The Ravinhill City files: book one

[Britt Nightshade]

Jasper had quieted down enough to be able to hear Jeremy speak, and everyone placing a hand on him to show some assurance for his struggling mind.Everyone knew this wasn't going to be an easy thing to try to explain, especially when they are scared and unsure what they do to find some acceptance. However it would be up to Jasper to decide on what he wanted to do after this, they couldn't force him to stay or let him try on his own. What was on the table was that if things didn't fair well on his part, then he would know of a place that can be a help with any problem that may surface later on. Tobias leaned next to Jasper as he looked up red in the face from holding his crying.

"We wont make you be with us if you don't want to but remember this, time is going to be the only tool in what might happen to you as it progresses. In the city there are now two breeds of hybrids wandering, you have those who remain hidden but help when needed and you have those lost in their own madness. Just remember that you are in control of what you become, and help will be there if you need it."

With a assured small smirk Jasper took a moment to collect himself, seeing that even though his mind was giving him 'what if' moments, he wasn't alone.

"You guys sure know how to move a big guy like me, this was probably a good idea to get answers and I did."  

[Britt Nightshade]

There were a few little snickers coming from the group, but went silent as soon as Tobias darted a glance right at them to keep anyone from laughing at that. Of course when you see someone so content in posture, all of a sudden flap around in reflexes at a zooming object coming at them so the laughing resumed.

"I was wondering where that bow went Miss.Arrow, guess I gotta run for my money in target practice. Except you like to use Tobias as a main target more or less." Brittney replied trying to catch some air from laughing.

Samantha merely smirked, feeling accomplish with getting a straight shot while Tobias got his posture back muttering.

"Might as well give this sniper in training a little intro,Jasper this is my fiance Samamtha, this mansion iss her and her parents place that we made into our secluded base of sorts. Like everyone else of these clowns she has a tendency to get the best out of me when my guard is down."

She laughs a little before making her way to the tiny group."More like all the time when you least expect it.Samantha looks to Jasper and offers a hand."I heard about you a little bit while you were walking in the halls,like Tobias I'm fused with a fruit bat so no need to feed off the sticky red ooze. Glad to see a new face come around here once in awhile that isn't a threat on our doorstep. Just know that you can always come to us with just about anything, it's what pretty much everyone else has done here."

Jasper was lost with words to say, but shook her hand in acceptance.  

[Britt Nightshade]

The smoke was slowly diminishing, but the smell was still lingering strong as he was just at the middle of the stairway. With Tobias' more keen nose to sell, the metallic soot scent was like he was right in the epicenter of the explosion. Frank looked up from scrimmaging the last of the scrapes to see he knew that he was gonna get a lecture this time. Instead Tobias was a little more sincere this time as he placed the ice on Frank's tail were parts were the most damaged.

"You're lucky that I saw this before I wondered what you were up to, what chemicals blew in your face this time and to smell that bad?"
Franks winced a few times before giving a slight sigh of relief from the raw spots on his tail, he tried to shake the rattle, but recoiled from the damaged nerves.

"If you have to know it wasn't a chemistry thing gone wrong, chancessss are I might've misssscalculated the locationsss on this engine and created a full circuit from the tool hitting the conductor. That, or a little bit of bad luck but who knowssss now I'm holding what's even left of the thing." he says showing the smoking pieces of metal.

Tobias looked away in disbelief, yet knowing too well that it was Frank of all people that would start up something with a literal bang to shake things up. The smoke cleared away to have the boys meet face to face as cleanup started back up again.

"Well I guess we all learn from our mistakes......maybe in your case more than one shot. I bet you even scared our new friend a good few notches from this. Granted he's a big guy but give in to something new he's quite spooked."

Above the stairs Jasper took a look to see Frank, tracing down to the slightly swaying tail and low sounding rattle. He stood still out of instinct as if there was a snake in the room, but Tobias kinda laughed already falling for that before.

"Trust me he won't coil up and strike at you, this is Frank by the way. He's our tech and science person of the team, and has made many things to help us from watches to custom pieces depending on the member. Granted he will get a little carried away with the science parts as well as caffeine overloads." Frank darted his look to Tobias' direction with a look of dismay.

"I don't go overboard it'ssss called trial and error, everybody goessss through it even if there'ssss a fire here and there. And as for the caffiene.....that'ssss a well needed part to keep me goin and keep the ideasss flowing."  

[Britt Nightshade]

As much as he could give Frank another lecture, this time it was a smile he needed from everything literally blowing up today.

"It's not like we knew it would happen in the first place, just took a little more time to develop in you then the other. Most likely your exposure was more faint and was just dormant and developing." he said finishing the last part of the dressing.

Frank was a little off on his expression but figured it was a possible link as he winced moving the damaged parts of the tail. He knew there was still nerve endings present, but it still hurt to do too much even if Jeremy would dart a glare in his direction at his arrogance. He may had changed on the outside, but the same joking emotion was still there with that touch of stubbornness.

"I don't think it wont be too bad with living the snake life, you seem to endure pretty quick." he said kiddish. Jeremy thought on his words and only wished it was as easy to nod in agreement.

"Easy is something a little too much to say, I learn something everyday and develop how to deal with it. If it has to do with sight,smell,and even eating. It was gross at first, but if it meant having energy and not starving I dealt with the idea of eating something alive. Something you're going to have to deal with too if you don't want to become weak."

Frank looked over the the now empty small cage on the table, and quivered slightly at the idea.

"I did it once, so I guess time will tell." flicking his tongue.  

[Britt Nightshade]

With that said Frank felt a sense of just wanting to spill everything he could from the fist sign of change.

"Where do I even really begin, I guess you can say I didn't think becoming a snake was what was happening. First thing I was feeling was my eyes becoming more tired than usual, thought one thing but of coarse became something else.
That was one of the first things Frank had felt was becoming different, however he would just think of it at just fatigue and shake it off with some walking or another dose of caffeine. This would go on for several days to the point it was like his eyes were beyond sore even without an all nighter building.

"The sight was the first thing to get changed, most of the bigger changes would happen at night when I least expect it. With being tired to the point of being knocked out cold, actually feeling anything wasn't even a problem maybe just feeling like a pulled muscle and nothing else. It would be when i get up the panic actually sets in that I actually have this tail growing out my back." he sways his tail slightly, still in awe that he is even able to function the thing in the first place, now becoming second nature.

" I guess after everything is settled in the dust I was able to realize this wasn't all just a crazy dream, the next thing was figuring out how this thing works with movement. As you saw that some times it was like seeing a wrecking ball knock things down. Eventually I had to put the pieces together because dragging the thing can be such a real pain. That's one thing you didn't have to worry about, dragging an extra limb on the ground let alone feeling anything on the ground."  

[Britt Nightshade]

Frank didn't think twice looking at his own rattle as he heard the noise, not as spooked but it was still n his face from the sound of the rattling.
"This thing is still a ring in my ears, didn't hear it much till the close end of the tail forming itself that i took notice, At first I thought it was part of the tail making the last transformations....I was so wrong. I think it was one day in the lab I heard something off, thinking it was a run away tool didn't say much till hearing it a few times. I actually thought a snake manage to get into the basement and into my space."

He took a moment to think as he remembered exactly what had happened hearing the noise, and the adrenaline that came next.

"I had no time to think if it was possible to have a rattlesnake right there in the room I panicked, tried to hear where it was and sat on the desk but heard the thing following close that I thought it was on the table and tried running. No matter what I did it would get louder and faster to I was just trying to get away. It was when I tripped on something till I heard it quiet again, and got a chance to process. It would be awhile till I tried to get up and heard the noise coming from the tip of my tail, then it was clear it was a rattler. Since that day I still freaked out hearing the slightest sound of it, but try to tell myself that it was me causing the noise in the first place. You can say I tinkered with it when it came to emotion, the more intense I was feeling the more I heard the thing. Eventually I asked our private librarian info and learned it was used for intimidation and warning, so when I'm scared,excited, or beyond angry to be more exact."  

[Britt Nightshade]

Jeremy took a closer look seeing that he was correct on his theory, Frank did have the markings in patch form but they were more pale and soft like than on the tail itself. As if they were like new forming scales on the skin, but still had the texture of rough scales almost close to rough skin areas with a pattern. Frank just let him take a closer look, since it was just him and not really much reason to feel threatened. Instead of the rattles of being annoyed, they were replaced with a sudden sound here and there as Jeremy examined the different feel from Frank's skin tone normally, down to where it becomes a couple shades darker but still light enough like seeing a tan on the arms. With a couple intervals Jeremy would look to the patterns, then write down a few notes on the folder to get a good portfolio of Frank's changed anatomy.

"Sounds like an interrogation a little, but these will become my building blocks for later on, especially if something decides to lurk around i can come back and find out links. Then again a little curiosity never hurt the best of us, I don't have a tail so it never hurts to do a little research on what's it like to have one. More of just knowing some new facts and a combination of being curious." saying as he shuffled around notes

Frank looked to the questions and shrugged, knowing he needed to go in as much detail possible, but be a big help in knowing the facts.

" I'll start with the first one, the feeling of knowing something was actually there didn't happen for a couple days. Felt more like a pulled muscle at first till I manage to feel like I could actually feel thing from behind me like the sheets or the chair. Now the normal person would be freaking out at this point, but since it was the eyes and skin that showed up first I knew it was gonna happen with the changes. Most like the full length took about a week and then hearing the rattler later. Secondly how I actually put clothes on, that wasn't too hard to see what I could improve without too much issue."

He got up slightly to reveal the stitched up slits on the back of his coat where it would slide in, then pointed out his belt wasn't in a couple of their loops.

"Got smart and just loosen the back to slide the thing right through without ripping out all he pants I own. Kinda like a harness to keep it in place you can say. Now for actually feeling and sensitive spots, it's not like I'll get ticked off and attack if someone touches. Maybe if it was given a good pull I might but for touch it's....well strange. More like I get a shiver down my spine from being touched, yet it's not the case when its dragging. Think of the feeling of having a limb fall asleep slightly but still feel things."  

[Britt Nightshade]

On the other hand Jeremy didn't really think the tail thing would be a simple fix, however that changed from what Frank showed. Both a clever but effective way to keep the new attachment from straining on the back too much. Frank looked to him with a fanged look of praise but leaned back in his seat, tail moving with him to get out of the way.
Jeremy was writing down a few notes on his pad, knowing this was too important to just simply remember for later on.
"At leassst you have been very clear and honesst of how you feel about this, but I have to know......what was it like going though the tansistion from the person you knew to now? There had to been something that didn't sseem right."
There was a slight pause not much of a shock or upset, but more of Frank was trying to think back to when everything changed out of the ordinary. There wasn't much he could remember that was a major change however there was one thing that wasn't something to just forget.

"If it'sss sssomething very important you wanna know it would had to been a couple weeks ago that sleep wasn't going to happen. Not like my usual nights of wanting to tinker some devices but it was too much pain to lay down even on the bed. I thought it wass just back pain from sitting in my chair for too long, but it just remained even with he highest dose of pain killersss. I guesss a lot of my changess would had to of been feeling my muscles being pulled in my mouth and my back."

He stops for a moment feeling an itch lingering on his hands, that started to look more like a healing patch of eczema but the itching was still present. Jeremy looked up to see him itching and took a look himself at Franks so call patches on his hands. Pressing his glasses a little closer, he could see that it was the same pattern that he too developed when his scales started to emerge.

"Looks like your scales are trying to come out from your skin, that's why your itching so much, keep moisture on them till both the burns and flaking skin start to heal. Eventually it can be able to be peeled and get the new scales some air."

With that said Frank continued on with exactly how he was feeling when his fangs and tails developed, mainly a couple nights within the weeks he was changing the fangs were piercing through his gums while his tail was forming slowly with each muscle pull that even painkillers could barely numb. This was a lot for Jeremy to know, and that's just what he needed to understand.