Short update today. Thank you for the reviews on the first chapter!

Shadow

Part 1
Chapter 2: Awakening

When he became fully conscious, it was terribly cold. There he found himself, standing in the middle of a dark room, alone and trembling. He wasn't sure what was going to happen or what he was supposed to do. He wasn't even sure of who he was. He breathed in and out deeply, searching his mind for any explanation of his sudden existence. All he came up with was a name, and a very strange insecure feeling.

The name, he focused on it, reaching out to grab it as if it had been there waiting for him to claim it. He could hear the sound of it in his mind and could almost clearly see it spelled out in letters. "Daz," he muttered awkwardly, testing out the name, his name, on his tongue.

So now he had a name, but nothing else. Except for that weird feeling…

Somewhere, deep down, there was an instinct that sprang to life and told him he was what was called a 'toon' and that someone was responsible for his creation. But where was his creator? He felt pretty sure that when he came into being, there should have been at least someone close by. Instead, he was all alone and it was so quiet. It didn't seem right to him.

He felt his whole body shudder, but he didn't know why. He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling the soft coat of black fur that covered him for the first time. He felt something twitch behind him and he noticed he had a tail. His feet were white and so was his face, at least from what he could tell when he crossed his eyes to look at his red nose. With a shaking hand, he reached to the top of his head and found long, slender ears. He strained them to search for any sign of sound but he could hear nothing.

The darkness of the room unnerved him and he turned to the only source of light present, a lamp sitting on a table. With his eyes drawn toward it, he went to the large chair near the table and sat in it, bringing his legs up close to his chest.

The cold seemed to close in around him even more and he curled into himself. He didn't like the cold. It wasn't a good feeling. This place wasn't nice either. This was all wrong. This wasn't supposed to be happening. He shouldn't have come into existence this way.

Daz shut his eyes and buried his head in his arms. Maybe there was some mistake. Maybe if he shut his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he would go where he was supposed to be. Someplace where there was someone waiting for him. Someplace warm.

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When his eyes decided to open again, he detected movement to his right. Daz lifted his head and nearly felt his heart leap out of his chest when the chair he was sitting in suddenly twirled around. He heard an unpleasant thud and found himself staring into the shocked eyes of another creature. Daz had to fold his ears back as the person before him screamed in fright and then proceeded to pass out on the floor.

Once he was sure his torso wouldn't burst open, Daz peered over the seat of the chair at the person lying on the ground. Something deep in his mind jolted to life and told him that the thing below was a 'human.' His mind also gratuitously told him humans were creators. Daz could only guess that this comatose man was his creator, though he had no idea why the human seemed so frightened of him.

He stared down at the man and decided he didn't like humans much. His creator had short, light brown hair on the top of his head and oddly shaped ears sticking out the sides of his face. He had no fur, leaving his pinkish skin vulnerable and Daz could only imagine what the human was feeling in this cold room.

The man showed no signs of awaking, so Daz slowly crawled off the chair and crouched next to him. Hesitantly, he reached his hand out and prodded the human in the chest. No response. Though the man had screamed at him, Daz couldn't help but feel a little relieved at the presence of another within this dark place. He wondered if he should do anything, if he should try to get him more comfortable. Maybe he should find something to cover him with. If this was indeed his creator, didn't he owe him at least that much for bringing him into this world?

Daz was jostled out of his thoughts as the human began to stir. He scooted back on his heels to give the man some room as he slowly but surely awoke. Once fully aware again, the human looked over at Daz, confusion and worry written all over his face. Daz shrunk back, not knowing what to say or do. The human slowly picked himself off the floor and went into a sitting position so he could study the other more carefully.

That weird feeling came back again, crawling up Daz's spine. He didn't like the way the human was staring at him. Daz glanced away nervously, scooting even further backwards from the man.

His creator continued staring at him, and in the dark, Daz noticed the man's lips move like they were trying to form words.

"You are real…" Daz heard him speak.