*dies inside* I recently rediscovered my love for this show and decided to write this. Took me months. UGH. Was gonna do a quick oneshot but it ended up being 25 pages. Oops. But yeah, I know i have so many unfinished stories, and at this point whether they get done will be up to whether i get in the mood to write, which is sadly almost never. I have ideas, just typing it all takes a lot out of me sadly. I will likely finish them before i'm dead, but i will say that if anyone wishes to adopt the stories so that they do get done, let me know. I may hand them off to someone else. Time to go back into my void of almost never posting on here.
"Ready or not, here it comes!" Shouted a small voice gleefully as his small yellow paw made contact with a blue spotted ball, sending it flying through the air.
Another player then started darting after it in response. "I got it! I got it!" she shouted.
She stomped the grass in the field as she practically flew headlong toward it, dead set on stopping it and sending it back to the kicker, while the third player stood guard in front of a goal.
The third player braced himself by crouching slightly and getting ready to jump and block the ball if need be.
Player two then started to realize she wasn't gonna make it, her friend had kicked it too hard.
"Wait, I don't got it! Block it Walden!" She shouted. In response, said friend leapt up, arms outstretched, but no dice. It just barely got past him through the left corner of the goal and hit the net.
Walden then hit the ground a bit unceremoniously and flinched upon the hard impact. "Oof, sorry about that Widget." He apologized, rubbing his back.
Widget skid to a halt in front of him and started to help him up. "It's alright, though you falling like that wasn't supposed to happen." She half joke-half said out of concern. "You ok?"
He nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about that."
"Wow, wow...are you guys ok?" asked the small voice from before. The duo turned to see their friend, the kicker of the ball, hopping towards them on his springy tail, landing next to Widget.
Said pink bunny smiled and pulled Walden up all the way. "Yup, don't worry about us little buddy. That was one amazing kick though!" She praised.
Walden nodded. "Yes, I must say that I agree. You've gotten really good with your kickball, Wubbzy!"
Wubbzy had to force himself not to blush. "Aw! Thank you, you guys!" he spouted happily as he began bouncing on his tail again, but this time in place.
"I personally think we should celebrate." Walden suggested, turning away from his friends to fetch Wubbzy's ball.
Wubbzy, who was still bouncing in place, threw his arms out in agreement. "That sounds fun! But how?" With the question, he landed and moved a finger to his face in thought.
The three were silent for a moment until Widget snapped her fingers. "I know! Let's get some doodleberry pie." she said, ruffing the fuzz on her little buddy's head.
Walden nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me."
Wubbzy playfully pushed Widget off his head and giggled. "I love doodleberry pie! Let's go!" he announced as he already began darting off. Widget and Walden laughed at their energetic little friend and began walking after him, but stopped dead in their tracks when they spotted what was ahead of him.
Widget began to panic. "Walden! He's about to-"
Walden cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to try and get Wubbzy's attention. "Wubbzy! Look out!"
Wubbzy only heard his name as he bounced away, and quickly turned his head towards his friends without stopping. "Guys? What's wr-aahh!" His voice was cut off as he bounced into a large rock sticking out of the ground that he hadn't seen in time. This caused him to be thrown forward down the hill right below the rock. Widget and Walden gasped in fear and ran quickly after him, hearing him shout in surprise and likely fear as tumbled down the large hill and out of sight.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh…" Widget whispered to herself as they ran.
"Widget, calm down, don't panic. I'm sure he's fine." her friend said, trying to help.
"Walden, he fell down a hill!"
"Remember though, this is Wubbzy. He's done reckless things like this before."
Widget simply gulped in fear in response as they reached the top of the hill and stopped, looking down.
The pink bunny elbowed her friend and pointed down. "Walden, look! There he is!"
Walden saw the same thing, but they didn't look back at each other with relief as they saw their friend laying at the bottom of the hill, seemingly unmoving, which was not normal for Wubbzy.
"Hang on little buddy!" Widget shouted, sliding down the hill with Walden right behind her.
Reaching the bottom, they both ran over and saw that he had a few bruises, but otherwise seemed fine, just unconscious.
Walden, using his knowledge of how to help someone who's injured, began lightly touching the darkened areas of his friend's yellow fur to see if anything might be broken. Thankfully he didn't seem to find evidence of it. "I think he's alright, we shouldn't try to move him though until he wakes up, just in case."
Widget nodded silently and sat down next to him and waited.
Within moments, they heard him make a noise and begin to stir. His tail twitched slightly and they saw him attempt to open his eyes.
Widget looked at her friend with concern and reached out a hand. "Little buddy? You ok?"
Wubbzy opened his eyes fully and looked at her with unfocused vision. (Who…?) he thought to himself as he tried to see who was speaking to him.
All he saw was a pink blob with two sticks on its head. He then saw it turn to another colored blob, this one purple and seemed to be talking to it. In an attempt to clear his vision, he blinked a few times and attempted to move but when he did, a sharp jolt of pain hit him in the head, which made him let out a cry out suddenly and instinctively put his hand to his head while also squeezing his eyes tightly shut again.
He heard the voices in front of him suddenly get loud but he couldn't make out any words, his head hurt too much. All he could think to do was curl up and wrap his tail around himself for protection.
Widget and Walden panicked when they heard their friend suddenly cry out in pain and hold his head without warning, especially when he wasn't responding to any of their asking if he was alright. "Do you think he hit his head on the way down?" Widget asked.
"I'd bet on it, possibly multiple times…" Walden stopped and looked at his usually cheerful friend, ball up and shiver.
Seeing someone like Wubbzy like that struck him in a way he did not like. He couldn't stand seeing his friend upset normally, but in pain? It just hurt him too much. He began approaching him and calling his name again, hoping he'd respond, but when he did, it was in a way neither him nor Widget ever expected from their little buddy.
From Wubbzy's point of view, his head was throbbing and he could feel his heart race. He felt afraid of what exactly he couldn't say, but he was scared. Something wasn't right. He opened an eye a sliver and saw those two unfamiliar blobs coming toward him, and that only made his panic rise higher. He didn't know who or what they were, he didn't know why he was hurting, and he didn't know where...or who he was. He tried to think of what to do, and only one thing came to mind.
As Walden reached out for his friend, his hand was suddenly slapped away with no warning. He recoiled quickly, not expecting the light pain that came and quickly left after stepping away. He hadn't even seen what slapped him, until he felt it again, this time grazing his leg. Widget went wide-eyed as she saw Wubbzy lashing out his tail at Walden, seemingly in a defensive way, while making a noise neither of them thought he was capable of. He was hissing. Like a cat.
As he hissed, they saw small but sharp canines poking out of the sides of his mouth as he hissed. Once Walden took a few steps back, he wrapped his tail back around himself and squinted his eyes shut.
Both his friends were in stunned silence, they had never seen Wubbzy lash out at anyone like that, and especially never act that aggressive. Plus, why would he attack them? His best friends?
"Why won't he let us near him?" Widget asked, finally breaking the silence.
"More like, since when could he hiss like a cat?" Walden responded.
"WHY is he hissing like a cat!?" Widget nearly yelled back, losing her cool. Her volume caused Wubbzy to flinch, though she didn't see it.
Walden thought for a moment. "Well, I did say that I couldn't really ever nail down what species Wubbzy is...so I'm not really sure why he can do that as I'm fairly certain he's not a cat, but that's not the point here, we can worry about that later."
His eyebrows furrowed in determination. "What is the point is that something clearly isn't right and we need to help him. But how…? Think…"
"Maybe just wait a little while longer and see if he snaps out of this crazy daze he seems to be stuck in?"
Walden sat back down, resting his head in his right hand. "I guess that's the best option we have at the moment." he said with a sigh.
Widget looked again at her little friend and lowered her ears in worry. "What's wrong little buddy?" she whispered, sitting down a little closer than Walden was.
After about five minutes, they saw their friend begin to stir again, this time seemingly being able to at least sit up. Opening his eyes, he rubbed the side of his head and groaned. "Oww...that hurt."
His friends sighed in relief at finally hearing him speak normally. "You scared us for a second there Wubbzy." Walden laughed, trying to calm himself down from his own momentary panic.
Wubbzy looked at him, now able to see he wasn't just a featureless blob, neither was the pink one. "Who…?" he asked.
Widget raised an eyebrow, while playfully smiling. "Who, what Wubster?"
The younger one blinked, looking confused. "Who's Wubbzy?"
His friends blinked twice. "Um, you're Wubbzy. That's your name." Walden answered.
Wubbzy pulled his knees close and then his tail. "Oh, then who are you guys?"
Widget and Walden both furrowed their brows at the strange question. They knew something was still very wrong. "I'm Widget and this is Walden." she said simply, not knowing how else to respond.
Somehow that didn't help at all as Wubbzy now looked fearful. "O-Oh, i was told never to talk to strangers…" he said quietly, shivering.
"What the-Wubbzy we're not strangers." Walden said quickly, gobsmacked at what he was hearing. Both he and Widget tried approaching him again, but he started breathing heavily and began to panic again.
"N-No! Get away from me! I don't know you!" he cried out, as he turned and ran away. His friends noticed he wasn't using his tail like he normally would if he was trying to get away from something or move quicker over all. After all, he could bounce faster than he could run.
"He...doesn't remember us?"
"Or much of anything else from the looks of it Widget." Walden replied.
"This is bad, we need to get him to a doctor, fast!"
She was about to dart after Wubbzy before Walden stopped her by grabbing the shoulder strap of her overalls. "Hold on, let's go back to Wubbzy's house and get the Wubb-mobile. It'll be easier to find him if we drive around instead of running around aimlessly."
Widget looked like she was gonna object, but knew he was right and agreed with a nod.
(What's going on!?) Wubbzy thought as he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him. (I don't remember anything...what happened? And why were they saying they weren't strangers? I don't know them! They're lying! And lying is wrong! Right? Yeah, I think so. I wouldn't be friends with liars.)
His thoughts were all over the place as he ran, he was trying to answer a million questions without answers and it was making his headache come back. Finally he stopped, shook his head, and tried to catch his breath. Then got down on all fours. As he did, a strange feeling washed over him, he could only describe it as if something was trying to tell him that that wasn't right.
(Do I not walk on all fours like this?) He wondered. He tried doing it for a few steps and that strange feeling of wrong persisted, but he ignored it in hopes running this way would help him move faster. He couldn't think of any other way after all.
He had gotten to the point where he couldn't think of anything but run until something looked familiar, because the fact that nothing around him looked familiar just kept making him feel more and more afraid. Like he didn't belong. (I have a home...don't I?)
Finally after what felt like ages, he stopped when he bumped into a tree next to some kind of fun looking place. Wubbzy looked around and wracked his brain for what he was looking at.
Moving his gaze over the area, some choice words came to mind. (...A...Swingset? What's that? Sounds kind of fun. And that? A...Slide? I think? What's that tall thing?)
He locked his eyes on the ball hoop and the court it stood on and walked over to it. Out of everything he'd seen so far, it looked the most familiar. (I know this...it's a...ugh come on, what was it?)
He crossed his arms in thought as his tail wiggled. As he was thinking, he took notice of the weird movement of his tail.
(My tail can do that?) He thought, moving it around to test it and saw that he could freely bend it in any direction and make it take on different shapes, leaving it idle he saw it took on a bendy appearance, making him think of another thing, a staircase.
He didn't know what to make of that. Part of him wanted to think it was neat, but another feeling nipped at him. He couldn't tell whether it was sadness or doubt or maybe a mix of the two, but he just shook his head again in response to the weird feelings.
(At least some things finally feel right to be around.) He sat down in front of the tall object and just looked at it, unsure what to do now. He pulled his legs and tail close to himself again.
(I do know one thing for sure...I don't like being alone.)
"How are we gonna find him?" Widget asked as she looked around frantically in the backseat. She wasn't driving because Walden insisted he drive since she was so frantic, he didn't wanna risk her and himself getting head injuries too.
"I'm working on that." He stated as they pulled up to where they had seen Wubbzy last and looked around. "Do you see anything that might give us a clue as to where he's gone?"
"Hm…" Widget studied the area closely. She looked at nearby trees, the nearby flowers, she even looked up, though that was mostly her not knowing what else to do. "Ugh! We're never gonna find him! There's no trace of him anywhere!"
"Ah hem."
Widget recognized that sound. She turned and saw that Walden, who was no longer in the vehicle, was pointing at the ground in front of the car. Leaning over she saw Wubbzy sized footprints leading from a mud puddle he'd apparently stepped in. Blinking a few times, Widget didn't know how else to respond to that other than to laugh nervously.
Getting back in the driver's seat, Walden leaned over and gave his friend a hug. "Try to remain calm, Widget. Going into a nervous frenzy won't help anybody, we will find him."
She nodded with a determined smile as they drove off.
Wubbzy had since moved under a tree as the ground beneath the hoop had gotten too hot and uncomfortable, plus the light beaming down on him made his head hurt worse. He sighed as he sat and fiddled with his tail.
"I'm so confused…" he whispered. He didn't have much else on his mind, all he could think about was how nothing made sense and how uncomfortable he felt overall. His memory was a blank slate, all he had was the name those two people had given him.
"Wubbzy...is that really my name, or was that a lie too? It doesn't feel wrong like other things do though." He stopped speaking though when he heard something coming closer.
He sprang onto his feet quickly, looking around for the source of the newfound noise. Then he saw them, Widget and Walden coming toward him in their car.
He let out a sharp gasp and tried to think of what to do. (Should I run again? No, they're moving faster now in...whatever that is, I'm not fast enough! Hide maybe?)
He turned to look at the tree he was sitting under and then looked up to see a branch he could maybe get to. Seeing that as his only option, he leapt at the trunk, but slid right back down.
"Come on...please, I wanna get up!" he whisper-yelled as high as little voice could go, scrambling and waving his limbs trying to get a grip.
Suddenly he just suddenly found himself gripping the trunk. Confused, he looked at his hands and feet and saw something he didn't notice before. Tiny black spikes were sticking out of his fingers and toes, and they had dug into the wood. He stared at them for a second, but the noise was growing louder by the second and he decided to worry about that later. He clawed his way up the trunk of the tree and crawled onto one of the branches, wrapping his tail around it as well to stabilize himself.
Unluckily for him, but luckily for his friends, they had seen him before he even tried to climb the tree. The two began calling out his name as Walden stopped and parked the car to the right of the tree, where funnily enough there was a parking space.
Wubbzy just gripped the branch tighter, hoping he could just magically disappear from view.
Widget hopped out of the vehicle and dashed to the area below said branch with Walden close behind. "Little buddy, please come down here...you're hurt and we wanna help you!"
Walden was about to say something as well to affirm what his friend said, but then noticed the claws. He stopped with his mouth open and raised an eyebrow. "Wubbzy, you have claws?" he asked.
Wubbzy stopped shivering in fear at the question and looked at his hands/paws. "Is that what these are? I guess so. They appeared when i was trying to climb the tree."
Now Widget looked confused. "What other surprises you got hidden in that little self of yours?"
Wubbzy simply tilted his head in confusion and didn't answer.
"Retractable claws...another feline-like trait...very interesting." Walden thought aloud. "But, anyway come on down here, I promise we're not strangers and we're not dangerous. Earlier we were playing a game with your favorite ball." he paused and held it up for him to see. "But you fell and we think you hit your head and that's why you don't remember anything."
Wubbzy's eyes sparked at the ball, he recognized it. He didn't remember anything involving the ball, but it rang a bell with him. He listened intently to what he was being told and still had his doubts. "But...what if you're lying? You could be lying."
His friends looked at him incredulously. "Wubbzy...you're always so trusting, i've never heard you accuse someone of lying before…" Widget paused to see his reaction and he just looked sad and unsure, like maybe he felt he did something wrong.
"Hm, i've got it, what if we tell you something only true friends of yours would know?" Walden suggested, getting both Wubbzy and Widget's attention.
"O-Ok...sure."
Widget leaned in and whispered in his ear; "And what are you gonna tell him? He can't remember anything."
Walden whispered back; "Simple, something he can see for himself. Got to have proof after all."
He then stepped forward. "Wubbzy, I noticed you haven't been doing something that you normally do all the time. You can bounce on your tail by making it act like a spring."
Wubbzy blinked. "I can…? What's a spring?"
Walden twirled a finger in a coil shape. "A coil shaped like this. Try it."
Wubbzy looked at his tail with a blank expression, unsure as to what to do, but he had to admit, bouncing around on his tail sounded fun, plus he was aware that his tail could bend into many shapes as he found out earlier, so he guessed it made sense. Unwrapping his tail from the branch, he slid down the trunk of the tree in front of the two unknown people, looked back at his tail again, then attempted to make it coil, which only took a moment.
He realized that this may have been right since it felt so natural in this shape. He then jumped off his feet and let his tail catch him, then he began bouncing around, albeit a bit clumsily. He flailed a little bit as he tried to keep himself steady but after a few hops, he seemed to get the hang of it for the most part. He then started to laugh as he flew through the air and landed again only to go right back up higher each time.
His friends smiled warmly, it was both saddening and strangely wholesome to see him discover one of his favorite things about himself all over again. They watched in silence as he continued to laugh and squeal with happiness.
Wubbzy himself couldn't believe how much fun he was having, the feeling it gave him comforted him even because of how familiar it felt. That was when he realized…(I guess they're not strangers after all, they are telling the truth.)
He gazed over at them and saw them genuinely smiling at him, which made him smile back. He then began to bounce over in their direction, but before he could land, he lost his focus for a split second as he felt his head hurt again and tumbled to the ground, rolling right into Widget's legs.
"Oh jeepers, you alright little buddy? You need to stop hurting yourself." she said as she picked him up and held him in her arms. He covered his eyes as he willed the pain to die down again.
"Sorry, my head started hurting again and I guess I blanked out for a moment."
Widget frowned. "That's not good, we need to put a stop to that head hurtin'." She turned to Walden. "Let's get him to the doctor pronto."
Walden nodded at first, then checked his watch. "Oh no, it's nearly six o' clock PM...the doctor's office is gonna be closed soon, we don't have time to get him there tonight."
"Oh no!" she nearly shouted then looked down at Wubbzy who looked up at her in return with a dazed look in his eyes.
Walden gave her and Wubbzy a sympathetic look. "Let's just bring him home for now and we'll get him there first thing in the morning."
"Do you trust us now Wubbzy? You're not gonna try to run away again?" the pink bunny asked him.
"I guess, you guys don't seem to be mean strangers at least…" he whispered as his eyes slowly closed and nuzzled closer to Widget for comfort. He couldn't shake the sudden fatigue that seemed to wash over him like a rain shower.
"I won't...run away...I'm not...afraid…"
With that, his friends looked at each one last time and made their way back to the Wub-mobile.
After a few minutes' drive, they were back at Wubbzy's home. On the drive back, his friends had talked about whether they should head to their own respective homes tonight or stay with Wubbzy and were still discussing it as they pulled up.
"Both suggestions have a down side sadly." Walden said, opening the door on his side and stepping out. He then made his way over to Widget's side and was handed the sleeping Wubbzy so that she could get out.
"I really don't like the idea of leaving him alone tonight. What if he panics again and runs off in a tizzy like he did earlier?"
"The other side to that is neither of us are likely to get any sleep, either because we're worried about him or it's possible he could wake up at any time."
"Shoot, you're right. Here, I can take Wubbster back." She said, holding her arms out. Walden nodded and handed him back carefully so as to not wake him up.
"There is something else that has been nagging at me." he started, as they began walking inside, with Walden holding the front door open.
"I know what you're gonna say, it's about that strange stuff Wubbzy did, isn't it?"
Closing the door slowly to keep quiet, Walden could barely contain the mind-blown tone in his voice. "How could i not!? I have never ONCE seen Wubbzy attack someone with his tail or even the fact that he claws this whole time! There's one other thing too…"
Widget was setting her friend down on his couch on one of his pillows and was looking for a blanket. "What's that, Walden?"
"When Wubbzy was clinging to that tree branch, i thought i saw his eyes take on a different shape, his irises looked narrower, like a reaction of a nervous feline."
"Really? I didn't notice, maybe cause of the shade from the tree. So does that mean out little buddy is a cat?"
Walden shook his head. "That's just it, I don't think so. I don't really know what kind of creature Wubbzy is, but now that I've had time to think about it, that's something we really should know. He's been sick in the past and been injured multiple times now. If we don't know what kind of species he is, we could make a terrible mistake like he did with Tiny."
As if on que, the little purple creature walked into the room, dragging a blanket behind it since it had noticed that Widget was looking for one. It tapped Widget's foot to get her attention which also grabbed Walden's.
"Huh?" she looked down. "Oh! Well, doesn't that just beat all?" she then leaned down and picked up the blanket and then Tiny himself. "Thanks a bunch there Tiny."
Tiny squeaked a happy response but then noticed his owner laying on the couch, looking like he was uncomfortable, even when asleep. He then looked at Widget and pointed at him, tilting his head to signify his silent question. Widget understood and picked up the little creature while placing the blanket carefully over his owner.
"Wubbzy here took a bit of tumble while we were out playing today and he doesn't seem to remember any of us. Likely won't remember you either, come to think…"
Tiny looked at her sadly, and then hopped out of her grip and cuddled next to Wubbzy. Widget was sympathetic to the little creature and sat down on the couch beside them, she then turned back to Walden. "So, what's the plan?"
Walden crossed his arms, deep in thought. "I'm thinking we both stay the night with him, to make sure he's alright, then tomorrow, you take the Wubb-mobile and bring him to a doctor. In the meantime, I will walk home and see if any of my books can possibly enlighten me on what kind of creature Wubbzy is."
"That sure sounds like a plan alright. Let's go see what bedding we can scrape up and have an old fashioned sleepover in the living room."
Walden chuckled a bit to himself. "Alright Widget."
Hours later, the moon still shone bright through Wubbzy's window as all four occupants of the house remained deep in slumber, until something slowly started to cause Wubbzy to stir. He started to feel his head ache again and the pounding of it woke him. He slowly opened his eyes to see he was in mostly darkness in a place he didn't recognize, the only light was the moonlight from his windows.
He shivered in fear as the shadows cast by various objects in the room, including the ones cast by his friends, seemed to distort into monsters before his own eyes. He didn't scream though, he was too terrified to even make a sound.
Tiny woke to feeling his owner shake next to him, and looked up at him curiously. Upon noticing something next to him move, that finally did it. Wubbzy screamed and scrambled clumsily up onto the back of the couch, clinging to the fabric with his claws, which had come out again.
Tiny was so confused by this, and slowly Widget and Walden awoke to the noise as well. Upon seeing their friend in the state he was in. They both sighed sadly and looked at each other, knowing they were in for a long night.
Walden had gotten an early start as per usual, despite the events of the previous night. He was about ready to head home, and observed as Widget attempted to wake Wubbzy. They had gotten him back to sleep after a while, and also after explaining to him who Tiny was.
Wubbzy still remained wary, but understood them either way. His friends were amused at the fact that Wubbzy was intimidated by something so small, but it was in character for him as he feared a lot of things common for his age.
Walden stuck around until Widget had gotten him awake enough to get him into the vehicle, which had taken a bit since Widget wanted to try and get him to eat something first, but Wubbzy refused, saying he wasn't hungry. Walden had to remind Widget not to panic over that either, though she fretted over it anyway. Then he waved goodbye as they drove down the road in the opposite direction and with that, he began his trek home, determined to find some answers.
Once they arrived, Widget carried Wubbzy in as on the drive there, he began to feel sick and had trouble opening his eyes cause the light hurt to look at. Once they were able to get in, she placed him on the doctor's table and told the story to the doctor.
The Doctor was a fairly old, wise-looking gray wolf with white and dark gray streaks along his body and a long tail.
He listened intently as he observed Wubbzy's behavior. As she went on, he noticed Wubbzy slowly going from sitting up, to laying on his side, to laying on his belly, tail wrapped around himself.
Once Widget was done, he returned his gaze to her. "So, in short…he tumbled down a hill and since then he's exhibited symptoms of a moderate to severe head injury?"
Widget froze upon hearing that for a moment, as the use of "severe" frightened her. "Y-Yes."
"I see." He responded, then stood up and walked over to Wubbzy. "I'm going to look over you for a little bit, see how hurt you are, alright?" He asked, in a calm tone, to not frighten the younger one.
"Ok." he said, quietly.
Wubbzy then sat up, but in a way more so resembling how a dog would.
The doctor then started examining his head, checking for outside indicators of how bad the injury was. There was no open wounds or evidence of bleeding, so that was a good sign in his eyes. He was attempting to be careful, as he knew that if he found the sore spot, it could be hazardous, but he wasn't careful enough.
Behind one of Wubbzy's ears was a spot of discoloration, which he could see easily since Wubbzy's fur was such a bright color. But when he attempted to look closer, he brushed it with his fingers which triggered an immediate response from Wubbzy. He let out a sharp cry of pain and lashed out out of instinct blindly, the doctor looking him over reeled back upon feeling pain strike himself in the arm.
Widget's face was coated in horror at seeing what her little buddy just did. He had his eyes tightly shut and had his hands clutching his head as the doctor gripped his upper arm, gritting his teeth, but not looking angry at Wubbzy, moreso at himself if anything.
Wubbzy, in a fit of blind instinct and pain, had slashed at the doctor with his claws.
He turned to grab a first aid kit, and as he did, he quickly spoke to the pink rabbit.
"It's alright, Widget. This is on me for not being careful enough, I knew this would probably happen."
She was incredulous. "What!? You're kidding! How could you know he was going to do something like that? He's never acted like that before."
Wrapping some bandages around his injury, the doctor actually chuckled. "It's not the first time I've seen this, Widget. If you were in his position, you would've done the exact same thing."
"When Wubbians are injured in the manor, especially if it's to the head, they tend to revert to instincts they grew out of long ago, though it can depend on the Wubbian's species."
Widget blinked. "I've never heard of such a thing. And wait hold on, I don't even have claws! How would I even do that if i was in his situation?"
The doctor laughed again. "Maybe you don't have claws, but you're a rabbit ain't ya? I'm sure those chompers of yours could be used in such a situation. It's about defending yourself when you've lost a lot of the knowledge you learned over your life. Instincts are a hard thing to resist, hence why we always grow out of it as we get older, we don't need them once we know better after all."
Widget looked away in thought, she'd never thought about it that way, she didn't even remember ever struggling with such instincts, nor had her ma and pa ever even mentioned it. It bothered her.
"Anyway, in short, Wubbians doing this isn't foreign to me, so don't worry. I understand the extent to this now, I'm pretty sure."
Widget looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Why have I never heard of this? I've never heard anyone discuss it either."
The doctor gave a shrug. "Hard to say, from what I've witnessed, Wubbians often dislike talking about it as they feel it "dehumanizes" them. I never understood it to be honest. Most of us may be animals, but it doesn't mean we're anything less."
"Hm, I get what you mean." Widget responded.
Wubbzy meanwhile managed to open his eyes, he'd been kind of fighting too since the pounding in his head was so intense and was taking it's time fading away. When he did manage to see something though, it was his own hands and on them was something that made his stomach turn. He could smell it too.
It took his brain a moment to put a word to what he was seeing and smelling, but when it did, his nausea only grew. "Blood." he whispered.
Terrified, he shifted his gaze to the doctor, who was still talking with Widget. He saw a bandage on his arm and on the floor beneath him were drops of blood. Once his mind put the pieces together, he couldn't take it anymore. He vomited onto the floor below him in disgust. He couldn't take that he'd just done what he thought he'd done.
Widget and the Doctor reacted immediately.
"Oh, little buddy! It's ok, we know you didn't mean it." Widget assured, jumping to her feet and racing over to him, tried to soothe him.
The doctor looked on sadly. "Another common symptom of head injury, Nausea. Poor guy."
He then turned and pressed a button to summon his assistant as he grabbed cleaning supplies.
Luckily the bout of illness didn't last too long, and all he really threw up was stomach acid, but it didn't change how awful he felt. He collapsed belly-first on the table as Widget continued to attempt to help by stroking his head. "It's ok Little Buddy, It's ok."
Wubbzy only whimpered in response.
Moments later, the Doctor's assistant knocked and then came in as her boss was cleaning up the floor. She was a purple Lynx with black spots and patches, and green eyes. One odd attribute of her is that despite being a Lynx, she had a tail more so resembling that of a Leopard.
As she came closer, Widget noted that she smelled of Lavender, which matched her appearance she guessed.
"This the poor sweetheart?" she asked. Widget also noted that her voice was strangely deep for a female, reminding her of her own voice. Yet, despite the deep sound, her voice was very soft and sympathetic.
"Yeah…my poor little buddy here really ain't feelin' good."
The Lynx nodded and kneeled down to his level on the table. Wubbzy returned the look. "It's alright sweetie, don't worry about that. I did something similar when I had my cubs." she chuckled.
"Oh, you're a mother?" Widget asked.
The Lynx looked up at her and nodded. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet and showed them both. Inside was a picture of herself and two young Lynx cubs, one male and one female.
"What are their names?" Wubbzy asked, curiously.
The Lynx smiled at him. "Fate and Alex. They're my pride and joy, but believe me, did I let my mate have it when I had them. I felt awful afterwards though, believe me. But it happens, you're the concern right now little guy, and we're here to help you."
As she said this, she gazed down at Wubbzy with warmth and love shining in her emerald eyes. He was mystified by this, as was Widget. It was then that Widget understood why she was called in here.
She then began stroking Wubbzy's head, careful of where she noticed the discoloration. Wubbzy found the way she was stroking him soothing to his headache, and let himself relax.
He then turned his head slightly to the Doctor, who was now sitting in his office chair. "I'm sorry."
He smiled and held up his dominant hand. "Apology accepted, water under the bridge my boy."
Wubbzy allowed himself to smile, and then completely let himself melt into the relief the female Lynx was bringing him. Which then resulted in another surprise. Everyone in the room noticed a sound started emanating from him, it was a purr. He was two medical workers blinked in surprise, and that made Widget pipe up.
"Oh yeah, there's something else I wanted to ask about…"
Meanwhile, Walden had been tirelessly searching through his various books about the various species that inhabit their home and hadn't had a lot of luck in finding any that resemble Wubbzy in more than just pelt color. To him, it was one heck of a head scratcher, but he only saw that as a challenge to overcome. Something new to learn was always a worthwhile reward in his eyes, so he kept searching.
After so many books being fruitless, an odd thought occurred to him, and while at first he disregarded it, the longer he went on with no answers, the more appealing the thought became. Finally, with a toss of the latest book into the air behind him, he went to a different section of his Library.
It was a section he rarely went to due to him often preferring non-fiction material in his downtime, but he had it simply due to his love of collecting books, but he recalled Wubbzy having a fondness for this section more so than him.
Walking into his fiction and Fantasy section, he began looking through the shelves until his eyes fell on a book titled; "Fantastic creatures of Wuzzleburg."
He quickly began flipping through the pages, and finally his eyes fell on a chapter with pictures depicting creatures that had a striking resemblance to Wubbzy. None were exactly the same as him, but they were the closest he'd come to a similar appearance. The most striking part was that they had the same strange tail Wubbzy had, where it could bend in various directions despite what would be normal for a tail.
Overall they resembled him very much. Not all of them were yellow, it seems like they can be various colors, some walked on two legs, while others walked on four. And some had various different features from one another.
"What are these creatures called, I wonder?"
Going back a few pages, he saw it. They were Chimeras. Walden slammed the book shut in shock.
He knew of Chimeras from old tales he'd been told as a kid, but these were nothing like the beasts he'd heard of. Opening the book back up, he looked over the first page and saw there was also an age chart for them.
The book mentioned that it varies since Chimera are such a wild card of a species and they can have different attributes of many different animals, age appearances vary, so the chart was a generalization.
Regardless, Walden saw that the depiction that resembled Wubbzy best was the child depiction. At that age, they're mostly featureless and have very little unique features, usually only expressing one or two, but oftentimes they do have other qualities, they just don't know about them.
To Walden, that explained how Wubbzy could have claws, the ability to hiss, and cat-like eyes without knowing about it. It also occurred to him why none of them ever discovered he had such abilities.
"Because he never had any reason to use such abilities. He's never been under emotional duress bad enough to cause such a reaction."
But because of the blows to his head, he lost everything but instinct, so those features were the first to show themselves. Walden sighed and kept reading. It seemed that by looking at the age chart, at some point Wubbzy would walk on all fours and lose the ability to be bi-pedal.
Reason for it being that as he grew, his spine would change to more resemble other quadrupedal animals and his larger body would need more support. He noted that it's not like he'd ever become a monstrous size.
Since he was what the book seemed to refer to as a "Basic Chimera", he'd likely be no taller than Widget, or maybe a little moreso, he'd just be on four legs.
The book also explained what was up with his tail. Apparently for a Chimera, their tail is one of the most important parts of their body and is the most varied thing on a Chimera. It tends to reflect either an interest, their personality, or their environment.
Such as: Chimera's that live in a more wild location(such as Forests, Mountains, non settled areas) will have tails resembling other species and the tails can even gain intelligence. Examples given being snakes and various other reptiles, and even sometimes mammals like felines, canines, and even equines.
If one lives in a more urban or settled area, it tends to just be a normal tail, though it often has some odd attribute pertaining to the creature, such as it being a tail resembling one of another species or having an ability normal tails wouldn't.
Walden was beside himself. He'd never thought in a million years he'd see a real Chimera, and he certainly didn't think it'd be his buddy. He then began questioning how in the world a Chimera ended up in Wuzzleburg. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it, that was a mystery for another day. Armed with the book, he stuffed it in a backpack and set off for Wubbzy's house.
But not before grabbing one other book he thought could be of use.
Both the doctor and his assistant were fighting to maintain a professional appearance as Widget described what had been going on with Wubbzy, as both of them had never heard of such things before.
"He never once knew he had claws or the ability to purr? I find that very hard to believe." The doctor stated.
His assistant nodded with a distant look in her eyes. "I discovered those attributes only a few years into my life. Before I could even speak. How could he not…"
The doctor placed a thoughtful finger below his chin. "It's also worth mentioning that I don't believe he's a feline cub of any kind. Unless you recognize his breed?" He turned to the Lynx.
She shook her head. "Can't say I do. He does slightly resemble a feline, but I can't say definitely that he is one."
Wubbzy himself was laying with his head carefully places between his arms, he was trying to listen but found himself constantly drifting in his thoughts and focus.
Widget felt herself feeling increasingly unnerved, as if not knowing what kind of species he was was being met with hostility. She fought to keep her tone from reflecting her urge to defend him.
"Our friend Walden is doing his best to figure that out. He'll find the answer, I know he will. He always does." she said with certainty.
She and the other two adults heard a sound come from the young cub, and turned, with Widget asking his name. Widget was surprised to see an out of character sadness on his face. Which reminded her of the time she herself got the blooey-blues, aside from the turning blue part.
"I wish I could remember him, and you…and everything else." he said softly, a tear escaping one of his eyes.
The purple Lynx's ears and tail drooped upon hearing that and she fought the urge to tear up herself. Her motherly instincts were killing her in that moment and wanted nothing more than to just hug and comfort him like she would her own kids.
Widget moved closer to him and began embracing him carefully as the Lynx glanced at her boss. He returned her look with proof she wasn't alone in the sympathy department. He then nodded to her. She nodded back and acted on the signal.
"Widget?"
The pink bunny turned, still hugging her little buddy. "Yes?"
"May I?"
Widget hesitated. "You sure that's a good idea?"
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
She hesitated for another moment before stepping back and allowing her to get close. She looked down at the little guy and he slowly met her gaze in return. She smiled softly and then carefully climbed onto the examination table. She positioned herself so that she could wrap her Leopard-like tail around him and without needing any kind of encouragement, he rested his head on it. This made the Lynx smile more so and this was when she took her chance.
Suddenly she opened her muzzle and began singing a lovely harmony that seemed to reverberate off the walls of the room, adding to it's beauty. Her boss began smiling at this and he turned to Widget with that smiling reflecting knowledge.
After a moment she began vocalizing a series of lyrics, and that was when Widget glanced back at the doctor. "Now you know why I hired her."
"You exude unmatched toughness, yet I can read you well~" she sang. Wubbzy glanced at her, head still resting on her tail.
"Dull eyes avoid my gaze, though I know what you try to hide.~" Wubbzy attempted to meet her gaze entirely, but flinched at the pain that caused him.
"People reach out, in return they receive coldness…~" she continued.
Widget was dumbfounded by her voice, you wouldn't be able to tell from her speaking that her voice could sing such a comforting tune.
"But you can't fool me, I see the scars from days gone by…~"
Widget and the doctor found themselves almost entranced by the tune themselves, Widget herself wondered whether she had made up the tune herself or this was song she could listen to herself.
The Lynx took a breath as she seemed to get to the chorus of the tune.
"Share with me your burden, you don't have to endure anything alone…Don't be scared to show me all the sides of the person you really are~"
She took a breath again.
"When our souls connect, healing warmth will spread within your injured heart…Know i'll be your sword and shield for now and evermore…~"
Wubbzy listened intently, gazing up lazily and holding on to her tail like a child would hold a stuffed teddy bear. He then had a flash of memory where he slashed the doctor, causing him to grimace, but the Lynx merely kept singing as she placed a comforting paw under his chin.
"Speak with harsh words, I'll decode what's between the lines…However hard you try, I won't fall for your facade.~"
Widget found herself remembering how Wubbzy ran from her and Walden at the start of this and just refused to let them help before their perseverance allowed them to cut through his hazy mind. Right as she thought this, the Lynx sang another line of lyrics that felt like they matched her thoughts perfectly. As well as matching Wubbzy letting more tears fall from his eyes.
"Take off your mask, show me your somber tears drop…Hold me tightly and feel safe in my embrace.~"
Wubbzy did just that, crawling into her lap where she lifted him into her arms comfortingly.
As she returned to the chorus of the song, Widget found herself smiling as tears fell from her own eyes and walked closer to join into the song.
"Share with me your burden, you don't have to endure anything alone…Don't be scared to show me all the sides of the person you really are~."
Wubbzy looked at the pink bunny in surprise, not realizing she could sing, but it sounded just as comforting and he smiled at her, which warmed her heart as the two female continued singing.
"When our souls connect, healing warmth will spread within your injured heart…Know i'll be your sword and shield for now and evermore.~"
As the two stopped to take a breath, a small knocking sounded at the door, and everyone turned to see Walden standing there with two books, one positioned under each arm, and a similar warm smile on his face, indicating that he likely heard the whole song. Then he carefully placed his bag down along with the two books on top and joined the singing as he approached. Both him and Widget now placed a careful hand on the sides of Wubbzy's head comfortingly.
"Share with me your burden, you don't have to endure anything alone…Don't be scared to show us all the sides of the person you really are.~"
Wubbzy gasped softly at the slight word change to the lyrics, but smiled as he felt himself drift off, comforted by the soft fur of the Lynx and her comforting heartbeat.
"When our souls connect, healing warmth will spread within your injured heart…Know i'll be your sword and shield for now and evermore.~"
Next thing Wubbzy knew, he was waking up within his living room on his couch, his two friends talking in the kitchen. He attempted to listen in, but his head felt dizzy and weird again. He shook it slightly, trying to clear the haze but as he did, his eyes caught something on the table in front of him. A book.
Curious, he reached out and grabbed it, flipping it open and noticed it wasn't full of words or paragraphs, but photos. Photos of him and his friends. He believed them before, but this cemented that they meant what they said, they really had been friends for ages.
There was a photo of them camping, with him holding some kind of animal in his hands and a net on the ground beside him. He narrowed his eyes at that, trying to remember what kind of creature he was holding. It's on the tip of my tongue…ugh what was it?
Then suddenly a flashback struck him and he remembered being lost in a forest, and not knowing where to go until that same creature led him to that pond where the picture was taken. That's when he remembered. Speckled-Flying Frogs! That's what they were called! I remember!
He fidgeted happily in his seat at the fact that he finally managed to remember something. Glancing back at the picture, he smiled. He then glanced at another picture and his expression changed to one of worry. It was a picture of him sitting on the same couch, again with Widget and Walden, but his tail was bandaged, similarly to how his head currently was.
I hurt myself before? I guess I must be pretty clumsy.
He began flipping through the many other pictures, one depicted him with his friends being chased by dinosaurs, one depicted him and Widget in some kind of alien costumes, and another was similar, but they were wearing sunglasses and in Wubbzy's eyes he looked really cool.
One picture had him dressed as some kind of bird, leading other smaller birds resembling the costume through a place with a waterfall, another had him looking embarrassed and surrounded by cake batter. He was astounded, he'd seemingly had so many interesting adventures.
"How could I just forget it all?" He asked himself. "I've gotta remember, I've just gotta!"
He then began studying the album with a determined look on his face, and after a few more minutes of that, Widget and Walden returned from the Kitchen. Walden had used the chance to enlighten Widget on what he'd discovered about Wubbzy's species and she was as surprised as he was, but only for a moment as she responded to it with; "Only our little buddy could be something so unusual."
As they returned to the couch, they saw Wubbzy studying the album and Walden allowed himself to bask in some silent pride at knowing that bringing that was a good idea.
"Whatcha looking at there little buddy?" Widget asked.
"It's a book full of pictures of us!" he said excitedly, which pleased his friends to see. "And I remembered something too! See this?"
He flipped back to the page with the camping picture on it and pointed to the frog he was holding. "I saw this frog and tried to remember what it was called. Then it was like that whole day flashed into my head and I remembered that they're called Speckled-Flying Frogs!"
His two friends clapped and cheered for him, praising him and telling him how proud they were for him remembering that all on his own. They then proceeded to explain more of the pictures to him and as time went on, he slowly began remembering more and more. The sudden flashes of memory kept causing him to flinch, which worried his friends, but he and then were relieved to find that they didn't hurt.
They went on for quite some time, but at some point, Walden interrupted them by pulling out the second book he'd brought. "Wubbzy, remember how the doctor was saying that they were unsure what kind of creature you are?"
He was semi-startled by the sudden change in conversation. "Um, yeah…I think so? It was hard to hear what they were saying exactly."
"Well, I think I know. Look." With that, he handed Wubbzy the book which had been turned to the relevant pages. Wubbzy began reading curiously, though the words seemed to blur in front of him and and placed a hand against his head and flinched as he tried to focus his vision.
"Do you need us to read it, little buddy?" Widget asked.
"No, no I got it. I don't need any help."
His friends looked at each other as he said that, having heard him say such words before.
Getting his vision to cooperate for a moment, Wubbzy ignored them and kept going. "I'm…a Chimera?"
Late into the night, the trio discussed and researched the topic, learning more and more about who Wubbzy was. As time went on, it seemed the more they discussed this, the clearer Wubbzy's head got, until finally he fell asleep, with Tiny right next to his tail, cuddling it just as his owner had earlier with the Lynx.
The next morning, Wubbzy awoke feeling like everything had been lifted off his shoulders, he gasped happily as he remembered everything. His friends, his adventures, and best of all. He turned to look at his tail and immediately began bouncing around on it, with his pet Tiny hopping along with him.
Wubbzy then caught Tiny mid-air and continued bouncing with him in his arms. "I remember Tiny! I remember you, and Widget and Walden and-"
He suddenly stopped and landed, placing his pet on the back of the couch. He then dashed for his front door and saw a note taped to it. He grabbed it and read it aloud to himself.
"Hope you're feeling better today little buddy, Walden and I had to bounce to check up on some things back home, we'll be back later to check up on ya. You'll remember us, I know you will. You're our best friend and we'll always be here for ya." -Widget
Wubbzy smiled at that, placed the note on the table beside the door and made his way outside.
He took a deep breath of the fresh air and just let himself enjoy the breeze and the comforting feeling of having a clear head. He then decided to check his mailbox and to his surprise, there was a card in there.
He picked it up carefully and fiddled with it in his hands. I was a lavender colored envelope with a heart shaped seal keeping it closed. He peeled it back and pulled out the card, and opening it up, he read it to himself.
Inside were the lyrics of the song the Lynx sang him, along with a signature at the bottom. As he read them, he then began singing the song to himself as well.
You exude unmatched toughness, yet I can read you well
Dull eyes avoid my gaze though I know what you try to hide
People reach out. In return they receive coldness
Wubbzy paused for a moment, remembering how he'd accidentally hurt his doctor the previous day. Guilt stabbed him in the chest, but he kept his eyes open and looked down at his hands with a determined expression. He then flexed his fingers, causing his black claws to reveal themselves. He looked at them, unsure how to feel. He didn't know about them before…but he did now and he would make sure he'd be careful with them in the future.
As he looked at them, he kept singing.
But you can't fool me, I see the scars from days gone by
He could still feel the bruise on the back of his head.
Share with me your burden, you don't have to endure anything alone
Don't be scared to show me all the sides of the person you really are
He retracted his claws and wrapped his tail around himself, looking up with the same determined look.
When our souls connect, healing warmth will spread within your injured heart
Know i'll be your sword and shield for now and evermore
His thoughts immediately turned to his friends at those lines. He'd save them from anything, just as they saved him.
Speak with harsh words, I'll decode what's between the lines
However hard you try, I won't fall for your facade
He remembered how Widget and Walden saved him from his out of control cake batter despite him telling them he didn't need any help.
Take off your mask, show me your somber tears drop
Hold me tightly and feel safe in my embrace
He then thought about the motherly Lynx, he smiled at let a tear fall at how kind she was to him. He felt so comforted by her singing and her embrace that it warmed his heart.
Share with me your burden, you don't have to endure anything alone
Don't be scared to show me all the sides of the person you really are
When our souls connect, healing warmth will spread within your injured heart
Know i'll be your sword and shield for now and evermore
He paused, letting the memories of all that happened wash over him. It felt strange that all that happened and to him it was such a blur of events in the moment. It was hitting him now all at once, but it wasn't knocking him over. He knew who he was now, he knew little things about himself he didn't know before, and he could accept it. After all, he wasn't and was never alone in these struggles and he could handle it because of that.
Still gripping the card, he jumped and let his tail catch him as he bounced off to find his kickball, still singing the final chorus.
Share with me your burden, you don't have to endure anything alone
Don't be scared to show me all the sides of the person you really are
When our souls connect, healing warmth will spread within your injured heart
Know i'll be your sword and shield for now and evermore
-Morgan
For anyone curious, the song quoted is a vocal cover of Marnie's theme from Pokemon Sword and Shield. It's by Raushna if you wanna try looking it up. It's great.
