Orphan’s Cry

Amy walked around in front of her, the towel still wrapped around her chest as if to say business now, pleasure later. "It's always easier to start changing when you are closer to the ground, that's not to say you can't change while standing up, obviously, but it's more complicated and typically not as comfortable. Especially when you're still learning."

Leah considered that, and admitted it did make sense. "Right then—what's next?"

Amy's voice grew quiet. Not angry or stern, but making it clear that this was when the real instruction began. "Close your eyes."

Leah obeyed, letting herself focus on the sound of Amy's voice as she spoke again. 

"Think about how you are right now. Wiggle your fingers and your toes, listen through your human ears and feel the cold air on your bare skin. Remember this Leah—you are human. All weres are born as human, we just also have the ability—the gift—that allows us to take our other forms. I'm going to walk you through your first change, and when it is time for you shift back it will help if you remember who you are right now, in this moment. I don't want you to think about anything else. Not changing, not the council, not work, not what's for supper. Just this moment, and how you feel in it. Now, take a moment, and when you're ready to go on, I want you to nod to me."

Leah did not respond right away. Focusing on herself, she thought of her body, just as Amy had said. Of the dew on her feet, and sun on her skin. She curled her fingers around soft blades of grass, and felt the chill settling into her toes as she dug them into the ground. She did her best to memorize the sensations—to capture the moment, just as Amy had said, and finally she nodded.

Amy's voice was low and even, her cadence almost hypnotic. Her words didn't carry that strange compulsion she'd felt when Martin had forced her to transform, but Leah felt as if the rest of the sounds around her were fading away as she focused entirely on her girlfriend's voice. "I want you to picture yourself running about the forest. Think of your paws striking the ground as you run, the sunlight as it comes through the woods, the feeling of wind blowing through your fur."

Leah almost could feel it, she realized. A vivid imagination, perhaps... or perhaps the memories of that other self that she'd tried so hard to repress finally letting themselves connect with her again.

Amy's voice grew a little warmer. "There's a stream not far from here that's perfect for swimming and catching fish in—doesn't that sound fun?"

It did. She could almost feel herself splashing through the running water, her fur getting a bit damp, her tail stretching tall to keep out of the wet as she leaped after the silver skinned fish swimming just beneath the surface.

"Think about all the smells—everything is so alive out here—alive and waiting for you to explore it."

Leah wasn't exactly sure when it happened, but at some point, she had stopped hearing the world through her human ears and the chill she had felt all but disappeared. Smells became a bit more intense, and she could feel a bit of dirt and rock until the pads of her feet. Her fingers were no longer curled into the grass—she no longer had fingers—but her front paws dug into the ground, the claws turning up a bit of the earth. She was no longer on hands and knees, just resting on her feet—and without realizing it she shifted her back legs a bit, settling into a more comfortable position. 

Leah opened her eyes and suddenly knew she was no longer human, but for the first time that thought didn't terrify her.