The lynx, now a man, fell to his stomach, his pale-brown hair covering his face. Jyri landed on top of him, arms still around his body. "Get him clothes!" Jyri shouted to the two doctors, both of whom stared in surprise. From the door, Roark wolf-whistled.
"We don't have any," Dr. Kirksen said.
"A gown!"
The two doctors continued staring. Faye hopped down from the table to help look for a towel, but Jyri took off his own shirt, and handed it to his brother. She turned away for a second as he pulled it on. The two stood up. Jyri was a head taller, so the shirt fell past his brother's thighs, covering him almost as well as a gown would. Jyri scowled at the two gawking doctors. "Now that you've created your precious potion, can you let him free?"
"Let a shapeshifter free?" Dr. Hekell let out a laugh. "Do you know how hard they are to find?"
"And catch," Dr. Kirksen added. "I heard this one put up quite the fight."
The brother looked down at his feet, shivering. Jyri wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "We're leaving."
"You can't," Kern called out from the door. "King's orders."
Jyri let out a groan similar to the one his brother made as a lynx.
"He's a valuable subject," Dr. Hekell said. "The closest thing we have to a human-"
"He is a human!"
Faye remembered the window, and slowly inched toward it
"That we can test cures on," Dr. Kirksen said. "And we'll know for sure they'd be effective on humans."
"And don't you want to know more about shapeshifters?" Dr. Hekell added. "Why he's one, but you're not. Is anyone else in your family a shapeshifter?"
"Not that I know of." Jyri folded his arms across his bare chest.
"You don't want to know why?"
"Not this way."
Faye studied the closed window. Opening it shouldn't be a problem. Her eyes swept the room. Dr. Kirksen and Dr. Hekell gestured wildly, while Jyri shouted something about patient rights. The brother cowered behind him, his jaw-length hair hiding most of his face. Roark and Kern sat at the door facing each other, hands held as they gazed into each other's eyes, oblivious to the outside world. This was her one chance. Part of her wanted to stay behind and find a way to escape with Jyri and his brother. But she could always come back for them when the time was right.
The window was too high for her to reach, but there was a chair next to it. She tiptoed to the chair and stepped onto it. Carefully she slid the window open, worried that the sound would bring attention to herself. But at that moment, Jyri shouted as the two doctors grabbed his brother. She plunged out the window, and onto the ground, feet crunching on dead leaves. Before she could register her surroundings, a group of guards closed in on her.
King Lyon stepped in front of the guards. "And what have we here?"
Faye gaped at him. He snatched her by her bad wing, and half-dragged her back inside, the guards following.
Lyon banged his fist against the door of the huminal room. "Let me in, you imbeciles!"
The door opened, and Roark peered through the crack. "Is something the matter, your majesty?"
Lyon shoved the door open, nearly knocking Roark over in the process. Hand still gripped on Faye's wing, he swung her in, and she fell into the middle of the room, wincing as her knees thumped on the concrete floor.
Dr. Hekell and Jyri, who were in a tug-o-war contest with Jyri's brother as the rope, both released him to face the king. Face flushed, the brother picked himself up, and hid behind Jyri.
Lyon cleared his throat. "I found this outside." Nobody responded, and he went on. "If I recall, I had strict instructions regarding this creature. And," he looked to Roark and Kern, "I went as far as to station guards to watch her. Yet she managed to escape through that window with no interference. Had I not been having a delightful stroll around the building, she would have succeeded."
"Apologies, your highness," Kern said.
"It won't happen again," Roark added.
Lyon scowled at them. "You two, are the most incompetent dunderheads I have ever had the displeasure to meet, and why my father had hired you is beyond me." Roark and Kern hung their heads. "You're lucky I'm forgiving, or else you'd be gone by now." Lyon raised his finger. "One job. I gave you one job, and you can't even manage that. And you," Lyon turned to the other men, "why weren't any of you running tests on this huminal?"
Dr. Hekell bowed. "Your highness will be pleased to know that I successfully found the right mixture that will force shapeshifters into human form. Behold!" He grabbed Jyri's brother by the shirt, and shoved him to the floor.
"Good. At least someone here can do their job," Lyon said. "You may have the rest of the day off."
Dr. Hekell beamed. "Thank you, your highness." He bowed once more, then left the room.
"As for you..." Lyon frowned at Jyri. "Where's your shirt?"
"I had to give it to Ran," Jyri said.
"Ran?"
"The shapeshifter." Jyri gestured down to Ran, who sat on his knees, tugging on the hem of his shirt. "His name is Ran. It's short for Ransu."
"As far as I'm concerned, shapeshifters don't have names." Lyon sneered down at Ran. "Get up." Ran got to his feet, shaking. Lyon gave him a once-over, then looked back at Jyri. "You look related. Brothers, perhaps?"
Jyri's silence answered the question. Lyon stroked his chin, still frowning. "Your parents never mentioned a second son. Not that I blame them. I'm just wondering why he wasn't turned in, when my soldiers sent everyone strict instructions-"
"He ran away before we could."
Lyon grabbed the metal collar around Ran's neck, which had expanded during his transformation. "We won't have to worry about that happening again. Filthy animal." He pushed Ran away. "Shapeshifters are the lowest of the low, wouldn't you agree?" Jyri didn't answer him, and Lyon smiled. "They think their abilities make them superior to us. But I wouldn't even consider them huminals. They're nothing more than animals." He looked to Ran. "Why are you standing on two legs?"
"You asked me to-"
"Animals stand on four legs, not two."
Ran looked to Jyri. Jyri cleared his throat. "Your majesty, there's animals that stand on two legs. Birds do, and apes-"
Lyon scowled at Jyri. "And what animal does this thing turn into?"
Jyri lowered his gaze. "A lynx."
"And how many legs do lynxes walk on?"
"Four," Jyri mumbled.
"He's a lynx, therefore, he walks on four legs." Lyon shot Ran a glare, and Ran got down into a crawling position. Lyon looked back to Jyri, eyes darting down at his bare chest. "Put your shirt back on. Nobody wants to see your scrawny body."
Jyri's face flushed, and he folded his arms. "But Ran's wearing it."
"Take it off him then. Odis, Ruska, I thought you were smarter than this."
"Your majesty-"
"Now, get back to work, all of you." He made his way to the door, but stopped in front of Kern and Roark, finger raised. "One more mistake..."
Roark and Kern nodded as he walked out.
Dr. Kirksen turned to Faye. "Get on the table." She remained standing. Dr. Kirksen raised his hand.
"Please," Jyri said.
Faye obeyed, scowling at Dr. Kirksen.
"What do I do?" Ran asked Jyri, voice shaking.
"Give Dr. Ruska back his shirt," Dr. Kirksen said. "You heard the King."
Ran made a move to take the shirt off, but Jyri nudged him with his foot. "Keep that on. No one wants to see your prick."
Ran looked up at him. "But no one wants to see your scrawny body."
The corner of Jyri's mouth twitched upwards, and he gave him a playful kick. "Get off the floor. You're not some animal, you know."
Ran stood up, and hugged him. Jyri patted his back, then grabbed a chair stationed near the sink, positioning it next to the table. Ran sat in it.
"This thing is your brother?" Dr. Kirksen asked, taking in his scraggly appearance.
"He's amazing, isn't it?" Jyri kept his voice low, but beamed. Ran rubbed his arm, eyes on the floor.
Dr. Kirksen seemed as though he thought the opposite, but turned his attention towards Faye. "Should we do the one where we pull out her feathers and see how long it takes for them to grow back?"
Faye tucked her wings tight against her back, scooting away, but Dr. Kirksen reached over, and plucked one out from her bad wing. The pain wasn't terrible, no different than plucking a hair, but Faye winced as he plucked a second one. Jyri didn't help him, but did nothing to stop him. Ran continued staring at the floor, as though he wished to be anywhere else.
"I bet we can mix these feathers in potions." Dr. Kirksen plucked another. Faye pulled her wing away. "Stop moving." He tightened his grip on her wing, and continued plucking.
"This is pointless," Jyri said. "Who cares how long it takes for feathers to grow back?"
"We need these feathers gone anyway, so we can dissect the wing.
Faye yanked her wing out of his hand, eyes widening. "What!"
"We need to see what's in them," Dr. Kirksen said.
"We don't need to see what's in them," Jyri said.
"It's on the list."
"It's probably just bones and muscle."
"But we don't know for sure," Dr. Kirksen said, plucking another feather. "Though I suppose if this experiment is that useless, we can do the second one on that list instead."
Jyri winced. "Carry on."
Dr. Kirksen plucked a few more. "Can you help me? This will take all day by myself."
"I want no part of this," Jyri said.
Dr. Kirksen glanced over at Ran. "You." Ran's eyes darted up at him. "Make yourself useful, and help me pluck."
Jyri glared at Dr. Kirksen. "Don't drag him into this."
"I need help," Dr. Kirksen said. "And since you're too attached to your little girlfriend-"
"Gross!" Faye crinkled her nose.
Jyri's expression matched her own, but he said nothing.
Dr. Kirksen gathered a handful of feathers, and yanked them out in one swift motion. Faye swore. Dr. Kirksen looked at her wing, grinning. "Now we're getting somewhere."
Faye's throat swelled up, eyes filling with tears as he yanked out more fistfuls.
"That's enough," Jyri said, his voice quiet yet firm. His arm wrapped around Ran, who buried his face into his side, eyes squeezed shut.
Dr. Kirksen let go of Faye's wing. "Fine. We can move onto your brother. I've always wondered how long shapeshifters can survive in ice water."
Jyri swiped a scalpel from the cart he stood next to, pointing it to Dr. Kirksen. "If you ever lay a finger on him-"
Roark and Kern rushed to Jyri's side, knives in their hands. "Try it," Kern said menacingly, pointing his knife at Jyri. "I dare you."
Jyri pointed the scalpel back at him, and Roark pointed his knife at Jyri. "Two against one."
Dr. Kirksen swiped an empty syringe, and held it high. "Make that three."
Faye glanced at the open window, wondering if she could pull off escape a second time, but Kern noticed. He pointed his knife at her. "Don't even think about it."
"Yeah," Roark agreed, moving in on Faye with his own knife. "You'll be dead."
"You can't kill her!" Dr. Kirksen nudged Roark back with his arm. "She's a rare specimen."
"But King Lyon-"
"Will be even more upset if you kill her," Dr. Kirksen said. "She's more valuable alive."
"You can dissect her easier if she's dead," Kern said.
"But there's other tests we need her alive for. Now go back to the door, and let the adults handle this." Dr. Kirksen turned around, frowning. "Where's Dr. Ruska and the shapeshifter?"
The two guards and Faye looked around, but Jyri and Ran were gone.
"They escaped!" Kern cried. Roark swore, and followed him out the door. Faye forgotten, Dr. Kirksen hurried after them.
Smirking, Faye walked over to the corner where her knapsack still lay and, after slipping on her cloak, slung the pack over her back. She climbed up and out the window. Nobody around this time, she sprinted away into the forest.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
