Northward Ho

A "Winds of Change" Story

By Jon Sleeper

God did I need a shower!

I was so tired (no sleep last night you understand) I wanted to go norm and go sleep in the pasture (comfortable grass). But I wanted a shower first. Damn what a week! I almost regretted inviting Brian down because of this fiasco… but then he might not of discovered his polymorphic ability. Over the past few hours, I've seen him do falcons, hawks, other eagles. You name it. And I was jealous…

Very, extremely. Heck, green with jealousy! But it subsided after a while… a long while (a few hours). I'd realized that it's not exactly the same as being a multiple polymorph, one who could change into anything they wanted (he'd said he'd tried a raccoon, and it did not work) but geez it's hard not being jealous.

I was so tired that I hooked my antlers for a moment on the shower curtain rod, almost knocking it off it's hangers. I did manage to make a lot of noise, though. "Are you okay Jon?" Came Bryan's voice from the living room.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said tersely. He was another quandary of mine. He was not the same person I knew from all those months helping me with that story of mine for TSA-talk (What had that story been about anyway? Damned if I can remember… I was working on part four the night before the Change… never did finish it. Oh, well). But then, when I thought about it, none of us were. But that still did not forgive him in my eyes (nose, too) yet. He was going to have to do something pretty amazing to show he was not afraid and get back in my good graces. He's a good man. But he just needs a bit of pushing.

He and Jack were still talking animatedly about their Powers over some food. Bryan had found he had a taste for some plant even I can't eat. Even though it gave him cud. Jack was of course munching on alfalfa, and Brian had gobbled up the last of the steelhead. I was going to have to buy more later.

I squirted some anti-flea shampoo on my cloven hoof-like hand, but paused to look at myself in general. Overall, I was pretty pleased with myself. What more could I ask for? I can norm-shift, my nose is so good I wonder how I ever got along without it, my ears are nearly as sensitive, and I can run fast to boot! The only thing I had reservations about was my Power. I did not like it quite as much as I used to. I know I must have infinite capacity (maybe I'll try standing in front of an out of control semi truck at some point… nah!). Then one of the little suckers bit me and I rubbed the shampoo into my fur as fast as I could.

I have mixed feelings about showers now. On one hoof, the water feels great flowing through my body fur, on the other it takes about an hour to dry. But I took as long as I pleased until the water ran cold, then I sighed and got out. Lucky thing I'd washed enough to quash any wet fur scent… not all though.

The light in the bathroom was quite dim, and my antlers were glowing faintly, so I decided to degauss them just to be safe. I had enough in them to make a Red burst. I did the mental twist. Then, just as I finished the twist I felt dizzy. Very dizzy. Lucky thing I was sitting on the toilet, I grabbed onto the counter to stop myself from pitching off. The dizziness subsided after a moment or so. Damn, I thought, the supercharge must of screwed me up somehow. But at this point no one knew enough about the Powers to do anything about it. So I was on my own.

I had about four towels I used to dry myself off, I used them all. While I listened to the conversation in the living room, I realized that one voice was missing. Maxine. I was very worried about her, she still felt very guilty over what had happened to Brian, and had been unusually quiet all afternoon. I still heard Kim, though. But I wondered where Maxine had gone to.

I felt dizzy again while I was going over my chest and belly fur with the third towel. When I regained my equilibrium, I noticed something under the towel. A single brown feather…

Brian must of used this towel yesterday, I thought. But when I tried to pull it off it did something… unexpected.

It hurt.

Another wave of dizziness. More feathers, my skin tingled. Something was happening. Scents were starting to become less acute, hearing, too. And my eyesight seemed to be getting better by the second. I stood up on unsteady hooves, barely balancing at all. The only thing I could think of was getting out of the bathroom. For some reason I thought my friends could help… In the mirror I noticed my antlers shrinking, shrinking, shrinking.

They all stared at me when I opened the door. "Guys… I don't fee.. dooon't feel… so… so…" My muzzle felt strange and numb, and my nostrils back much further than they should be. My back and tail gave a twinge… I looked back and saw… short tail feathers and small wings which were getting larger by the second. The tingle on my skin spread like thick honey, I felt another wave of dizziness that overtook me and I blacked out.

I felt like I was wrapped in a thick blanket. I couldn't smell or hear hardly anything. It was a familiar sensation, but still distressing. Something had happened to me. I felt… different. There was something on my back that had not been there before. I knew what it was… sorta. But I would believe it when I saw it. Somehow feeling it was not enough.

I strained my non-existent ears to hear a snatch of conversation. "So Kim, you say that when Maxine arrived at the restraunt she bumped into this bird morph, there was a big pop sound, and then they both almost fainted?"

"Yes. It was very strange. Which is saying a lot in this world lately. But this bird morph was the same species that Jon is now. What did you say he is, Brian?"

"Golden eagle. I did one not too long ago, remember. But I think he's coming to. Jon, you okay?"

"Not… really." I said. So that's where the apparent familiarity had come in. When I was Brian's body double I'd felt similarly, but there were differences in this body than his bald eagle one. But I still felt very strange. When I was Brian's double I'd not had any time to really explore things. Now I was sure that I would…

But now I felt every nook and cranny of this avian body. I felt wings on my back, so I knew I was flighted. But how had this happened? Maxine had something to do with it, I knew, but where was she? "Where's Maxine?" I asked.

"She left while you were in the shower. We've called her house, but only Grace answered. You know how she is." Brian answered.

"Yeah…" I was lying on my stomach and chest on the couch. I could tell one wing was over one side, and one practically resting on the coffee table. Fairly uncomfortable. "Could one of you help me up, please? This is not the easiest position…"

"Sorry about that," Brian said. I felt a couple hands grab my feathered arms. Feathers feel quite different from fur… But the only thing on my mind was Maxine… and how to get back to my whitetail-morph form. But there was a little problem with that. I did not know if I could do it without Maxine. I was pulled upward, and I accidentally whapped Jack with a wing. "Ow!" he said.

"Sorry," I said apologetically. Damn. If I was going to be stuck like this for a while I was going to have to get used to things. At least I wasn't going insane like I almost did the last time. That 'wrapped in a blanket' feeling was quite disturbing, though. I made as if to open my eyes.

"Jon, wait. Eagle eyesight is very different, you probably don't remember it very well. I'm going to cover your eyes and slowly take the cover away. You'll immediately notice some things." I nodded once. "Okay, I've got my hands in front of your eyes. You can open them now."

All I saw at first was the orange scales of Brian's hands. But the detail! I could see whole landscapes in those hands! He moved them farther and farther away until I could see everything. It was like nothing else… My eyes caught every little movement in the room, but were drawn for some reason to Jack, who was rubbing his head still. "You know you have 79 lashes on your left eyelid?" I said to him. Brian burst out laughing. "What?" I said. My voice was no different from my original, but it came from my throat.

"That's the very first thing I said the first time after I finished Changing! Heh. Sorry. How do you feel otherwise?"

I looked at my taloned, yellow hands, and flexed them. "Pretty good, considering. But I don't know if I want to stay this way forever. I kinda liked having hooves. But this isn't half bad." It was very good, in fact. More than good. When I was Brian's double I'd had no chance to enjoy flight. Now I felt like I perhaps had some time to try it… Then I remembered I'd not seen exactly what I looked like. There was a large mirror on my bedroom closet door. "Excuse me a sec." I said.

Carefully, so I would not catch a toe talon in the carpet (I only ended up snagging one only once) I went into my bedroom and closed the door. I was not disappointed.

My eyesight more than made up for my lack of other senses. I saw myself in more detail than I ever could have otherwise. Golden eagles are "booted" in that downy feathers go right to the tops of the toes, unlike Brian's who only went to the ankles. My hands were a lot like his, three fingered with the thumb nearly facing backward. Most of Brian's forearm was scaled to just below his elbow. Mine had downy light brown feathers up to my wrists.

My overall color was brown, with a wash of gold-tinged feathers down the back of my head and neck that gave my new species it's name. I spread my wings, they were at least as large as Brian's bald eagle form (which he still seemed to perfer), my tail feathers were faintly barred in white. My beak, black at the tip fading to gray the further back towards my yellow cere it went. My eyes were large, with irises as brown as my feathers. I clicked my beak a couple times, amazed at the sound it made and the fact that my nostrils were just a pair of holes in my cere.

The only thing I did not like was my very inexpressive face and predatory look. I was going to have to ask Brian about this. But then I thought about it some more, and discovered that I did not mind being a bird-of-prey morph. At least for now. At the moment my only thoughts were of perhaps going out for a brief flight. I opened the door.

"How do you feel?" Bryan asked, nervous.

"Like my wings are aching to get some wind over them. Whatsay we go once around the block, Brian? I'm just itching to catch some sky!" Both Brian and Kim laughed. Jack brayed, and even Bryan chuckled a bit. I tried to grin… but…

"Jon, you'll love it!" Kim said. So we went outside. But then I realized that I did not know what to do first. Luckily I had an expert or two with me. "Whatinell do I do first?" I asked Brian.

"Well, first I need to know if your Power still works. Can you turn on your shield?" He picked up a small rock. I did the mental twist and felt the familiar tingle. He tossed the rock, and it stopped like it should have. "Whatever Maxine did, it did not affect your Power, your shield at least. Good. Remember what I told you about my first fight?"

I did in fact in one of his emails just after the Change. Made a pretty good story, too. I nodded. "I… think I'll keep it on the whole time." He nodded. It was maybe two in the afternoon, and I could see (zoom in, too. WOW!) a lot of other bird morphs riding thermals. Brian helped Kim into the air first. We walked over to a take off block.

I basically followed Brian's example. I faced into the wind, spread my wings (wow that felt weird), bunched myself up, then sprang into the sky.

I had to flap hard to rise above the short trees, I was a bit clumsy on the take off, but I heard Brian yell "you got it!" and I could enjoy the sensations.

Eagles are soaring birds, and right next to the pasture was one of the new artificial thermal generators built for bird morphs so they--we--wouldn't have to find one on our own. I'd heard it enabled one to stay aloft for hours.

As I circled in the "ThermalMax Altitude Assitance Device" (referred to by bird morphs as "The Max") generated thermal, I could still see everything. I must of been up five hundred feet but I could still clearly see the looks on Jack and Bryan's faces. Strangely, he did not seem jealous, just curious.

There was one thing I was a bit curious about. As a deer I could norm-shift. My other Power had transferred… I watched Brian briefly do it when he and Kim had flown side by side for a moment.

So I tried it myself. And it worked. I flash-shifted too. I must of gotten that from Brian when Maxine had done her thing. They did not notice, though. So I shifted back a moment later. I'd perhaps enjoy that shape only when I needed to… I'd not heard from It yet, though I surmised that It had changed with my body. Since I was Hi-D in that area I was not keen on anything unexpected happening (though I did notice little movements on the ground tended to distract me…). I just hoped It was as helpful now as It seemed to have become.

I did notice one thing. My major Power was different. I was not wind charging like I should have been. Probably a good thing, but it really cut down on how fast I could charge up. Oh well.

I don't know how long we were up there, but it wasn't too much longer Brian soared up just above me and yelled, "Jon, I'm afraid we've gotta land now. ATC is getting on my case a bit, we're a bit too high for comfort for them. You realize were up nearly five thousand feet?"

I'd not even noticed. But there was one thing nagging me… "How do I land?!"

"Just keep your shield on, follow me down, and watch me." He showed the ease of months of practice, and I watched him as closely as I could (pretty close with these zooming eyes). I aimed for a landing block and dropped in altitude.

I would have crashed. But then I found out that It was definitely there, and definitely eagle. -groundlandnow- It said. -niceflight goodsky nopreythough HUNGRY- The ground was rushing towards me. Frankly, it's not flying I'm afraid of, it's falling and if It had not taken control I was going to eat concrete. Yuk (I'd have a bit of rabbit later). But as soon as my fear overtook me It took control and skillfully landed me on the block. Brian was looking at me, dumbfounded (funny that I could tell what he was trying to express on his face…). "What can I say? I'm a natural." I smirked (or something).

"How was it?" Bryan asked. I folded my wings and stepped off the perch.

"I can't even begin to describe it. It was… it was… freedom."

Brian gave a knowing look (he sorta tilted his head a little). "I know what you mean. Even with this damn flight computer and all the restrictions, there's nothing else like it. Are you sure you want to change back?" he said.

I thought a moment. "Well… yeah. But I wonder how Maxine did this. We'd better go find her. Did you guys have any more luck getting in contact?" I asked Jack, who for one reason or another had decided to stick with us for the time being. Funny…

"No, no luck," Jack said. "But before she left I got the strong impression that she was going home."

"Home?" Brian said. "Then all we have to do is go to her apartment."

"No," I said. "She's at work this time of day, and I don't know where she works. We'll have to go to the mall and ask Grace."

Brian smirked. "Wanna fly?"

"Do you have to ask?"

Grace was a vapid as she ever was. She knew Brian, but not me. "Um… so… like what else can I tell you?" she said.

"Like where Maxine went," I said, putting a bit of a glare into it.

"Home, she just got a buncha stuff together and like, left. North, I think," Bryan and Jack walked up behind us. "Way north where it snows in the winter. Can you imagine it?"

"WHERE!!" I yelled.

She backed up a little. "Canada. What's the name of the city? Eddie… Eddie something…"

"Edmonton?" Bryan supplied, stunned.

"That's it! Say! I've got a great cologne that works for you sheep types! Wanna try it?" The only thing she seemed to care about was her job.

Bryan looked at the both of us, clearly just a little bit… well… dazed. "It looks like I'm going to go home for a while." He said, putting his right hand on his forehead in shock.

What could we say?

In light of my current… condition. The department granted me leave of absence until this thing was fixed (I ID'd myself with the DNA ID thing). And Don was quite understanding. "Enjoy the flying while you can!" he squawked. "That I will," I replied. Mom somehow knew I was who I said I was and was taking care of Cleo (I hoped she would not chase her around the house too much…)

At the mall Brian and I both bought new flight computers (I'd pretty much fried his old one). There was only one model available at the current time, so we were both stuck with it ($3500!). Then we checked our email before we left (Bryan would be driving my Toyota, since it was the only vehicle that would fit us and only he could drive it). It was then that Brian got the news. (He'd put in a forwarding address at his home net account)

"It's from NEWENCO," he says. "They want to re-interview me in three weeks. They say they've seen too many new students whose Change has made them students they don't want to have in their school, so they want me to come in, too. So we can't take very long at this."

We would take an airplane, but the problem in that was that they'd not figured out any kind of seating for bird morphs. So we were stuck with driving. Fifteen hundred miles… I hope Bryan's a good driver. I was really not upset with him anymore… but the thing was I thought he needed to do something for himself to get back on my good side. I'm not one to hold a grudge for any amount of time.

Sleeping that night was "fun." I fell off the perch twice. I had no clothes to pack, just my flight computer. Kim showed up just as we were about to leave the parking lot.

"What are you doing here?" Brian asked, not upset, but pleasantly surprised. One of the things I had not told him was that Kim looked quite good to me now… I hoped I could keep that to myself…

"I thought I should tag along. I told the station enough about what's going on that they thought it would make a great human interest story." She was carrying a small vidcam, broadcast quality and state of the art. And about as big as an 8mm camera.

None of use could find anything wrong with her coming along… then Jack showed up. Bryan suggested that he come along, "his Power is going to be useful, I think. Just in case." A funny thing, after that incident just yesterday they really seemed to hit if off. Cool.

"Fine!" I said. If there were anymore delays I was going to get out and fly myself! (I was upset enough about the rabbit I'd had to eat whole this morning… thank God for lack of taste buds!) But fifteen hundred miles and mountains did not feel fun…

We settled in for a long trip.

Copyright 1997, Jon Sleeper

Go Back to Alterations

Go Forward to A Fresh Start

Go to Index Page