Jacob jumped in shock upon meeting his new roommate "Peter!?" Jacob asked. "Is this supposed to be one of those weird dreams? I'm pretty sure real life doesn't have Wolf-Men in it."
"First off, I'm a coyote, And no, you are not dreaming." Peter corrected him. "We're smaller and our fur is more tan than wolves."
"How is this possible?! Have I been teleported to some sort of Furry realm?" Jacob asked in confusion.
"Well if you want to think of it that way, yeah. Grayson and Stripes want you in the common room so they can explain the furry thing." Peter said.
"One more question, What year are you?" Jacob responded, "You weren't here yesterday when I moved in."
"Junior year, I got started here my freshman year. You're a transfer kid right?"
"I am, yes. Junior year as well" Jacob replied. "Anyways I ought to go. See ya Peter!"
And so Jacob walked down the halls to that common room. He and a few more kids his age were greeted by a zebra and an otter. Both biped animals like his roommate."Guess that's why he calls himself Stripes." he told himself, speaking of the zebra.
“Good morning everyone!” Stripes cheered, looking out over the gallery of stunned faces gathered in the middle of the common room. He did a quick headcount, and was pretty sure they had the right number of people with them. Jacob was right in the middle, his eyes focused as he took in the strong, intensely powerful body of the zebra that was his CA. At his side were a bulky Hyena and a slim ferret, the CAs for the other two floors of the dorm, though they seemed to be letting Stripes do most of the talking for them.
"You're not in Kansas anymore. You're in Claw Valley. Respect that fact each and every day. I'm pretty sure they don't have things like this happening over there." Stripes continued. "Alright, so let me explain to you guys what's going on here…"
He dives into his explanation he wrote up, which he had to memorize for weeks on end, which is something Jacob himself would struggle with.
"Claw Valley, as you can see, is a unique place. It is at a confluence between two different worlds. The Human World you were in yesterday, and the so-called "Other Side" where me and the other CAs are from. This other side is where you see the "Furries" "Anthros" "Therians" whatever name you have for these creatures over there. Claw Valley is one of the few places in the world to have these portals that take you from one world to another from time to time, which is what happened to you all last night."
One kid, David, asked "How is this even possible? Is this some sort of wizard work?" Jacob was intrigued. He wanted to get away from the old world after all, and in what better world than one with such unique beings?
"Nobody knows for certain, but it is common folklore here that the portals here were created by a shaman some centuries ago" Stripes Answered.
“You’re going to find that this world is mostly just like your old one, just a little furrier,And when you came over to this side, things about you started to change too. Like if you start living in a different country, you are assimilated into its culture and way of life. Your bodies are going to adapt and they will… change. You’ll be like me and everyone else on this side, a mix of human and animal. It might take a week, it might take a month, but it will happen to you. That is an inevitable fact of life in Claw Valley.” Two people had panic attacks as Stripes finished what he said. A girl named Cara asked "Why are you making us do this?" Jacob wondered how this world could be so similar. "So is it something in the air here or what?"
"Don't worry Ma'am." Stripes attempted to assure the young woman. "These changes will not be painful and they are reversible. If at the end of the semester you want to return to the human world you can do that and you'll be back to your old self. If you decide you like it here, you can stay for good. Changing from a human to an animal might come with New feelings, new ways of looking at the world, and new lives. To adapt to this, you are all registered for Anthro 101. A class which helps you understand what's going to happen with you." Jacob did like Furries, and the fact that he was going to become one was even more interesting. Probably explains the whole personality quiz they gave him. He also wondered what he would become. He was assigned a coyote as a roommate, maybe something complementary to Peter, maybe a similar species to him. The possibilities were very wide.
"And now, here is the hard part." Stripes sighed as he delivered maybe the most shocking news. " You will not be allowed to return to the human world until the start of Holiday Break.The only time you can transfer to and back between worlds is between semesters. Your Transformations begin today and will complete no later than the end of this month.And that's about all we have, enjoy your time here at college and have fun, be safe. It's not as bad as it sounds." This sent the entire room into a frenzy, enough to make even Jacob feel uneasy.
"Do our Parents know what's going on? Is this legal?" The young man asked in concern.
"Good Question, We talked to most of them yesterday. They're aware by now that you can't leave. As for the dimensional stuff? No they don't." Grayson, the otter clarified.
"M-my parents weren't here with me. They're back home in Ohio." Jacob pointed out.
"If that's the case, we would've sent them an email explaining the whole rule to them"
"About the whole thing about this being permanent, will they know if we choose not to return to the human world?" Jacob also asked.
"They don't have to. Most students actually prefer to stay on this side when the Holidays roll around, but whether you want to tell them or not about your decision while you're away is mostly up to you." The otter replied. This calmed Jacob down a bit as he made his way back to the room.
As he laid on the bed. Pete asked.
"So they told you about the thing right?"
"Yeah, the thing where I'm going to turn into an animal and be one for 3-4 months at the very least? That doesn't bother me as much." Jacob spoke, disturbed. "The thing I'm freaked out about is that I've completely lost contact with the human world for that whole time."
"Eh, it's all for the better I suppose, but you at least have people that genuinely care about you." Peter replied. "Came here a couple years ago. People back in my Human life were, to put it in the best way, not great people. Came here and never looked back."
"Pete, I don't know what to say, I'm sorry this has happened to you." Jacob stated. "I couldn't imagine a life like that."
"I'm glad I left, now I have a better family here, one that's friendlier. I don't like thinking about my old life for obvious reasons" As Pete talked, Jacob was assuming that he was speaking figuratively about a family, like some sort of fraternity or what not.
"Are you in any groups yourself?" Jacob asked the canine.
"Yes, there's groups based on major, species, interests, the like. Sorta like how high school was." Pete returns a question "Any idea what species you might become?"
"Well the personality test gave me you as a roommate, maybe something that is somewhat similar in nature to Coyotes?" Jacob asked
"Probably. Though it's quite rare there are ever two people of the same species in the same room."
"Where are you from? "Jacob asked.
"90 minutes or so from here." Pete answered.
"I'm from Ohio. Cleveland area." Jacob said.
"Guess you wouldn't be heading home that often anyways. That's like across the damn country." Pete replied
"True, but I just have to feel bad for Mom and Dad. They're not even gonna be able to talk to me over the phone. Aside from that I'm taking most of the news well." Jacob somberly said.
"They seem like nice people. Maybe a bit of the helicopter variant, but better than what I had in my human years."
"So, who was your old roommate?" Jacob asked curiously.
"Miles. He's actually my boyfriend. A mountain lion if you want to know what species."
"So you like guys too?" Jacob asked intrigued.
"Yeah, I'm gay." Pete affirmed." The gay dating scene is pretty big here and the Anthro world in general."
"I mean, I'm gay too, so it should help that I have a decent pool of guys to choose from." Jacob answered.
"Looks like you're already starting to change." Pete yelped.