One

When it came to him, it was unexpected and abrupt. A tingling of his senses, and goosebumps rising on his arms. His paper cup of coffee slipped out of his hands and fell to the sidewalk. He was stunned and confused for only a moment. And then the moment passed—and he knew what he sensed.

A Return to Ancestry.

He did not pick up his coffee cup and turned. He hurried down the sidewalk, looking around frantically. His breaths came out fast and frantic. He knew. He knew it in his gut that it was true. A Return to Ancestry. One is here!

He came to a crosswalk, and the traffic light turned red. Monkeys went about their business but, the sensation increased many times over. He heard the rumble of a soft motor, and he turned to look to his left.

HIM.

There he was; the Return to Ancestry. It was a teenage male with soft and innocent features riding a scooter. He gripped the handlebars with confidence, but his body shook with the vibrations of the scooter. And he wasn't wearing his helmet correctly; the strap was hanging loose under his chin like the ties of a hat. He was not an experienced rider.

But the male was a Return to Ancestry. He knew this without a doubt.

The light was still red, so that gave him time to quickly examine the male. The male's soul appearance was either very will hidden or it was unapparent at all. He also gave the presence of a monkey; it was impossible to determine which species he belonged to.

Is he…dormant? Or was I mistaken?

…No. There was no mistake. The presence he sensed was coming from this teenage male. He could see other Madararui going about their business and none of them gave off the presence the male was giving off. Though the Madaraui who walked past the traffic on the sidewalk did not seem to notice the teenage male.

Then it's true. He is dormant.

He turned away as the light turned green and traffic resumed. For a brief moment he considered leaving everything alone. The teenage male gave the appearance of a monkey, and the facade of a monkey would maintain unless something catastrophic happened to the male that would trigger his Return to Ancestry instincts. That was how all Return to Ancestries were triggered to their true forms. A traumatic and catastrophic event had to happen to them to awaken their dormant true instincts, and for their true soul appearance to come out.

That was how I awakened.

But because he hesitated, the Return to Ancestry drove off wobbly on his scooter. He cursed under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. Another thought rose to his mind, which wiped away his hesitation. Which made him steal a nearby bicycle and take off after the Return to Ancestry.

I'm not alone anymore.

He stood behind the wall, waiting for the familiar rumble of the scooter's engine to approach. He had followed the teenage male for a half-hour and he quickly caught on to the Return to Ancestry's pattern; he was driving without a destination. He was simply driving around the same streets in a loop, undoubtedly testing his scooter. Based upon the loop, the Return to Ancestry would be coming down this way any minute now.

It was time to act.

He closed his eyes, and he took on his true form. It was a risk and he was glad the streets were currently deserted and no traffic or pedestrians were coming by. And it was harder to hide around the corner in his true form. But it was a risk he needed to take. He didn't know when this opportunity would come again.

He heard the scooter's engine down the road, and he braced himself. Okay. Let's trigger your true self, Anda.

He peeked around the corner and saw the male down the road. Then he casually stepped out from behind the corner and crossed the street. Were he in human form, this sure would not have fazed the Return to Ancestry.

But seeing a Andrewsarchus crossing the road was not a common sight, and would surely get the reaction he needed.

It worked; the teenage male screamed when he saw him, and his foot slammed on the gas pedal of the scooter as he frantically jerked the handlebars. The Return to Ancestry swerved violently to avoid crashing into him, and his screams rose in pitch as he jumped the sidewalk and slammed full-force into a garden wall. The force of the crash caused a significant section of the garden wall to immediately crumble and collapse. Almost comically, the male's helmet flew backwards and bounced into the street like a ball.

There.

He knew that between the fright of seeing a prehistoric beast and suffering a violent crash that it would be sufficient trauma to the Return to Ancestry to trigger his true instincts. He swiftly turned back into human form and hurried over to the crash site. The collapse of the garden wall created a cloud of dust that he swiped his hand at to get at clear look. He first saw the scooter; it looked like it had snapped in half. When he saw the male, he first saw his right leg, which was bent at an awkward angle. It was broken.

The deeper the trauma, the greater the probability.

He leaned down to look at the Return to Ancestry's face, and he stiffened. The male was laying partially on his stomach and he was bleeding heavily from his head. There was a large knot of blood on the left side of his head, trickles of blood running down his cheek and neck. His mouth was partially open, and his eyes were clouded and half-lidded.

The male was dead.

He discreetly stepped backwards and ducked into a side-street when he heard calls of alarm from further down the road. He took off running as more people came to inspect. When he was comfortable with the distance, he leaned against the wall. After a moment he exhaled sharply. "Novsh."

I don't know how to upload images onto this site, but you can see what Norio saw crossing the street on my deviantart page, which you can find the link for under my profile info. Image was created using the AI software Dream by Wombo.