Chapter Text
As he slept during the early morning, the young colt was, for a good while now, at peace, resting deep within his slumber without any disturbance, breathing softly as his mind wondered on it's subconscious state, his mixed dream flashing images of an adventure build by a young mind, but this unfortunately was not to last. As he slipped into the horizon on his dream, Sharik suddenly seemed to have woken up in the middle of a forest surrounding what looked like a big settlement, he was dressed in a strange uniform with a green and brown color pallet, carrying multiple bags with stuff inside them, including what he could identify as a pistol; upon inspecting his surroundings, he saw many other soldiers dressed on the same uniform, by his count, there were atleast 8,000 or even more, and all of these were herbivores, both mammalian and avian, but what struck him the most was the fact that all of them had neon-green eyes, some were lighter shades, some were darker, and then there were some neutral tone just like him, with all of this to take in mind, an evident question began to form on his head.
Sharik: (What are we going to do? Are we... wait... what are those tubes?)
Then from those same tubes came loud sounds of something being ejected from the inside, and the colt turned soldier quickly realized that those were mortars, hearing the projectiles fired from them fall towards the settlement, fearing it was gonna be destroyed in a explosive fashion, however when the bullets hit the ground, what came was a bright flash and a deafening sound, from which he realized that he was wearing protective gear on the form of sound dampers and shades, both of which he took of after the flash banished, but in doing so, Sharik started to feel something off about this whole thing, like he was not inside his own body despite the similarities, like if he was living someone else's memory.
Sharik: (Oh Brachio. What the hell is going on? What is this?)
His thoughts were suddenly stopped as the sound of panicking screams reached "his" ears, no doubt the animals residing on the settlement, he could also hear gunshots which shocked him internally but it didn't even seem to have an effect on "his" body, and as that was going on, every soldier surrounding him was standing up, seemingly ready for attack, and as he started to stand up himself, he heard the supposedly paralyzing roars of atleast 4 tigers that tried to stand up against the offensive. At that very moment, listening to the sound that would paralyze many herbivores, he felt his heart pounding inside his chest, his ears pointing backward, and, much to his dismay, a raging snarl was heard from inside "his" mouth, feeling the huge fangs concealed inside of it, and then there was the cacophony of demonic sounds... that came from the entire herbivore brigade.
Sharik: (No... no, no, no, no, NO!!!)
Then, to his absolute horror and as he sweat intensely, the army of herbivores charged at the carnivores, with 3 white rhinoceros taking the lead as bullets somehow bounced from their bodies, showing they were equipped with armor, and tore through the guarding bengal tigers soldiers like they were made of paper, goring them to pieces with their horns and throwing their guts everywhere, repeating the process with other carnivore soldiers just as the rest of the army charged at the settlement, and to the horror of Sharik, he realized than this was a refuge for civilians. Just as he learned how dire this was, "his" body attacked a nearby cheetah soldier who tried to make a bayonet charge against him, but before the cheetah could even get close enough, "he" grabbed the weapon with one hand and pressed hard against it until the entire front half break, and just a second after that he punched the cheetah straight into the face... destroying the entire snoot of the carnivore who fell dying in the ground, but he didn't got any time to process such a horrible act as a male african leopard soldier tried to attack him, but "he" just kicked him with great force on the chest, it was so strong he could hear the cracks of the sternum, dooming the felid as he dropped to the ground to subsequently charged against any other carnivore "he" saw on the surroundings, each one "he" encounter met a violent, gruesome and barbaric end.
Sharik: (Why is this happening? Why is this massacre happening? Why am I witnessing this horror!?)
He asked himself in terror and despair as he saw "himself" pierce the chest of a female maned wolf with a powerful fist to then bite a monitor lizard on the neck and tear it appart, causing her to bleed out. It was going on everywhere on this refuge: elephants trampling and ripping any carnivore apart; rhinos, buffalos, gaurs and mooses stampiding against massive groups of civilians desperate to flee; apes throwing animals to their deaths from the buildings; bats and birds of prey falling from the sky, some with their wings torn off; and he even witness a single boar devouring an entire mongoose family, all the while he heard countless screams that were slowly becoming less in number. It all happened so fast and yet it felt deviously slow, being pulled from his thoughts just at the moment when "he" tore the jaw and a large string of flesh from the torso of a massai lion, just as he did that day, to then violently bashed the head of a teenage japanese wolf against the wall of a building, shocking Sharik after he realized what species it was.
Sharik: (What? Japanese wolves? But they went extinct decades ago! Wait... IS THIS HOW THEY BECAME EXTINCT?!)
Sharik then was taken aback by a hippo chewing a nile crocodile on his jaws to then completely split the animal in half, adding to the horror he was witnessing and was unable to avoid, everything around him descended into a nightmarish slaughter he was begging to escape from, but no matter what he tried to do, he was sealed into it.
Sharik: (Stop, stop, stop! PLEASE STOP! ANYONE, HELP ME STOP THIS!!)
???: "Why would you want to do that? Don't you wish to exterminate them?" Asked a sudden voice, one which oozed terror.
Then suddenly everything stopped, and the whole settlement and every beast inside of it disappeared, replaced by what appeared to be a room illuminated by a number of lights in the ceiling, making Sharik turned frantically, noticing he could finally move and that his body became his once more, and then he heard hoofstepts.
Just as he turned around to see from where those sounds came from... he felt his heart stop in absolute terror.
Standing right before him was the soldier of the memory, a Burchell's zebra just like him, but he looked completely emaciated: the uniform was dirty and torn, damaged armor plates covered the torso and legs, bloody gouges were exposed on his arms and legs, and had a broken helmet on it's head, but the most terrifying thing was it's face... or lack there of, as it was almost entirely a bare skull with only the eyes and ears being any semblance of flesh remaining, the mere sight of such a figure terrified the zebra teenager greatly, trembling as he saw it approaching him with a blank expression, but he could tell by the eyes that he seemed interested on him, scared of what intentions it may have.
Sharik: "Who... who are you? W-wha-what do you want from me?" He asked, quite scared.
???: "Hmm, how disappointing, I was expecting that you were going to act braver to my appearance, but you are still young, despite what you are now capable of." The voice of this entity was coarse and deep. It sounded almost demonic. "As for what am I: I am the embodiment of all your sins. I am your curse."
The revelation shocked the zebra, not believing such a demon was a part of him.
Sharik: "I-impossible. How could something like you exist within me? I am NOT a monster!"
Entity: "That's what YOU want to think about yourself, but the truth is that you are just as monstrous as I am, or have you forgotten why are we here?"
The flashbacks of his rampage once more flashed into his mind, how he brutalized the 4 carnivores in a way that would horrify even the most reckless of animals.
Entity: "You may think yourself as a good and kind beast, one that would not wish to harm anyone. That may be true, but it hides the horrible animal you are now, and you fail to embrace it."
Sharik: "I would never embrace such acts as something to be proud of. I am not one of the monsters of that... that...
Entity: "That memory? Jejeje, fool, you descend from one of them."
The revelation made Sharik's blood freeze inside of him, sweat starting to pour out of his face in raw shock and terror after what the Entity told him, and despite how much he wished to deny it, the fact that he felt such a resemblance of himself in that body was more than enough evidence of that.
Entity: "You descend from a monster, one that had no qualms or remorse for the lifes he took, but despite that, on the day of your rampage, you defended one of THEM" It said that last part with corrosive hatred as images of a black jaguar, Sharik's brother of another species, appeared above them, making Sharik dread once more about the prospect of hurting him "You were exactly like how your predecessor was, but you have this empathy for those carnivores, something that is just an obstacle from what you are destined to."
Those words plagued Sharik's heart with great fear and pain, dropping on his knees and hating that the entity was, in a way, right, he can and did become a monster, he killed those carnivores violently and without mercy and... had he not gone after the last 2, he dreaded to think what he could do against his friends, how he could have mauled Alejandro, how he could kill Joaquín, or even what harm he could now do to Óscar... those thoughts manifested as images that began surrounding him, witnessing himself killing every one of them in a gruesome manner, screaming in pain and terror as he clutched his head, trying to stop these images from appearing.
Sharik: "¡DETENTE, NO ME FUERCES A HACER ESTO! ¡NO TE DEJARÉ FORZARME A HACERLO!" He screamed in despair.
Entity: "Patético, tratando de negar tu legado. ¿Y para qué?" It approached the young cebra, grabbing him by the neck as the herbivore tried to free himself from the choking grasp. "¡Para ellos no eres más que carne viviente! ¡Ellos mataron a millones de herbívoros en el pasado! ¡ELLOS MERECEN SUFRIR COMO LOS DE NUESTRA ESPECIE HAN SUFRIDO!" As it violently screamed, a green fire ignited from its eyes, trying to corrupt the young herbivore and forcing him to oblige.
Sharik cried in fear, tears flowing from his eyes as he felt himself succumb to his madness, thrashing violently to release himself from this entity's grip, yet it seemed useless as "he" wasn't letting go, and just as it's grip over him was maintained, he saw from under his hooves a green fire starting to consume him, and as the fire climbed his body, he began to feel a burning rage taking over, his own eyes glowing in the neon green fire as guttural snarls came from his mouth, something that made the entity "smiled" as this was happening.
Entity: "Yes, let it consume you, embrace your destiny."
As the fire burned and climbed up his abdomen, the young cebra felt himself weakened, as if the flames consumed his energy to make him easier to succumb to the madness. Just as the fire was reaching for his chest, new images started to appear all around them, but unlike the ones from before, these were his memories, memories of the times he shared with his friends, both carnivores and herbivores, the support and compassion the nurses showed him, the love of his family, the friendship he formed with Óscar and, most importantly, the bond he build with Alejandro, how both of them became brothers of another species, the memory of how they met flashing above them as a light of hope. As the entity saw in confusion what was going on, Sharik started to regain strenght thanks to his memories, forcing the grip on his neck open to then violently kick the entity directly into it's chest, sending it flying for almost 10 meters as he landed on his feet. When the entity stood up, he was shocked to see the zebra standing tall against it, not only that, but the flames that consumed him were gone, replaced with a bright aura that surrounded his body like a suit of armor, and even when his eyes shined in a neon green glare, his right eye slowly changed of color, becoming a neon light blue, leaving the entity speechless as it didn't know what was happening, but he didn't get a time to react as Sharik spoke.
Sharik: "Te equivocas, Bludgeon. Puede que esté maldito, y quizás haya causado esas horribles muertes, pero nunca permitiré que esa locura me consuma, no dejaré que tomes control de mí, voy a luchar contra esta maldición y la dominaré para nunca volver a causar esa atrocidad. Lucharé para volverme más fuerte, por mis amigos, por mi familia y en honor a mis hermanos." The glow on his eyes and the light of his aura increased as he spoke each word with courage, bravery, and love, a look of great determination formed in his face. "¡Juro por todos ellos que ganaré esta guerra contra tí!"
The entity, who now had a name, was watching expressionless the display of the young teen, but it was truthfully astonished for the courage that this kid was showing against him; even with this, he could see that he was still scared of what he could do, making him chuckle sinisterly.
Bludgeon: "Es lindo que afirmes que podrás dominar esto, pero será interesante verte intentar." He expressed on a mocking tone, beginning to dissipate like the smoke of a campfire. "Consider this your victory, but never forget this: we WILL see each other again, for I am a part you, always will be." After those last words, Bludgeon vanished into the darkness, leaving the young zebra alone and at ease, for now.
Waking up in a cold sweat, the young cebra hold his chest in one hand as he breathed anxiously, slowly calming himself down to finally give a last exhalation in relief, happy that such a nightmare was over, at least for now. As he felt the sweat flowing through his face, Sharik stood up from his bed to go towards the bathroom, giving a quick glance at the clock on the wall.
It marked 6:30 a.m
Surprised by how early he woke up this time, Sharik put that aside to then enter the bathroom and wash his face, taking a time to reflect on everything that happened as he watched himself in the mirror, fortunately, he didn't saw Bludgeon in there, so for now it was all on his head.
Sharik: (Si eso era realmente la manifestación de la maldición... entonces esto va a ser mucho más difícil. No sé como les contaré esto a mis doctores)
After washing his face, Sharik returned to his bed and grabbed one of his comics, turning on the table lamp next to his bed to start reading as he awaited the sun to rise.
R&NH Hospital's Cafeteria
8:50 a.m.
After the whole waking up ordeal, and explaining Eileen about his nightmare, Sharik was escorted by Naomi as the snow leopard notified Yamato and Azumi about this development, hoping that it would not be a problem with his physical tests that he would undergo today, but even with all of this in mind, Sharik smiled as not only he defeated what a carnivore would describe as it's predatory instincts, he knew this could be a step closer to heal, and such joy was noted by the shoebill stork, who gently caressed the young herbivore on his head.
Naomi: (Even after everything that happened this morning, he finds a way to smile. Oh, how jealous I am that he is not my son) "I see that you are quite optimistic despite your nightmare, you must be quite proud of your success in dealing with your curse."
Sharik: "Yes, I am. Honestly, it was a terrifying encounter, but I drew strength from my memories, the ones about my friends and family, and I was able to drive it away! I won against the curse for the first time!" He exclaimed in joy, full of hope that he could conquer it now.
Naomi: "Hehehe, I love that optimism, little one, you are certainly very strong despite of how your curse operates, hopefully we can help you to complete that conquest" (Awww, so cute. He is going to become very popular in the future, hehehe)
After arriving at the cafeteria, both nurse and patient parted ways and Sharik went to grab his food trail, which consisted of a fruit bowl, 3 pancakes with butter and honey and milk, while most herbivores preferred to drink almond or soy milk, Sharik didn't like any of those and instead went for regular milk for his breakfast. Heading to the table where he ate with Óscar last time, the zebra found the ocelot once more, and after sitting down, they both ate happily and talked about how they were doing today and about stuff they both like.
Óscar: "So you are an anime fan too?"
Sharik: "Yeah, I picked a liking for it even before moving over to Japan, I think the first one I saw was Dragon Ball, one of my favorite series since I was younger, and got me into practicing some martial arts myself."
Óscar: "Oh, that's so cool, no wonder you became that strong, it would be nice to see you practice, hehe~" He flirted a bit, making the herbivore smile gently "I prefer more romantic animes, like The Princess and the Pilot, that's just a classic."
Sharik: "Hehe, can imagine that, I got a friend who also loves that anime. You could probably watch a marathon together one day."
Óscar: "Oh, I would love that." As both of them continue to eat, an expected question came to Óscar's mind. "So, who are your friends? I bet they are a diverse group. "
Sharik: "Yes, we are. My friends are all of different species of both herbivores and carnivores. In fact, the first one was a jaguar." He said this with much joy, for it was one of his favorite memories.
Óscar: "Oh really? That's cool, so you became empathic to carnivores because of that friend of yours?"
Sharik: "Yes, he was a great influence in me, and since we both met, we became inseparable."
Óscar: "Wow. Well, I do hope one day I get to know him, and I'm sure glad I would get to join such a diverse friend group... though I hope they don't mind that I'm gay."
Sharik: "Don't worry buddy, they will accept you with open arms, although Francisco probably would make some light jokes about it, he tends to be boisterous and unfiltered, but you won't find a more loyal cape buffalo on this side of the world."
The reveal that Sharik was friend of a cape buffalo left Óscar speechless, cape buffalos were infamous world wide as one of the most dangerous bovine species, even above gaurs, as they often attacked and killed carnivores onsight, especially spotted hyenas and lions, even other herbivores such as wildebeest or deer were not save from them, so the fact that Sharik befriended the one herbivore with the title of "Black Death" made him wonder what other animals this cebra called friends, and he was glad he chose him as one of them.
Óscar: "Dude, you are starting to sound like an ambassador for carnies and herbies. Are you trying to become the Beastar?"
Sharik: "Uhh... what's a Beastar?" He asked embarrassment, a shock to anyone close by to hear him say that question. "You would think after living here for 3 years, I would already know, but... truthfully, I haven't even heard of the term until now." He lowered his ears in shame.
Óscar: "Wow, I wasn't expecting that, but don't worry, Sharik, I would tell you everything you want to know about the Beastars."
Sharik: "Thank you, Óscar, I will appreciate that." He said with a kind smile.
Óscar: "No problem, now pay attention because it's quite a lot." Then the ocelot proceeded to explain what a Beastar was and the role they played in society all the while Sharik listened closely.
Yamato's Office
While the 2 young animals ate, Yamato was, alongside Azumi, discussing about what Eileen had told them about Sharik's nightmare before he went to the cafeteria; they have first learned about it from a barn owl nurse that worked at the night shift who overheard the zebra's panicked awakening of which he had recover quite quicker than expected, and when Eileen went to tell her about what exactly occur, she gave them a drawing Sharik made of, from what the zebra had told her, was THE manifestation of his curse, a single look to that emaciated soldier was enough to make both carnivores feel very worried, but they now had a new insight of how this curse works.
Yamato: "I never expected that the curse could also alter the instincts of an animal. It's something... disturbing, if I'm honest."
Azumi: "I'm not sure how he was able to beat this thing, but perhaps now it means that we could try some therapies utilized on carnivores to help him gain a better control over this 'Bludgeon'"
Yamato: "Even if they could work, first we need to identify what has been triggering the curse in the first place, something I believe you will find out today."
Azumi: "Yeah, I will make sure of that... but... I have my doubts about the detonation part. You saw how scared he was of becoming that 'monster' again."
Yamato: "I know, but we both know than this is the best way we could help him to gain control, I'm sure you will be able to give him the reassurance he needs for these tests. He trusts you."
Azumi: "I know, and I have the tests ready. It's just that he is so young, I myself am worried that this may be too much for him."
Seeing his colleague and friend being nervous like this, contrary to the bold and confident personality she generally showed, made him realize that she was truly preoccupied about how this could affect Sharik and the mistrust it could result from this. Standing up from his desk, Yamato went towards the spectacled bear and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, looking at her with a friendly smile.
Yamato: "I understand that this may be a difficult thing to do, Azumi, but I'm certain he will agree to do this, we have seen how brave and selfless this zebra colt is, and there's no one better to aid him in these tests than you, you can give confidence and safety to anyone here, I wouldn't trust you with this task if I didn't know you can." Said the brown hyena, which made Azumi feel better about what must be done.
Azumi: "You are right, Yamato, he may be young but he is very brave, besides, I'm pretty sure he would like to brag about his strenght during the tests like the stud he is." She said with a small laugh, which made Yamato chuckle a little. Afterward, Azumi exited the office to go towards the "test lab" to make the final preparations. "I will tell you when everything is ready, and make sure to have your therapies ready for your patients, I don't want to find you slacking."
Yamato: "Hehehehe, I will, don't worry." And after that, both carnivores went back to work.
R&NW Hospital Test Labs
1:34 p.m.
After Sharik took his cognitive behavioral therapy, which helped him greatly overcome the PTSD of his rampage, he was escorted by Eileen towards the test labs of the hospital, on the way there, she explained to Sharik what those labs were for, which was a new addition to analyze the capabilities of cursed herbivores and study what their triggers were and to further study how the mutations altered the physical capabilities, all in a concealed and secured place to avoid collateral damage or any accident. On the way there, the snow leopard noticed her patient was nervous.
Eileen: "Fearing to enter into that curse, sweetheart?"
Sharik: "Yeah... I'm not sure if I will be able to calm down before I hurt somebody, and... well, the whole prospect of becoming that monster again terrifies me." He said in a saddened tone, his ears pointed forward. In response to this, Eileen hugged the young herbivore and caressed his crin to make him feel better.
Eileen: "I understand it is scary, but it is going to help you conquer this terrifying curse. You are very brave, and you have a big heart, I'm confident you will achieve this." She said with a gentle and kind voice, which gave Sharik reassurance and the boost in morale he needed to go forward with the tests.
Sharik: "Thank you, Eileen, I promise I'm going to beat Bludgeon. I would never let him turn me into a monster!" He said with bravery, ears pointing upwards.
Eileen: "That's the spirit, Sharik! Now go, Azumi is waiting for you, I have to attend the other patients, but you are in good hands."
Sharik: "I know, and I hope things go well with them." And with that, Sharik entered the office of the lab when Azumi was waiting for him on her desk. "Hello, doctor, good afternoon."
Azumi: "Hello Sharik, I'm glad to see you again, take a seat." She said gently, and after Sharik sat down, the briefing began. "Alright, as you know, I'm going to run some tests on you to determine your physical capabilities and to find out what detonates your curse, I understand the last part is very scary and you may not want to go through it, but it is necessary to help you control this curse."
Sharik: "I understand, doctor, and... truthfully, I am scared, but I don't want to let my fear stop me from recovering." He said once again with great determination, making Azumi smile at the sheer bravery of the colt.
Azumi: "Very well, in that case, follow me." She then stand up from her desk and guided Sharik to the test field of the lab, which looked quite a lot like a gym mixed with medical equipment, no doubt to measure what he could do.
As both animals accessed the test ground, Azumi brought him towards a table, on said table there was a glas container with what seemed to be 2 cooking gloves, making Sharik curious about what the use of these soft-looking gloves would be.
Azumi: "Alright, the first test we are gonna do is pain tolerance and physical resistance to harm."
Then she open the glass cage and took both of the gloves carefully, showing the inside of the mittens to the zebra, who got a big surprise to see a leaf-made glove infested with enormous ants in both of them, getting a bit nervous about what he had to do.
Azumi: "Back in South America, there are tribes that practice this coming of adulthood ritual, which consists on a boy introducing his hands into a pair of gloves full of bullet ants, and the boys take part in this ceremony at your age, but unlike them, you won't need to do it 20 times, hehe."
Such an explanation of the ritual made Sharik's skin crawl a bit in shock, fearing that it could be a very painful experience even with his possible resistance, however, it also find it peculiar that Azumi was a latín american such as him, though he leave that talk for later.
Sharik: "So... for how long do I have to keep my hands inside the mittens?"
Azumi: "Around 30 minutes, if you feel that you want to stop, tell me, and I will immediately take them off, alright?"
Sharik gulped a bit in fear, but he retook his determined mindset and stepped forward.
Sharik: "Let's do this."
With that conformation, Azumi placed both ant infested mittens over the young herbivore's hands, the sudden moves caused the insects to panic and began to sting the young zebra, feeling the pain of all the hundreds of stingers coming from the angry swarm. While the stings were certainly painful, and he could feel his hands swelling in response, Sharik wasn't feeling as much pain as he expected, in fact, it was even manageable for him, leaving him in quite the shock as he looked at Azumi, who had a knowing smirk on her face.
Azumi: "Impressive, you seemed to have developed a very strong resistance to pain and harm. Even some of the bigger herbivores I attended expressed more discomfort during this trial."
Sharik: "Wow, good to know I'm not the first one, hehehe, although I thought, AUCH! I thought all of them had the same resistance as me."
Azumi: "While that's true, it appears that your body saw the need to make you even more resistant due to past experiences, in this case, because you were nearly killed at a very young age."
After the 30 minutes had passed, Azumi took off the mittens from Sharik's hands and put them back on the glass cage, which only now was apparent for Sharik that was an artificial anthill for the ants to live, watching Azumi leave some food for the ants on a compartment below them, then she went back to Sharik to examine his hands.
Azumi: "The swelling is only 35% of what I was expecting, and your skin doesn't show that much damage caused by the stingers or mandibles either. Are you feeling any burning or irritation?" She asked as she gently touched the hands of the zebra colt, who could feel a notable yet slight discomfort as a response of that.
Sharik: "Yes, I feel they are burning, but it's not as painful as I expected. I'm glad the swelling isn't as bad. I guess I am more sturdy now due to my curse."
Azumi: "Seems to be the case. Well, now, I'm going to put some oinment on your hands before we go to the next test, for which you will need to be shirtless as this involves taking cardiac measures." She then went to a wheeled table and took a jar from there.
Sharik: "I understand. Man, my mom is gonna get very concerned about this"
Azumi: "Leave the explanation to me, which reminds me, your parents will be visiting today. They said someone else was coming, a little brother of yours, if I recall correctly." She said to then approach Sharik with the open jar, revealing a greenish white oinment, from which she took a good amount on her fingers to begin applying it on the hands of her patient.
As he received the oinment, Sharik's face turned into a huge smile from the mention of his brother, his ears pointed upwards and his tail wagged with great joy as he struggled to stay put for the oinment application.
Sharik: "Oliver is coming? Oh my Brachio, that's wonderful! I have missed him so much! I bet he will be excited to see me again, too!" He said with great happiness as his words expressed his love for his little brother, something that warmed the heart of Azumi as she couldn't help but smile at the cebra's excitement.
After healing the zebra's hand, Azumi and Sharik went towards an electric treadmill, a stationary bicycle, an ecg machine next to them and, surprisingly, a collapsible bed right next to it with a sport short on top of it, making the equid wonder how exactly would this test be done, watching Azumi preparing the machine before she began to explain.
Azumi: "Judging by your facial expression, you are questioning how all of this relates to your physical tests."
Sharik nodded at this cuestion as he, per order of Azumi, took his hospital clothing and placed it on a coat rack to then put on the sport shorts.
Azumi: "What I'm going to do is to perform a stress test on you.The test is to measure your heart function while working at its hardest, such as when you are exercising. I have done this test on the other cursed patients for the same purpose, this is due to the alterations that the curse has had on your heart, which could lead to cardiac abnormalities or other possible ailments."
Sharik: "Oh my. I hope there's nothing wrong with my heart if that's the case, but... did any of them have any cardiac ilness, like, for example, arrhythmia?"
Azumi: "One of them did, a bongo antelope. He had tachycardia and got some medicines and therapies prescribed to help him treat his ailment, fortunately, it is highly unlikely that you develop something like that, but it is always good to be sure, don't you agree?"
Sharik: "Yes, better safe than sorry. So, how do we start?"
Azumi: "First I will measure your vitals on rest, so I will connect some electrodes to your body before you lay down on the bed" As she said that, the bear doctor took 8 electrodes from the ekg monitor and pulled them gently, extending them so they could reach the zebra's body, after that, she gently placed 2 close to his shoulders, 2 on the center of his chest and another 4 surrounding his left pectoral, 3 of these covering valves of his heart.
Sharik: "Jejeje, it tickles." He said as he felt the suction cups stick to his body.
This earned a maternal smile from Azumi as she connected the last one on his abdomen, placing the holter on the shorts band that connected to the heart monitor, finally, Azumi placed a cuff similar to that of a shygmomanometer on Sharik's left arm, with the curious zebra looking at all the things that were now connected to his body, as he did, he heard a sudden beeping sound coming from his left, and upon turning, the zebra teen saw the screen of the monitor, now turned on, an on it there were 3 lines that formed strange reliefs, and on a separate column divided on 4 squares that had some digital numbers that represented, for what he could understand, a measure taken from him, each set of numbers had a different color, with the former 3 matching the line left from the column. This reminded him of a machine he saw one time when he was in the hospital, but he didn't exactly know what he was looking at.
Sharik: "What are those measures on the screen? Are all of those coming from me?"
Azumi: "That's right, the 4 of them represent data collected from the electrodes and the scuff." She began explaining as she pointed at each of the column cells. "This yellow number represents your heart rate, the number representing how many times your heart is beating per minute, the green one represents your breathing frequency, blue is for oxygen saturation and red is your blood pressure." She explained while pointing to each measure shown in the monitor as the zebra looked with a natural curiosity and interest, paying particular attention to the yellow one as it marked a 85 while he was sitting on the bed.
Sharik: "Is it normal that my heart rate is that high on rest?" He asked a bit in worry.
Azumi: "It technically is, the normal range is 60 to 100 beats per minute, although you have so far the highest heart rate from all of the cursed patients I have examined, you might be full of energy." She said with a kind smile as Sharik blushed a little for that observation.
Sharik: (Well, now mom might know how I was such a tireless colt, hehe)
After 10 minutes of measuring his vitals on rest, Azumi activated the treadmill and ordered Sharik to start with the second part of the test, complying and starting to walk at a normal pace, with the spectacled bear commencing to slowly increased the speed, the idea being to see how long it takes the zebra to reach his cardiac threshold.
R&NH Hospital Reception
2:05 p.m.
As the test was going on, Jasiri and Oliver arrived at the mental hospital on her car, having parked at a nearby small public parking lot in front of the hospital to then cross the street towards it. Jasiri was wearing a grey oxford t-shirt and black jeans while Oliver was wearing an black shirt with a deco of The Flash and denim overalls and he was carrying a red backpack, both were wearing shoes specially designed for equids that had horseshoes at the bottom. After entering the hospital, both mother and son went to the recepcionist desk in order to check the visit scheduled for today.
Jasiri: "Good afternoon, I am here to visit Sharik Fernández." She spoke politely to the nurse as she kept an eye on Oliver, who looked around curiously.
Upon recognizing the female zebra, the receptionist, who was a female arabian wolf named Suki, quickly checked the schedule, finding that there was indeed a visit marked at this hour.
Suki: "You came a bit earlier than expected. Currently, Sharik is undergoing his physical tests, but it doesn't seem to be any problem with you going to see him right now. "
Oliver: "He is getting tested? Is he doing okay?" Said the little colt whose voice caught the nurse off guard, looking over the desk to look quite surprised at the younger zebra colt.
Suki: (Hmm, he seems much smaller than his brother. Perhaps he doesn't have what he does). "I'm sure he is, little one. You came to see him, too?"
Oliver: "Yes, I'm his brother, and I miss him a lot. I want to see and make him happy to help him recover quickly." He smiled, excited and innocently.
Suki: "Awww, that's so cute on your part, I'm sure Sharik will love to see you." She then turned her gaze towards Jasiri. "Sharik is with Doctor Azumi on the test labs on the back of the facility, I will call Eileen so she escorts you to the lab, she may take a while to come if she is busy."
Jasiri: "That won't be a problem. We can wait. Come on, Oliver, let's wait for the nurse." She called her son as both went to sit on the chairs nearby to then wait for the nurse's arrival, which the little colt took advantage of as he grabbed from his backpack a notebook and a box of crayons in order to complete a special gift for his older brother.
Test Labs
As the 2 zebras waited, Sharik was running on the treadmill at great speed, breathing in coordination with the movements of his arms and legs as his vitals were registered in the monitor, his heart rate and blood pressure had greatly increased and his oxygen saturation was a healthy one, yet for Azumi, it seemed that these reading were a bit off since, while the heart rate was faster than before, it wasn't as quick as she expected.
Azumi: "Seems there is an inconsistency with your heart rate. Do you practice any sport or martial arts?"
Sharik: "I do, I took self-defense lessons, and my uncle teaches me mix martial arts, mainly muay thai and mma. Why?"
Azumi: "Compared to when you were resting, your heart rate while exercising seems to be lower than I expected. It appears you have done some intense exercise before, and this is a result of that."
Sharik: "You can be sure of that. My uncle's training routines could be very difficult for some of his students, I was one of the few who could endure it all. He often told me he was forging us to become warriors, jeje."
Azumi: "Sounds like he was a tough teacher, although I bet he was nicer to you given the family connection." She said as she took note of the measures and the condition of the zebra as he continued running.
As this was going on, Eileen was guiding Jasiri and Oliver to the entrance of the test labs; while she initially was curious and a bit worried about the younger brother of her patient, her fears were quick to dissappear when she saw that Oliver's eyes were not green, and as Jasiri explained to her, he was a colt of regular size for his age, which made the contrast all to evident between the 2 male zebras. As they were getting closer, both females could hear the excited taps Oliver did as with his hooves and how his tail wagged furoiusly, making it a pretty adorable sight.
Eileen: "Hehehe, I see that you are very excited to see him again, aren't you?"
Oliver: "Yes I am, I missed him so much, and I want to hug him and make him feel better just as he does with me when I'm sad." He said excited, touching Eileen for his jolly attitude and how much he loved his brother.
Eileen: "Awww, you are so cute. How did your mother conceive such a cute little angel?"
Jasiri: "I ask myself that every day." She answered playfully.
Finally, the 3 animals arrived at the entrance of the lab and Eileen opened the door so all of them could enter, once inside, Jasiri saw that it had a layout much similar to a regular lab, with machines used to recolect both physical and psychological data from different patients, as well as some tranquilizer guns in case any patient got out of control, at their left, there were 3 huge windows from which they were able to see what appeared to be a gym of a respectable size, on which there were plenty of appliances dedicated to the physical tests of, in this case, patients afflicted with the Curse of Madness. She then saw his son running on one of the treadmill as Azumi wad examining him, happy to see that everything seemed to go well, while Oliver was having a difficult time to look at what was happening, but with a little help from his mother, he was able to watch Sharik undergoing his test.
Oliver: "Mom, why is Sharik running on that? And what are those things on his chest?" He asked, curious and a bit worried for his brother, but Eileen gently gave the colt the answer he was looking.
Eileen: "Azumi, the doctor attending your big brother, is putting Sharik through a stress test, which means she is making him run to see how well his body responds to physical stress such as exercise. The things he has on his body are electrodes, which measure his heartbeat and breathing that is registered on the monitor next to him."
Oliver: "Ohh, is he doing okay?"
Eileen: "Seems to be the case." She then turned her sigh towards Jasiri. "Azumi has completed the blood test of Sharik. She will give you the results after the trials."
Jasiri: "Thank you, I'm glad to see everything is going well for him."
Eileen: "I need to depart to attend other patients, Azumi will call me if anything happens." Then the snow leopard went off to attend her other patients.
As this was happening, Sharik had begun to reach his cardiac threshold, which was a surprising rate of 130 beats per minute, higher than the regular estimates of his age group.
Azumi: "Very well, it seems like you have reached your threshold. Are you feeling tired right now?"
Sharik: "A bit, I don't feel exhausted, but I could use a break from this."
Azumi: "Alright, let's start cooling off."
Azumi then started to gradually reduce the speed of the treadmill, allowing Sharik to slow down and start to cool off, breathing in an out continously to aid in this process as sweat was visibly flowing down his face and neck, but other than that, he didn't look all that worn down by the exercise he did, taking a cloth Azumi gave to him to wipe the sweat.
Sharik: "Oof, I can feel my heart pounding, haven't exercised like that in a while."
Azumi: "I can see that. You did well in there. Your readings are once more outstanding but healthy, given your condition." As she took notes of the results, she saw 2 figures on the window above them, smiling as she knew what that meant. "And you had quite the public this time."
Sharik: "What do you mea..." He turned towards the window and almost stopped on his tracks upon watching his mother up there, but what truly shocked him was the presence of a little colt on the arms of his mom, his tail starting to wag in joy as he recognized who that was. "Oliver!"
Oliver: "¡Mira mamá, Sharik nos está viendo, está feliz de vernos!" Said the little colt as he saw the expressions of his brother, waving happily on salute as Sharik corresponded from the other side, thing that Jasiri also began to do.
Jasiri: "Yes, he is, Oli. It seems you have made him very happy."
As this was going on, and the treadmill came to a stop, Azumi approached Sharik with her stethoscope to check his heart and lungs, but because of the huge joy running through the colt's little body, he gently got out of his mother's embrace and went towards the door than lead to the gym, which Jasiri quickly noticed and tried to stop him.
Jasiri: "Oliver, wait!" She tries to go after him, but Oliver was faster, and once he entered the gym, he darted towards his big brother, and as Sharik witness his little brother run towards him, he got off the treadmill and gently crouched down to embrace his little brother. As Oliver finally reached Sharik, the 2 brothers shared a big hug, both their tails wagging in pure joy of being reunited once again after so much time being separated. As they shared this loving embrace, tears started to come out of both of their eyes and they didn't let go of each other for many minutes; this heartwarming and beautiful reunion was not without it's witnesses, and Jasiri, who was now inside the gym, saw and cried with maternal happiness and tenderness her 2 boys sharing the brotherly love they were missing, Azumi too was touched by this scene and even smiled happily at such a cute scene.
Oliver: "Te extrañé mucho, Sharik, creí que te iban a dejar aquí por siempre, que no volverías a casa." Hearing his brother say that tugged as his heartstrings, understanding how lonely and worried Oliver was since he didn't entirely understood what was happening, Jasiri too felt the same, approaching to caressed his younger son as she kissed both on them in the forehead, smiling as his 2 boys shared this moment together.
Sharik: "No te preocupes Oli, no me iré para siempre. Aun necesito quedarme aquí para poder averiguar que me pasa y poder sanar, pero pronto podré regresar a casa. Tienes mi palabra de que volveré" Both brothers then saw each other eye to eye, his neon green eyes contrasting with the yellow orange of Oliver's eyes.
Oliver: "¿Deveras? ¿Promesa de rayas?" He asked as he gently extended his arm, the patterns of his stripes completely visible. Such a gesture was corresponded by Sharik, who linked his stripes with the ones of his little brother.
Sharik: "Promesa de rayas." He said with a tender smile, making his brother smile in happiness too. However, their moment came to a stop as the spectacled bear doctor put a gentle hand over Sharik's shoulders.
Azumi: "Not to interrupt the happy reunion, but we need to continue the trials."
Nodding to his doctor, Sharik let go of Oliver and stood up to full height, with Jasiri and Oliver stepping aside. Afterward, Azumi placed the earpieces of her stethoscope to later place the diaphragm of the stethoscope on Sharik's chest to examine his heart, which was still agitated by the exercise he did. As Azumi checked his patient's heartbeat, Oliver became curious about what she was doing, getting closer to her under the supervision of Jasiri.
Oliver: "Are you checking my brother's heart? Is he healthy?" The innocence on his voice and question made Azumi internally melt of cuteness, smiling to the little colt as she stopped the examination to answer him.
Azumi: "He is quite healthy, and his heart sounds quite well. Would you like to take a listen?"
Oliver: "Yes, please!" He replied, excited.
Taking off her stethoscope and cleaning the earpieces with some nearby wipes as Oliver took a small bench to use as a step, she placed the earpieces on Oliver's ears and let him put the stethoscope on Sharik chest, allowing the colt to listen to his older brother's heartbeats.
Lub-dub~lub-dub~ lub-dub ~lub-dub ~lub-dub ~lub-dub ~lub-dub ~lub-dub ~lub-dub ~lub-dub
Oliver: "Wow. Your heart sounds very strong, it sound like 'PUM-PUM~PUM-PUM~PUM-PUM' it's so cool!
Sharik: "Aww, gracias hermanito." He said while blushing at such an adorable compliment, which made both his mother and Azumi die of cuteness.
Right after this very adorable scene, Azumi disconnected the electrodes from his chest and turned off the ECG monitor to then proceed to the 3rd trial, which consisted on examine his physical capabilities regarding his raw strength, which was part of the reason this part of the laboratory was setup as a gym. Moving to a modular terrace on which sat the 2 zebras, and the doctor to observe the patient in action, Sharik began with the first trial which was lifting barbell weight of 200 kilograms 30 consecutive times, much to Jasiri's concern as she thought this was too much for such a young boy, however those worries were laid to rest as soon as Sharik lifted the huge weights on his first try, and he proceeded to repeat the process until reaching the goal, leaving both herbivores in shock for how easy he achieved it, while Azumi observed analytically as she took notes of what she was seeing. The next test consisted on dragging a cart carrying 6 blocks of cinder, each weighting 200 kilograms, with a harness around his body, throughout a curse of 1 kilometer, and while at the beginning he struggled because of his age, eventually he was able to drag his cargo all the way to the end of the course, such a display of strength was quite shocking even for Azumi, as only her buffalo and gaur patients were able to complete the dragging course without dropping exhausted. Jasiri, too, was in shock, witnessing how his son had such inmense strength at this age, wondering what his limits would be when he is older, as for Oliver, he was quite amazed by his brother's feats, believing he would become a superhero, not knowing yet than such strength came with a deadly secret.
The final exam was a less demanding one since all Sharik had to do was hit the force meter. First, he had to give it a punch without holding back, which he did and the meter registered an astounding 1,280 kilograms of force, which was already strong enough to easily break concrete and inflict great damage if he wasn't careful. Afterward, he had to kick the same spot, and with one powerful swing of his leg, the meter registered 1,500 kilograms of force, which was higher than the normal kick strength of his species. Such force left Azumi speechless as this was by far the strongest kick of any of her patients, only the water buffalo she examined before came close to this force on the kicks, and in punches Sharik wasn't behind either, she believed when he was older he could potentially become the strongest non-megafaunal herbivore of the whole city, but for both her and Sharik it was clear that he needed to learn how to control his strength, for even a single wrong hit could be lethal.
After his physical trials, Azumi prepared an encephalogram device to his head via electrodes similar to the ECG test, after that and with the help of Jasiri, she placed 5 realistic looking mannequins that replicated the bodies of carnivores, from bones and flesh to organs and even blood, of these dummies, the first was shaped like a black jaguar, the second was a black caiman, the 3rd one was a polar bear, the fourth was that of a Mackenzie Valley wolf and the last one had the shape of a harpy eagle, all of these had the anatomical characteristics of each species they represented, like the armored skin of the cayman and hollow bones of the eagle. Having already an idea of what the purpose of the mannequins were, Sharik swallowed in fear of becoming that horrible monster again, especially now that his own younger brother would see him in that state of pure primal madness. As he was contemplating in terror what was going to happen, he felt a tight hug around his waist, turning to see that his brother was the one hugging him.
Oliver: "Don't be scared, Sharik, you are very brave and strong. You always helped me when I needed it, and now I want to help you beat this curse." Said his brother with the same determination he showed many times before, smiling as he caressed the head of the little colt.
Sharik: "Gracias, hermanito." He smiled before watching Oliver return to his mother as they ans Azumi ascended to the observatory of the lab, no doubt to avoid any collateral damage; once they were in there, she turn on a microphone that connected to some speakers at the corners of the windows, and then she began to explain Sharik about this test.
Azumi: "Alright, Sharik, this is the final test. As you may have realized by now, we are going to discover what exactly triggers your curse, as well as how it makes you act against carnivores. To accomplish this, l will play a series of recordings of different infrasounds to see which ones detonate it and make you so aggressive. The mannequins in front of you are to analyze the damage you may cause in such a state, each one of them replicating to a near match the real-life animals. Once 10 minutes pass and/or when the 5 mannequins are destroyed, I will make you calm down to get you out of the trance. Are you ready to do it?"
That briefing on what was going to happen didn't pass the nerves of Sharik at all, if anything, it made him even more nervous, Jasiri and Oliver also looked quite scared of what could happen, especially Jasiri since she had a better idea of the carnage his son was capable of, but more importantly, she wonder what methods would Azumi use to get Sharik out of his madness state, believing it was going to be tranquilizer darts, while Oliver hoped everything would be ok, taking his mother's hand in comfort. After 3 very long minutes, Sharik once again took his determined gaze and answered, his voice able to be heard clearly inside the office.
Sharik: "I'm not going to lie, I am TERRIFIED of what is going to happen to me... but I'm ready to face Bludgeon again."
Azumi smiled at this statement. However, this confused the 2 zebras as they didn't know what Sharik meant by that name.
Azumi: "Very well, honey, I will just explain some things to your family, and we will proceed." She then turned off the speakers as Sharik mentally prepared to massacre the dummies, which, due to how realistic they were, especially the jaguar one, made him all the more nervous about it.
Azumi: "Alright, I'm sure you may have questions, but this is important, I'm going to explain you how I will calm down Sharik, but for that I will need the help of Oliver."
This came as quite the shock for both of them, while this made Oliver excited for helping his brother, Jasiri, quite understandably, became very concerned at how he would be of help, but Azumi was quick to explain herself.
Azumi: "On 2 of my past patients with the curse, I discover that they were able to get out of their mad state upon listening to the voice of someone very close to them, in the first case it was the mother of the patient, and in the second it was their twin brother. My theory is that the curse can detonate not only as a result of infrasounds, but also when someone dear to the subjects is on grave danger, and if they hear them asking to stop, they will know they are safe and will do so immediately, and given how close the relationship between Oliver and Sharik is, it may be the best way to pull him out of the madness."
The revelation that Azumi made to them left both zebras speechless, but also made them very hopeful and relieved that they could save Sharik for causing great damage on such a way, and for Jasiri, it was tragic that the cursed herbivores would enter such a state in order to protect their loved ones, wondering what could happen if said loved one was a carnivore.
Oliver: "So, to help rescue my big brother, I have to tell him to stop, like, really loudly?"
Azumi: "Only to catch his attention initially, after that you must talk to him calmly, like if you were comforting him when he is sad."
Oliver: "Oh, then I will do it. I will save my brother just as he saved me from that monster!" He proudly stated as he made a superhero pose, which, while cute, was bittersweet for Jasiri due to what that "monster" took from them.
Azumi: "I like that attitude. Keep it up so you can help him." She smiled at the colt before turning on the microphone again. "Alright, Sharik, be ready, I'm going to start reproducing the infrasounds." She then turned on a laptop she brought with her and connected to the speakers. After that, she opened some audio files that contained the infrasound recordings, starting to reproduce them.
The first infrasound was that of an elephant, which was deep and seismic, making Sharik tremble as he could feel it pass through his body, sensing the great power of the of the infrasonic communication of the proboscideans.
Sharik: (So this is the secret elephant communication method Sebastian told me about. It is quite stronger than I thought)
While this was happening, the electrodes of the encephalogram, which were wireless, transmitted the brain activity of the zebra throughout the experiment to the main machine located in the office, printing the brainwave activity on registration papers, so far Sharik seemed mostly calmed, with some alterations related to any minor movement he was making or any thought. The second infrasound was that of a bat echolocation, which were high pitched and very squeaky.
Oliver: "Hehe, that's adorable." He commented as he listened to it. This didn't make Sharik act abnormally.
The third infrasound, which was the mating call of an american alligator, was able to put Sharik in a high alert state, turning erratically towards all directions as if he was watching for an oncoming threat, a sight that was disturbing for Jasiri.
Jasiri: (Oh Brachio, what is happening to my baby?)
Finally, the last recording was that of the roar of a tiger. The infrasound emitted from it was so powerful that it paralyzed Jasiri and made Oliver yelp in fear. Even Azumi was affected by the proximity of the roar.
However, the moment Sharik listened to the infrasound of the carnivore, he became tense for a second, and then a guttural snarl emerged from his throat as he revealed his fangs and sharp incisors, the neon green color of his irises overtaking the entirety of his eyes, leaving only his pupils which had shrunken at the same time this happen, giving him a monstrous gaze... and then... he gave a demonic, unnatural, horrifying roar as he stared at the mannequins, his mind, cloud by the madness, believing that those were carnivores with hostile intentions, and almost immediately after his roar ended, he charged towards the closest mannequin, and drilled a hole on the wolf's chest with a single hit. Time seemed to stop for Jasiri as she covered Oliver's eyes to avoid him witnessing such violence, even if it was against dummies, but the roar Sharik emitted was already enough to scared him, worrying about what just happened to his big brother. Azumi, while already used to see this level of violence, was nonetheless concerned for how even such a noble beast as Sharik could succumb to the madness.
This was far from over, as time appeared to recover it's flow, Sharik pulled his arm from the drilled chest of the wolf dummy and then proceeded to attack violently the bear dummy, punching it so hard it broke the skin and blubber, drawing streams of fake blood, cracks of the bone replica could be heard from the observatory; after eliminating the bear, and rising his head with a raging face, he pounced at the eagle dummy and, gripping the wings, he violently torn them from the body before slamming his fist violently against the head. As Jasiri watched in horror how his son was causing such a bloodshed, Azumi quickly took her chance to prepare to drag him out of the madness.
Azumi: "Oliver, get ready. Your brother needs your help."
However, the little colt was paralyzed by what was hearing, his sensitive ears catching every detail of what his brother was doing as the sound of jaws being ripped apart echoed through the gym. Just as it seemed that he would be unable to help, Jasiri quickly turned his son around and looked at him in the eyes, her maternal gaze calming the young colt as she spoke to him.
Jasiri: "I know it is scary, my love, but you must be brave now more than ever. Sharik needs you to escape his madness. Remember how he helped us so many times before? Now is your turn to help him! You can save him from the madness!" She spoke on a soft and motivational tone, rising the morale of Oliver who, with a similar determination to his brother, went towards Azumi to liberate Sharik from his curse.
As Sharik finished up the mannequin of the caiman, having torn the throat with a single bite and shattered the jaws, he turned to the last remaining carnivore: the jaguar. While his rage and instincts screamed at him to kill it, there was a very powerful opposition coming from his inner self, not wanting to attack that carnivore in particular as it was uncannily familiar, however, Bludgeon wasn't having any of that and violently pushed him to attack and kill it, charging at great speed with his blood-covered fist raised and fangs unsheated
Oliver: "¡Sharik, detente!"
The scream of his brother paralyzed Sharik right on his tracks, standing on a type of torpor as his curse was putting out, and Bludgeon started losing his grip over the young zebra. As the suspense of what could happen next increased, Jasiri felt the urge to intervene and help Sharik, however, she was cautious to do so in worry that it could caused an unintentional negative interference, but she gave her support to Oliver by placing her hands on his shoulders, showing him he wasn't alone and giving him the confidence and will he needed to save Sharik.
Oliver: "Por favor, hermanote, ya no tienes que pelear más, todo está bien, estamos a salvo. Sé que tienes miedo de que nos pase algo, pero no quiero que te hundas en la ira. Sé que siempre has estado ahí para ayudarme, a papá y a mamá, eres nuestro héroe y mi hermano. ¡Por favor no dejes que esta maldición te domine! ¡Regresa con nosotros, te amamos!"
Sharik: "O-Oli..." The heart-felt words of his brother bathed his mind in a light of love and hope, tears falling from his eyes as he thought back everyone he loved, his family and his friends, how each one of them had changed him to make him who he is, as well as the love they all shared, and as he bravely declared before, he will conquer his curse.
Eventually, the eyes of Sharik returned to normal, and his rage vanished from his mind, leaving the zebra a little disoriented as he recollected what had just happened, watching at his surroundings to see that he had utterly destroyed the mannequins minus the jaguar one, and that he was covered on fake blood that tasted like some sort of syrup, but as he recovered his senses, and saw once more the mannequin he hadn't destroyed, a smile began to appear on his face, getting closer to the dummy as he touched it gently.
Sharik: (Unbelievable... I... I was able to stop. Oli... you really helped me, little brother)
Watching from the observatory, Jasiri was speechless at what she just witness, not only how Sharik calmed down so quickly by hearing Oliver's voice, but by how did Oliver knew just what to say in order to achieve it, needless to say, she was very proud of her little angel, hugging him in joy as her tail wagged fueled by said emotion.
Jasiri: "You did it, Oli. You were able to save him!"
Oliver: "I... I did it..."
Sharik: "Oliver, you did it! You were right! You saved me from the curse! Thank you! I love you, hermanito!" Said Sharik overjoyed, as he now knew that those he loved so much could pulled him out from his madness, raising his hopes of conquering the curse.
Oliver: "I did it. Yeah, I did it!!" Said the little colt who bounced in excitement.
Meanwhile, Azumi was checking the readings recorded by the encephalogram during the madness stage, and just as she expected, the readings went off the roof, but much to her surprise, there were 2 great anomalies on the brainwave patterns: one was clear as it was when the curse seceded, but the first one registered was quite strange, as it was taken just after Sharik destroyed the cayman mannequin; turning towards the gym as Jasiri and Oliver went there to hug the zebra teen, Azumi realized that the black jaguar mannequin was left untouched, besides some fake blood splattered on top of it. Remembering how Jasiri had told her about the black jaguar that was close friends with Sharik, she believed that such close bonds could be the key for the young zebra to heal and beat his curse.
R&NW Hospital Room 212
4:30 p.m.
With the trials of today finished, Sharik was escorted by Eileen and accompanied by his mother and brother to his room, and once in there, Oliver took his backpack and pull out his toys so he could play with his brother, and Sharik gladly accepted to play with him. While the 2 boys were playing with their toys, many of these being figures of robots of different shapes and colors capable of transforming into a variety of vehicles, Azumi and Jasiri were talking about the blood test results of Sharik, which revealed plenty of interesting things.
Jasiri: "Sharik's blood is toxic? How could that be?" She asked quite in shock.
Azumi: "For what I was able to see on the testing, his blood produces some kind of toxin that eliminates most parasites and microorganisms that enters his bloodstream, but this same toxin, based on experiments made with feral wild cats, can outright kill them if consumed. Fortunately, the toxin also gives out a foul taste, so most often than not, any carnivore that bites him would immediately back away, in addition, this toxin doesn't appear to harm his body in anyway."
Jasiri: "That's a big relief, I was fearful this could compromise his health, though the fact this 'toxin' making him having a foul taste is quite peculiar, atleast that would help him against predator offenders he may face in the future." While Jasiri didn't have a bad outlook towards carnivores, she always understood that predation, much like other serious crimes, was still a threat, and given Sharik's nature of protecting those in need, she was worry that he could get badly wounded or worse on this scenarios. "Were there any other anomalies on his blood?"
Azumi: "I discover that he was producing a big amount of additional hormones, among them adrenaline, growth hormone, noradrelanine and testosterone, which is the cause of his incremented physical development and strength, but it seems to be correlated with his madness state. Due to the results of the experiment, he will be kept away from any carnivore that displays aggressive tendencies in order to avoid infrasounds, but he won't be kept away from carnivores as a whole."
Jasiri: "That's good to hear, Sharik hates segregation, and he would not want to be subjected to it, which happened during his trial." She said as she remembered how depressed and scared his son looked during that time, even now it broke her heart.
Azumi: "I understand that feeling. That's how many patients on this hospital feel after the predations they committed, even though many of them failed to devour their target."
As they continue to discuss the results, Oliver showed Sharik a couple of drawings he made for him. In one, they were together as they rode on a yellow cloud through the sky, and there was another one in which Sharik defended him, Jabari and his friends from a feral crocodile using a large stick, back when they lived in Yucatán.
Sharik: "Wow, Oli... son fantásticos. Haz mejorado bastante en tus dibujos."
Oliver: "Gracias hermanote, quise hacerlos como regalo para que te sientas mejor aquí, y también para que tengas algo de mí mientras te quedas en el hospital."
Sharik: "Muchas gracias Oli." He smiled and then hugged his little brother, which the younger colt happily reciprocated.
Ancient Jungle Street
4:45 p.m
.
On a 2 floor house that had a mix of japanese and american architecture, more specifically on one of the rooms on the second floor, a young beast was painting a nostalgic image of himself and his best friend, one that he yearned to see again. This young mexican jaguar of 12 years of age, wearing yellow shorts but lacking a shirt, was not a typical individual, for starters, he was melanistic, meaning that his body was almost completely black, although his spots could still be distinguish if you shined a light on top of them; the second was that, for a jaguar, he was quite small and thinner than normal, to the point of sometimes appearing malnourished. This physical condition was because of a premature birth resulting from an accident. Because of his delicate state at birth as well as how it translated into his physical development, this jaguar was quite shy and found it hard to socialize with others, that was until he met a special someone, a Burchell's zebra that, overtime, became his closest friend and his brother of another species.
As he dipped his brush with paint of a different color, he heard someone gently opening the door, turning to see who it was, the young beast saw a female black jaguar, much older than himself, dressed on a doctor outfit with a stethoscope around her neck, said jaguar looked quite a lot like him, from the color of the eyes to the spots and even his crooked fingers, and the female was giving him a smile and a look that he would recognize anywhere. This was his mother, and it seemed she had just come back home from work.
Ximena: "Hola Alex ¿Cómo te sientes hoy?" She asked on a warm voice, his son in question leaving the brush over the paint pot to stand up from his chair and going towards her, giving her a warm hug.
Alejandro: "Hola mamá, pues he estado bien, entreteniéndome pintando." He said on a soft and tender voice, letting his mother see the painting he was making, which was of the first time he and Sharik went out together.
Ximena: "Aww, es una obra muy linda, estoy seguro de que le va a encantar."
Alejandro: "Gracias mamá." As he said that, his frowned a little after remembering what happened to his friend, but he changed his attention when he heard his mother's voice.
Ximena: "Alex, ¿podrías sentarte en la cama, por favor? Es hora de revisarte." She said as she took her stethoscope from her neck.
Alejandro: "Ok, mamá." He then sat on his bed, right next to his desk, and her mother utilized his wheeled chair to come close to Alejandro.
Ximena: "¿Haz sentido dolores en el pecho o mareos?" She asked as she placed the earpieces on her ears, looking over the scar on her son's chest.
Alejandro: "Mareos no, aunque sí sentí una leve molestia en mi pecho tras venir de la alberca."
Ximena: "Ya veo. Bien, déjame escuchar." She then gently placed her stethoscope over Alex's chest, listening carefully to the heart of her son.
L-dub-dub~ lub-dub~ l-dub-dub~ l-dub-d-dub~ lub-dub~ l-dub-dub~ lub-dub~ lub-d-dub~ lub-dub
As she listen, Ximena look a bit sad, remembering her son's heart was in a delicate condition; due to his premature birth, Alejandro suffered from patent ductus arteriosus, an opening between his aorta and pulmonic artery, which while able to be treated on time, it left him with a permanent cardiac arrhythmia, causing him to get tired faster and sometimes pass out if he pushed himself too far.
Ximena: "Hmm, aun late irregularmente, pero parece que la natación te ha ayudado a mantenerlo regular. Recuerda tomar tu medicina esta noche."
Alejandro: "Sí mamá." Even while he tried to sound positive, her mother could sense that something was troubling him greatly, and he knew what that was.
Ximena: "Aun te preocupa Sharik ¿no es así?" She asked as she gently placed a hand on his son's face, temporarily taking out the earpieces of the stethoscope.
Alejandro: "Sí, me tiene muy preocupado, no sé si su condición haya mejorado o no y, la verdad tengo miedo de que se vuelva ese monstruo otra vez..." He shivered at the grim memory, remembering the cry of desperation from the zebra which soon was replaced by that unnatural roar. "Even at the trial I could see he was terrified for what he did. I just wish I could see him to help him."
As he expressed his concerns, getting sad for the curse that haunted his brother, Ximena quickly hugged him to gave him much needed comfort, and after that he look at him gently, admiring how Alejandro still saw Sharik as his closest friend despite the fact such a horrible curse haunted him
Ximena: "I understand what you mean, even if he did what he did, he never meant that to happen, and I'm happy you see it that way." She said as she thought about something to cheer Alex up, and then an idea came to mind. "Si quieres, podrías organizar una visita al hospital con tus amigos para poder ver a Sharik, puedo asegurarte de que va a estar muy feliz de verlos otra vez." Upon hearing that idea, Alex beamed in hope and happiness, a smile that her mother always loved to see from him.
Alejandro: "Sí, podríamos hacer eso, y quizás pueda llevarle algún regalo para hacerlo sentirse mejor, aunque probablemente Joaquín no pueda venir por... bueno, ya sabes."
Ximena: "Entiendo eso, corazón, pero igualmente será algo maravilloso para Sharik, ustedes comparten un lazo muy especial, y eso podría ser de valiosa ayuda para ayudarlo a recuperarse."
Alejandro: "Gracias mamá, voy a asegurarme de ayudarlo tal y como siempre me ha ayudado a mí. En nuestra manada, nos cuidamos entre todos." Such inspiring words made Ximena very happy, it was something wonderful how Alex had changed so much after he met that zebra, how they had help each other to overcome everything in life so far.
Ximena: "Very well, Alex. Now let's continue with your check-up, after that you can organize the visit with Francisco and Sebastián."
Alejandro: "I will mom, they are gonna be happy to join."
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