Chapter 4: Mama, I'm ugly!

'The idea of practice is all well and good, but knowing what practice is needed for one to walk on four legs after living life with two is, haha, ha... not easy.' I'm staggering from side to side with no control over where I'm going, looking about as coordinated as someone both simultaneously drunk and stoned, all the while telling the police they're totally sober and can drive home just fine. Mother is once again staring at me with slightly disappointed eyes, but what the hell is she expecting from a newborn!?!

I crash into the wall of our cave, sinking down slowly to the floor with my cheek pressed against the cool stone, and I wonder if this is some special hell just for me. 'Who am I? What am I? What have I done to deserve this?' The urge to cry is emerging to the front of my thoughts, but I squash it down with every ounce of willpower I have and try to put some strength into my goddamn legs.

This time, it seems that my determination and will is finally producing results, because lo and behold, I'm up and on my feet! "Oooooh!" A cheer is released from my mouth, as a (figurative) fire lights in my eyes. 'One step. I'd be happy if I could just get one step!' My standards have been lowered immensely during this short time, and my goal of assessing my looks has flown out the window of incompetence, but with this one step forwards, I can start a new chapter in this life of mine. The beginning to my path of greatness! MY HAREM!! (this is a delusion created out of desperation to prove herself; Nicole shall never be capable enough in love to have a harem, she struggles to deal with even one girl at a time.)

My leg lifts, and yet the other three are stable, holding me completely upright! "Nyahaha!!" I confidently move it forwards, placing it down with the swift sharpness of an eagle...!

And wow! I've fallen flat on my face. "Pft!" At the sound of laughter I swing my head back to the large mother, only to see her shaking, head hidden in her front paws with muffled snorts and chuckles coming from under them. 'Damn you Mum, you think this is a joke?!? I'll show you how amazing and serious I am!!' Somehow my mindset seems to be slowly turning more immature, I really need to be careful of that. Picking myself off from the ground, I start to try this again, only this time I'm veeery careful, and place my paw on the ground as if touching super expensive china at my bitchy aunt's house.

'I'm down! I have successfully taken my first step in this world! Hell yeah! Alright, time to do it again!'

The body of water I'm heading towards is only around 15 steps away, so it only takes around 10 minutes and 2 falls for me to get there. By the time I'm there, my walking has improved considerably, and I'm probably gonna be able to walk with no incidents back to mum.

With my thoughts in order, I'm finally going to actually achieve what I came here to do; check how this new hybrid body of mine looks. The water is right here, but I'm scared. What if I really am ugly? No, even if I am ugly, it doesn't matter. I'm alive. Mental preparation complete, I look down into the water.

Staring back at me was almost like a kitten, but at the same time absolutely not one. I have a short coat of black fur with almost invisible tiger stripes on them, the stripes being a lighter bluish black. My eyes are an almost magical dark blue, like the sky at dusk after the sun has fled. Sadly, that was where the cute kitten traits ended, as Right above my eyes, in-between my cute fuzzy ears were what looks like the nubs of horns, just beginning to grow out. My claws were not the cute murder mitten ones, but rather black, scaled objects that could rip one to shreds. On top of that, the reason it took me so long to find my center of balance is because I HAVE WINGS!! Each wing has a span of around 1.5x my body length, and they have shimmering black scales. Cool! Or at least it would be if they weren't so out of place on my tiny kitten body. Luckily my tail seemed to be that of my cute kitten body instead of lizard like, but overall when the whole picture comes together...

"NNYYAAAAAA" (Mama, I'm ugly!!) My mournful cry resounds around the cave, startling my siblings and causing mum to look over here with complex eyes. She hesitates for a second before slowly padding her way over to me, who is crying inconsolably splayed on the floor. She nudges my wings, which make a rustling sound in response, only making me cry harder as the thought of how cool flying can be is thrown out of my mind in exchange for how bad the look on me. "Grrrrr" (You're not ugly, Nicole.) Mum tries to console me, but I am drowning in my woe.

'Wait, mum consoled me? She, she understood what I'm saying? It took a few seconds to realize, but once I did... She heard me shouting about random shit earlier didn't she. Oh Jesus, please spare me from this humiliation.'

My body stiffens up, and mum takes this opportunity to grab my scruff with her mouth and carry me back to the bed. At this point, I'm just gonna roll with it. 'If mum can understand me, then all the questions I have can finally be answered!' I start to organize all the queries about this world in my head, excited about this new learning opportunity. What about me being ugly you say? Of course I'm sad about it, I mean having a cute face is an easy way to survive, but what can I do? I'll just replace good looks with ability! Now, time to grill mum.