Pheromones, Fox Ears And Fire!

Tzeitel woke up in the bathtub. At least she thought it was the bathtub, the water was damned cold. Tzeitel sat up, eyes popping open. This did not look like her bathroom, it looked like a swamp, and as bad as the cheap motel was, Tzeitel did not think this was the motel. Obviously she was still asleep and having a really bizarre dream. Tzeitel wondered what the fuck her subconscious was trying to tell her as she waited to wake up so she could write this down in her journal, go back to sleep and talk about it with her therapist later. Feeling stuck, maybe? Sinking? Depression, possibly? It was uncomfortable. Tzeitel stood up, the sweatpants and t-shirt she had fallen asleep in were completely covered in mud, at least she wasn’t naked like she was in her worst dreams.

Maybe if she walked around she could figure out what her brain was trying to tell her and get this over with… Tzeitel had learned lucid dreaming years ago in therapy, but this felt more real than any lucid dream before. Tzeitel began walking, the watery mud making revolting sucking sounds over her bare feet. She tried making the ground firm and dry… and failed to change anything. Tzeitel was beginning to think this was not just a dream. She tripped and fell face first into the water- that should have woken her up. But instead Tzeitel was face down in the puddle and would drown if she did not let her reflexes take over.

Tzeitel pushed her head out of the puddle, took a deep breath and exhaled a shout. “FUCK!”

That was when a voice spoke from above. “I’d say swear jar, but there isn’t one around here.” It was a familiar voice, but deeper and obviously older. In this swamp, the trees were tall and had large and strong branches, so above was a man in his twenties with snow white hair, fox ears and a tail. His crimson eyes were familiar as he looked down at Tzeitel. “Want some help?” He offered.

The man above her in the trees was obviously a far older Nine.

“Nine…” Tzeitel stared up at Nine, clearly in shock. “What happened?”

“Not sure, really,” He answered as he got down to a lower branch and held onto the tree. With his free hand, he offered it to Tzeitel - it was rough and calloused from hard work. “I was standing there, waiting for the bridge to walk down the aisle and suddenly I was waking up in this place five years ago.” With a shrug, he kept his hand out to her. “Let's get you out of this swamp.”

Tzeitel let Nine help her out and onto the branch. If she was not covered in mud she would have tried to smooth the cowlick down. She was so confused but carefully looked the fox-boy over, checking for any injuries as she tried to wipe her muddy hands off on her muddy clothes. “I had just gotten back from shopping, was going to take a nap… Ami!”

“Ami?” Nine tilted his head as he helped her up to the tree branch and let her sit. “Haven’t seen her in five years…not since…” He glanced away. “Not since I woke up here, anyway. How is she doing?” He wanted to ask how old she was, but knew from how Tzeitel had reacted to him that she was far more accustomed to a far younger version of him.

“She was doing okay besides looking for Klaire- before I ended up here.” Tzeitel looked around herself anxiously, bordering on panic. “She was studying in the next room when I fell asleep.”

“That means-!!!” Nine looked toward the swamp as there was a loud splash and James sat up in the water. He was sputtering and coughing before wiping water off his face and blinking his brown eyes open. “Oh, Mr. Brown is here too…”

James grunted and slowly got to his feet, his scar covered arms shaking off water. “Uh…why am I in a swamp?” He asked and pushed his dark hair out of his face. It was the younger James that Tzeitel had gotten to meet before Klaire and the twins disappeared with him…

“But where is Ami?” Tzeitel climbed further up the tree, hoping she would be able to find her little sister if she got a better view.

“I’m not positive she will be here, Tzeitel.” Nine said as he reached out and also helped James from the water. The pyro was soaked to the bone, just like the pheromone user. “We can see if she’s here by looking around, but most people simply appear in random places. We’d have better luck going to a friend of mine known as Whisp. Though, sadly, Ami hasn’t shown up here since I did five years ago…”

Tzeitel stopped climbing when the branches grew too thin to hold her. She looked around but did not see Ami anywhere. She looked back down at Nine. “Five years- how old are you?” Nine looked older than 17 or even 18.

“I’m twenty-five years old as of…three months ago.” Nine said with a heavy sigh. “You look to be the same age as me, James. You must come from her timeline, I assume.” He gestured up at Tzeitel and smiled almost sadly.

“I think so…” James grunted and sat by Nine, looking up at Tzeitel. “Have any clue how we got here?”

“None, honestly.” Nine replied and watched Tzeitel closely. He didn’t want her to fall.

“Twenty-Five?!” Tzeitel nearly fell but she tightened her hold on the branch she was holding for a moment. She was only twenty-four. Somehow Nine was older than her. When Tzeitel recovered she climbed back down the tree. “I’m… before I came here the last time I saw you, you were twelve, the same age as Ami, you were talking about the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie…” She did not understand any of this.

“I’m most likely from a future you haven’t reached yet,” Nine pointed out to her.

James was squeezing his hair out, letting the water fall away. “A different future?” He inquired, looking toward Tzeitel with concern now. “Uh…is time travel possible?”

“What the fuck did Riley do?” Tzeitel asked, muttering some more curses about the speedster.

“Riley? Did he do something?!” James asked, eyes widening.

“Oh, yeah, he messed with time that one time. I don’t think this has anything to do with him, though.” Nine said.

“He has done that before. Why I hated you for years for mutilating and raping Megan then Riley did something and it never happened.” Tzeitel shivered uncomfortably in her muddy clothes. “Where is this Whisp?”

“In the city,” Nine replied matter-of-factly and got to his feet on the branches. He didn’t have any shoes up and his jeans were rolled up to his knees. “Let's get out of this swamp first, though.”

And with that he started leading the pair from tree to tree, helping Tzeitel and James when needed. Though, the pyro of a man didn’t need it much. James seemed to be doing well enough on his own, something he wouldn’t have been capable of in one of those horrible timelines Tzeitel remembered him for.

“Who is Megan?” James asked, clearly confused by this name as he grunted and climbed a bit on one of the trees to keep from falling into the mud. “I gotta stop smoking…” He was out of breath.

“A good friend of mine and if you really do hurt her I will kill you terribly.” Tzeitel said, though the last time she saw Megan she was strong enough to kick James’s ass herself. She wasn’t doing too bad with this climbing from tree to tree, though she was cold and trying really hard to not worry about Ami.

“Okay…” James blinked and took notice of her shivering. “Are you cold? I could heighten my body heat and-!”

“No, I don’t suggest doing that,” Nine interrupted. “There are things here that would go nuts and assault us if you heightened your body heat, James. Best to keep yourself as low as possible.”

Nodding in understanding, James kept quiet as they kept moving until they found the edge of the swamp. Nine was the first to hop onto the edge and step aside. Turning, the fox-eared man offered his hands to Tzeitel.

Tzeitel let Nine help her down, it was a relief to reach some dry, firm ground. “What kinds of things are there?” She asked Nine.

James soon followed and twisted out the water from his shirt. “The fact he says that has me worried…” The pyro murmured.