The Polymorph Chronicles

Chapter 1

I didn't know where I was before the forest. I didn't know who I was or where I was at. When I opened my eye to see the trees and the bright blue sky. The left half of my face felt as if it was on fire. Nothing about these woods showed any hint of hostility, yet I felt a sense of dread in the bright light of the sun shining down on the leaves. I felt... lost. "Hello?" I called out. "Anyone there?" I was greeted only by the blow of the breeze.

"Well this is just great!" I said as I kicked a root. "Where am I?" A bigger question tugged at my gut and made me begin to worry about my situation. Who am I? Obviously I had amnesia, but if I did, I shouldn't know to worry about who I was. If I really did have amnesia I wouldn't even remember what a name is, so why did I remember that I should have one?

"Hello?" I called out again, looking out into the immense woods and wondering where I would go. I was about to take a step forward but a wave of pain hit my head with a flood of memories.

Fear. That's what I felt as ran from the hunters and their wolves. "Get him boys!" The leader yelled. "He'll be worth a fortune!" I ran as fast as I could but the wolves we're getting closer and closer. "AAAAAGH!" I screamed as something hit me in the back and shocked my entire body. I fell to the ground as the wolves descended upon me. "Sick im!" The hunter commanded the wolves. The wolves began biting and clawing at my face as I screamed at the agony of having my face torn open.

My face burned and I realized that my left eye really was gone. "Damn" I said as I touched my face. At least I had some memories. However, the memories brought more questions then answers. Why was I being hunted? How was I still alive? Why would the hunters just leave me there instead of taking me with them to whoever was going to buy me? "He'll be worth a fortune!" one of them had said, but why? What did they want with me?

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt that I was being watched. Sure enough, I was. A deer stood about twenty feet away from me. It looked as if it was questioning me with it's gaze. Well? it's gaze seemed to ask. What will you do?

 I focused on the stag, how it moved, the way it held itself. Suddenly I could feel myself changing. I grew fur, I dropped down onto all fours as my hands and feet became hooves. Antlers sprouted out of my head as my mouth and nose grew outward as my ears grew and became pointier. I had become a stag. What the... I took a step forward, then another. I leapt into the air with my long legs. A feeling of exhilaration filled me as I ran through the woods faster than I had ever before. I felt so free!

Realization stopped me in my tracks as I looked at myself. What am I? I asked myself. Instantly I knew that I wasn't human, but what else was there?

While I was standing there in the form of a deer the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up and I heard a twig snap behind me. WOLF!!! My mind screamed. I took off running before I even saw the wolf but I could feel it close behind me. Don't die! Don't die! Don't die! I told myself as I ran. I feared for my life as I tripped over a root and the wolf tripped over me. We tumbled like those corny old cartoon cat fights. The wolf ended up on top of me and had me pinned to the ground, hopeless and ready to die.

In a last ditch effort to survive I willed myself to change back into my human form in order to confuse the wolf. "Bad dog!" I yelled. "Sit!" The wolf looked confused for a moment and shook its head. Suddenly, it began to transform.

Within moments, it wasn't a wolf on top of me, but a human girl. "Dammit!" She said angrily. "It had to be you! I was really hungry you know! I thought I had finally gotten a decent meal!" She got off of me and helped me to my feet. I didn't know what she meant when she said "It had to be you"  

"Do I know you?" I asked. For a split second she looked hurt, but she shook her head as if to clear it.

"No." She said, hesitating. "My name is Okami. I Just happened to see you being hunted earlier and assumed you got killed." She looked at me with a long, questioning look. "You got a name?" She asked. I shrugged.

"No idea." I replied. "All I can remember is... pain." She sighed. "You turn into a deer." She noted. "And you run pretty fast. How about... Blitzen? Blitz for short." I had no objection. "You must be hungry." She said, looking at the sky. "We should be going. I know a place where we can rest tonight." I sighed. I was sceptical, but I had no better option. 

After walking for about fifteen minutes we came to a cave at the foot of the mountain. I nearly fell while we walked in. "Damn" I said. I was extremely worn out from the day and I could hardly walk. My face was aching, but seemed to be healing faster than humanly possible. "Almost there." Okami said encouragingly "Just a little farther."

I sat down on a rock. "Ooof!" It felt good to sit down. "Here catch!" Okami said as she tossed something at me. I looked up just in time to be hit in the face with a large, round, apple like fruit. It hurt. "Ow!" I exclaimed. "What the..." I examined the strange fruit with surprise. It looked like an apple but was way too big. I felt it in my hands and it was extremely heavy.

"Its mugen." Okami explained. "It's basically our kind's superfood." I nodded and took a bite, amazed at the juiciness of the fruit. "Mmmmmm" The fruit tasted like a mix of Strawberries and bananas, with a hint of coconut. "Wow!" I exclaimed. "That's good!" Okami laughed. She seemed to calm down and lighten up when we got some food in our bellies. "Well there's plenty where that came from!" She said. "But I doubt you'll finish that one tonight."

After a few bites I understood what she meant. The fruit was extremely dense so it filled me easily. "What did you mean when you said 'our kind'?" I asked. "What are we?" Okami sighed and looked outside at the woods.

"Get some sleep." She said. "We can talk about that in the morning." I nodded and offered her the rest of my half eaten fruit, which she wolfed down (metaphorically speaking).

I yawned and laid down on a soft patch of dirt, using a rock as a pillow. "Good night Okami." I said as I drifted off to sleep.