literature

Shocking Flight pt.2

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"Nicholas! You're falling fast! You need to pull up!", Marco shouted over the radio. I tried to grab the yoke that I had fallen against, but no amount of struggling could move my arms. I got a few brief flashes of vision, and noted that most of the instrumentation was blown, and some of it had erupted in a brilliant shower of sparks. My right hand was still holding tight the maxed throttle lever, but I could not move it, so the engines forced me downwards at maximum thrust towards my impending doom. The pilot parachute was a meter behind me, but there was nothing I could do with it.
I really don't want to die this way. I thought to myself.
"NICHOLAS!" He screamed. The plane hit the treetops, creating a huge screeching noise. The ground came into view briefly, before everything going black.


I woke up from the dream, more accurately nightmare, drawing in deep breaths. Holy crap. I had been having some bad dreams lately, and as a charter pilot, that one was perhaps the worst. I was trying to keep my eyes closed, get some more sleep, but a noise made me open them. Was that a squirrel? I looked forward, eyebrows scrunching when I, first, saw the wooden deck and cedar-plank siding before me. "Where am I?" I tried to say. It did not work. My throat didn't feel dry, it felt stripped. No amount of trying to enunciate a word yielded a sound, save for a low whining. The sound of electric discharges brought back the memories of yesterday. Right. Okay. Well that sucks. I stood up on my four legs, briefly shaking to get the dew off of me. After that, the buzzing of arcs across my skin increased substantially.
Marco? I thought out loud, looking around. I was on the porch near outside his cottage, under a roof. The spot I had slept on was a bit drier than the rest of the deck, so it must have been raining all night.
Only the screen door was closed, so I guessed I could get in easily enough. I walked over, and bumped it open with my nose. Thankfully, it opened without a fight, so I walked into Marco's cottage. Marco? You awake yet? I called out, I'm hungry, and you have food. We can work something out.
"Eh? Who's there?" He muttered from his bedroom. I had been in the cottage before, so I knew where to look, and started walking over there.
It's Nicholas.
"Nicholas?! Holy crap, you're alive! Where are you?" He asked, making a flurry of sound as he got out of bed. The door shot open across the room from me, and he ran out, wearing merely his underwear. His look of disbelief and elation turned to disbelief and disappointment faster than I thought possible. "Oh. It's you." his said with a distinct note of disdain. "I thought I told you to stay outside, wolf?"
Now, if ever there was a way to really piss someone off, that was it. But, I was uninterested in bickering. How many times do I need to tell you? It's me, Nicholas! Either way, whether you believe me or not, I'm hungry, do you have food?
"What, you can't just stick your tongue in a socket?" He joked, "Yeah, uh, I'll see what we have for, well, meat? Do Raiju's eat meat?"
I don't know. Probably? Only one way to find out.
"Right." He opened the fridge, and poked around, opening drawers here and there. "So, uh, listen, whether or not you are Nicholas, we still need to figure out what to do about the plane crash. Carmen is coming up here in a few hours by boat, and I still need to tell mainland ATC about the crash. The story we'll go with is that I was already asleep, and found it this morning when I saw the smoke. I'll call it in once we eat. Hopefully the sat-phone is working properly today, since I'm the only one here."
Right. Who do you call to report a crashed plane? I asked, truly curious. I was a pilot, I didn't know what to do if I was on the ground.
"Uh... That's a good question. 911? Maybe? I'll figure it out." He grabbed a slab of steak from the fridge, throwing it onto the countertop. As per my usual habits, I jumped onto the barstool across the counter from Marco, awkwardly seating myself. "Uh, can you not, oh, screw it."
Don't worry, it wasn't working anyway. I remarked as I jumped off the stool.
He turned and grabbed a knife from the block, and started slicing the steak. "You know, you are a really friggin' big wolf. Easily a meter and a half tall."
Wow. Cool.
"Yeah it really is. Also, where'd the arcing fanciness go?"
What do you mean? I asked as I looked down at myself. Oh. The sparking and arcing were gone, and the white and blue fur were clearly visible. Really, I looked more like a polar bear in a paintball game than a wolf, except my fur was more a snow white than a beige. Damn good question. You miss it?
"Not really." He replied, dropping the knife in the sink. "How do you want the steaks done?"
How about not? Presumably I can eat it raw, right?
"Shouldn't be a challenge to cook, I suppose." He grabbed two of the steaks and put it on a pan, before setting the rest down on a plate on the floor in front of me.
Thanks.
"No problem. Take what you need, Raiju." He said as he turned on the stove behind him.
I would have offered a retort, but I was too busy relearning how to eat. I had never realized just how much I used utensils, and eating without them was surprisingly hard. Slowly but surely, I managed to tear one of the steaks into two bite-sized chunks, which really said something about the size difference. Using forepaws that lacked grip and fingers did complicate matters significantly, though I did manage to figure out the whole idea eventually. As for flavor, the steak was not marinated or seasoned, but the underlying flavors held out, and they were wonderful, but seemed somewhat empty. This didn't hinder my appetite in the slightest, and soon the steak, all four pounds of it, were gone.
Marco had just got the steaks off of the burner when I finished. Thanks, Marco. 
"You're done already?" He asked, surprised.
Yeah. Tasted great. Thanks.
"No problem, Raiju. That was nearing the end of its life anyways."
Look, Marco, please stop calling me Raiju. You know I'm Nicholas.
"Look, I won't admit that my friend of years became a big-ass lightning wolf-fox-weasle thing until I don't find the body." He admitted with a sigh.
You won't. Because I'm still not dead.
"True or not, I can't face the weirdness of it until I feel I've searched the entire island. He had parachutes on there, right?"
Yeah, I did. But you can find all three of them in the wreckage. He contemplated this for a second.
"Do you remember the crash, Nick?" He asked as he started eating his unconventional breakfast.
Yeah. I said, I remember every detail until I hit the ground, got knocked out by the hit. I fell against the yoke, pushing the nose down, and when I twitched, I slammed the throttle to full. The strike fried me, and all the instruments. The radio was isolated, so I heard you screaming as I fell. And after that, I knew I was face-down on the ground, severely burnt, cold, and wet. I tried to move my hand, hit something after so much effort. And then I just... changed. Into this. It took minutes, but by the end I was only happy to be alive and moving. I didn't even remember what happened until I saw the remains of the plane. You came not too long after. I finished my recount of the crash, biting my lip. Even the memories made me hurt.
"Damn." He said, looking down. After a few seconds, he grabbed his fork and continued eating, before breaking down, sobbing. "I never should've let you try that landing! Nicholas, I'm so sorry!" He buried his head in his hands, tears running down his face.
Normally, I had very little idea as to what to do, but that was when I was a human. Now, as a wolf, I had absolutely no idea. I just stood there, feeling awkward. But, for some reason, I knew what to do, and I found myself walking around the countertop, and to where he was seated, kind of forcing my head onto his lap. He dropped one hand onto my back, and started scratching the nape of my neck. As little as I wanted to admit it, it felt wonderful, and I don't think either of us wanted it to end.
But, sure enough, it was made to. A phone rang, and I brought my head up as he stood. He walked over, looking at the sat-phone on the table.
"Well this is awkward. It's Carmen." He said, holding the phone. "What do I tell her?"
Shockingly, telling my girlfriend I died in a plane crash didn’t seem like a great plan.
Uh... Darn. Tell her the plane crashed, but don't tell her I'm here. You just found it this morning, and ran back to home. You just called the ATC, and I'm yet to be found.
"Okay." He said hesitantly, picking up the phone. "Hello?"
"Marco! This is Carmen! I'm on the boat right now, just an hour or two until I get to the island. I see a plume of black smoke, just wanted to know if you're okay." I heard, faintly but surely.
"Carmen, listen, Nicholas crashed. I was asleep when he went down, and I saw the smoke this morning. ATVed over there, didn't find Nick! The place is a mess!"
There was a pause.
"Carmen?"
"Holy crap, Marco! Do you think he's okay?" She said, sounding distressed. The boat engine sounds increased over the connection.
"Knowing Nicholas, I'm sure he's just fine. There was no fire on the site, it was raining last night." He said, sounding a tad panicked as well.
"Okay. Have you called ATC yet?"
"No." He said. "I was just gonna place it when you called. You'll be here soon, right?"
"I'm on my way. I really hope he's okay...."
"Me too, Carmen." He turned and looked right at me. "Me too." The line dropped, and Marco hung up, before realizing "Wait a minute... You didn't have a return flight plan yet, did you?"
No. Just the outbound, didn't know how long I'd wait around.
"So... if we hadn't told them, no one would ever realize your plane was gone?"
Nope. Wouldn't have had a reason to check.
"So what you're telling me is that calling ATC would create more problems than it solves?"
Substantially more. I agreed, nodding.
"So why should I call ATC?"
We shouldn't. It's our problem, and it should stay that way.
"What should we tell Carmen?"
The truth?
He reeled at this idea. "Oh. Wow. That's a thought. We should wait until she gets here, right?"
Yeah. We have an hour or more. What should we do?
"Let's... let's get your stuff back."
That's a thought. I remarked, following behind him as he walked to the door.

Once outside, I noticed how beautiful the world looked.
"Hey, now that we're outside, can you get the lightning awesomeness back?"
What? Yeah, sure, I can try. I focused on channeling energy into making the zapping resume. Soon enough, the arcing began, bringing with it the crackling noise that was music to my ears.
"That is so badass." He remarked with a laugh as he walked towards the ATV he had parked just off the porch. I stood there for a second, noticing the sudden change in my surroundings with the arcing happening. Everything seemed so much more distinct, as though the lightning was giving me x-ray vision. I looked around the forest, noticing every detail.
The roar of the ATV brought my attention back to Marco, and I turned around to see him twisting the key on the ATV. A blue glow suddenly shone through the ATV, forming a thin ring through the engine. Another ring erupted from the engine, zig-zagging through the battery and relay like the other, but instead dipping into the starting motor. This ring glowed brighter than the lightning strike the previous night, and I instantly knew what it meant. I was seeing the electricity that drove the engine as it started.
Soon, the glow faded, but returned with the sound of the engine kicking on.
"You coming?" He asked me over the engine's roar. "What's so interesting about the ride anyways?"
The current. I can see it as the engine runs.
"Wow. That's amazing!" He said. "Can you see the current everywhere else?"
Yeah. In the walls of the house, even, the wires. It's everywhere.
The voltage view of the world was both beautiful and terrifying. Beautiful in the complexity and majesty, and terrifying in the knowledge that no human could do this.
"That's crazy. Did you not notice while we were inside?"
It wasn't there while I was inside. It didn't start until the arcs did.
"Weird. Are we going to go or what?” He asked as he hitched a trailer onto the ATV.
Yeah, let’s go.

 

We took our time getting to the crash site. The plane’s crumpled husk was only a kilometer from the cottage, if that, and we managed to get there in five minutes at a comfortable pace for the two of us.

Okay, so, what do we need to recover? I asked Marco.

“Your bags, and anything valuable, really. I mean, it may seem shallow, but seriously, what else are we gonna do? We aren’t the TSA, we just want to hide this under the carpet. Really, other than Carmen, no one will be suspicious of a prolonged absence on your part.”

I suppose not, Mark. I’m not sure I’ll miss my human life. The words surprised me, but I considered what I was saying. Actually, I’m not sure I would miss it.

“You’ve come to terms with it really fast, I’ll give you that. But what can an oversized wolf do on an island near Kingston? It’s pretty futile existence. And, to be honest, my hairs stand on end when you enter the room, or even get within a dozen meters. You’d cause a mess in any modern city.” He shrugged, stopping near the cockpit. “You’re in a tight spot.”

Yeah. I really am.

He peered into the cockpit. “I have your laptop bag here. Want it?”

Sure. Not certain I can use it anymore, though.

He shrugged, setting the bag down in the trailer. “I’ll at least pull the data, see if there’s anything you still want.”

Okay. I replied. I looked around, noticing the lack of electricity in the trees.

“Okay, I found your duffel bag. I’ll just grab that.”

A twig snapped.

Did you hear that? I asked, instantly jumping back to attention.

“No. What was it?” Marco asked, stepping back from the plane.

I don’t know.  A twig snapped. I replied.

“Well, that’s hardly a reason to panic, Nick.” He said, continuing his search. I was not listening, so enthralled I was by… something. “Oh, com’on Nick, stop scaring me here.”

You’re right. I’m just over-cautious. I admited, relaxing. Marco was done getting the stuff out of the plane, and I was left keeping watching.

The feeling of foreboding was growing intense.

“Hey, Nicholas, what the hell’s this?” Marco asked.

What? I replied, walking over to him, dropping the electric field for the moment.

He was in front of the crash, looking at an indent in the ground, where paw prints began in the mud. A piece of wire was on the ground in front of it, and beside the wire was a blue crystal, roughly the size of a loonie, and cut in a gorgeous symmetrical pattern. Curious, I stepped closer, looking at it intently. I leaned in close, and felt a sudden rush, before falling on my side with a splash. The dullness of the ambient noise was deafening, as though everything was behind a layer of drywall. I tried to get back up, but quickly noticed that my forepaws were no longer up to the task, as they had reverted to hands. I rested my weight on my elbows, and pulled my head up to look at my hands.
"Woah." I said quietly, "Wait, I can talk now? Holy crap, yes!" I said, pumping a fist. "Marco, can you give me a hand here?"
"Su-sure." He stuttered, clearly in awe, or shock, from the change. He reached down, and grabbed my hand, and I pulled myself up, struggling to stand erect on my still-wolfish legs. I stood there for a second, looking down at my legs, watching the white hair slowly retract. Slowly, the last of the hairs receded, and I clenched a fist in victory.
"Dude!" Marco exclaimed, reaching towards me for what could only be called a bro-hug. I stepped towards him, grinning wildly, and grabbed his hand, pulled myself in, and patted him on the back. We both stepped back again. I was laughing with joy, until Marco's expression of elation turned to curiosity and confusion, roughly when the feeling of deafness disappeared. "Uh, Nicholas, your ears..." He said, gesturing shakily at the side of my head.
"What?" I asked, reaching up to feel the side of my head.
I found that, much to my chagrin, my ears had regrown their fur, and resharpened into upwards points. "Damnit!" I shouted into the trees, realizing what was happening. I kept my hands up against my face, and realized the the changes were continuing down my head. The hairs reached my nose at a meteoric rate, and said nose extended into the muzzle it had been not a minute ago.
"Goddammit!" I yelled, only getting the first syllable out before the word cut off in a harsh combination of a bark and a cough. Dammit! Dammit dammit dammit!  I shouted in my mind, looking down at the gem on the ground near my foot. My shoulders crackled as my arms reoriented forward, the fur wasting no time as it sprouted.
The details were hidden beneath the dancing electricity on my skin, but I could feel the fingers on my hands reshaping as I held them awkwardly in front of me.
Marco just sat there wide eyed and quiet, watching me change. It seemed to have finished when the wave of white and blue fur, and arcs had reached reached my knees, and I had sprouted a tail.
We both stood there, shocked.
"Now what?" He asked, eyes scrunched.
Uh, I don't know. I replied, taking a tentative step away from the gem. As soon as I distanced myself another half meter, the fur further down my body, encroaching on my waist. Crap!
"That's weird." He remarked.
No shit. I snapped. standing there. I was unsure what to do. On a hunch, I moved back towards the gem until I was standing over it entirely. Slowly but surely, the fur retracted all the way up to near my shoulders. My hands were hands, but my upper arms still bore the hair. I'm really not getting any breaks this week, am I?
"Could be worse?" He ventured, ceasing the thought when I glared at him.
Reaching down, I grabbed the gem from the ground. As my head neared it, the fur and muzzle shrunk back, and my ears retracted again.
"Wait, what?" I said aloud, looking at my entirely-human self.
"Dude! You're back again!"
"Yeah... This gem." I said as I crouched down near it. Experimentally, I stretched my arm outwards, away from the gem. Once it was about as far as I could manage from the crystal, I felt the changes commence, and I watched as it slowly transformed back into a forepaw. "Wow."
"That's pretty weird." He remarked, stepping closer, but remaining beyond my outstretched hand.
"You don't say?" I replied sarcastically as I moved my hand back into range of the gem. It converted itself back into a hand almost instantly. "Woah." I grabbed the gem with my other hand, and took a good look at it. It was shining blue, and I do mean shining, giving off a fair amount of light. It glowed the same blue as my fur had a few minutes prior. Marco watched for a few seconds, before laughing uproariously.
"Okay, what now?" I asked of him, once again glaring.
"Dude, the gem, its range is maybe, dunno, twenty centimetres short of your feet and your ears! You look so damn silly!" He just continued laughing.
Oh, ain't that just great? I thought, groaning inwardly. I reached my hand up to the top of my head, and sure enough, there were the two fox-like ears atop my head. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, seriously. The're blue and everything." He kept laughing, "Look, I know I shouldn't be laughing, but you look so silly! You've got your cute little fox-ears. And your feet are, like, still paws, you look hilarious!" He said with a laugh.
Without changing expression, I focused on the energy I felt throughout me. I reached my arm outward, and with a sudden crack, a bolt of lightning flashed from my hand to the airplane carcass beside us. His laughter stopped abruptly. I did not think I needed to clarify my point, so I just walked back towards the ATV. "Gimme a lift, will you? I don't want to walk, and I sure as hell don't want to turn back into a wolf just to get back home."
"Dude, I'm not getting within two meters of that thing." He said, pointing to the gem in my hand.
"Can hardly blame you, but I'm probably gonna pass out after using that much energy just now." Hardly a lie, I was actually feeling really tired, the transformations and lightning taking their toll.
"It's pretty far back..." He said, looking over his shoulder in the general direction of the cottage. "Okay, uh, what'll happen if I touch the gem?"
"Haven't a clue." I replied, looking at the gem. "I don't suppose you want to risk finding out."
"No." He agreed with a shake of his head. "But, we'll have to eventually." He stood there, lost in thought. I gave him a few seconds. "Screw it, pass it over." He said, holding out his hand.
"You sure?" I asked, holding it aloft. "If something goes wrong?"
"Whatever."
"Okay." I stepped over, and handed him the gem. He took it in his hand, and we both waited with bated breaths.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." He said, laughing a little.
"Great! Can you hand it back?" I asked him, recognizing the discomfort in my legs and head as the transformation returning.
"What? Oh, right, oops." He handed it back to me, and the feeling receded as I brought it closer to my waist.
"Actually, just an aside, do you see my backpack anywhere in the wreckage?"
"I might have. Why do you ask now?" He replied, looking into the cockpit wreckage.
"Well, because my clothes are in there, and I'm cold." I said, waiting impatiently, walking over to look through the shattered windows. Marco clambered through the window. "Should be underneath the... co-pilot's seat? At least, that's where I last saw it."
"Well, it ain't there. Lemme just..." He leaned beneath the front panel. "Here it is!" He stood up, holding my bag. He threw it out the windshield, landing in the mud before me.
"Great!" I said, grabbing the bag from the puddle. I pulled it open, finding some of my clothes relatively intact. I got dressed as fast as I could without dropping the gem.
After two minutes, I called out. "Okay, done. Where are you?" I pocketed the gem.
"In the plane, looking around. I'm coming out now." I heard a few steps being taken, followed by the alarming noise of the door cracking. A few percussive hits later, and the door swung open, clearing the ground by only a few millimetres. He walked out of the plane, carrying a cooler. "Found your beer!" He shouted.
"Great! Now let's get moving, Carmen's arriving shortly."
"Right then." He carried the cooler over an dropped it on the rear rack of the ATV, compressing the suspension a tad. "Bring enough?"
"Just a few short." I said with a smirk as I walked over and hopped on. He stepped on in front of me, boots coming down on my left paw.
"Ow! Dammit man!"
"Oh, sorry." He adjusted his feet as he goosed the engine. He slammed the throttle, and we lurched forwards, zooming home at an unsafely high speed. The trip was uneventful, and while sitting I felt my feet and head change back to normal, as in human normal. We continued on to the cottage, where he got off before me, and grabbed the cooler as he walked in.
I followed him in, backpack in hand. He set down the cooler, and looked to me.
"Hey, cool, the ears are- oh, wait, it's back.... That's odd." He said, looking back at the ears, which were constantly out of range of the gem in my shirt's lowest pocket. Only my feet and the top of my head were out of range of the magic crystal. "Okay, so, I think you need to take some action here. You need to get the gem, eh, fifteen centimetres higher to fix the ears. But you'll need to wear long pants the entire time, since, yeah, Carmen'd probably flip out if she saw that. Your paws down there are pretty alarming, and an added decimetre of white and blue fur isn't going to do the look any favours."
"Got it. I've only got pants in the bag, so that shouldn't be a problem. But what about the ears?"
"Maybe you weren't listening. You need to move the gemstone up a little, so that when Carmen gets here, she doesn't notice that you're a wolf."
"Oh. Okay. I can do that." I pulled the thing out of my pocket, and moved it up a few inches. I felt my ears readjust, and assumed that the optimal location was roughly 20 centimetres over my waist. Basically, as irritating as possible location-wise. "Do I really need it to cover my legs at all?"
"I suppose not. Why? Just gonna make a necklace out of it or something?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much what I had in mind." I said as I scratched an itch on my forehead. "Don't know much about jewellery, so, in the mean time, I'll grab some duct tape, you get Carmen from the docks."
"Okay. Just make sure you're human by the time I get back." He warned, walking out the door. Just after leaving, he stopped, turned around, and grabbed something out of a drawer. He tossed me the grey roll of tape, and walked out the door, shouting "Good luck!" over his shoulder.

I held the tape for a second, and sat down on the kitchen table, roll of duct tape in front of me. I put the gem down on the table also, assuming that it would reach at very least my hands while I worked.
By the end of five minutes, I had a pretty good chain, I suppose it might be called, and I had managed to affix the gem into the middle of it. A few test fits later, I had managed to get it to hang as low as I dared, betting on the assumption that the gem might lose range as time progressed. I had taken care to ensure no adhesive touched the gem, nor touched my skin, since, from personal experience, I knew that chest hair and duct tape are a horrible combination. Thankfully, I was highly skilled with careful use of the stuff. I would love to say it had something to do with a mis-spent youth, but being a pilot was probably a more significant influence on my ability to improvise a fix to a mechanical problem.
"Okay." I said warily. I dropped the gem and make-shift chain over my neck, and hoped that the field of effect reached where I needed it to. Thankfully, after a minute of bated-breaths, I realized that my ears were not, in fact, moving back to the top of my head.
After a brief celebratory fist-pump, I opened my bag and pulled out a pair of loose running shoes, and some equally loose socks. Truth be told, it was hellishly uncomfortable, cramming non-human feet into shoes clearly not designed for such occupants, but I made do.
Shortly after cramming on the shoes, I heard the door slide open.
"Hey, Nicholas? You awake in here?" I heard Marco shout.
"Yeah, I'm just in the kitchen." I replied, trying to make my voice sound a little weak.
"Nicholas!" Carmen squealed.
Oh great. Here comes the hard part.

Did I just? Crap. I did. Okay. Yet another open-ended-ending. I really need to get better at finishing things. At least, I would, if sequels weren't so much fun to write!

Special thanks to:
Reel123 for giving me the inspiration I needed to get an entirely different idea.
SketchySeraph for discussing with me the finer points of some subject matter.

Edit:
Three years later, I'm touching these up.

Part 3
Part 1
© 2014 - 2024 WhiTanFox
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Splotchie's avatar
Can you imagine if he played electric guitar?
Probably wouldn't even need an amp!