Transformations
#4 of The Chronicles of Streak
"Oh, come on, dad! Hurry up! We're gunna be late!" Miranda said, exasperated.
I just sighed, thinking of how much she looked like her mother; except her eyes, her sapphire blue eyes.
Mitch just sniggered.
"Well, you'd better get going, Scott, see you later," he said.
"Thanks, we'll be back in a couple of hours," I replied.
Chloe walked in, carrying Mitch's ‘The Big Bad Wolf' mug, and handed it to him.
"Thanks honey," he said gratefully, before taking a long gulp of tea.
"Come on, let's go," I said to Miranda, before walking out the door, with my backpack on, my swords hidden inside.
"I still don't see why I have to learn how to use a sword," she said, pouting.
"Then why'd you want me to hurry up?" I asked.
She looked away, embarrassed.
I gave her a knowing smile.
"Don't worry, then," I said, before opening a portal, much to her amazement.
"Wow, I never knew you could do that!" she exclaimed.
I turned to her, surprised.
"Really? I thought you knew about it?" I replied, a cheeky smile on my face, "Come on,"
I motioned to the portal, stepping through it, while half-dragging Miranda with me.
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We were in the middle of a clearing, in a forest somewhere.
Miranda looked around, confused.
"So where's my teacher?" she asked.
"You're looking at him," I replied.
"You?" she asked.
"Yes and no," I said, cryptically.
"You ready?" I asked Odin and Freyja (who were still merged) with my mind.
"Yep," they replied, before soaring over the canopy, and alighting on the grass a couple of metres away.
"Miranda, this is Odin and Freyja; they will be your tutors,"
"Huh?" she replied, even more confounded than before.
They nodded gravely.
"Scott asked us, as a special favour, to train you. We would never do this for anyone else, as Scott well knows,"
"I'll be helping as well," I said, un-buttoning my shirt and throwing it away, stretching my wings with pleasure.
"You?" she asked sceptically.
"Yeah, so what?"
"You don't know how to use a sword!" she exclaimed.
Odin and Freyja just burst out laughing.
"What?" Miranda asked.
"Oh, nothing, except your father was one of the greatest swordsmen of all time. In fact, your whole family comes from a long line of sword masters,"
I pulled out my swords from my bag, and unsheathed them, checking them for any signs of damage.
Miranda just watched, hypnotised by their iridescent colour.
When I was done, I looked up at Odin and Freyja.
"Do you have it?" I asked them.
They nodded, and produced a rich, ruby red jian from behind their back, handing it to me, before I handed it to Miranda
"This is for you," I said to her.
"M-me?" she stammered.
I nodded.
"Yes, you'll need something to train with, and a weapon to fight with,"
She ran a finger over the flat of the blade.
"It's so beautiful," she sighed.
I watched as she swung it around a couple of times, noting her style.
"Well, it's time to get to work," I said, "First order of business, how to properly hold a sword,"
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After we had gotten the basics down, we started to move onto various techniques.
I was honestly amazed at her progress.
She was an incredibly fast learner; she mastered tricks and techniques in minutes, things that would take a normal person years.
When it was about midday, we stopped.
"We have seen few who are as proficient as you," Odin and Freyja said, amazed.
"I think I can name those few..." I said, cheekily, "Well, we'd better go, see you tomorrow, then,"
They nodded.
I opened another portal, and we were back home.
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"Wow, they've really out-done themselves, this time," Chloe commented, examining the blade.
She leaned over to one side, and pulled out her two new swords, examining them.
"S-so you can fight as well, then?" Miranda asked her, surprised.
Chloe gave her a strange look.
"Yes, I can,"
I felt a wave of exhaustion flow over me, and I managed to get to my bed, before collapsing onto it.
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I awoke to the sound of bacon sizzling, and the delicious smell of mushrooms fried in butter.
I pulled myself out of bed, stretching my wings luxuriantly, before walking down the hall, and into the kitchen.
I was surprised when I found no one there.
"Huh," I said to myself, "I wonder where everyone went..."
I turned around, and found myself face-to-face with Miranda.
"Hey, honey, ready for some more training today?" I asked her, winking at her.
"Sure, whatever,"
I was immediately alert; she didn't speak like that.
At least, not normally.
Suddenly, her eyes flashed red, and a great weight suddenly appeared on my shoulders, holding me still, stopping me from running.
She reached over her shoulder, and drew her sword.
Chloe appeared behind her, but didn't do anything to stop her.
I was starting to get afraid, when a spiralling vortex opened in front of me, sucking me in.
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I awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat.
I looked over to one side, and I found my hand impaled by a sword.
I yanked it out, noting that I didn't feel anything, and threw it to one side.
I went to inspect the wound, but I was surprised when I found absolutely nothing.
Groaning, I got out of bed, and walked cautiously to the kitchen.
As I passed Mitch and Chloe's room, I heard giggles coming from behind their door, followed curiously by the squeak of a rubber duck.
I just shook my head in amazement, before walking into the kitchen.
"Hey dad!" Miranda called cheerfully from the other side of the room, "How'd y- what's that on your shirt?"
I looked down, and saw a large, blotchy bloodstain, right above my heart.
I tore off my shirt, and was horrified to find a gaping hole where my heart should have been, and it was dripping blood.
I started to feel dizzy, and sunk to the floor.
"Scott!" I heard Chloe yell, before rushing over to me.
I felt her place her hands on my chest, and a great wave of heat passed from her hands into my body, and a measure of my strength returned.
I slowly sat up, still kinda dizzy.
Chloe looked at me worriedly.
"Something's wrong," she said, before muttering something under her breath.
A shimmering wall of light appeared, surrounding the house, before vanishing.
"There!" she exclaimed, pleased, "Now nothing can get in!"
Immediately after she said this, everything went dark.
"Yeah, even light," Miranda said, sarcastically.
"Oops!"
Chloe muttered something else, and everyone could see again.
I glanced around, making sure everyone was alright.
When I saw Mitch writhing in pain on the ground behind Chloe, my heart skipped a beat.
Before I could even start towards him, a blistering pain shot throughout my body, and I also fell to the ground.
I was in absolute agony.
Then I remembered the last time something like this happened IÂ had transformed.
I struggled upright, putting an arm out to support me, and I was horrified to see a shimmering, blue limb in front of me.
The pain peaked, and I yelled in a mixture of pain, agony, and terror, before mercifully falling unconscious.
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I slowly woke up to the sound of birds chirping, and the gurgling of a nearby brook.
I pushed myself up, and slowly got to my feet, examining my surroundings.
I was on a cliff face, with a lush forest behind me, and a sheer drop of what was probably a mile or more in front.
I looked around myself, wondering what I had transformed into this time, but I was confused when I found that nothing had changed.
I heard a loud thwumping sound, like a bird flapping its wings, and I looked out, over the cliff, to see Odin and Freyja quite a ways off in the distance, but coming closer.
Before long, they landed, and I approached them, concerned.
"What happened? And is Mitch alright?" I asked them.
They held up their hands for me to stop.
"Mitch is alright, he's being taken care of by Chloe. You, on the other hand, aren't,"
"Whadda you mean?"
"This," they said, indicating a pool of water nearby, which had a mirror smooth surface.
I walked over to it, and hesitantly looked into it.
The face of a wolf stared back, its fur still the same colour as mine, had mana lines, and sorta resembled mine, but it was still alien.
"We think you're reverting back to your true form,"
I glanced at them, worried.
"You mean this might happen again?"
"No," they said.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"It will happen again,"
"But you just said it won't!" I exclaimed, horrified.
"No, you asked might this happen again. There is no doubt that you'll continue to transform, and there's nothing that we can do to stop it,"
They looked at me with a kind of pity, which hurt me more deeply than any physical wound ever could.
"You'll still keep all your powers, but it's going to be painful, in more ways than one. We thought we should warn you,"
I shrugged, confused, and created a portal to in front of the house.
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I opened the door, and was met by a roomful of startled faces.
Mitch was lying on the sofa, still unconscious, with Chloe and Krystal watching over him; Nik and Dark were behind them, discussing something; Miranda was huddled on a chair with Eifie next to her, comforting her.
Chloe stood up angrily, and shot a fireball at me.
"Who're you?!" she yelled as she proceeded to fling ball after ball of flame my way.
I ducked them, and created a wall of wind in front of me.
"Mum!" I yelled at her, scared.
She stopped in mid-throw, and put out the flame hovering above her hand.
"Scott?" she asked, confused.
I just nodded, lowering the wall, and walking over to her.
She slowly walked up to me, before suddenly punching me in the gut, making me double over, and pulling me upright, while placing one of her swords on my throat.
"Prove to me that you're Scott!" she yelled angrily.
I glanced around, worriedly, and saw that almost everyone in the room had drawn their weapons and were pointing them at me.
Except Miranda.
My mind, for some reason, chose that very moment to freeze up, and I just stammered incoherently.
"He is, because we say so," a voice from the doorway said.
I glanced towards the doorway, cutting myself slightly on the blade, and saw Odin and Freyja standing there.
"A-are you sure?" Chloe asked, hesitantly, but lowering her blade at the same time, and releasing me.
They nodded.
"Yes, he was just with us,"
Chloe dropped her sword, and hugged me.
"Scott! I'm so sorry!" she stammered, before releasing me.
Eifie then walked over to me, and examined my face.
"Wow, handsome!" she said, before collapsing into a fit of giggles.
My hands chose that moment to throb, and before my very eyes, began to change into those of a wolf, though admittedly, there was little difference.
I heard a groan from the sofa, and Mitch sat up, rubbing his head.
"Oww! Talk about a hangover!" he exclaimed, before glancing towards me with a surprised look on his face.
"Scott!" he said, with a half-grin-half-grimace on his face, "What happened?"
I shrugged.
"The same thing as last time,"
"Oh, ok then. What happened last time again?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
Chloe just clipped him around the ears, giggling.
"See you're back to normal, then," she said, rubbing his shoulder.
"Dad?"
I looked around and saw Miranda behind me.
"A-are you ok?" she asked.
"I think so, how about you?"
"Good, considering nothing happened to me," she giggled, before hugging me warmly.
I hugged her back, before yawning loudly.
"I think I'd better go to bed," I said, before walking off to my room.
I slipped into bed, and promptly fell asleep.
As I slept, though, a shadowy figure slipped into my room, and left a note on my bedside table.
As she opened the door, the light from outside my room illuminated her face.
It was Miranda.
* * * * * *
Chloe, Streak/Scott, Eifie, Miranda, Odin and Freyja are © to me, ChloeTheFirefox
Mitch and Krystal (his version) are © to SPAMZZKRR
Nik is © to Sonic Fox
Dark is © to Dark Wolfe