Tomorrow Will Be Better (Chapter 2)

Summary: Two young adults, forced into inhuman forms against their will, find companionship with each other, and promise to stick together and find purpose and a home in a rapidly changing world, all while trying to keep their werecat and slime girl forms a secret to the fearful public. A collaboration between Heffy and Tutty The Fruity.

[First Part]

[Story Listing]

---

Chapter 2

Mia ended up stuck in that damn tree much longer than they would've liked. Typically the whole "randomly turning into a werecat" thing would've run its course within fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, but today it was going on for thirty, and counting. It was royally annoying. Mia was beginning to suspect that they'd have to force another change... bummer.

Problem was, Mia was finding it difficult to concentrate on changing back, what with being twenty feet above the ground. And there was that old saying about cats who get stuck in trees... Mia spent a while up in the tree trying to wait it out, and they were getting increasingly restless.

Mia cradled their camera in their hands, figured the view was nice enough to merit a scenic photograph. But as it turns out, the camera was out of film... grumbling, Mia fussed with the chamber in the back, reaching for a fresh exchange they kept in their backpack. It was one of the few indulgences Mia afforded for themself.

Mia's claws were especially helpful in getting at that annoying little flap. As the compartment door unlatched and folded backwards, Mia was met with the empty compartment. Their eyes lingered on a small printed label on the inside of the compartment door.

Property of Celes Pettigrew

"..."

Mia's eyes glazed over for a spell as old memories rose up again. Mia had spent so much time with the camera over the last year that they had almost forgotten that it was some hand-me-down from a young woman they met. Celes just... gave the camera to Mia, saying they'd have a lot more fun with it. She wasn't wrong, but...

Mia's heart hurt, bittersweet questions flooding their mind. If Mia was special enough to Celes to receive such a gift... why weren't they special enough to warrant a letter, a postcard, a call, something? Mia's eyes lowered, their grip weakening...

...But Mia's catlike reflexes managed to catch them before they'd let a stack of fresh film slip their paws. Mia tightened their grip, eyes wide, fur bristled.

"Alright, gettin' too caught up in my head..." Mia muttered, shaking their head as they reloaded the film. With an affirmative click, the compartment closed.

...Mia would slip the camera back into their knapsack; they straightened up, their tail zipping back and forth in anticipation.

"Time to shove off."

Getting down the tall tree was a lot trickier than getting up. Mia's paws were especially grabby with the tree, on account of those vicious claws that sprouted from the tips of their fingers—while their claws were good at protecting Mia from an unpleasant fall, they kept getting caught in the damn bark. Mia muttered quiet obscenities all the way down... or, well, until about half-way down, where Mia decided to throw caution to the wind, say "heck to it", and jump from there.

As they kicked away, their tail whipped around, their lower bodily slightly readjusting their angle juuust right, lining up with the rapidly approaching ground. Mia tensed up as they made impact, landing with remarkable grace from a twenty-foot fall; Mia scoffed, dusting themselves off.

"Awright, awright... if I'm gonna shift back, I might as well be on solid ground." Mia muttered. They adjusted their stance, before clenching their hands, taking a deep breath, and hunkering down...

"Hhhhh.... mrrghh...." Mia focused intently, their now-bushy eyebrows twitching and wincing; they bared their fangs, their fur standing on end as they focused hard, their body seizing up... though the rest of their body was still, their floofy tail thrashed about behind them. Mia bent over, eyes shut tight as they moaned, growled, and strained themself.

"Back in the box... back in the box..." Mia muttered to themself, a mantra they often repeated. Mia grunted, their breath short as their body trembled.

Slowly, the fur along their body began to recede back into their skin... Mia shuddered, the alien sensation of sprouts of fur going back inside, and then vanishing, was thoroughly unpleasant... like getting tickled in a thousand places. Mia's concentration couldn't lapse here, though, even as their enormous tail seemed to deflate, and slipped away back through an opening just below their pants' waist.

Mia's body trembled, bones and sinew shifting suddenly, mostly in their lower body; Mia felt claws recede back into their hands and feet, and their heels lowering to the ground once more. The energy bouncing across Mia's form once more receded, settling in their core...

Mia relaxed, exhaling sharply as they blinked, the whites of their eyes no longer consumed by feline amber. Mia swayed, and leaned against the tree.

"Hoo... easy as pie." Mia scoffed, catching their breath, just for a spell. They patted the tree, bounced on their heels, and tugged at the straps of their backpack.

"Okay! All better." Mia nodded. "Better check the time..."

Mia fumbled for a brass pocket-watch—and a real antique this one was! Wasn't worth a whole lot to sell, but it kept track of time with regular tuning, and was enough for Mia. They flipped it open and took a glance at the hands.

"And iiiiiiiit's holy crap it's twenty past one." The colour drained slowly from Mia's expression as they hurriedly pocketed the watch. "Ohhhh Nida's gonna have even more questions if I bail on 'er without a hullo...! See ya later Wingding gotta jet!!"

Mia began to book it through the woods and in the direction of base camp...

---

By the time Mia reached base camp, another thirty minutes had passed. Mia mused miserably over the distance they escaped; getting around on springy cat legs was a helluva lot quicker than their gangly human legs.

Mia leaned against a signpost, weighing their options. Would it be better to be sort of honest about the whole thing that just came up? Mia did just leave Nida hanging superhard; they could imagine her fuming about the whole thing for an hour. Mia cringed at the idea of getting into a big fight in the middle of junker town...

"Damn it..." Mia swore under their breath, reaching into one of their pockets for a pack of smokes and a lighter. With a flick, they lit the stick and pursed their lips, bringing the cig up for a puff; the acrid taste of smoke and nicotine filled their throat and nostrils, and Mia could only hold the bitter taste so long before they exhaled.

Their eyes wandered across camp, taking in the sights. No one seemed to care, though others seemed content to give Mia a wide berth... which was fine by them, honestly. The new anti-smoking campaigns were insufferable, and Mia didn't care about getting their fix one way or another. It eased their nerves and anxiety being around people nowadays; if the talking heads were so adamant about the dangers of smoking, they never had a face-to-face encounter with an agitated werecat.

Mia kept to their own devices, relaxing as they took another drag. Maybe it'd be easier to explain to Nida right before bed... when the both of them were too exhausted to ask a whole lot of questions.

"...'re a huge pussy..."

Mia's ear twitched, eyes widening. They froze up, eyes glancing around. Did they relax too much? They felt around their behind for any sign of a massive cat tail suddenly floofing into existence... nnnnnnope, still good. For a second, Mia thought that someone had accrued them of something, or sussed them out...

"I'm serious, I saw one!" Another young voice hollered, more loudly and thus easier to pick out. Mia turned their head, spotting a ground of three junkers gabbing it up next to one of the barracks. Mia fidgeted with their cig, scowling and rolling their eyes; a bunch of goonies like that got them riled up.

Better to find some privacy, Mia thought, as they began to stroll away.

"There's no way you saw a ghost, Garf." Another junked scoffed with a loud chortle.

Mia paused in their tracks. Now their interest was piqued. Mia flicked the mostly-consumed cigarette from their fingers and crushed it under the sole of their boot, before they adjusted their course and casually closed the distance between the boys.

"I'm serious! There was a ghost, up by the lake!" The junker (apparently named Garf) gestured to the outskirts. "Saw it with my own eyes, I did!"

"Weeeeeeell! Musta been quite somethin' if it got your panties in a knot!" Mia beamed cheekily. "C'mon, what's the scoop?"

"...Ron, y'know this chick?" One of the junkers nudged their bud.

"Nida's bunkmate, I think?" Ron murmured.

Mia's eyebrows furrowed. They decided to put aside the issue of being called a 'chick' for now and press for the deets.

"Mia's fine," they clarified. "And you're Garf, Ron, aaaaaaand..."

"Dwayne." The third junker said.

"Great! First name basis!" Mia clapped their hands. "Now c'mooooon, get with the juicy deets about this lake ghost thingy!~"

"Whoa, you don't buy what this nut is sellin', do ya?" Ron smirked. "He gets his chuckle juice square in the mornin', y'know!~"

"You believe in ghosts, Mia?" Dwayne guffawed.

"Aw, c'mooon guys. Kay, I don't believe in 'em on principle, y'know... I'm a practical sort." Mia folded their arms. "But it'd be really cool if there was a real, bonafide spook, right? I loooooove ghost stories!~"

"Heh! Well, Garf?" Ron nudged his bud. "Don't keep a pretty lady waiting."

"I'm not... nevermind." Mia waved it off. That was a whole other conversation that Mia did not have time for, especially when there were spooks abound.

"Aight, lissen, I was just doin' some fishin' up on Oval Lake. They got a lil dock there, great spot. But outta the corner of my eye, I saw somethin' movin'."

Garf composed himself as all eyes were on him. He gulped.

"I... I think it was a dead body..." Garf gulped.

"Yer hallucinatin' bud." Ron said.

"Yeaaaaa dead bodies are mostly known for not movin'." Dwayne pointed out. "Was the sunshine fryin' your brain or something?"

"It rose up from the ground!" Garf exclaimed. "Like it was buried, and pulling itself free! And it had a weird shambling gait..."

"Oooh! Spooky..." Mia took in the details with a gleeful smile. "When was this? Sounds like a zombie."

"Broad daylight..." Garf murmured. "Usually they say zombies only come out at night..."

"Wait I thought zombies were, like, magic husks or somethin'." Ron muttered.

"We're on about zombies now...?" Dwayne shrugged.

"Well what else is gonna be buried like that!?" Garf exclaimed. "And it was wearin' this torn up white robe, stained with all these purple blotches... and it spotted me!"

"Oh shit." Dwayne blinked.

"Did you fight it??" Ron asked.

"Fuck that, I got the hell out of there!" Garf folded his arms. "I'll never forget... just under those clothes, was this slimy husk, dripping and deformed... a disgusting bloated corpse, I tell ya!"

The group fell silent. Mia's eyes were wide as they were hunched over, taking it in.

"Wow! And you say this is for real??" Mia clenched their fists excitedly.

"...I wish I could say I just made it up..." Garf shuddered. Even his pallies, who were previously having a good chuckle about the whole thing, were silenced. Mia blinked glancing to them.

"Hey, what's with you guys?" Mia cocked their head to the side. "You were yukkin' it up a second ago."

"Uhh, Garf... that don't sound like no ghost." Dwayne suggested.

"Yeah, it sounds like you had a run in with... the Mudman of Bleakburn." Ron grimaced. "Yer lucky to get outta there in one piece..."

"Wh... the Mudman of Bleakburn?" Mia blinked. "Never heard'a that one..."

"There's a loggin' village deeper in the woods." Dwayne began, gesturing towards the trees. "Gotta be pretty loopy to live so far outta town, but they all swear up and down about a mudman terrorizing their village..."

"They pretend to be travellers, before snatchin' up your kids and grannies, and devourin' them whole, down to crunching their bones to gruel..." Ron pressed his hands together, as if to mimic a meat press. "Scary stuff... but their mayor put out an alert and everything!"

"Freaky stuff out in those woods..." Garf trembled. "I thought bears were the worst thing you could run into..."

"...Whoa... nutty." Mia blinked. "Now I got to see it! And you say there's a whole lake for fishin' nearby??"

"H-hey, y'hear what we said??" Ron stammered.

"Yeah, s'dangerous! You gotta take care of your bones, y'know!" Dwayne blustered.

"I'll be fine! A ghost story never hurt no one!" Mia puffed their chest. "And if everyone's too dang scared to scope the place out, it'll make for great fishin'!"

Mia was already getting pumped at the idea of ghost huntin' away from the camp that they completely forgot about any beef they may have had with Nida. Mia fist-pumped, already hurrying to check it out.

"Nice chattin' fellas! Catch ya laterrr!~" Mia cheered, dashing off. The junkers gawked as Mia disappeared around a bend, muttering to each other about the "crazy lady". Mia actually just needed to grab some things from their place, before heading for the trail heading to Oval Lake.

---

Mia had the realization that the purported lake was pretty close to, well, the armoured vehicle graveyard that the junkers were spending so much time picking apart, so they were fretting a bit about the lake. Gas and oil runoff into the water wouldn't be great for the local wildlife... not to mention the stench.

But to their delight, as the tears opened up into a clearing, the lake that appeared looked good! Pristine even! Mia inhaled deeply of the earthy, musty scent that filled the air.

It wasn't a super big lake or anything, as Mia could see the forest cropping up again on the outskirts. Like the junkers said, there was a small dock going some ways into the water. Mia noted the construction, that it was supported by barrels. It looks like it had been there for some time; Mia prodded their foot on one of the planks of wood... solid, no give. It didn't even creak!

Mia nodded affirmatively, taking a second look around the lake. Mia swooned, discovering some sandy shorelines along the lake as well!

"No one said this was a beach as well! Wild!" Mia exclaimed, their voice barely above an excited whisper. And Mia had the whole place to themself. No signs of any spooks milling about either...

"Buncha cowards makin' a hooey outta nothin'." Mia smirked. They slipped out of their boots and socks and paced over to the end of the dock, letting their bare feet dip into the cool water at the end of the dock. Mia relaxed, letting their legs dangle over the side... they didn't realize how achey they'd gotten until they dipped in.

Mia admired the sights of the lake, reflecting quietly. While they liked the bustle of the city—and there was always something to see or do—time seemed to slow down, out in nature. The chittering of cicadas all around provided a soothing backdrop as the daylight hours looked to be running out. Mia glanced towards the sky, admiring its subtle darkening, in preparation for an amber sunset.

Peak fishing hours, Mia knew. It was good timing coming out here this time of day. Mia relaxed and drank in the pleasant atmosphere fully.

"Aaaah...~" Mia swooned, relaxing as they lazily kicked their legs. Their hands gripped the side of the dock. They closed their eyes, taking in the atmosphere and letting the sunlight wash over them. Their claws dug into the wood as their hands tensed and relaxed rhythmically...

...Wait, claws? Mia blinked, looking over themself. The brushing of their newly sprouted feline tail confirmed their suspicions that they had shifted again... maybe they relaxed too much.

"Tch. Figures." Mia raspberried, rolling their eyes. "Whatever... all the menfolk are too chicken to come up here anyway..."

Mia leaned over the dock, observing how their feet had narrowed into hind paws. Mia's irises widened as they picked out small, slender, shadowy shapes just below the water's surface.

"Ooh, fish... big fish." Mia could sense them in the water based on their movement... and the smell. Mia leaned forward, claws drawn... and swiped at the water with a bat of their paw.

"...Nothin'." Mia grumbled. "Okaaay... gotta do it the old fashioned way."

Really, the whole business about chasing down a proper spook was a distant second to Mia's desire to unwind at a good ol' fishin' hole. Mia didn't have the money for a fancy rod, but a stick, a hook, and some twine bringing it all together served them just fine. They unhooked their homemade tool from a holster on their backpack and looked it over.

"...Prolly need to go diggin' for some bait." Mia sighed, rising to their feet; they kicked their legs, trying to shake off some of the lake water from their furry ankles, before pacing back to land. They spotted a couple big-ish rocks that would probably have some juicy little grubs underneath. Or a worm... anything, really.

Preparing an empty tin contained, Mia started picking out some choice specimens to spear at the end of their hook. Mia figured about a dozen would be good...

Creeeeeeak... shshshshsh...

As Mia was just about wrapped up their hunt for bait, their ear twitched as they overheard a distant, irritating sound. Mia instinctively turned in the direction of it, placing it towards the direction of the dock. They wondered briefly if it was the tide, but... their blood chilled as they witness a strange, deeply troubling sight.

Along the beachfront, a hole had appeared... and from it, an eerie, white-cloaked figure, shambling upwards. Mia choked back a gasp as they scrambled into the bushes, watching it play out.

"Hooooly crap... he wasn't SERIOUS was he??" Mia croaked quietly. "ACTUALLY SERIOUS??"

The figure swayed awkwardly. Mia couldn't get a good look at their face on account of the filthy white coat they were wearing. They hunched over... Mia couldn't see what was going on, but they heard another loud creak, and the wooden clunk of something heavy. Mia flattened, lowering their head... as the figure seemed to glide away, the hole in the ground was gone!!

"What the..." Mia's eyebrows furrowed. "What's that funny spot... ee-eesh."

Mia ducked their head as the figure approached the dock, the hem of their cloak dragging behind them. They were so close... Mia could make out how torn up it was at the sleeves, the splotches of mud and... purple stains...

The cloak shambled awkwardly, and as Mia got a closer look, they could see that the front was closed out. There was no head poking out of the top... was this ghost decapitated at one point?? Mia's frantic mind was rocked with questions...

They stopped at the end of the dock, bending over to examine something. Mia winced, picking up the weird sounds their body made. It wetly squelched as it bent over... it reminded them of the sound of spaghetti being plopped on their plate during their orphanage days.

Mia wondered what they were examining... and then Mia realized, with mounting dread: wet, feline footprints were left on the dock! And they were led back to their current position!

Mia gasped quietly, sharply, ducking their head as the creepy figure turned in the direction of the bushes. Mia tried to stay completely still, scared out of their mind. They couldn't make out the figure's face at all...

"...Animal tracks..."

Mia perked their head up. The cloaked figure... muttered something to theirself? It sounded like it belonged to a woman... Mia focused, trying to remain discreet

...The figure shuddered, and turned back to the end of the dock. They plopped down at the end of the dock, their form wobbling, shuddering and swaying. Mia cocked their head upwards, trying to get a better look at what they were doing... the cloak rustled, but with their back to Mia, they couldn't tell what was going on...

...Thwip!

Mia blinked as the tip of a fishing rod peeked over the figure, extending into view. And not just any fishing rod... it looked like the genuine article, judging from the extension of the rod and the thinness of the line...

Fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeee plop!

...And the casual cast of the line off towards the pond with a flick of the wrist. Mia gawked at the arc of the hook... it had a floater too! Mia's didn't have a floater...!

"A fishin' ghost?" Mia murmured. "This is wild... the guys are gonna wanna hear about this."

This... wasn't exactly what Mia was coming out to accomplish, but getting a few money shots of an authentic ghost... they reckoned they could pawn those for a pretty penny! Maybe for more than the paltry junker scraps they busted their chops gathering.

Mia took a careful step forward, the soft pawpads of their feet cushioning their steps. Their gait settled into a natural tiptoe, Mia slooooowly emerged from the bush, camera primed and ready to flash.

All Mia needed to do was get their attention.

"Hey!" Mia raised their finger, primed for a photo. "Say cheeeese!~"

"!?"

The cloaked figure turned around sharply, which was exactly what Mia was hoping for. With a KCHUNK, they took a great photo of whatever was inside of the cloak...

...Which was a sight that Mia could only describe as horrifying. Inside the flaps of the cloak was pulsating, purple ooze, soaking into the insides of the coat itself. Mia's eyes were drawn to another pair of eyes, blue as hazy skies, staring right back at her, a gawking facsimile of a human looking back at her.

"AAH!" The cloaked, slimy figure shrieked in a high-pitched squeal.

"ACK!?" Mia staggered back, clutching the camera to their chest, falling on their behind.

"EEEK!" The figure wailed, wincing sharply, breathing heavily—were they hyperventilating? Their form quivering as if struggling to retain its form, the figure coughing and sputtering.

Shlurk... In a matter of moments, the vaguely humanoid shape collapsed on itself, tendrils of slick, purple ooze extending towards Mia.

"NNGH!?" Mia frantically crawled backwards, their enormous tail getting in the way. Their limbs got caught up in the flailing tail, their fur bristling on end as Mia rolled over, claws digging into the side of the dock to stop the feline from falling over. Out of the corner of their eye, a misshapen mass of purple ooze writhed, rapidly approaching, pulling and writhing rapidly in a rapid scramble, fat purple tendrils plopping and squelching along the deck.

Mia winced, expecting that they'd be eaten whole by the alien creature... but the creature merely brushed past Mia, scrambling past the dock, tumbling over itself as it disappeared into the woods. Mia, crunched into a ball, clutching the camera close to their chest, trembled as the sounds of the creature grew distant...

Then, there was silence, save for Mia's sharp panting; the sound of their heartbeat pounding their eardrums, was drowned out by the cicadas still.

Whirrrrr...

Mia tensed up and sat up as the camera in their hands whirred to life, buzzing in their lap. Mia lowered their head, and stared as a photo slowly printed out. The instant it was done... Mia snatched it free and waved it around, to coax the chemicals to life and to work their magic. Mia needed to know that they weren't crazy...

...And then an image stirred to life, the sight of the creature they encountered materializing.

"...H-holy crap..."

It was a clean shot, and Mia could take account of the details. Their attention was drawn to the face. For a brief moment, Mia spotted the face of a woman, they figured... and true enough, the camera captured that expression, that deer-in-headlights look. Though the photo was greyscale, Mia noticed the highlights of the creature's skin...

...Mia grimaced, focusing on the face, the currents of slime curved around to resemble hair... there's no way this was a person, was it? Maybe they were a... a very special breed of supernatural phenomenon.

Whatever it was, it was real, and it was real nutty. Mia lowered the photo to take account of their surroundings...

Whatever that was... it had left quite a mess behind. There was the fishing rod they were using that had tumbled into the water and floated along, their filthy cloak... and splotches of purple slime everywhere. Mia's eyes followed the trail of ooze, splotches dotting the deck, the ground... even part of their knapsack.  Mia winced as they wiped the ooze away, the texture cold, partway between porridge and gelatin.

"G-gross..." Mia murmured, shaking it off their fingers. They bent over to reach into the lake to pull out the fishing rod the slimy figure was using... the quality of the rod briefly distracted Mia from the horrifying encounter they had just experienced, because wow this fishing rod was a keeper!

"Holy..." Mia turned it in their hands. "A Reelmaster 720... fast action... 22 pounds'a drag... and it's got real line!" Mia adjusted their grip to try and reel it in, before noticing a filmy layer of slime around the reel. Grimacing, Mia sloooooooooowly reeled the line back in, before putting it aside.

Mia's attention turned to the white cloak the figure had left behind... they certainly seemed in a hurry to get away. Mia approached it, pulling it up so that the collar was no longer soaking in lake water. The cloak had definitely seen better days, but the cloth material was layered and smooth... and, now that Mia was recalling that photo they took, it seemed a touch oversized.

"Kinda looks like a labcoat..." Mia muttered. There was an inscription sewn near the chest, and Mia squinted to examine it...

Mia choked back a gasp, squinting to make sure they read it right the first time...

"B... BioLabs..." Mia murmured. BioLabs wasn't an unfamiliar name to Mia. They were responsible for all sorts of products for people that needed them. They were mostly known for their pharmaceuticals, but they got so big over time that they started workin' on all kinds of stuff. Mia even recalled the odd newsie article gushing about their latest investments in airship technologies...

So what did this ghosty have to do with them? The layer of slime absolutely soaking the inside was a revolting sight... and yet, Mia was oddly calm. It might've been the relaxing scent they gave off: nice, flowery scents, like lavender and rose. It was enough for Mia to stay calm enough to think straight.

Mia recalled that a friend they had met last year was on their way to take on a job with them... Mia reached for the photo, and examined it again. The shocked expression of the figure in the photo... if Mia squinted, they could've swore it belonged to a young woman. Especially those eyes... those sad, miserable eyes.

Mia fumbled for their old photos, one of an old friend from a year prior. Mia pressed the photo of themself, posing with their new friend in Agnes, taken only a year prior... Mia and Celes smiling for a photo by the fountain.

Mia compared their friend's expressions with the slime-coated figure on the dock. The similarities were... disturbingly uncanny.

"C... C'les...?" Mia murmured, shaken.

Mia was getting a terrible inkling as the dots began to connect in their head. The figure in the photo, the lab coat from BioLabs, Celes' mysterious disappearance without so much as a word... it sounded crazy to Mia, but the thought of it chilled them to the bone; their fur bristled as they lowered the photo.

Mia rose to their feet, their eyes following the trail of purple slime that disappeared into the woods. Mia took a deep breath, and gathered their belongings. If they didn't get to the bottom of this abhorrent ghost story today, it'd haunt them for the rest of their life.

Mia had to know. They hurried into the woods, to follow the trail of purple ooze.