Animal - Chapter one

So, I didn't have time to put Author Notes in this fic at first. But now that I do, I really have nothing to say. The cover art was done by a brilliantly wonderful Artist named Lord-Varian. Go see them on Deviantart! They do a lot of wonderful work, and I really appreciate that they let me use the pic. I'll have the link to it in my bio.

So, read, review and enjoy! I really hope you like this fanfiction. It took me a long time to write. In my opinion, you guys are lucky that I had already written two-thirds of the story before I posted it. Enjoy, peopleses!

-Cold

It had started as a slight pain behind the eyes.

Sky had just shrugged the pain off and continued the parkour map with Ty. It must have just been a headache, nothing abnormal. Maybe he had hit his head the last time he had failed at a jump. It wasn't very bad and he soon forgot about it when Deadlox challenged him to a race.

But later, as he settled down next to Dawn in bed, the slight headache grew until even the faintest light would bring a searing pain bolting through his forehead. He curled next to the already sleeping Dawn, groaning quietly and rubbing his temple. Just a migraine; it'll pass in the morning.

Or that's what he thought.

Sunlight filtered in through the crack between two tightly drawn curtains. Even then, the immense pain behind Sky's eyes seemed affected by the light. Even curled under the heavy blankets, the light persisted to bring him pain. Sky swallowed thickly, pressing his fingers against his eyes. He clenched his teeth, trying to think of anything except his horrible migraine. There was a gentle knock on the door. The minecrafter winced, then slowly sat up. "Wh-who is it?"

"Sky? It's me, Dawn. . . I was just wondering if you're going to get up anytime soon."

Sky squinted at the door, slightly startled to see that his vision had gone wobbly. He rubbed an eye with his palm, trying to talk around his fumbling tongue. Dawn must have gotten up earlier. "I-I don't know. . . What. . . What time is it?"

"Around noon."

"I'll be right up."

Dawn nodded, even though Sky couldn't see, and walked off with a soft good-bye trailing after her. Sky wondered why she was being so quiet, but again shrugged it off. Maybe she had a sore throat or something.

He swung his legs over the bed, sitting still for a moment before getting up and getting ready for the day. He went to the bathroom, grabbing a pair of clean-ish clothes on his way. He turned the knob of the sink, staring down at the clear water for a few moments.

Sky's brow furrowed at the quickly forming pool in the sink. He stared at the liquid for a few more moments, then splashed his face with a couple handfuls,which only seemed to make his migraine worse. Sky grimaced, blinking water out of his eyes and wiping his face with a towel. He looked up in the mirror, only to recoil back in disgust. He shifted, turning to look at his shoulder. A small patch of his skin had turned a light shade of grey over his right shoulder.

Sky frowned, scratching at the patch. It felt like normal skin, so why did it look this way?

Again, he shrugged it off and pulled on his shirt. But still, worry was starting to tickle at the back of his mind. Was he sick? Why was his skin like this? What's with the sudden headache? He must have caught a virus or something; he just hoped it wasn't deadly

Sky walked out of the bathroom, then out to the kitchen. The house he and Dawn were living in was nice, roomy, but still comfortable. Kermit was currently away on a trip, so the frog's room was shut tight.

Dawn was just setting two plates of food on the table when Sky walked in. She looked up, smiling brightly. "Morning, Sky. Sleep well?"

The budder-loving Minecrafter shrugged, nearly falling into his seat. "Yeah, I guess."

Dawn frowned slightly, pulling out a chair and sitting down across from Sky. "What's wrong?"

"Just a headache," Sky assured her, picking at the eggs on his plate. "Nothing much."

"Oh."

Dawn started eating, trying to start up a conversation around the food in her mouth.

"You seem a little down. Are you sure you're fine?"

Sky nodded, looking down at his untouched breakfast. No appetite had surfaced and he had just shifted his food around to look like he had been eating. Even the thought thought of taking a bite of the still-warm bacon and eggs made his stomach churn unpleasantly.

Dawn bit her lip, noticing how her boyfriend wasn't eating. She was worried, but knew that Sky would keep insisting that he was fine. She let the matter drop, standing and scraping off the excess food that she didn't eat into the trash.

"You better hurry and go meet up with Ty, you two still have to start that jump map," Dawn said.

Sky bolted up, migraine temporarily pushed out of his mind. "I forgot! I'm gonna be late!" He hurried out of his chair, kissing Dawn a good-bye and hurrying out of the house. Dawn smirked. That's the Sky that she knew.

Sky ran as fast as he could, glad that he had snagged a speed potion as he ran out of the house. Soon enough, he saw Deadlox impatiently waiting at the beginning of a parkour map. Sky panted, slowing to a stop next to Ty.

"Sorry I'm late, slept in a bit this morning."

Ty punched him on the shoulder. "Right. I was this close to just leaving you alone, you know."

Sky rolled his eyes, then went towards a house at the beginning of the map. He pressed a button on the side of his glasses to start recording, counting down from three. As soon as he said three seven times, Ty started the intro.

"Welcome back, everybody, to the next EPIC. JUMP. MAP! With me today is Sky, and we are going to. . . Sky? Are you okay?"

Sky looked up, swaying slightly on his feet. The headache had attacked again, this time with a sickening feeling in his stomach. "Y-yeah. Let's just start the map already."

Deadlox nodded, then proceeded to read the instructions. Then, finally, the two started the map. Ty went slow, but even then he was pretty far ahead of Sky.

Sky couldn't seem to keep up with his friend. If he tried to run any faster than a jog, the world around him would spin, and he would slip and nearly fall off the blocks.

He jumped a three block gap, but missed the platform he was aiming for. With a shout, Sky plummeted down to the ground. Thinking quickly, he shouted a couple of words, hoping he'd have enough time. Just before he hit the ground, Sky was teleported to Deadlox.

Ty yelped, skidding to a halt and turning around to face Sky.

"Sky! What the hell, man? You nearly made me fall! I told you not to cheat."

"But Ty, I-"

"No buts, I don't care what lame excuse you have. Can't you just be legit for at least once, Sky?"

Sky frowned, taking a step back. "Why are you so angry, Ty? I just teleported so I wouldn't've fallen and died."

"Then you would have re-spawned at the beginning of the map. Dying gives you no excuse. And besides, knowing you, you would have just punched me off and continued on without a care in the world!"

Sky opened his mouth to retort, slightly hurt, but was again cut off by Deadlox.

"All you ever care about is yourself. You push people off maps, you betray your friends in the Hunger Games, and all around you're just a big douche. Stay away from me, you little prick!"

Sky had nothing. He took a step forward, but Ty pushed him away roughly.

"I told you to stay away!"

Sky winced at his friend's loud tone. The migraine seemed to get worse and he took a step away from Ty, heel hanging off the edge of the platform. "If I'm not wanted," Sky said quietly, "then why did you want to do this map in the first place?"

Ty scowled, crossing his arms. "I'm not really sure why I would want to do a map with such a big jackass."

Sky seemed to deflate. What was wrong with Ty? Was he really that unwanted? Questions and thoughts ran through his head, trying to come up with an excuse for Deadlox's anger. Sky took another step back, but his foot met empty air. He stumbled, taken by surprise. Then, to add on to all the things he had said, Ty went forward and pushed Sky off the block.

Sky's eyes widened as he tumbled down through the air, arms flailing for something-anything-to halt his fall. He ended up with nothing but empty air.

Up above him, Deadlox smirked as he watched his 'friend' fall. Soon enough, though, he frowned, and looked up, trying to think why he had just. . . Ty's eyes widened, and he scrambled over to the edge.

"Sky!" he shouted, reaching out an arm even though his friend was already too far away. What had he just done? He knelt down and shouting for Sky again.

Sky shut his eyes tight. He heard Ty's call, but didn't want to look back up. He didn't want to see Ty's smirk, or hear the insults thrown his way. He felt betrayed, heart stung by the cruel words. Why would Ty do that?

But he guessed it didn't matter now. As soon as Sky hit the ground and re-spawned, he was getting out of there. He would run away, start a survival series or something. But maybe he would just stay away, find a distant jungle or cave and hide for the rest of his life.

Sky fell down, down, expecting to hit the ground at any second... But instead of hitting the hard, unforgiving ground, Sky was plunged into cool, soothing water.

He opened his eyes and glanced around. Surprisingly, everything around him was crystal-clear. And it was silent. . .

How he had missed the silence.

Sky sat there in the water, slowly sinking to the bottom. It was comfortable, really. Dark, silent, soothing. He hit the bottom with a small thunk, where he remained.

"C'mon, Sky, get up. Get up!" Ty watched the water for any sign of his friend. When Sky didn't surface, Ty stood and clasped his hands together. With only a small prayer that Sky would be fine, he dove down. Soon enough, he was underwater.

Ty blinked, squinting through the murky water. He looked around, then down at the lake bottom. He would have gasped if he could. Quickly, he kicked his way down to his friend. Deadlox grabbed Sky, who lay motionless and pale, and dragged him to the surface. He didn't expect for Sky to snap his arm away from him.

Ty looked down again, at where Sky was swimming back to the bottom of the pond. Sky glared at him, and Ty jerked back in surprise. His friend's eyes. . . they held murder in them. Pure, unchecked rage boiled in the two murky blue-grey eyes behind the glasses.

Wait, Sky's eyes weren't blue-grey, they had always been a mixture of liquid butter and chocolate brown. Not to mention that the entire pupil took up most of the eye, even part of the whites. The blue-grey was a simple thin ring around the pupil.

Ty kicked to the surface for a gulp of air, then dove back down. He looked at Sky, only to realize that he was rocketing up at Deadlox. When Sky hit him, both of them were sent sailing out of the water. Sky grabbed Ty's throat, choking the air out of him and snarling out,

"Behold, puny human, the true and mighty power of the squid!"