Hello everyone! This is the prologue of my new fanfic, One in a Thousand. I'm sure you knew that though, considering you were the one who clicked on this story in the first place. I hope you enjoy it, and if you see any spaces missing, that's because my spacebar has been acting up. Sorry.
LET'S GO!
I looked at the cake in front of me with a mixture of awe and trepidation. The thing was three layers tall, and printed along the sides of the circular cake was a faithful recreation of Super Mario Brothers 1-1. I loved how it looked, but wanted to eat it so badly. The classic dilemma raced through my head, How can I keep this cake and eat it too? I chuckled at my own bad joke.
My parents gestured for me to blow out the candles, sixteen little things placed at various points on the cake. It would be tough, but I knew that I could get them all in one breath. I closed my eyes, thought of what I wanted, and took one of the deepest breaths of my life. Without hesitation, I let the breath out to aim at each of the candles on the cake, only stopping for a moment on each one so I would have enough breath for all of them. After I ran out of breath, I opened my eyes, to see if I had done it. A quick inspection of the cake revealed that all of the candles had been put out. I gave my Dad a high five, and we both laughed.
After that, I decided to open my presents before we would eat the cake. I got some pretty standard stuff, a new video game, a couple packs of pokemon cards, nothing too special. But, something very cool I got was new pair of headphones, not like Beats or anything, but still pretty sweet. The rest of the birthday was pretty standard. We ate some cake, took some pictures, and eventually, it was eleven o'clock. Normally I don't go to bed at eleven, but I was really tired after the party. I was out pretty much as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I knew the second I stood up that I was dreaming. This normally wouldn't be a problem, except that I'd never had a lucid dream before. I was in some sort of room made out of clouds, circular, and about thirty feet across. In the center of the room was a pool of water, about ten feet across, and still as glass. I couldn't tell how deep it was, because it near perfectly reflected the ceiling above. Being the only thing of any interest in the room, I naturally decided to approach it.
I walked up to the pool, and looked inside. Staring back at me, instead of my reflection, was a charcoal grey fox, with red fur on the tips of its paws and the tuft of hair on its head. It wore the same headphones I had just received today around its neck. I was very confused, Why is my reflection a Zorua? I thought to myself. Just to confirm, I gave a quick glance at myself. I still had legs, hands, and all other indicators that I was indeed, still human. Another glance at the reflection revealed that it was copying my movements, or as close as possible for an animal on four legs.
For some reason, I felt the need to reach out and touch the pool, but before I could, a huge tremor shook the floor I was standing on. A cloud-quake? Clouds don't get earthquakes. I thought to myself. As if to spite me, the clouds shook even harder, until, with a rip that sounded vaguely like a plushie being ripped in half, the clouds gave out beneath me, and I fell into the sky below. I fell for only a second before I blacked out.
In the land far below, a lone Eevee strolled through the twilight on her way home. She was humming a little song to herself, when she heard, far off in the distance, the sound of something ripping. She looked east, and saw a bright ball of light, directly below a huge column of clouds. The ball of light was growing in intensity by the second, and the Eevee quickly realized that it was headed toward the ground, probably somewhere near her. She quickly took cover behind some conveniently placed rocks along the road. After a minute, the ground shook very heavily as the thing hit the ground somewhere nearby. Without hesitating, she ran off toward the smoke that was already rising from the forest.
It isn't often that you get to see a meteor up close, She thought as she ran.
I woke up feeling sore all over. I thought nothing of it at first, I often woke up being sore, due to sleeping funny, but something was different this time. Instead of the dull ache that comes with sleeping funny, I felt like I had just gone three rounds with John Cena, Mike Tyson, and a grizzly bear wearing a top hat (don't ask) all at the same time. I groaned, but it hurt to do even that simple action.
"Hey, are you okay?" I heard a female voice that I didn't recognize.
The voice snapped me out of my train of thought, and made me realize two very important things. Firstly, I could remember every little detail of the dream I just had. Secondly, I was lying in dirt. Like the kind that you only find outside, that kind of dirt. How could I have gotten outside? I wondered. But before I could think about it any more, The girl spoke up again.
"Hey! Are you alive?"
I groaned in response.
"Here, eat this."
With only that as a warning, she shoved some sort of fruit in my mouth. It was a little larger than a grape, but not by much. Not being in much of a mood to argue, I chewed up the fruit, and swallowed. The fruit tasted vaguely like blueberries mixed with lemons and something a little bit bitter. However, the combination tasted pretty good. Within seconds of swallowing the fruit, the soreness started to dissipate. Within thirty, I was feeling completely fine.
"There you go! Good as new!" The girl exclaimed.
And she was right. I didn't feel sore anymore. "Thanks, I feel a lot better now." Feeling much better, I blinked my eyes open, wincing a bit. The shape in front of me cleared from fuzzy shadow to….
Wait, what?
That couldn't be right. The thing in front of me...was an Eevee. A brown and fluffy, long-eared, definitely alive Eevee.
The Eevee tilted its head. "How did you end up on that star anyway?" she said. "Zorua aren't very common around here either."
Zorua? I thought to myself. I'm not a Zorua.
Puzzled, I looked down, expecting to see skin and fingers. However, where there should have been my hand, there was a paw. A red-furred paw.
My brain shut down. I wiggled my hand, and the paw wiggled. Feeling slightly panicked, I tried to stand up, only to fall to the on my ha- paws with a bump. Now slightly hysterical, I twisted around. Black fur ruffed with blacker fur and a fluffy black tail. Again, I tried to stand, only for my body to remind me-painfully- that my spine didn't bend that way. Barely holding back a squeal, I reached a paw to my face and bumped into my nose, which was way longer than it should have been.
I looked at the Eevee. "What happened to me?" I shouted, clawing at the ground. "WHY AM I A ZORUA!?"
The Eevee cowered. "You look like a plain old Zorua to me," she offered meekly.
"But I'm not a Zorua! At least, I'm not supposed to be. I should be a human." I blurted out, trying to calm down from my previous outburst.
"A human?" She yelped, suddenly right in my face.
"Gah! Um...Yes? You believe me?" I replied stepping back from her, trying to get some space.
"Of course! It's the only explanation. First, you fell from the sky, second, you lived, and finally, you have that weird thing around your neck." She said with one breath.
At the mention of a weird thing around my neck, I took a look at whatever it was. A quick glance revealed the same pair of headphones that I had recieved for my birthday, resized to fit my new body. Of all the things to keep, why these? I thought to myself.
"Hello?" the Eevee said while waving a paw in front of my face. "You zoned out for a second."
"Just thinking." I replied automatically. "What's your name?"
"My name's Marisu! What's yours?" She said, extending a paw for me to shake.
"I'm Max. Thanks for giving me that berry."
"It's no problem, Oran berries aren't exactly rare." She giggled, then her smile dropped "It's getting late. It's not safe out here in the dark. You can come stay at my place."
"Thanks. Lead the way." I gestured toward her with my paw.
She nodded, and walked to exit the clearing. I followed her, learning that if I didn't think too hard, my body knew how to walk already. And so I, now turned into a Zorua, followed Marisu, my new friend who was an Eevee, into the woods.
Pretty crazy, right?