Chapter 4: I Seriously Think I Just Fell in Love With a Cartoon Character
(A silent morning, Sasha is soon awoken by her dog, Skippy, licking her face.)
Sasha: "Oh gosh, Skippy!"
(Skippy continues to lick her.)
Sasha: "Can't you see I'm awake?"
Skippy: "Woof!"
Sasha: "What do you want? You hungry?"
Skippy: "Grr, woof!"
(Sasha's alarm clock goes off.)
Sasha: "You couldn't have waited exactly 1 more minute?"
Skippy: "Grr, grr, woof!"
(It clips to an hour later as Sasha and Skippy finish eating.)
Sasha: "I was supposed to check out the library today, that's right."
Skippy: "Ruff!"
(Skippy holds his leash.)
Sasha: "You wanna come too? Let's hope dogs are allowed inside."
(Sasha arrives at the AnimalHuman Library, however the front doors appear to be locked.)
Skippy: "Woof..."
Sasha: "I'm sure there are more doors, don't worry about it."
(Sasha tries two different entrances from the left and right side, though both of them are also locked.)
Sasha: "Huh, maybe the place is closed because school did just end. That shouldn't mean they have to close the entire library though, I'm sure
there are more than just school books in there."
Skippy: "Woof!"
Sasha: "Yeah, let's check the back!"
(Sasha goes to the back of the AHL and one of the doors are open.)
Sasha: "Good idea, Skippy!"
Woof: (Sniffs) "Ruff!"
(Sasha and Skippy walk inside the back of the AHL, they hear a few shifting noises and look around to see if anyone is inside. Walking into the room to their left, they see a young girl standing on top of a latter placing a the books into a box.)
Sasha (thinking): "So somebody is in here. I wonder why they locked every door besides this one."
Skippy: "Grr..."
Sasha: "Skippy, be quiet..."
(The young girl grabs the box and walks down the latter, turning around to notice Sasha and her dog.)
YG: "My, I didn't even notice you there."
Sasha: "Huh? Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work."
YG: "It's no problem. Who are you, though?"
Sasha: "My name's Sasha. I recently moved into AH City, what about you?"
YG: "I'm Hayden, I work here at the AHL but it's getting closed soon so I offerred to do all the packing shipping."
Sasha: "For the whole library?"
Hayden: "Yep, I didn't want anyone else to have to work."
Sasha: "That's...really nice of you."
(Skippy is suddenly behind Hayden, appearing to be sniffing her butt.)
Hayden: "Um...does your dog usually do this?"
Sasha: "Ah please forgive me! Skippy, stop that! Get over here!"
(Skippy walks back over to Sasha's left side.)
Sasha: "Gosh, you're acting so bad today!"
Skippy: "Woof! Woof!"
Hayden: "I don't mind, really."
Sasha: "Uh...would you like some help with packing these books?"
Hayden: "Oh my, I don't need any help. I'm here by myself because I didn't want anyone else to have to, remember?"
Sasha: "Come on Hayden, don't you feel the heat? You're gonna collapse in here."
Hayden: "I guess it is kinda hot..."
Sasha: "So please, let me help you!"
Hayden: "If you insist. Thank you so much."
Sasha: "It's no problem."
(Sasha and Hayden proceed to packing the books up, as Hayden is about the climb a latter to get to a higher shelf, she is cut off by Sasha.)
Sasha: "Uh, hey Hayden."
Hayden: "Hmm? What is it?"
Sasha: "Would you like me to do the higher ones instead?"
Hayden: "I'm just fine with doing it myself."
Sasha: "Really, I offered to help you and I'm down here doing the easy stuff. Come on, let me try it!"
Hayden: "You're...really nice, Sasha."
Skippy: "Woof!"
(Sasha pets Skippy on the head, smiling.)
Sasha: "It's only fair."
Hayden: "Thanks, again."
Sasha: "No problem."
(Sasha climbs up the latter and begins to put the books inside of the box, though there's another box aside this one.)
Sasha: "Hey, is there a specific way I have to separate these?"
Hayden: "Huh? No, it's just in case you need extra room. If they all don't fit in one box."
Sasha: "Right."
(Sasha puts the books inside of the box as Hayden continues also, when Sasha climbs down the latter her footing appeared to be wrong and this caused her to drop the box on her foot, she actually seems to yelp out in pain, this catches Hayden's attention.)
Hayden: "Oh, is your dog okay?"
Sasha: "Y-y-yeah...He's just fine."
(Hayden realizes Sasha seems to be in pain, but she swears she heard a 'yelp' noise.)
Hayden: "Are you alright?"
Sasha: "I'm fine, I just dropped the box on my foot. Argh, this isn't the first time, I'll be okay."
Hayden: "You're sure?"
Sasha: "Sure."
(Sasha gives thumbs up, but is still in obvious pain.)
Hayden: "Uh, okay. Just be a little more careful next time, alright?"
Sasha: "Of course."
(Skippy sniffs Sasha's foot, she pets him on the head and walks outside to a truck that is used to ship all of the boxes elsewhere, walking back inside, Sasha notices a long hallway to her right.)
Sasha: "Hey Hayden."
Hayden: "Yes?"
Sasha: "What's back there?"
Hayden: "Down that hall, you mean?"
Sasha: "Yeah, it looks like it goes on for a while."
Hayden: "It has the rooms where you study in. On the walls there are a bunch of doors that lead into computer rooms, then there are bathrooms there too, and that's also where you find cleaning utensils, too."
Sasha: "Are there any lights in there?"
Hayden: "Of course there are. It's the first thing to your left. Do you need to go back there for something?"
Sasha: "Uh no, I just wanted to know in case we needed something from there later."
Hayden: "Okay."
(Sasha continues to stare down the hallway.)
Hayden: "Are you afraid something's gonna come out of there?" (Chuckles)
Sasha: "Huh? No, that's not it!"
Hayden: "Then what are you staring at?"
Sasha: "Oh, it's nothing really..."
(Hayden does not respond, assuming there's some reason for it, she leaves it be, they both continuing to work.)
Hayden: "So what made you decide to come here in the first place?"
Sasha: "Oh, I wanted to try and get used to AH City some more, and I really like reading so I thought this would be a nice start."
Hayden: "Unfortunately it's being close, right?"
Sasha: "Yeah..."
Hayden: "Do you have a house here or an apartment?"
Sasha: "It's a small apartment. Really, really, small, but I guess it doesn't matter that much since it's just me and my dog."
Hayden: "Oh, you don't have any siblings?"
Sasha: "Nope, I'm an only child...Do you?"
Hayden: "Same here, no siblings."
Sasha: "I see..."
Hayden: "Why did you decide to come to AH City of all places?"
Sasha: "Uh, I don't know, I guess I just take interest in AnimalHumans."
Hayden: "Me too! AnimalHumans fascinate me."
Sasha: "So you're not an AnimalHuman?"
Hayden: "No, just an ordinary human."
Sasha: "Yeah? AnimalHumans really interest me, too. You gotta wonder how the process of transforming into an animal feels, right?"
Hayden: "Exactly! That's what interests me so much!"
Sasha: "Have you ever read any books about the transformation of AnimalHumans?"
Hayden: "As many as I could find, trust me. All written by AnimalHumans, themselves."
(Sasha looks out the window to see birds flying by.)
Hayden: "Hey, Sasha."
(Sasha's attention is directed back to their conversation.)
Hayden: "Could you imagine a book being written by an AnimalHuman in their animal stage? Wouldn't that be hilarious?"
Sasha: "Heh, it would be. You'd have to imagine how they do it, right?"
Hayden: "I guess it really depends on what animal they are."
Sasha: "Like, if they were a fox, they don't have thumbs so I guess they'd have to use their mouth, huh?"
Hayden: "That'd be a sight! I'd pay to watch that happen!"
Sasha: "Yeah, really?"
Hayden: "Of course, who wouldn't?"
Sasha: "I know I would!"
Skippy: "Woof!"
Sasha: "You wanna demonstrate, Skippy?"
Hayden: "You think you could teach him how?"
Sasha: "I have a bad feeling I wouldn't be able to. He's been pretty bad recently."
Hayden: "Maybe it's because he's in a new place."
Sasha: "I guess..."
(A moment of silence comes along, Sasha noticing Hayden seemed to have exhales in exhaustion.)
Sasha: "Hey, are there showers in this place too?"
Hayden: "Yeah, there's this really huge one down the hall you were asking about earlier. It's kinda like a shower mixed with a bath, you'd figure it out if you were there."
Sasha: "You seem kind of tired. You think you could take a break for a bit?"
Hayden: "Oh? I mean, I guess, if you insist."
Sasha: "I can come, too, if you want. You said it was one of those big ones, right?"
Hayden: "Yeah, only if you want, though."
Sasha: "Well, if you want me to, I can, I guess..."
Hayden: "Really, only if you want to, it's not up to me."
Sasha: "Heh, this could go on for a while..."
(It clips to both Sasha and Hayden inside of the large shower.)
Hayden: "I think I could stay here forever. Good idea, Sasha!"
Sasha: "Thanks..."
Hayden: "Hey, do you have any friends, Sasha?"
Sasha: "Well, besides you now, not including Skippy, I guess you could say I have two."
Hayden: "Might I ask who they are?"
Sasha: "This one guy's name is Khan, he works at the APet Daycare. Then there's this woman named Conner, she's one of the leaders of the AHA, she actually protected me and Khan from one of those MonsterHumans."
Hayden: "Wow, you encountered a MonsterHuman? I've never seen one before."
Sasha: "I didn't really know much about them until Conner and one of her friends explained it to me. That's when I wanted to figure out more about AnimalHumans as a whole."
Hayden: "Was Khan an AnimalHuman?"
Sasha: "I don't think so. He didn't say anything about being one."
Hayden: "I see. How did you meet him?"
Sasha: "Uh, I think I banged into him while I was running across the sidewalk, he was on his way to the daycare, and soon enough we were attacked by a MonsterHuman."
Hayden: "Oh, that's when you met?"
Sasha: "Yep...Then Conner showed up and defeated it, except with this thing..."
Hayden: "Hmm?"
Sasha: "Conner had this thing with her, I think she called in an ORB, it's apparently something that's stored inside MonsterHumans. The AHA is after
them for some reason."
Hayden: "You don't know why?"
Sasha: "I don't even think they do! The leader of the AHA wants them..."
Hayden: "And nobody knows who the leader is, right..."
(Sasha and Hayden stop to think for a moment.)
Sasha: "Geez, I don't even have a guess..."
Hayden: "Neither do I."
(Sasha leans back into the water, sighing.)
Sasha: "Yeah, I really could stay here forever, too."
(It then clips to Sasha and Hayden a while later, at nighttime, they're sitting at the stair case to the library. Sasha seems to be looking hard into the sky for something, Hayden notices.)
Hayden: "Is there something up there, Sasha?"
Sasha: "Huh? Oh, I was just looking to see if the moon was in the sky tonight. I don't think it is."
Hayden: "You might not have the best view from here. You know, there's a hill not too far away from here that leads you directly towards where the moon is almost every night."
Sasha: "Is there?"
Hayden: "Pretty convenient, huh?"
Sasha: "Yeah..."
Hayden: "Come on, if you wanna see it so badly."
(Hayden sits up, Sasha then as well.)
Sasha: "Okay..."
(Sasha and Hayden climb the hill to see the moon a good distance away from them, but it's certainly full and a bright white.)
Hayden: "Told ya you'd be able to see it!"
Sasha: "Wow, yeah..."
(Sasha lets herself fall onto her back, staring at the moon.)
Hayden: "Have you always taken interest in the moon?"
(Hayden sits down.)
Sasha: "Yeah, since I was little, I was told. I just wonder what it could be."
Hayden: "It's some kind of giant rock in the sky. You gotta wonder why it glows though."
Sasha: "If we could travel into the sky one day maybe we could eventually find out."
Hayden: "I hope so. Now that you mention it, I'm pretty interested, too."
(Sasha continues to stare at the moon.)
Hayden: "Hey, Sasha."
(Sasha looks over at Hayden.)
Sasha: "Yeah?"
Hayden: "Since I've asked about everyone else you mentioned, and you know I'm a human, I wanted to ask you something."
Sasha: "What is it?"
Hayden: "Are you an AnimalHuman?"
Sasha: "...Will you stop being my friend if I say I am?"
Hayden: "Why would I stop being friends with you just because you're an AnimalHuman? It'd be great to be friends with one!"
Sasha: "Well, because I implied otherwise before..."
Hayden: "I won't be mad at you for it. A lot of AnimalHumans think people will stop being their friends because they're part animal, not in my case, though."
Sasha: "Okay..."
Hayden: "So, are you?"
Sasha: "...Yeah, I am."
Hayden: "Wow, really? That's amazing, Sasha!"
Sasha: "Yep, I'm an AnimalHuman."
Hayden: "What's your animal, then?"
Sasha: "I'm a FoxHuman."
Hayden: "Can...can you transform into an AnimalHuman for me?"
Sasha: "You want me to transform?"
Hayden: "Yeah, if it's not too much to ask. I'd love to see the process right in front of me!"
(Sasha thinks about it.)
Sasha: "You won't be freaked out to see it happen?"
Hayden: "Of course not."
Sasha: "You won't run? You'll still be my friend right?"
Hayden: (Chuckles) "Why are you so paranoid?"
Sasha: "I'm sorry..."
Hayden: "Hey, it's no problem! I promise I won't run, and I promise I'll still be your friend, too."
(Sasha sits up.)
Sasha: "Okay, you ready?"
Hayden: "Mh-hm."
(Sasha exhales, closing her eyes, her ears become long and furry, a snout kind of grows and well as whiskers, claws, hands turning into paws as a fluffy red and white tail grows, her body becoming covered in this red and white fur as well. Sasha opens her eyes.)
Sasha: "There you go."
Hayden: "W-wow...That's amazing."
Sasha: "Yeah, I'm part fox."
Hayden: "Can I touch one of your whiskers, at least once?"
Sasha: "Go ahead."
(Hayden grabs onto one of Sasha's whiskers.)
Hayden: "This is unreal! There's a FoxHuman right in front of me."
Sasha: "This won't be the last time so long as you're still my friend."
Hayden: "Of course I am."
Sasha: "Then may this be the first sight of a FoxHuman out of too many to count."
(Sasha reaches her paw out.)
Sasha: "Hand/paw shake?"
Hayden: "Sure."
(Hayden shakes Sasha's paw, this leading into the next day where the two seem to be finished packing the boxes of books into the truck.)
Skippy: "Woof!"
(Skippy begins to run inside of the truck.)
Sasha: "Skippy, wha-"
(Sasha grabs Skippy and picks him up.)
Sasha: "What's with you, Skippy? You wanna be stored along with all the books that are about to be sent off to who-knows-where?"
Skippy: "Ruff..."
Sasha: "Well then, I thought so."
(Hayden walks outside of the library to see Sasha arguing with Skippy.)
Hayden: "Am I interrupting something?"
Sasha: "No, we were just finished."
Hayden: (Chuckles) "Alright."
(Hayden hands a box to Sasha.)
Sasha: "Is this the last one?"
(Sasha grabs the box.)
Hayden: "Yeah, that's the last of them. Work's finally over."
Sasha: "Summer's just around the corner, too."
Hayden: "Yep, have you heard about the AH Beach?"
Sasha: "Does "AH" need to be at the beginning to everything revolving around AnimalHumans?"
Hayden: "Hey, you're the AnimalHuman."
Sasha: "Keep going."
Hayden: "It's a beach that's going to be open all Summer. I thought maybe you'd wanna go spend some time there, you know, like a vacation."
Sasha: "Sure, sounds fun."
Hayden: "Great! Now let's get the rest of this work done so we can start making plans!"
Sasha: "Okay."
Skippy: "Woof!"
(Sasha pets Skippy on the head, ending the fourth chapter of AnimalHumans.)