NOTE: This chapter has been broken into two parts to fit Tapas guidelines for length. Please be sure to check the next page for the rest of this chapter. This is part 1 of 2

As I watched the big black cat disappear into the… oh, wait, what’s that? Sorry, it seems as though the author has decided to tell the story from somebody else’s point of view for a bit. Says that you might be interested in things that are happening outside of my presence. I know, it's crazy, right? Anyway, I guess I’ll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs while somebody else talks…

***The following part of the story is told from Leander’s point of view***

As I raced away from young Daecon I found myself with more questions than answers about the young lad. Even after Owen told me about his hybrid shift (and that’s just what I felt it was: A hybrid shift, not an incomplete one as Owen insists) I was not prepared to see this in person. Back in Greece, where I grew up, there were stories about such abilities, but no shapeshifter has been known to be able to perform hybrid shifts like this in millennia. I was starting to form a suspicion about Daecon, one that could have grave and exciting consequences for all shapeshifters, but I would have to learn more about him before my thoughts would be confirmed.

I quickly found Owen’s scent and started following it. Soon enough I caught up with Owen, who was close on the trail of the two searchers. “Hold up, Owen”, I whispered. 

Owen stopped and waited for me. “Hello, my love!”, he whispered. “What’s going on? Why have you left Daecon?”

“Daecon is fine, He’s safe in the cave. I need to talk to you though. There have been developments. Daecon now has full control over his wings and even took an accidental flight. He was clumsy but he has taken remarkably well to flight and should do well enough that we can fly off this mountain at dawn. That will make our journey back to the cottage much easier. We have a new problem though. When Daecon heard those men coming he wisely got out of the cave and hid in a tree. Unfortunately in his haste he forgot his cell phone in the cave, and the men found it. They know he was here.” 

“Damn it”, Owen cursed. “Oh well, I suppose that couldn’t have been helped. I’m just glad that he got out of that cave in time. Had they found him there we would have faced a grim task indeed. You and I both know we could never have let those men bring Daecon back into the custody of the humans. Still, there’s no harm in them knowing that he was here. By the time they return with more searchers we’ll all be long gone.”

“Yes, but there is a slight problem. Shortly before they got his phone he had taken a selfie with it, with his wings exposed.” 

“You’re kidding. He actually was dumb enough to photograph himself? So those men saw the photo?”

“No, I don’t think so. Please, do not be so harsh on the lad. You know that this is all new to him, and you know that he is young. I couldn’t imagine being thrust into this situation myself and not wanting to see what I looked like. Anyway, Daecon said the phone was locked, so they can’t access the photograph. If those men take it to the police, though, they may break into it looking for evidence, and if they do they will see the photo.”

“So we must get that phone back.”

“Yes”, I agreed, “and I have a plan to do so. It’s not much of one, but it’s the best I can do on short notice. Here’s what we must do”.

***End of Leander’s point of view. We now return to Daecon***

Oh, you’re ready to come back to me, are you? Fine, then, let’s get this story train back on the tracks.

So while Leander and Owen are off galavanting all over this mountainside I'm stuck here back here at the cave, resigned to the fact that I would be going nowhere until dawn. I took my other shoe off and paced around a bit on the smooth cave floor. I was thinking over my first flight and smiling to myself. I was really starting to get the hang of this, even if I still couldn’t completely take my bird form yet. This got me wondering what this form would be. Owen’s an eagle, Leander is an owl, so I figured that I’d probably be some big bird of prey. Or would I? I didn’t know enough about these people or their magic. I then thought that maybe since my wings were white that I’d be a seagull or something. God, I sure hoped not.

I walked over to the edge of the plateau and stood, looking out over the valley just as I had done just an hour or so before. I could still see the little boats in the lake below.

I briefly thought about spreading my wings, and as soon as the thought entered my mind they appeared and had spread. I could tell the tail feathers had appeared as well. I considered taking a running jump and flying again, but decided against it. I had told Leander that I wouldn’t fly, so I wouldn’t fly. Besides, if I had gotten into trouble in the air without Leander or Owen there to guide me I’d have been royally screwed.

I hid the wings again, almost without thought. Then I spread them again, then I hid them again. This was becoming easy for me, almost natural. I guessed that those neural pathways or whatever Owen had called them were forging themselves as he had said they would. Whatever the reason, I was in full control of the wings and was thankful for it. I walked back into the cave and sat down against the wall. There was nothing left for me to do except wait. Without my phone. Or my computer. Or my TV. Or my gaming console. GOD this was boring!

I must have dozed off again. I awakened to the sound of me talking outside the cave. I recognised the voices immediately and so was not alarmed. I had no idea how long I’d been asleep, but I could tell by the cool damp air and the amount of light entering the cave that dawn was approaching. I perked my ears up and listened. 

“Hee hee hee! I bet it’ll be years before those two ever step foot in the forest again”, Leander’s voice said. He was laughing a deep, hearty laugh. “I’ve never seen humans run so fast! You were great!” 

“Yeah, yeah, except that for the first time in my life I’ve let humans see me in my bear form”, Owen replied. “I’m so disappointed in myself.” 

“Oh, get over yourself, Owen. You did it on purpose, so it’s not like you made a mistake. And as far as those humans were concerned, all they saw was a well fed but cranky old bear.” 

I stood up and walked to the cave’s mouth. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Sitting on one edge of the plateau was what would have normally been a very odd sight: A huge brown bear sitting next to a large black jaguar. The two animals looked very much like they were snuggling as they watched the sun rise. I stood in the cave mouth watching, feeling a flash of jealousy before I remembered that these two were a married couple and that I had no claims on Owen. I then started to feel a strange affection for the very odd couple that was snuggling in front of me. It was a weird sight but it was a heartwarming sight. Still, I felt like a creep just sitting there watching them, and I wanted to know what they'd gotten up to last night with those searchers.

“Good morning”, I said. The bear raised its head to look at me. 

“Good morning”, it said, and rested its head back on the jaguar. Almost immediately it spun its head back around and said “My God, your wings! They’ve gone!” 

“Oh, you mean these wings?” I asked as I spread them back out. “Yeah, I’ve finally figured out how to use them. I can hide them, too. And look: Tail feathers!” I said as I turned around and wagged my ass at the bear, showing off my pure white plumage. I made the wings and tail vanish again and leaned on the wall of the cave opening. Owen gave me an impressed look (reluctantly, I’m sure) but Leander was just staring at me. 

“So”, I said casually. “What did you do last night with those two men? Sounds like you had fun.” 

Owen started laughing. “It was incredible. We got ahead of them and trashed a clearing in woods, to make it look like there had been a struggle. Leander smeared some rabbit blood around to make it look good. I ripped up your shirt and shredded that shoe, spreading bits of it around, and then I went and waited outside of the clearing. As soon as those men entered it I sprang out and started roaring at them, with a piece of your shirt hanging out of my mouth. I was really quite convincing, too, though I say so myself. Those men thought I was going to eat them. I swear the blood drained out of their bodies.” 

This made me chuckle. “So what happened? What about the dogs?” 

Owen was still smiling. “At first sight of me those dogs bolted for safety. I would have told them not to worry, that I wasn’t there for them, but there was no time. They had no thoughts about saving their masters though. They disappeared into the woods baying like their lives depended on it.” 

“Wait”, I interrupted. “You would have told them? The dogs? You can do that too?” 

“Oh, yes”, Owen said. “When in animal form we can communicate with certain animals. Nothing complicated, mind you – they really are dumb animals, after all – but we can make them understand basic things.” 

The dogs! This reminded me!

“Wait! I think I did it last night! I’ve always been able to understand dogs, but not as well as I did it last night! I could understand what the dogs were saying when they didn’t want to go into the cave, and when I asked them to leave me alone they looked directly at me, nodded, and moved away! I thought I was just going crazy! So I really did talk to them!”

Owen looked surprised. “Oh? You were able to talk to them in human form?"

"Well, yes", I said. "I haven't figured out how to be anything except human. Why, is this wrong?"

Owen looked over at Leander and then back at me. "Well, it's not wrong, but it is also not normal. We usually cannot use any of our animal abilities unless we're in animal form. This includes talking to other animals. But wait, was this before or after you figured out how to hide your wings?”

I thought for a moment. “After. Definitely after. I had woken up and went outside to pee. I know you warned me to stay in the cave, Owen, but I just couldn't bring myself to piss inside. It's a good thing I went outside, too, otherwise I wouldn't have heard those men. When I realized they were coming I cursed my wings only to realize they were gone. I climbed the tree to hide from them, and the wings were still gone when I spoke to the dogs. They didn’t come back until I was ready to jump out of the tree and go after the men.”

“Interesting”, Owen said as he considered this. 

I couldn’t help but get excited. “So you're saying that we can talk to animals, kind of like Doctor Doolittle?” 

Leander, who had been staring silently and oddly at me during the whole conversation, started to say something, but Owen interrupted him. “Just say yes, Leander. Believe me, it’s easier.” 

I gave Owen a dirty look, then realized that I was scowling at a bear that was several times larger than myself and had to laugh at the absurdity of it all.