Spirit Animals
Jan. 7th, 2011 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badassbooksnakeDavid has always seen things, and had always kept it a secret, even when he was young, ever since the nurse he'd try to talk about the animals that lived inside people had looked at him like he was crazy.
All he had to do was concentrate, and a window of some kind would open up within his mind, and he could see things. He could see stuff like if people were feeling good or bad and how much, too, but what was most interesting were people's Inner Animals, or Spirit Animals, or whatever they really were.
Private Ashly's Spirit Animal for instance was a sturdy looking mutt, short eared and ferocious-looking. David had liked him instantly.
Dr Clark's was a grey, green and red giant crab, with a ruff of tentacles. David had figured out some time ago that the tentacles must be the Scientist part while the crab part was the part that tried to take care of him and watch movies with everybody. The crab part and the tentacle parts sometime fought each other, though the crab seemed to be firmly in charge these days.
But James... Well, he probably shouldn't have, but there was a reason that he called his brother 'The Freak'. James' Spirit Animal had looked like a short stunted dog with a large lump on his back, when he'd first arrived at their doorstep. And every day, little by little, the lump had grown, and James had slowly gotten sicker and sicker.
By the time they were 17, James' inner dog was looking like it was going to be torn in half by the massive lump, and he was sick all the time. Dr Clark looked sad, and so did some of the other staff. And so one day, he had stood at his brother's bedside, and had decided on a course of action. He wasn't living here anymore, really, and he didn't have too much time. It had to be now or never.
And so he'd closed his eyes, opened up the window, and reached in. And pushed.
James had nearly died that night, but David knew he had done the right thing when his fever broke in the morning, and Dr Clark said she had no idea what had happened, but it seemed like he would be all right - His neural pathways were knitting themselves together, or something like that.
"David, David." His brother had whispered when he woke up, but he knew he had to go. His brother would be all right, now.
"Really. I thought Universities were supposed to be safer places then this."
He tells his sleeping brother. A kidnapping attempt, for Christ's sake. Even though he did know that his brother's University really was a bit...strange.
And he opens up his inner window and looks.
The stunted dog is no more - Or at the very least, not visible to his Inner Eye anymore. His brother's Spirit Animal looks like a mass of golden tentacles and eyestalks, waving softly, now. And much healthier then it used to be.
daviddaviddaviddavidyaaay!
Why thank you, strange tentacly things. He closes the window down, and pauses.
And thinks about other things.
He was going to be 'Solid Snake' after all, he wants to tell him, but not like this. And it was probationary, anyway - Big Boss had not been happy at all, but in the end, they really hadn't wanted to say that the entire Les Enfants Terrible Project hadn't been able to produce even one 'Snake'.
Politics, politics, politics. It really did make the world go around, eh?
And - Big Boss. Who he still couldn't think of as Father, even though it had been years since James had told him about him. If there were anybody who was even stranger then James -
A Tentacle Monster was one thing, but no Spirit Animal whatsoever?
Or maybe it was just invisible, or very well concealed, but that didn't make it any less creepy, honestly.
How could he not have any? Everybody else did!
But he can't say that to his brother, who is asleep, in any case.
So he simply tells him to get well quick, and leaves.
All he had to do was concentrate, and a window of some kind would open up within his mind, and he could see things. He could see stuff like if people were feeling good or bad and how much, too, but what was most interesting were people's Inner Animals, or Spirit Animals, or whatever they really were.
Private Ashly's Spirit Animal for instance was a sturdy looking mutt, short eared and ferocious-looking. David had liked him instantly.
Dr Clark's was a grey, green and red giant crab, with a ruff of tentacles. David had figured out some time ago that the tentacles must be the Scientist part while the crab part was the part that tried to take care of him and watch movies with everybody. The crab part and the tentacle parts sometime fought each other, though the crab seemed to be firmly in charge these days.
But James... Well, he probably shouldn't have, but there was a reason that he called his brother 'The Freak'. James' Spirit Animal had looked like a short stunted dog with a large lump on his back, when he'd first arrived at their doorstep. And every day, little by little, the lump had grown, and James had slowly gotten sicker and sicker.
By the time they were 17, James' inner dog was looking like it was going to be torn in half by the massive lump, and he was sick all the time. Dr Clark looked sad, and so did some of the other staff. And so one day, he had stood at his brother's bedside, and had decided on a course of action. He wasn't living here anymore, really, and he didn't have too much time. It had to be now or never.
And so he'd closed his eyes, opened up the window, and reached in. And pushed.
James had nearly died that night, but David knew he had done the right thing when his fever broke in the morning, and Dr Clark said she had no idea what had happened, but it seemed like he would be all right - His neural pathways were knitting themselves together, or something like that.
"David, David." His brother had whispered when he woke up, but he knew he had to go. His brother would be all right, now.
"Really. I thought Universities were supposed to be safer places then this."
He tells his sleeping brother. A kidnapping attempt, for Christ's sake. Even though he did know that his brother's University really was a bit...strange.
And he opens up his inner window and looks.
The stunted dog is no more - Or at the very least, not visible to his Inner Eye anymore. His brother's Spirit Animal looks like a mass of golden tentacles and eyestalks, waving softly, now. And much healthier then it used to be.
daviddaviddaviddavidyaaay!
Why thank you, strange tentacly things. He closes the window down, and pauses.
And thinks about other things.
He was going to be 'Solid Snake' after all, he wants to tell him, but not like this. And it was probationary, anyway - Big Boss had not been happy at all, but in the end, they really hadn't wanted to say that the entire Les Enfants Terrible Project hadn't been able to produce even one 'Snake'.
Politics, politics, politics. It really did make the world go around, eh?
And - Big Boss. Who he still couldn't think of as Father, even though it had been years since James had told him about him. If there were anybody who was even stranger then James -
A Tentacle Monster was one thing, but no Spirit Animal whatsoever?
Or maybe it was just invisible, or very well concealed, but that didn't make it any less creepy, honestly.
How could he not have any? Everybody else did!
But he can't say that to his brother, who is asleep, in any case.
So he simply tells him to get well quick, and leaves.
