Chapter 15: Hand of Friendship

They finally got to Ms. Clare’s apartment. Ferral made sure the two weren’t seen by people. He carefully placed the lioness on the floor in the living room and went into the kitchen to grab the first aid kit. He opened up the box and grabbed the things Ms. Clare used when Ferral was hurt. Bandages, alcohol, and cotton balls. He remembered what Ms. Clare did to him and simply mimicked the process on her. However, her right leg was swollen from the ankle. He didn’t know how to fix that, but wrapped bandages around it anyway.

After a while, the lioness’s eyes slowly fluttered open. She groaned as her whole body ached. The lioness saw Ferral in the kitchen putting away the first aid kit. That’s when she felt all the bandages wrapped and stuck to her. She weakly looked at each one. He had done a pretty lousy job with the wraps, but it was better than nothing. Ferral came back, seeing that the lioness had woken up. He smiled, crouching in front of her. “Thank goodness you’re awake.”

She didn’t respond at first, looking around to see where they were. Then, the lioness faced Ferral. “Why did you bother helping me?” She asked, her voice groggy. “Don’t you know? You shouldn’t keep your enemies alive.”

Ferral sat down, his legs extended out. “But, I don’t view you as my enemy.” His reply was kind and sincere; it threw the lioness off. “Why? I tried to drag you back to the Facility. Shouldn’t that be grounds to view me as a bad person?”

He shook his head, “It’s not you who wanted me back, right? I mean, you didn’t care about hurting people, which is bad. But, it wasn’t something you wanted to do, right?” The lioness swayed her head, “Yeah, my only task was to bring you back…but I failed.” Her voice was disappointed. Ferral heard this and lightly chuckled. “Guess we’re both failures now, huh?”

The lioness scoffed, “We are not the same. I’ve only experienced a minor setback, that’s all.” She folded her legs, sitting straighter. “Regardless, I don’t need your pity.”

Ferral tilted his head, “Is it really pity to help someone in need?” All the lioness did was humph. There was a moment of silence between the two. Neither really knew what more to talk about. The lioness looked at her bandaged ankle, feeling the sprain. Eventually, Ferral broke the quiet. “Can I…ask you something?”

The lioness narrowed her gaze, hesitant to respond. But, she replied, “Sure.” Ferral nodded, “Do you want to be free?” She looked at him, confused. Not sure what that question meant. Ferral continued, “You know, live out here. Away from the Facility.”

It didn’t take her long to respond, “Of course. None of us wants to live in that shit hole.” Ferral’s eyes brightened, leaning closer toward her. “You should stay here. With Ms. Clare and Me.” The lioness moved her head back, annoyed. “Why? I don’t even like you, you’re an idiot.”

Before Ferral could respond, the lioness let out a loud sigh. “Then again, it’s not like I can show my face back home.” “Hmm? Why not?” The lioness grumbled, “Because I lost. And to you of all people, you’re bottom of the barrel back home.”

“Losing isn’t the worst.” Ferral assured. The lioness scoffed, “You don’t get it. I am part of the strongest group back home, and when word goes around that I lost to The Failure, my entire reputation will be ruined.”

She looked down, saddened. The lioness punched the floor, “I’ll just be seen as weak.” Ferral could tell she was in pain, so he tried his best to help. “I don’t think you’re weak. In fact, I think you’re the strongest and most amazing person I’ve ever met.” The lioness’s head shot up, she looked at Ferral with surprise. She wasn’t used to any form of unwarranted positive reinforcement. She didn’t know how to react.

The lioness’s face blushed a light red. She whipped her head to the side, “Please, I don’t need you to tell me. I know I’m amazing.” The lioness humphed.

Ferral laughed, then asked, “Hey, do you think you could show me how to look like a normal person?” She turned back to him, confused at first but quickly understood his question. “I guess I do you this favor. Can’t even say I’m shocked you don’t know how to do it in the first place.”

The lioness raised her hands and told Ferral, “Watch closely.” The fur on her hands slowly retracted back into her skin. The lioness’s body also began shrinking to the size she was when Ferral first saw him. Ferral watched in awe, he could hardly believe something like this was possible. Soon, the lioness looked like a regular human.

She took a small exhale. “The key is to visualize a basic person’s appearance and tell your body to recreate that.” Ferral nodded, closing his eyes and began to visualize normal people's features. He grumbled, tightening his eyelids. The lioness rolled her eyes and smacked him.

Ferral held his cheek. “Ow! What was that for?” He rubbed the pain away. “Don’t try and force it, idiot. Your body has to be calm and relaxed. Part of being an experiment is that our bodies are in a constant state of minor stress.”

This was new information for Ferral, but he took it into consideration. He tried again, taking a deep breath and exhaling gently. Very slowly, the fur on his body began retracting into his skin. Ferral laughed in disbelief, the lioness looked on with an eyebrow raised. Ferral’s body also shrank, going down by a foot, and after a few minutes, all the fur on his arms and legs was gone. Revealing normal human hands and feet.

His jaw dropped, utterly astonished. He laughed giddily, “Wow, wow, wow!!!” He touched the sides of his head, feeling the ears that were now there, then reached back and felt his tailbone. Nothing was there. “This is amazing!”

The lioness gave a small smile. “Not bad, for an idiot.” She would’ve been shocked by how fast he managed to achieve it; it does take the average experiment at least a week to. But after today, it wasn't surprising. Ferral couldn’t stop gushing over his normal appearance. He looked at the lioness with a massive grin. “Thank you so much! You’re the best!” She smugly waved off his praise. “Yeah, yeah, I already know.”

The lioness then picked herself up and stretched. “Well, I think it’s time for me to get the hell out of here.” She lightly limped toward the open window through which they had come. Ferral turned and said, “Wait!” She stopped, turning to face him. “What?”

“You don’t have an actual name, right?” He asked. She didn’t answer right away, then sighed, “No, why?” “Can…Can I give you one?” The lioness rolled her eyes, “Fine, whatever. But, it better be good.”

Ferral grinned, pacing back and forth for a little bit until a name hit him. He pointed at the lioness, “How about Leona? Get it, because you’re a lioness?” She sarcastically nodded, “Yeah, I got it.” The lioness thought about it for a second, then shrugged. “Sure, starting today, my name is Leona.” Ferral placed his hands together in joy, happy that she liked the name.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here, Leona?” Ferral asked, holding back giggles as he said her new name. She shook her head, “I’ll pass.” Leona continued toward the window, stopping after getting halfway out. She looked at Ferral and told him, “Maybe we’ll fight again. When that happens, I won’t lose.”

Ferral smiled and nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be training and waiting.” She did a small wave goodbye and headed out of the window. Leaving Ferral overjoyed. In his mind, he finally made a friend.