Chapter Text
Nov. 2, 2018: suburban apartment 🟢
Screaming could be heard from a block away. Most of the neighbors shook their heads in either annoyance or pity. They knew where it was coming from. There was one particular room in the apartment complex that was prone to creating a ruckus.
It was a few days after Jade's birthday, and yet here is his dad picking a fight yet again.
"I will not allow you to corrupt my family with your sinful notions! Men and women were made to be together! God made us like this so we could produce children, it's our duty! What you are saying is the work of the devil corrupting your mind!!!"
The 17-year-old glares down the man before him. The man who was supposed to be his father. The one whose duty was to love, support, nurture, and care for the children he helped create. That same one is currently failing those same duties.
"Why do you care if two men or women love each other!? It's their choice and none of your business! It's not hurting anyone for them to just live their lives the way they want! No one asks to be judged for the way they are!"
"It goes against all laws of nature and is surely the work of evil! You're my daughter! You should know better than anyone else!"
"I am not. YOUR DAUGHTER!!! I'm not a tomboy, I'm your SON! I tell you this every time! SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!!"
Jade was breathing harshly as they watched the shock on their father's face twist into rage. Their eyes glistened and their lips wobbled.
He flinches as he watches his dad's face darken as he supposedly comes to a conclusion.
"That is it! I want you out of my house! If you can't see the error of your ways, then I don't want you here! I don't want you poisoning the rest of my children with your sinful ways!"
"Fine! You want me to leave? I'll leave! I hope you're satisfied now."
Jade couldn't believe it. They finally stood up to him. They never thought they would be able to. Suddenly, his dad slams the front open.
"You think I wanted you here in the first place!? All you've ever done is destroy this family!"
They lock eyes with the man before bolting to their room and slamming the door behind them. He leans all his weight against it and struggles to muffle his sobs with his hands.
He's really doing it. He's kicking me out.
I can't stay here.
They grab a ratty dark blue backpack and shove as many clothes as they can carry. He pulls out a drawer near his bed full of non-perishables and snacks to shove in as well. They sling the backpack over their shoulder, being careful to not rip it. They storm out of the room and past the couch and their little siblings. Ana and Noah are crying loudly as they scream Jade's name. Two little arms wrap around his leg as another one grips the hand on the opposite arm and tugs it backward.
"Please sissy! Please don't leave us!!
"I don wan you ta go!"
Jade heaves a sigh and leans down to press kisses to their baby siblings' foreheads. A large figure swiftly moves between them and their siblings.
"I said leave. Now. I mean it!"
An enraged expression takes over the gentle, mournful look that was there before. They stalk out the still-open door and look back only to get it slammed in his face.
Jade ran for what felt like hours. lungs burning with every breath. Legs aching with every step. They ran until their legs buckled, sending them tumbling onto the sidewalk. Breathless, they struggled to stand and drag themselves into the alley to the side. Every breath was savored to stop the burning of their lungs.
As Jade leaned against the rough brick of the building in the alley they struggled to wonder what they did wrong.
"Why would he do this to me!? I haven't done anything! I have done everything he could ask! I've taken care of the house and my siblings! I have made sure all he had to worry about was his PRECIOUS WORK!!!"
Jade trembles as their legs give away, scraping their hands and back as they slide down the wall. What starts as whimpers soon grows into awful gut-wrenching sobs full of sorrow. He cries until he is dragged by exhaustion into slumber.
Jade awakes in an unfamiliar place the feeling of numb emptiness practically swallows him.
"I need to move and find shelter, maybe I can find a job."
He struggles to lift himself off the cold merciless ground. His uncooperative limbs tingle and weigh him down. Slowly and hesitantly he makes his way out of the alleyway to begin his journey for adequate work and shelter.
It has been roughly a week and a half since Jade made New York's streets his home. As they are passing a nondescript alley they hear the smallest of noises and decide to investigate.
"A teenager wandering into an alley to look for a strange noise. What can go wrong?"
Sarcasm drips from his voice but under that, there is an undercurrent of nervousness. Just then something makes that noise again.
"A meow? It sounds like a kitten!"
Jade shifts stacks of boxes and random trash until he finds the source of the meow. He sets his backpack on the ground slowly as he solemnly reaches behind a box to pull out this small fluffy white and gray kitten.
"Oh, you poor baby."
They pause as they seemingly look around for something.
"Are you alone sweetie? Where's your mommy?"
Just then the kitten lets out the saddest-sounding squeak ever heard.
"Oh, I get it now. Your mommy's gone, isn't she? So is mine."
Jade softly strokes the furry baby's head with his finger.
"I bet you're hungry, aren't you? It's not much, but I have a cereal bar in my bag."
He pulls out the item and starts breaking off little pieces to give to the kitten.
Halfway through the bar, the kitten fluffs up snarling and growling at something just to the side of Jade. It was then that he heard the buzzing and saw the green glow near his face. His realization came too late.
PAIN
Pain swallows every sensation as their skin bubbles and hair sprouts along their body. Muscles stretch and twist to form new shapes and unfamiliar sensations all across their lithe form. They scream but the sound is drowned out by the all-encompassing agony and the deafening ringing. Every single one of his bones breaks and refixes itself anew. His back arches and cracks as his spine compresses and stretches to form a lengthy appendage. The appendage bursts from the seat of their pants. The fingers on his hands fuse and separate to form larger four-fingered hands. Nails elongate into deathly sharp claws. Screaming and tearing bounce between the walls that surround the alley as it flows into the streets of New York.
The first thing they recognize is the cold and gritty sensation of concrete under their cheek. The pain subsided to a throb, matching the rhythm of their heartbeat. They lay on the ground for what felt like hours. Days?
Glazed eyes scan the alley, incapable of focusing on anything but the erratic pulse of their heart and the air punching in and out of their lungs. Eventually, Jade manages to stand up only to be hit with an intense wave of vertigo. He tries to move forward but each unbalanced and unstable step threatens to send him sprawling across the ground. His sight rocks, and sways as if he was on a boat stranded in the ocean. Their grip on the wall tightens until they hear the scraping of long nails against concrete. Jade, fighting to keep the bile from climbing up and out of his throat slowly looks over. What they find isn't the hand they were expecting but instead a large paw, the size of a lion's or bigger!
An undignified yelp forces itself out of an unfamiliar snout as his back slams against the opposite wall. The large Paws move to cover what used to be a mouth only to find the snout. Shakily Jade feels around their face finding thick fur and long pointed ears. Instead of smooth skin and little ears. Their breathing hitches and then speeds up they look at the paws in front of them and let their gaze drift to their body. His next breath is stuck in his lungs. What they find are bold gray stripes mapped across stark white fur, long cat-like legs, and a long fluffy tail lying beside the trembling legs. Their clothes are reduced to tatters and draped over their body.
"No." He breathes out. "No. No no no NO!"
Frantically his eyes dart across every new feature on his body.
"This- This doesn't make sense!"
He shakes his head making his vision swirl and darken around the edges, as bile climbs up his throat.
"Ohhhh…. That's….. Not….."
Darkness overcomes their vision as the world tilts and their senses numb.