The Journey Around The World, In Order To Save Spring

I Fought an Eagle, And Now I'm a Wolf

They trekked for days, maybe even weeks. In the meantime, they held conversations. "You know, I must commend your workmanship," Taggak praised. "Yeah, these weapons are great!" Added Atsuguk. "Oh, really? That's nice," the orange-clad teen said, blushing slightly. "You'd make a great successor for your father," the black wolf grunted. At that, Amaruq became uneasy. "Well... not really. I've always wanted to be a warrior. Why else would I join the hunting party every time?" He explained. That stopped the other two. Well, it stopped Taggak whereas Atsuguk just followed.

"Are you really that clueless? Look, I'm going to be honest here," the black wolf started as he faced his teammate and held his shoulders. "Your father wants you to be a great weapons-master like him. Maybe even a blacksmith. How can you not see that?" He said. "Well... nahh, there must be someone else that can replace him," Amaruq said unconvincingly. "There is no one. Haven't you noticed? Tukkuttok has never had an apprentice before. Never. Now tell me: who is the only person he has shown his secrets to?" Taggak asked, knowing the answer. "It's me," the furless male realised. His dad had not taken an apprentice and he had never even thought about it. His dad always brought him to the crafting place, showed him how to make weapons. Solar had even improved on his dad's techniques. How could he have been so blind?

The older wolf let him go and turned back to the path. Now Amaruq knew what he had to become. His tribe didn't need another warrior anyway. They had plenty already, with Taggak being one himself. Their travel was all smooth sailing, until they had to slink next to a deep ravine. Their backs to the steep cliff behind them and their fronts to open air, they had to tiptoe so carefully. If they slipped, they were going to wind up as jelly with some white crunchy pieces inside. That wasn't the hard part. No, the hard part came when the wind started to pick up. At first, Amaruq just attributed it to a storm coming. But then he was proven wrong when a loud shriek broke the air.

He looked above them and saw a large vulture-like bird of prey against the backdrop of the blue sky and the blinding Sun. "Woah-woah what is that!?" Atsuguk asked loudly. "An eagle?" Taggak squinted. "What about a vulture?" The youngest suggested. "Actually, the Solar in me is pretty sure that's a Giant Teratorn," Amaruq helpfully added. "Nevermind that, we have to get to that ledge over there," Taggak instructed them, pointing to a wider section of the walkway. The two wolves reached it first as they were in front, while Amaruq was still in a narrow area. He watched the bird swoop closer to him as his tribemates readied their bows.

They shot their arrows, one after another, all of them missing their mark. Amaruq narrowly dodged a lunge from the screaming bird, but it hit the cliffside instead. He watched as the walkway directly between him and the others crumbled and fell 1000 feet below. The raptor circled around before lunging in for another try to disembowel its hairless prey. A startled Amaruq let go of his hold on the cliffside, panicking and scrambling for purchase. He failed and fell down the ravine. He yelled as he felt the wind whipping around him, its sound almost deafening. It was then that he remembered his amulet. Err... watch. "Elemental power!" He shouted.

"Amaruq Cyclone!" In this form, his hoverboard allowed him to hover in the air, without fear of falling to his doom. He then formed spheres of pure concentrated wind and threw them at the raptor, which was knocked back and momentarily stunned. Cyclone flew his board over to his friends and landed next to them. The sudden screech of the brown bird hurt their ears. "Amaruq Thorn!" Cyclone said difficultly as his pupils became bigger. He was now wearing a leather and cloth drawstring jumper and some oversized pants, both themed in black and green. His enlarged eyes were emerald. "Woah! That's a really big bird!" He remarked before he summoned some Binding Vines to ensnare and bind the vulture-eagle-thing up.

Once it was bound, he told his friends, "Help me pull!" So they grabbed onto the vine in Thorn's hands and did just so. They pulled, swinging the bird around and smashing it into the mountainside. Then, they made a run for it, making sure the man-sized teratornithid didn't follow them. After catching their breath, the both of them looked at Amaruq Thorn. They had never seen this form of his before. "You know, Thorn... you're actually pretty cute!" Atsuguk remarked. Thorn blushed as he rubbed the back of his head. People always thought of him that way. Especially his dad and the alpha (although he doesn't show it). Maybe it was his eyes, maybe it was his height.

He was technically shorter than the other forms by at least a foot. He looked like a preteen. And his behaviour didn't help at all, being the childish and uninhibited part of Amaruq's personality. "Really? I don't think I'm that cute..." Thorn muttered. Atsuguk could only chuckle at his response and Taggak merely rolled his eyes. Although there was a hint of a smile on his lips. Just a hint. "Alright. I think we should get a move on," he commanded. They picked up the pace, eventually stopping at Meadow Lake for rest.

Their stop was the same as always. Cooking some food and getting some sleep... Except for one thing. Solar's side of Amaruq's personality made him temper with his watch. He pressed it from every angle he could. The top, the sides, the bottom. Even the little spaces for the short, slender, sharp-pointed metal pins with raised helical threads running round them and slotted heads. Solar decided to call them 'screws' for short. When a specially designated part of the watch was pressed, however, it suddenly caused the faceplate to extend upwards a little. On its face was a canine head. That was weird. Usually, when Amaruq was choosing forms, it would display an emblem for each element and one for SS, who didn't have an elemental power. Just super strength.

Curious, he pressed the dial down. Amaruq suddenly felt his muscles and bones shift, as his hair turned thicker and more whitish. He was no stranger to transforming, so he did not panic. He merely waited patiently for it to stop. His face extended forwards, his ears migrated to the top of his head. His big toe became nothing but a dewclaw. His teeth grew longer and sharper, his molars less flat. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that he could see better in the dark. "What? Am I..?" He looked down at himself, looked at his back. He rubbed his new body under his clothes, feeling the soft velvety fur and the muscles roiling beneath. His watch was now hanging around his neck.

"I'm... I'm a wolf. I'm a wolf!" He laughed, exuberant before running through the forest. He could feel the wind stimulating every fur on his body, the chill he would normally feel, reduced to practically nothing. He could smell everything. The pine trees, the ground, that sleeping chipmunk. He could hear a lot better too, the sounds of his footfalls and the crickets around him much louder than usual. He felt so euphoric he howled loudly to the moon above. His first howl, offered to Igaluk. He then stopped to take deep breaths. Finally, after so long he was a wolf. He can go back, to his dad and he wouldn't have to be so different anymore. He then paused to think. What kind of wolf was he?

He recalled Sean saying there were two types. The stout, stocky dires and the lean greys. He looked to his arms body. He seemed of medium build, just like he was before transforming. Hmm... maybe that made him the in-betweens like those Native Americans. Then a thought struck in his head. He unzipped his jacket and felt underneath his black shirt... to his disappointment. He didn't have abs like Taggak and Atsuguk, just a flat belly as always. His lupine ears drooped. Whatever. He looked back up. He was still a wolf and that still meant something. Not long after he thought of that, a flash of yellow light emanating from his watch sent him back to his original form.

"Huh? What!" Amaruq cried out as he looked at his bald arms. He must've been transformed for what? 10 minutes? That wasn't very long. He raised his guard up when the bushes in front of him rustled, but relaxed when only his teammates came out. "Amaruq," Taggak addressed him. "Did you hear or see the wolf that howled just now? Or any wolf, really," he asked his not-very-old friend. Amaruq grinned at them. "That was me," he said proudly, puffing up his chest. The two looked at him disbelievingly. "It's true!" He said. "My watch transformed me into a wolf just now!" "Right..." Atsuguk drawled out. Amaruq had a feeling they didn't fully believe him. It didn't matter. Once he figured out how to manually do it, he will do it again. If only for a short time.

The two decided to just forget about it. "Whatever it was, let's just go back and sleep," Taggak said and the other two agreed. The trio went back to their temporary camp. Amaruq slept on his furs and the others did too, having decided to copy Amaruq the next time they caught prey. Their sleep was like always, but Amaruq felt contented when sleep claimed him.