Chương 2: 2-Playtime

It only took a few weeks for Tanya's batchmates to be up and waddling around, a rather surprising development in all honesty. Admittedly, the former soldier didn't have a frame of reference for how fast Happiny should develop, but now where there was once a field of pink blobs lying on the soft floor, her fellow Happiny are now up and moving about. Thankfully, the Happiny are significantly less… noisy than human children, allowing Tanya to co-exist in their walled pen with them with little issue.

In fact, their new energy has caused the caretakers to add lots of new enrichment tools to help them burn off excess energy. Since last week buckets full of brightly colored plastic and soft rounded toys have been delivered by the human nurse in big tubs. Of course, as Tanya has the mind of an adult human, so the items aren't very useful for their intended purpose but-"Excuse me?" Asks a voice from behind, causing Tanya to turn and look at her sister.

She's about half a centimeter shorter and a quarter shade darker pink she doesnt have a name beyond a subtle distinction of tone and inflection, but for some reason Tanya can remember those subtle distinctions with near perfect clarity. The slightly pinker Happiny is holding out an off white plastic ball; the most popular kind of toy in the entire playpen.

"Do you want to hold it?" She asks sweetly, pushing the item closer. Not wanting to be rude, Tanya takes the offered toy and places it in her pouch with a nod.

"Thank you." Her batchmate nods. After a moment the other Happiny glances down at the toy, so Tanya pulls it out again.

"Do you want it back?" She nods, taking the egg shaped toy and waddling away. Tanya watches her with amused eyes as she bumps into another Happiny and, after they both get up, she repeats the procedure. Case in point. Their favorite game is sharing. Sometimes they spend the better part of an hour just standing around in groups passing beige plastic around. The thought of the orphan kids back in Germania doing anything even remotely similar is foreign to the point of comedy.

Shaking her head to refocus on exercise, Tanya grabs ahold of the ladder and starts the slow process of climbing it once again, struggling against both gravity and unfamiliar proportions. With a completely foreign body she's actually at a disadvantage against her batchmates, forced to unlearn muscle memory to regain her former dexterity. Although there is a certain sense of pride as she reaches the top of the ladder and pulls herself to stand on the peak, the lack of burning muscles proof of her increased strength.

The plastic slide she's standing on would be tiny to a normal human, even a child. But the toy appears to be specially designed for her species and Tanya has found it to be incredibly useful as a piece of impromptu exercise equipment. While not something she deliberately sought out, military life gave her a certain level of physical fitness that was… a shame, to have lost. Turning around and sitting down, Tanya pushes off the walls of the slide opposite to the ladder and rides the brightly colored plastic down.

Her body making that strange chirping warble as she does; another quirk of the new form. She fails at sticking the landing, tumbling on the dismount and crashing into another sister, toppling her. But as they both get up she notices the Matron's trying to get everyone's attention, a process that involves a lot of hopping from foot to foot, flapping arms, and repeating "Hello!" The former Drill Sergeant within Tanya rankles at the Matron's lack of conviction, for not demanding their attention with noise and anger.

The children at the orphanage in Germania would eat her alive. Possibly literally considering the… suspicious… nature of some of the stews in the harder winters accompanied by the disappearance of stray dogs. Thankfully this group is more than willing to direct their attention to her weak display, sounds of play going quiet and every eye trained on her.

But even after the Matron had everyone's attention she didn't notice until after a few more seconds, before looking around at all the staring eyes, surprised, then overjoyed.

"Oh my gosh thank you all so much!" She cheers, dancing on the spot.

"You all did such a good job paying attention!" At the Matron's words the Happiny all give wide smiles and little cheers, rocking back and forth in pleasure. A fact that causes no small amount of amusement with Tanya herself at how easy her siblings are to please.

"You've all grown up so much and been so good! And I thought it's time for a special treat for big girls!" She pauses for effect with an playful smile, then resuming with a great deal of waving arms,"We're going outside to play!" There's a confused pause, then some muted celebration, but mostly still confusion. Which makes sense, Tanya realizes with a blink; aside from her, none of her batchmates have ever been outside.

The Matron, undeterred, starts describing how amazing 'outside' is and all the wonderful things they can do. As she does, she beckons at the door and it opens letting in the human nurse, the only human Tanya's seen since she'd hatched.

"... and as long as you tell a nurse first you can get into the lake for a swim! And you'll be able to make new friends! It'll be great!" The Matron finishes extolling the virtues of the outdoors in an almost breathless rush. Waddling over she opens the playpen gate and points at the human.

"This is Nurse Joy, my partner!" She looks up and wiggles her arm.

"Say hello Nurse Joy!" There's a cautious silence as the Happiny stare at the human, wavering on what to do. Seeing this, the Nurse crouches down and gives a small wave.

"Hello there." She says with a soft smile, "My name's Nurse Joy, but you all can call me Zoe." Her batchmates are still hesitant, but the Matron's breathless description of the outdoors has piqued Tanya's interest, so she decides to hurry the process along a bit. Brushing off a strange hesitancy, she walks over to the Nurse and, grabbing a hand with both of hers, gives a professional shake with a small bow. Shallower than she'd intended, but in her defense she's a bit rusty at Japanese style introductions.

The nurse blinks, then gives Tanya a giggle and headpat. Thankfully it broke the tension, the rest of her sisters beginning to crowd around and either giving a wave or –to her amused pride– imitating Tanya's handshake. With introductions done in no time, everyone's corralled into a line, Nurse Joy leading the Happiny procession while the caretakers walk alongside and the Matron takes up the rear.

A completely necessary precaution it seems to stop distracted Happiny from wandering off as they navigate a maze of unfamiliar corridors. But after just about a minute of walking their group is interrupted by a voice from a side hall.

"Zoe, you lucky houndoom!" Shouts a voice as the line comes to a stop, Nurse Joy turning to speak to- Nurse Joy? As the Nur- Zoe answers with a sigh, Tanya looks carefully at her. Female, pink hair done in loops, roughly 5' 9" in height, wearing a well pressed nurse's outfit. Tanya looks to the new individual. Female, pink hair done in a braid, roughly 5' 9" in height, wearing a well pressed nurse's uniform. What?

Glancing down at her dumbfounded expression, the newcomer bursts out laughing and gestures at Tanya with her hand before both look down with wide smiles. After another moment Zoe reaches down and pats her head again as the other leaves with a wave. With that, the procession resumes. But the implications of what she'd seen remain. Perhaps her new form is the product of scientific experimentation after all? Considering it seems that human gene editing and cloning has been perfected.

In all honesty it's rather embarrassing that she didn't pick up on it sooner, pink hair is not normal for humans, especially a bright pink that just so happens to almost perfectly match the color of her own fuzz. But as a pair of double doors open and the group steps blinking into the sun, Tanyas train of thought is completely disrupted by the scene in front of them. With her size being what it is, the career soldier's sense of scale is completely shot, but the clearing they've entered is large.

A grassy field with carefully groomed trees and bushes scattered about surrounding a moderately sized pond with a small water fountain as a centerpiece. Instead of fences, the entire clearing is boxed in by the building they just exited. To protect against flying predators a massive stretch of bird netting spans between the buildings and free standing metal poles. The crisscrossed webbing creates a dappled shadow on the entire scene.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. There are other creatures here too, animals she'd never seen in every color of the rainbow. They're everywhere, playing with each other or just lazing in the sun or the shade of a tree. Looking around, Tanya hadn't realized how cooped up she was feeling. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes to savor the moment.

"All right everyone! We're here! If you want to go back in early just ask a nurse and don't forget to have fun!" Waves the Matron as she subtly encourages a few of the stragglers to step off the linoleum and onto the grass. At her words Tanya's batchmates start to waddle away in every direction. Not wanting to seem unusual, the former soldier follows suit, looking for a nice place to sit as she wanders. Because as inoffensive as her sist- batchmates are, she genuinely cannot remember the last time she was alone.

Certainly not in this life, but the bunking situation on the Germanian convoy in her fatal mission was crowded as well. Even on land campaigns when space is in abundance, she genuinely cannot recall a time she wasn't with someone. Glancing around as she comes to a stop, Tanya sits down and lays back in the grass, then takes a deep breath as she gazes up at the sky through protective netting. She did it. After so long. There's nothing to do, no emergency to plan for or subordinate to manage.

RIght now she's more free than even her most outlandish fantasies of a rear position in Germania, every need cared for, and no expectations or danger. She's in an even better position than in her increasingly hazy memories as a salaryman so long ago. But as she closes her eyes and takes a breath, the sense of ease she'd been expecting is slow to come. Scrunching her face, Tanya takes another breath to try and ease the growing feeling of… something.

A feeling that's surely a holdover from her previous life, pushing against this relaxed behavior. Something that's telling her to get up and f -"What're you doing?" Opening her eyes with a scowl, she pushes herself up to glare at the interruption. At her gaze, a group of three flinches back. The creatures are… unique, two orange baby chicks and a baby blue quadrupedal fish type thing." Relaxing." Tanya states with restrained anger, "And enjoying some peace and quiet."

"Oh." The largest orange chicken rallies, ruffling his feathers. There's a pause.

"I'm Torchic." He states, before pointing at his compatriots with a leg.

"That's Mudkip, and he's Torchick." Tanya sighs as she nods, mind filing away the subtle difference in the inflection marking their names.

"Can I help you?" She asks. There's another pause, accompanied by some shuffling.

"What's your name?"

"Did you fall over?" Asks the second Torchic and the Mudkip respectively. Tanya sighs, apparently the interruption to her relaxation isn't going away.

"Tanya, and no I did not." The leader puffs himself up indignantly, as if she just insulted him.

"Yes you did! Happiny are always falling over, they're lazy." He states with the surety of a universal truth. Tanya blinks. Lazy? The chicken nods, apparently she'd said her thoughts out loud.

"Yea! Lazy and weak." Standing up, Tanya sets down a rock she'd picked up on the walk over and takes a step closer.

"You think I'm… weak?" She asks, calmly. Sure this chicken doesn't even know her, but to assume that she's weak? The other two seem to have recognized their leaders social faux pas, taking a step away as she approaches. The target of her attention doesn't notice, tilting his head, almost confused.

"Happiny are weak." He almost asks.

"That's why they become nurses." Lifting a leg, he wiggles his claws before shaping them into a threatening looking crescent.

"I'm a battler! I even learned a move already!" He puffs his feathers in pride and wobbles as it disrupts his one legged stance.

"I'm gonna get a trainer soon and get stronger!" Weak?

"Prove it." The Torchic blinks, half lowering his foot in confusion.

"What?" Tanya takes a step back and widens her stance.

"You believe I'm weaker than you, prove it." She states, eyes flicking over her opponent, scanning for weakness. It's clear that this trumped up chicken has come to take advantage of a perceived inferiority, lording his status as king of the playground over her and won't leave until he's satisfied. Therefore it's wholly logical to disprove the incorrect notion, if Tanya proves herself to be a credible threat the schoolyard bully will leave her alone. A classic method of establishing hierarchy back at the orphanage.

The Torchic seems confused, glancing back at his compatriots before an expression of angry realization crosses his face.

"Hey! You're trying to get me in trouble! You'll just go crying to the Nur-" He starts, but Tanya cuts him off.

"I thought you were a battler, not a coward?" She goads, evoking a gasp from the peanut gallery. The Torchic chirps indignantly and scrapes a claw on the grass.

"Oh, it's on!" He shouts, the air almost wavering with the force of his anger. No, hold on. It is- Her opponent moves, crossing the distance between them in a single leap and bringing a taloned claw high." Crush Cla - Hey!" Torchic squawks as Tanya dodges the midair attack by the barest of margins. Turning to track the opponent as he passes by, her mind scrambles to come up with a solution. She'd not realized how much extra mass her new body has, slowing every movement and leadenning every limb.

The attack should have been child's play to dodge but as it stands she barely avoided it on instinct alone. Torchic tumbles as he lands before rising with an impressive growl. Rushing across the distance again he sends out a flurry of pecks that has Tanya backstepping to avoid, before he commits with a leap and connects. Bracing for the sharp beak, Tanya almost blinks as the attack lands and it's… Not that bad? Sure it hurts a bit, but she's felt far worse.

Suddenly, the illusion is broken and Tanya realizes that she's fighting a child. Not a human child, but a child nonetheless. She'd been subconsciously expecting an inexperienced, sloppy soldier. Not a schoolyard scap. She almost laughs at how ridiculous the entire situation is, giving a wide smile as the Torchic jumps back. When her opponent looks up he falters for a second before shaking his head and jumping back in with a yell mirroring his first strike. Watching the leg approach Tanya does something… unusual.

Instead of moving out of his range, she moves in. The leg connects this time, but instead of on the claw it hits with the leg, sapping the move of most its leverage. Reaching up Tanya grabs the leg and tries to pull her opponent to the ground. Unfortunately the force of the strike pushed her off balance, so the attempt sends them both into the grass. From there things got significantly less… coherent.

What she does know is that when two Chansey pull them apart they're both scuffed, stained by dirt and grass, and there's a scratch gently oozing blood on the side of Tanya's head. But the Torchic looks significantly worse off. Battered and missing clumps of feathers with one eye already swelling shut, he gives one last half hearted attempt to close the gap and continue the fight before he falls unconscious. Feeling some kind of soothing sensation pour over her while the Chansey do…

something, Tanya's own eyes start to droop, and her consciousness fades there's just one thought accompanied by a sense of singular fulfillment before she passes out completely. I. Win.