Alternate Chapter 2, Part 1: The Tattooed Girl

The sunlight that slipped betwixt the curtains made it difficult for Katrina to sleep. It cast a glowing line right across her eyes, a glaring reminder that it was morning. She had a rough, late night, and little interest in arising at a respectable hour. She turned away from the light, her dark hair cascading over her bare shoulders, and flopped an arm over the side of her bed. Her arm landed on something large and fuzzy laying next to her. Muttering dreamily, she curled up and drew it closer to her, feeling its fur and body heat against her bare flesh.

“’Twina’s too old for Shnooky,” she muttered. “But Shnooky wuvs ‘Twina, so ’Twina’s not going to compwain too much.”

“Pardon?” asked the large and furry something in Katrina’s bed.

Katrina’s eyes drowsily opened to see who was talking to her. Her eyes listlessly meandered up a gray-furred back up to a lupine face turning back to look at her.

“Good morning,” the wolf said.

Katrina yelped in surprise and sat bolt upright, throwing off her covers and retreating across the bed. Being a single bed, she didn’t have to go very far before she fell off the side.

“Katrina? Are you all right?” came a fatherly voice from downstairs.

“Yeah,” Katrina called back. “Wearwolf just startled me.”

“You’re not hurt, are you?” Katrina’s father asked.

“No, I’m fine,” Katrina replied, scratching at the bandages on her shoulder. The gash still hurt, and she was told it may leave a scar. That was alright with her. It was a mark of bravery.

“All right. … Good morning, by the way.”

“Morning, pop.”

Katrina looked back up at the bed from where she lay and saw Wearwolf looking down at her. She rolled back up onto her knees and wrapped her arms around the wolf, careful of his bandages also.

“And good morning to you, too, Wearwolf!” Katrina greeted, kissing Wearwolf on his cold, wet nose. “We’re going to be the best of friends, I just know it. I would love that ever so much!”

“Who is this Shnooky you mentioned?” Wearwolf asked, tilting his head in genuine curiosity. “And what is this ‘wuv’ you speak of?”

“Eh-heh, never you mind,” Katrina said awkwardly. She climbed back onto the bed and mimicked Wearwolf’s sitting posture. “So… how did you get into my bed?”

“I just hopped on and wriggled underneath the covers while you were asleep,” Wearwolf explained. “Does this displease you?”

“I guess not,” Katrina replied. “I just hadn’t slept with something since I was tw-, te-, …four. I mean, you can keep doing it if you wanna. It just feels a little weird, is all. You haven‘t been gnawing on your bandages, have you?”

“I have been trying not to,” Wearwolf said, looking over Katrina’s shoulder and arm. “It would appear as if your markings have changed since last night. When you went to bed, they were mainly on your torso, but now they reach over your extremities.”

Katrina examined her arm. A tattoo of a vine reached from her shoulder and coiled loosely around her bicep. A quick glance to her other arm revealed a similar design.

“Cool! They grew,” she said, getting up and walking over to a full length mirror. She wasted little time posing and twisting to see every possible inch of her skin. Originating on her back, the drawn-on vines also coiled around her waist and down around her knees. They had grown onto her chest, as well, with leaves cradling her bosom.

“I imagine this is a significant event for you,” Wearwolf noted, jumping off the bed and limping over to her.

“Yeah,” Katrina answered, stretching her arms over her head. “The Rite of Initiation begins with a ritual tattooing, and the virobots in the ink interact with the ones already in my blood, maintaining the design and changing them after significant life events.”

“Virobots?” Wearwolf inquired.

“Viral Robots,” Katrina explained. “Nanotechnology. Microscopic machines that… You know, I don’t think you’d be able to understand it. All they drew was the design on my back.” She twisted around, inspecting a shield decorated with various symbols that hid the source of the vines on her back. The shield itself could’ve been easily hidden by a half-shirt, but the lower vines went down her sides and crossed each other below her belly. “Hurt like Hell, too. The two biggest symbols on the top represent my mom and dad, and the rest are of other people I descended from. Kinda like a family tree, but without so many branches.”

“So I see,” Wearwolf said, watching Katrina in the mirror. “Do all your markings mean something?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Katrina said. She spread her legs, trying to see the area between them. “I know the vines mean I’m from Wine Town. Mrs. Chardonnay comes from the Quinlong region, and she has a fish scale pattern all down her legs. Don‘t know what she‘s got under she shirt, though. Oh, but I think the most important symbol is this one.”

Katrina knelt down in front of Wearwolf and pointed to a light-brown paw print just below the top of her rib cage.

“This one represents you, my MultiPet partner,” she explained. Wearwolf put his paw on the symbol. It was roughly the same size and shape, as if he had stamped it there himself. She took Wearwolf’s paw in her hand and slid over her right breast. “When I get married, or anything like that, my husband’s symbol will go here. He’ll also have my symbol in the same place on his chest.”

“So it is like your entire identity is expressed by your tattoos,” Wearwolf commented, taking his paw back.

“Well, I don’t know about my entire identity,” Katrina said, yet again sitting to mimic Wearwolf. “There’s a lot of stuff about me that my tattoos don’t show. Like the games I like, or any of my friends. Buuuut I suppose you could still identify someone by their tattoos alone. No two are exactly alike. Kinda like fingerprints, or snowflakes.”

“Interesting,” Wearwolf said. “But if the markings serve as a means of identification, why cover them?”

“You probably hadn’t noticed under all that fur, but it gets pretty cold around here,” Katrina said. “We don’t get all fancy natural fur and armor and weapons all the cool animals get, so we have to make our own protection from the elements and stuff. And it‘s not like we can‘t tell each other apart without them.”

“So you only wear clothes when you are outside, then?” Wearwolf clarified. “I did notice it is warmer inside your home than outside.”

“Well, no,” Katrina replied. “We often wear them inside, too.”

“But your home also protects you from the elements, correct?” Wearwolf inquired. “So you would not need clothes when you are inside.”

“Yeah,” Katrina answered. “But we wear them inside anyway.”

“Why?” Wearwolf asked.

“Because…” Katrina began, trailing off in thought. She idly shifted from her dog-like squat and crossed her legs, resting one arm on her knee as the other hand went up to her chin. “I guess it’s because its easier to heat your body than your house. The house doesn’t really heat itself, so it requires an outside source of energy. But our clothes trap in our body heat, so we keep ourselves warm. A house has a lot more space, so a lot more heat is needed for the same effect. And doing both at once means we don‘t have to wear heavy clothes inside our house.”

“I understand that,” Wearwolf said. “But why go through the effort of marking your body like that if you hide it most of the time?”

“I dunno,” Katrina replied with a shrug. “I guess it’s an experiential thing. Being able to tolerate the pain of ritual tattooing makes you feel like an adult. Like if you can overcome this, you can handle anything life throws at you. And they look cool, too.”

“So the Rite of Initiation makes you an adult,” Wearwolf surmised.

“Yep,” Katrina confirmed, standing up. “Seven trials, the last being the journey into the wilderness to find your MultiPet partner. In the eyes of my people, I am no longer a child, and you are more than a mere animal. We are two parts of a whole, joined as one to travel life’s journey and overcome the trials of fate. Cool, huh?”

“It is indeed impressive,” Wearwolf replied.

Katrina hummed in agreement and looked herself over in the mirror again. The novelty of it seemed to have passed. She wore a disappointed frown as she tapped the bottom of the mirror with her toe.

“We make a good-looking couple, don’t you think?” Katrina asked, trying on a more neutral expression.

“I believe we do,” Wearwolf answered, craning his neck up to Katrina‘s reflection. “As far as humans go, I suspect.”

Katrina bore an amused smirk for a moment. “Do I look like an adult to you? I mean, aside from the tats.”

“I suppose you do,” Wearwolf mused. “But you have doubts?”

“Maybe one or two,” Katrina sighed. She cupped her hands over her breasts, obscuring them almost completely. “Maybe I expected more drastic changes. More than the tats, I mean. Despite what I went through, I’m not sure if I’m really all that different than when I started. I don’t think I’m any smarter or sexier than I was last week. But now, I’m going to have a lot more responsibilities, and I don’t think a wicked set of tats will help me through them.”

Wearwolf put a paw on Katrina’s foot, drawing her gaze down to him.

“They may not,” he said, “But I will, in any way I can.”

“Thank you,” Katrina said, kneeling down and hugging him. “Wearwolf?”

“Yes, Katrina?”

“How do I put you on?” Katrina asked, fingering around the bottom of Wearwolf’s ribcage.

“I beg your pardon?” Wearwolf inquired, attempting to wriggle out of Katrina’s grip. She held on tighter.

“I’m cold and you’re warm,” Katrina said, straddling Wearwolf and trying to wrestle him to the floor. “Lemme in.”

“I do not simply open in any way that I am aware of,” Wearwolf replied, trying to escape from Katrina’s embrace as she attempted, in vain, to find hidden flaps or grooves beneath Wearwolf’s fur. It hurt his shoulder and midsection to move like this. “Could you not simply put on some clothes?”

“You’re closer,” Katrina answered.

“Katrina, this is futile!” Wearwolf exclaimed. “You cannot force me into Chimeric Fusion like this! Be careful around my injuries!”

“Aw, you’re no OW!” Katrina yelped as Wearwolf’s jaw clamped down on her bicep. He didn’t break flesh or draw blood. Her arm was merely held between his teeth with enough pressure applied for her to feel pain. She immediately stopped trying to over-power him.

“I believe a few boundaries need to be defined,” Wearwolf said, his voice unobstructed by his hold. “At the moment, you are violating them.”

“More personal space,” Katrina confirmed, relaxing her grip. “Got it. You’re not going to start peeing on stuff, are you?”

“Not so long as we understand one another,” Wearwolf said, releasing Katrina’s arm. As Katrina let go of him, he pushed back and tackled her to the floor. He stood over her and licked her nose. “Good morning, by the way.”