the logic (if one could call it that) of the situation likewise began to fall into place.

"It's the contest. They promised a vacation to the ultimate furry destination, one that would broaden our horizons beyond our "wildest dreams."

Zack lingered on that last phrase. "Somehow... somehow they gave us, I don't know, magic fursuits or something. But that's impossible, right? Right?" He fell silent, completely at a loss as to what had happened, or how.

Eric moved closer, but cautiously, and reached out to feel Zack's face. Zack nuzzled Eric's hand almost unconsciously, despite his frenzied and terrified state of mind. "It looks like, regardless of what we think is possible, this is really happening. I see you. You see me. We're otters now."

Zack looked deep into Eric's eyes. "But what does that mean for everyone else? Have we been transformed into a couple of otters that are supposed to wander around whatever town or city we're in and blend in with the rest of the people that are still human?"

"Who knows?" Eric looked down at the sheets looking slightly disheartened, before pulling himself back together and returning Zack's gaze. "But let's try and figure out what we can. Let's look around this room and see if we can find anything from Fursonality."

The pair climbed out of bed slowly and gingerly, as if afraid they might hurt themselves with the slightest movement. Their new bodies were mostly identical to their old ones, though they now sported tails that they had failed to notice in the chaos of waking up. They were naked... the fursuits had in some way replaced their clothes entirely.

Or not. The pair's clothes were folded neatly on one of the chairs that flanked the sofa. The luggage was untouched and unopened, and everything was accounted for. Nothing was amiss, but Eric finally found what they were looking for on the dresser that supported the TV.

---

Welcome to Terra, the ultimate furry destination!

We hope you will find your accommodations comfortable.

All of your expenses will be covered by Fursonality, Inc. for the week of your stay.

Feel free to explore the town, and enjoy your new fur!

Sincerely yours,

The Staff of the Golden Orca

And

All of Us Here at Fursonality, Inc.

---

Once again, at the bottom of the folded cardboard note was the message, "Fursonality Inc. - Catering to all dimensions of furry travel."

"Well, at least we know the name of this place we're staying. I'm just curious as to how they're gonna pay for everything. I can see them covering things charged to the room, but what about everything else?" Zack tried to think, but his mind was still too clouded to fully reason things out.

"Forget that for a second, hun. I think I figured out the answer to at least one of our questions." Eric was standing over by the window, gazing out between the curtains he was holding open.

Zack sidled over and looked out the window. What he saw took his breath away. They were on the second floor of a fairly large building overlooking a main thoroughfare. The traffic on the street below was an anachronism stew, consisting of cars and horse-drawn carriages alike. But most importantly, each and every being on walking about was a furry. Dogs, cats, rodents, dragons, and every other species imaginable roamed around as if nothing was amiss. And from the looks of things, nothing was amiss. This was simply their world.

"Eric, I think our horizons might have expanded a little more than we thought they would."