“Well, I suppose you won’t have a problem cracking open a beer with one of those claws,” Mark quipped wryly. But I’d prefer to have a beer with, er, human Jimmy.”
When Mark hesitated then compared him to the fictional dragon on Game of Thrones, he let out a snorting laugh that moved aside more dirt and rocks Of course, he didn’t mind. During their Game of Thrones binge, Jimmy, not surprisingly, had been rooting for Team Targaryen all the way. But still….
In spite of his current predicament and the fear that he may have lost his best friend over it, Jimmy was grateful that Mark chose to use humor instead.
“Oh, ha, ha, Brah,” Jimmy shook his very large head. “No. The Cliff’s Notes version of this sordid tale is apparently my real Dad, who just happens to be a shapeshifter of some renown, showed up.The smug bastard….” Jimmy resisted the temptation to grind his jaw. Who knew with the teeth he now had if that would cause damage to his human form. “Apparently, this is a part of who I am. Still, I have this idea niggling in the back of my head as to how I can get out of this form and back to my old self….” Jimmy mused, then quickly added, “Hopefully anyway.”
Jimmy realized that his cousin Erica’s horse, probably wouldn’t take too kindly to a huge, toothed thing the size of a plane getting a running jump and flying overhead. He couldn’t say he would blame Sassy for it, either. “Maybe you can take Sassy back down to the tipi rounding the other side. I will take off in the opposite direction toward the lake. It’s straight down, and with any luck, I’ve figured out this flying thing well enough that I can avoid hitting any trees this time.”
In spite of Mark’s obvious surprise at the turn of events, if anyone could help him come to terms with what was going on, his best friend could. If he were fortunate, maybe, just maybe, Mark could help him broach the subject with Jocelyn, too, when the time came.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The two friends agreed that Mark would get a bit of a head start back down to the tipi, while he would attempt to fly down from the ridge and into the lake. If he figured out how the wings and tail worked, maybe, just maybe, he would be able to take a nosedive into the lake, and no one would be the wiser.
“I’ll meet you back down there,” Jimmy reassured his friend. “Just remember, not a word about this to anyone - until I figure out what’s going on.”
“Hey, you’ve got my word on it,” Mark said as he mounted Sassy and gently reined her back toward the trail he had taken up to the ridge.
When Jimmy could no longer hear the ring of horse’s hooves echoing off the side of the hill he lumbered to a place where he would get a good running start toward the upper ridge. Suddenly remembering what it took for the dragons on Game of Thrones to take to the air, Jimmy imagined that might not be a bad approach for him to take. Half unfolding his wings he began running toward the ridge as best he could. Just before a sharp dropoff of the ridge to the lake surrounded by evergreen forest, Jimmy gave two flaps of his wings, and turned his nose upward to try to gain altitude. He cleared the rocks, with only the tip of his tail catching a small wayward sprig of a tall Norway spruce.
As he felt the wind lift his wings, Jimmy focused momentarily on the wing strokes that could take him higher or a slight pulling in from what would have been his wrist, to steer him. Below, he could see deer, bear, and a moose or two wandering in the forest. The deer were most skittish when his large, dark shadow passed overhead. Even if he was famished from his vision quest, he didn’t want to give in to the hunger pangs - not yet. Taking a deep breath, he pulled back slightly on his wings before beginning his nose dive toward the lake. The dark, blue to black waters beckoned and sparkled below him, giving an almost overwhelming sense that it held the answer he was looking for.
Trees, rocks, and the landscape streaked by on either side of him until at last, he folded his wings until he skimmed, nose-first into the beckoning depths. Even at the speed, he was traveling, he knew the lake was far deeper than he would be prepared to go. What if he did turn back into his human form and was so deep he couldn’t get back up to the surface again? He forced the thought away. Of course, he reasoned to himself, with everything else that had happened in his life, the people like Mark, Stelios, and now his true father, there didn’t seem to be much that would surprise him.
Arching his back, he turned his nose back toward the surface. The light of the sun on the surface showed as a small, distorted dot of orange, and what he could perceive of the sky seemed to be showing red and mauve that foretold of the end of the day. Even as he moved in the water, wings, and tail, he began to feel a tingling in his arms and a feeling in his gut as if he were being pulled inside out. The sensation grew until it almost knocked the breath out of him. When he looked down, he saw what had been his ‘wings’ disappear. Glancing back, he realized he no longer had the tail that had been almost as long as a city bus.
By the time he broke the surface of the lake, he was almost completely returned to his human form. Had it all been a dream? Seeing what remained of the scales he had seen while in the sweatlodge convinced him otherwise. It was something he was going to have to come to grips with. He had no idea what had triggered his changing form, nor what the limitations were. Again, he would have to rely on Mark to try and figure it out.
As he padded up onto the shore, he realized he was completely naked with not even a breechclout to cover himself. As Jimmy hiked the short distance back up to where the tipi was, he mused to himself that it was a good thing that he was Indigenous. If he did happen to encounter someone, it was likely that no one would even notice his nakedness as anything out of the ordinary. Besides, he grinned to himself, once he got back to the camp, it certainly wasn’t anything that Mark hadn’t seen before.
Re: Revelation
When Mark hesitated then compared him to the fictional dragon on Game of Thrones, he let out a snorting laugh that moved aside more dirt and rocks Of course, he didn’t mind. During their Game of Thrones binge, Jimmy, not surprisingly, had been rooting for Team Targaryen all the way. But still….
In spite of his current predicament and the fear that he may have lost his best friend over it, Jimmy was grateful that Mark chose to use humor instead.
“Oh, ha, ha, Brah,” Jimmy shook his very large head. “No. The Cliff’s Notes version of this sordid tale is apparently my real Dad, who just happens to be a shapeshifter of some renown, showed up.The smug bastard….” Jimmy resisted the temptation to grind his jaw. Who knew with the teeth he now had if that would cause damage to his human form. “Apparently, this is a part of who I am. Still, I have this idea niggling in the back of my head as to how I can get out of this form and back to my old self….” Jimmy mused, then quickly added, “Hopefully anyway.”
Jimmy realized that his cousin Erica’s horse, probably wouldn’t take too kindly to a huge, toothed thing the size of a plane getting a running jump and flying overhead. He couldn’t say he would blame Sassy for it, either. “Maybe you can take Sassy back down to the tipi rounding the other side. I will take off in the opposite direction toward the lake. It’s straight down, and with any luck, I’ve figured out this flying thing well enough that I can avoid hitting any trees this time.”
In spite of Mark’s obvious surprise at the turn of events, if anyone could help him come to terms with what was going on, his best friend could. If he were fortunate, maybe, just maybe, Mark could help him broach the subject with Jocelyn, too, when the time came.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The two friends agreed that Mark would get a bit of a head start back down to the tipi, while he would attempt to fly down from the ridge and into the lake. If he figured out how the wings and tail worked, maybe, just maybe, he would be able to take a nosedive into the lake, and no one would be the wiser.
“I’ll meet you back down there,” Jimmy reassured his friend. “Just remember, not a word about this to anyone - until I figure out what’s going on.”
“Hey, you’ve got my word on it,” Mark said as he mounted Sassy and gently reined her back toward the trail he had taken up to the ridge.
When Jimmy could no longer hear the ring of horse’s hooves echoing off the side of the hill he lumbered to a place where he would get a good running start toward the upper ridge. Suddenly remembering what it took for the dragons on Game of Thrones to take to the air, Jimmy imagined that might not be a bad approach for him to take. Half unfolding his wings he began running toward the ridge as best he could. Just before a sharp dropoff of the ridge to the lake surrounded by evergreen forest, Jimmy gave two flaps of his wings, and turned his nose upward to try to gain altitude. He cleared the rocks, with only the tip of his tail catching a small wayward sprig of a tall Norway spruce.
As he felt the wind lift his wings, Jimmy focused momentarily on the wing strokes that could take him higher or a slight pulling in from what would have been his wrist, to steer him. Below, he could see deer, bear, and a moose or two wandering in the forest. The deer were most skittish when his large, dark shadow passed overhead. Even if he was famished from his vision quest, he didn’t want to give in to the hunger pangs - not yet. Taking a deep breath, he pulled back slightly on his wings before beginning his nose dive toward the lake. The dark, blue to black waters beckoned and sparkled below him, giving an almost overwhelming sense that it held the answer he was looking for.
Trees, rocks, and the landscape streaked by on either side of him until at last, he folded his wings until he skimmed, nose-first into the beckoning depths. Even at the speed, he was traveling, he knew the lake was far deeper than he would be prepared to go. What if he did turn back into his human form and was so deep he couldn’t get back up to the surface again? He forced the thought away. Of course, he reasoned to himself, with everything else that had happened in his life, the people like Mark, Stelios, and now his true father, there didn’t seem to be much that would surprise him.
Arching his back, he turned his nose back toward the surface. The light of the sun on the surface showed as a small, distorted dot of orange, and what he could perceive of the sky seemed to be showing red and mauve that foretold of the end of the day. Even as he moved in the water, wings, and tail, he began to feel a tingling in his arms and a feeling in his gut as if he were being pulled inside out. The sensation grew until it almost knocked the breath out of him. When he looked down, he saw what had been his ‘wings’ disappear. Glancing back, he realized he no longer had the tail that had been almost as long as a city bus.
By the time he broke the surface of the lake, he was almost completely returned to his human form. Had it all been a dream? Seeing what remained of the scales he had seen while in the sweatlodge convinced him otherwise. It was something he was going to have to come to grips with. He had no idea what had triggered his changing form, nor what the limitations were. Again, he would have to rely on Mark to try and figure it out.
As he padded up onto the shore, he realized he was completely naked with not even a breechclout to cover himself. As Jimmy hiked the short distance back up to where the tipi was, he mused to himself that it was a good thing that he was Indigenous. If he did happen to encounter someone, it was likely that no one would even notice his nakedness as anything out of the ordinary. Besides, he grinned to himself, once he got back to the camp, it certainly wasn’t anything that Mark hadn’t seen before.