KF-SRC-01 Cold Hooves
By Darrel Vanwinkle (Lord Pouchlaw)
January 1st, 2015
Chapter One
"Don't go too far!"
"I won't, dad!"
That had been the last Kristofer Falkner had seen of his father, the family car and camping trailer when he headed off to the edge of the only picnic site which was available that late Summer afternoon. He hadn't intended to go that far at all; just down toward the overlook in the woods which wasn't all that high over a small glade on the other side of a forest stream. The overlook itself was a quaint little spot and almost silent when he arrived. But when he saw what appeared to be an obviously out of place caribou buck dart past him and toward the overlook itself, he really shouldn't have attempted to leap after it to stop it from falling off of short drop off point. The momentum of trying to stop the buck from going over the drop caused him to jump outward directly behind the caribou in question which seemed to disappear in mid air just ahead of him. But since he couldn't stop himself from making the same flight, he soon felt himself pass through what felt like an unseen curtain of mist which had been hanging in mid air and in an instant, he was likewise gone from the national park.
The landing both surprised the boy as well as threw him off guard as he landed on all fours in a deep snow bank. Despite landing in snow, something seemed very far wrong with how he landed because it felt as if he had lost his clothes in mid-jump. Be that as it was, he didn't appear to be cold within that snow drift. He then attempted to climb out of the drift which seemed a lot hard than it should have been. But just as he was almost free of the deep snow, he saw that instead of hands on his forearms, he had black cloven hooves. And his arms were covered in caribou fur. "What in the Hell happened to me?" he quietly voiced as he glanced toward his waist and legs. That was when he noticed that he was completely covered in fur all the way down to his back hoofs which were also black and cloven. Atop his rump was a cervine like tail. "I need to see what I look like in the stream or a mirror. I hope I can find the stream." He deftly stood up, finding that he could stand on his new hoofs and legs, and he slowly moved forward toward what he hoped was the stream.
It wasn't all that hard to walk as the caribou buck he seemed to be at that moment; in fact, it came easier than he thought it would. He was just glad that despite his transformation, he could still talk. Losing his voice in a new body would have freaked him out. He then stopped at the edge of the stream he had thankfully found and he looked at his reflection in the still waters between the ice. What he saw was a teenage reindeer buck looking back at him and this deer had an unusual marking on his forehead; it appeared to be the symbol of a meteor in free fall. "A meteor marking. That's weird. I hope I can find my way out of this snow covered forest and back to the campground. Dad is gonna freak if I don't return before nightfall." He then lowered his head and took a slow drought of water. He remembered how animals drank water, thankfully from visits to the zoo, and after getting his drink, he began to head off in an attempt to find his way back to his father.
When he poked his head out of the edge of the forest, he stopped in his tracks when he saw a reindeer with a sports whistle around his neck and he had a cap on his head which read 'Trainer'. There were a group of other bucks gathered nearby looking skittish and nervous. Kristofer slowly emerged from the trees and approached the buck with the cap. "Excuse me, sir? I think I'm a little lost. How can I find my way back to Park Road 49?"
The Trainer buck glanced over at the newcomer as he raised one eye brow. "There are no park roads anywhere in this forest, young buck. What's your name?"
But then, just as he had been about to give his human name, a single word came out of his muzzle instead of his real name. "Meteor, sir. I am Meteor from South Timber." Kristofer blinked his eyes as those words came out of his own mouth. What in the world just happened? I tried to say my real name and that stuff came out. And where is South Timber? I've never heard of the place. Something very wrong is going on here. I need to try to get home. But how?
The Trainer nodded his head as he looked at what appeared to be a clipboard full of names and locations. "I was supposed to get a Codine from South Timber today but you aren't on my list. However, since you appear to be lost, you can come back to camp with us and I'll let you use the maps there to see about finding your way. I am Captain Jumper from Christmas Town; I am currently on a recruitment mission to sign up new stunt reindeer to train toward substituting for stars who get cold hooves. Sometimes it is the best way to get recognition in the filming industry; filling in for a star who gets scared of a simple trick. Just wait over there with the others for a bit and as soon as Codine arrives, we can head back to camp."
As he walked over to stand with the others, he found the bucks to slowly be looking him over and sniffing him in a curious way. Then a few broke the ice, so to speak, and they one by one introduced themselves to him as they tried to be friendly and accept him for who he seemed to be. But the thought on his mind then was that whoever this Codine was, he would know that Kristofer wasn't from South Timber as he had blurted out just earlier. And what had made him use the name 'Meteor'?
Soon afterward, another buck arrived and introduced himself to the trainer. "Codine from South Timber, sir. Sorry I was late; the Veil gates have been acting funny as of late. I landed a few miles from here and almost forgot which way North was. Thankfully I found that stream and made my way here."
"It's okay, Codine," said the trainer. "Someone else from South Timber arrived just before you did and he said he was lost. His name is Meteor; do you know him?"
"I'm not familiar with the name, sir," said Codine. "There is no way I can possibly know every single reindeer in South Timber; the population changes every year. But perhaps I can make a new friend out of this 'Meteor' guy; who knows? He might actually be a prime candidate for the stunt core. Give me some time with him and I'll see if I can get him to agree to try it out for a short while. All you need is for him to sign the recruitment form like the rest of us did and then you'll be able to call on him whenever you wanted."
End of Chapter One
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