Biohuman

Lee Seng clawed at the skin tight Dark Matter suit. Every time he tried to peel it off, he felt like he was pulling on his own skin.

"Where the hell did my clothes even go?" Lee Seng continued to pull at the skin tight suit. "It's like it's not even here." He hadn't diverged from his path. He felt cornered so he decided he would walk a random direction and come back when he was cooled off. "It's not like the Family likes me anyways. I'm just a vessel in their eyes."

He marched forward, ignoring his ears. They were telling him someone was following him. Keng shifted into his Fox form and ran after Lee Seng. The pitter patter steps of the Fox made Lee Seng continue forward.

"If they wanna follow me, they can. Not like they're gonna get anything out of this." Lee Seng shrugged. He moved for quite awhile until he saw a large amount of flowers rising into the sky. The roots of the flowers flowed out of the ground, creating hills. The flowers varied in different colors and types. He could feel the pollen in the air. It was making him sniffle. Lee Seng rubbed his nose and continued through one of the root hills.

"This place is cool. I feel bad for anyone who has pollen allergies. You can really feel the pollen in the air even without allergies. Ugh, I think I'm gonna sneeze…" Lee Seng huffed and let out a loud sneeze. Small creatures scattered away as he rubbed his nose. Small fluffs of pollen and petals landed on the ground around him. Their soft looks made loud thumps as he continued deeper into the flower forest.

"Where is he going…?" Keng whispered. He trotted a safe distance away from Lee Seng. "It looks like he's just walking." The flower forest eventually started to climb upwards. The scent of pollen clouded the area. Keng could barely smell anything other than the pollen as he continued to follow Lee Seng.

They began to ascend a hill when Lee Seng and Keng both heard noises swarming them in all directions. Fox Spirits circled the both of them, moving the two to quickly bump into each other. All of the Foxes that swarmed them were six-tails or higher. They all wore similar military outfits. A chameleon with a curled fox tail.

"Halt!" The Fox Spirits shouted. Lee Seng felt the Dark Matter suit shifting. The Foxes noticed this and pulled their weapons from their side out.

"What do you want?" Lee Seng asked. "Are you guys with General Halys?" His hands bundled into fists. The Foxes noticed this and swarmed closer.

"Follow orders and you'll live." A female Fox Spirit told him. Lee Seng's eyes wandered towards her and noticed some of these Foxes were actually holding strange weapons. The woman held a pistol in her hand while others held an assortment of medieval weapons. The woman noticed Lee Seng was staring at the gun, so she cocked it.

"The Commander and General are here! Attention!" A male voice shouted. The woman and the other Foxes split  at the front where Lee Seng was looking and General Halys stood slightly behind a Fox with green scales. Their eyes felt like a snake staring at its prey. Nine tails sprawled behind the Fox. The Fox had different species as its tail. A snake hissed as it whipped around while a tiger's tail moved.

"Pay your respects to the Eldest Fox Spirit, Commander Chimera!" A voice shouted. When Lee Seng didn't do anything, a Fox Spirit moved up on him and hit him. He buckled onto his knees and hands. He snapped out of it and gave a long bow to Chimera..

"C-chimera?" Lee Seng stuttered. He slowly rose and looked up at the Fox Spirit. They wore clothes that looked like they were from the Human Realm, but were heavily modified. Chimera nodded.

"So it seems our newest brother is not one but two after all." Chimera spoke. Chimera's hair was in a ponytail. Their facial features didn't lean masculine nor feminine. They didn't have anything strapped onto their belt. "The plan went according to what I expected, too, yet you're worried, General Halys?" Chimera turned to look at the General. Halys hesitantly nodded. Chimera held a certain air about them. It felt suffocating but they also pulled you in. They were someone you feared and respected.

"And what exactly are you worried about? This one has three tails? Why would you fear a three tailed foxling?" Chimera asked. Halys turned to look at Lee Seng and Keng.

"It proves the theory, Commander." General Halys cleared his throat. "We theorized that if these two ever split apart from their paths and the vessel was to become influenced by the Protocol, it would cause trouble for all of us – Foxes and the Humans." Commander Chimera nodded as they turned to look at Lee Seng and Keng.

"This is the first time we've officially met, correct?" Commander Chimera stepped forward. Their hands were behind their back and their snake tail peeked from behind Chimera's shoulder. "I am the Eldest and Commander of these fine Spirits. I am Chimera." Lee Seng's mind flashed. He cocked his head in confusion.

"Have we… Have we met before?" Lee Seng asked, confused. Keng sat next to Lee Seng, looking up at him.

"I don't think we've met." Chimera shook their head.

"You look very familiar…"

"Show some respect!" A Fox Spirit moved to whack him across the head, but Chimera held their hand up.

"What makes you think you've seen me before, Lee Seng?" Chimera asked. Their tails shimmered and different animal tails appeared. The snake tail still hovered behind Chimera's shoulder.

One memory stuck out to Lee Seng. It was the day they went to the beach. The day the Creator became cold and distant… Lee Seng had woken up from a nap and wandered over to play with some other kids. As they played, a man had caught his attention.

"You were there!" Lee Seng snapped his fingers. The Foxes were caught off guard with his noise and moved in closer. Chimera threw his hand up, again and they all hesitantly looked at Chimera and the boy. "On the beach back in… 2007? I saw a man with snake scales!! I made a huge deal out of it and my Mom told me I was crazy! I was so adamant about it, when I told the Creator about it…" Lee Seng trailed off as his eyes narrowed. "That's when he got cold and distant."

Chimera's eyes narrowed onto Lee Seng. The snake hissed and Chimera sighed and swatted the snake away. They crouched, lowering themselves. Their eyes and Lee Seng's eyes stared at each other for awhile until Chimera shook his head.

"I wasn't on Earth during that time." Chimera told Lee Seng. "You might've seen someone else." Chimera's emerald scales shimmered. Lee Seng shook his head and pointed at the scales.

"I was obsessed with snakes when I was kid! You have the scales of an emerald tree boa!"

"Alright, that's enough!" The Fox Spirit moved and pushed Lee Seng away from Chimera. Keng moved, shifting out of his Fox form and into his humanoid form. The woman glared at him as Chimera rose back up.

"Enough, Ysa." Chimera's eyes looked at the woman.

"But, Commander." Ysa stuttered.

"They mean no harm to me. Even if they were to try anything, they'd be fighting a losing battle. I have two millennia on them." Ysa reluctantly moved back to her spot. She held the gun at her side, turning her attention back to Lee Seng.

"Are you okay?" Keng whispered. Lee Seng nodded, not taking his eyes off of Chimera.

"I'm fine." Lee Seng's mouth lagged behind his actions. The memory of the emerald scaled snake man burned in his mind. He couldn't shake it off and yet Chimera's scales seemed to resemble the emerald color as well.

'It could be a mistake. You were really young.' Keng told him through thought. That could've been the case. Lee Seng sighed as the Dark Matter suit shifted. Lee Seng looked down at it and watched as the Dark Matter pulled back into his body. His three tails exploded back into existence and the golden silk outfit covered him, again.

"What do you want with me then?" Lee Seng shifted his voice. "If it was just a mistake that I remembered someone with similar scales as you, then that's fine." He was trying to not sound like he was on edge, but being swarmed by people who were stronger than you, gave him anxiety. "Why did you have General Halys fight me and force me into that form? What do you know about the Protocol? Why is it a problem that Keng and I are different? Is that really going to be a problem for both the humans and Foxes?"