The Game Plan

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The following morning, I awoke in a complete daze.

For a brief moment, I actually believed that I had just been caught up in a really weird dream. A dream where I had fallen through the ice of a frozen lake, plunging into a world where people could turn into animals. A world where I had been the cause of everybody's grief, trapped inside of a body that was not my own.

As my eyes adjusted and my mind started to clear, however, the reality of my situation officially set in. I really had fallen through the ice of a frozen lake. I really had been plunged into a world where people could turn into animals. I really was trapped inside of a body that was not my own, and I knew I had one very long day ahead of me.

From somewhere beside me, Rain snored softly, wrapped in a cocoon of cougar furs. As I sat up from my assorted pile of pelts, I realized that it was just the two of us that were there inside of the healer's den. The fur sleeping bag Flower had retired to last night was now vacant, having been rolled up and set aside against a far wall. I guess she had decided to get an early start.

My eyes drifted aimlessly around the shelter, completely clueless as to where I was supposed to begin with my day. I wasn't on the homestead anymore. There were no woodstoves that needed to be fed, no eggs to sort and collect, and no goats to tend to. There was no property line for me to walk, no snowmobiles to work on, and no supplies for me to put away. What was I supposed to do?

My gaze eventually settled on the firepit at the center of the den, now burning low into a bed of smoldering embers. Next to the entrance sat a small bundle of firewood. I had no idea what today was going to have in store for me, but at least I could start it by doing something that was familiar. By feeding a fire and warming things up.

Moving carefully so as to not wake up Rain, I pulled a couple of logs from the bundle and carried them over to the pit. The charred logs that had already been burning buckled under their weight, throwing up a small cloud of smoke and glowing flakes of ash.

The slight disturbance caused Rain to stir as he lifted his head up from his nest of furs.

"Has the sun come up already?" he asked groggily.

"I think so," I replied, sitting back down, "Seems like Flower's already started without us."

Rain picked himself up, stretching his limbs and arching his back in a very catlike manner before he moved to join me by the fire.

"She's probably gone up to the grooming den for a bath," he explained, "She normally likes to go there before the sun is up when it's not too crowded."

My brow raised curiously, "There's a grooming den?"

"Of course. How else are we supposed to keep ourselves clean?"

I shrugged, "Where I'm from, we call it a bathroom."

"Right," Rain said, letting out a tired chuckle, "I suppose next you're going to tell me your people have a bed room, or an eating room, or a socializing room."

"Bedroom, dining room, and living room." I fired back.

Rain blinked, unsure of what to make of my statement, "Alaska sure sounds strange..."

I laughed, "Well, in all fairness, this place is pretty strange to me."

Rain gave a small nod as he reached over and handed me a few strips of dried meat from a rawhide pouch. The meat was tough, and it lacked the salt and seasonings that I was used to tasting when it came to jerky, but it was sustenance, and I was hungry.

"The women of the tribe bathe in the mornings," Rain explained as he pulled out some more meat for himself, "The men go at night. That's the first rule that you need to know."

"There are rules?" I inquired.

"Naturally... Men will be men, and our women deserve the privacy to be able to clean themselves without worrying about any prying eyes."

I nodded in understanding. That made sense. Still, I can't say I was looking forward to experiencing what basically sounded like the high school locker rooms all over again.

A lull settled into the den between us as Rain and I continued to pick away at our breakfast. It wasn't the same as having eggs and bacon, and it definitely didn't hold a candle to Grandma's homemade bread, but it was filling. That mattered more to me at the moment than a mere lack of flavor, because I knew whatever waited for me outside of the healer's den, I was going to need to be ready for it.

"About last night," Rain suddenly piped up between bites of his meat, "I believe I still owe you an apology. Light was right. I was being needlessly hostile towards you, despite knowing that you were no longer Thorn, and I'm sorry for that."

He extended a hand to me, and I took it.

"Apology accepted," I responded, shaking his hand firmly, "No hard feelings."

For the first time, it seemed, Rain's face softened into a friendlier expression. His hard stare became gentler, and the smile that formed on his lips felt more genuine.

A small weight seemed to lift from my shoulders as I released Rain's hand and leaned back, allowing myself to relax slightly.

"So..." I said, shifting restlessly as I tossed a glance towards the entrance of the den, "What's the plan for today?"

Rain's brow furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, normally, I've got a list of things that I need to get done back at home. Here, I don't even know where I'm supposed to start."

Rain's mouth dropped open as he stared at me, looking utterly perplexed.

"David," he started, "You nearly froze to death yesterday. Nobody around here is expecting you to do anything."

"Yeah, well, I expect me to do something."

My tone was a little harsher than I would have liked, but it was true. Back on the homestead, I was always looking for something to do. It didn't matter if I was tired, sore, or sick. Unless I was on the brink of death, there was always something that needed to be done that I was capable of doing.

I gave Rain a brief rundown of the kind of work that I was accustomed to - cutting and stacking firewood, caring for livestock, checking and setting traps, patrolling the property's perimeter, and making repairs to everything from tools, to clothing, to buildings. Nearly dying yesterday didn't change that, and staying cooped up in the healer's den was going to drive me crazy. I needed to work.

Rain stood up and began pacing the den in thought.

"Well, as a healer, it would be irresponsible of me to simply allow you to leave the healer's den without assessing if you're even fit to do so first."

"I feel fine!" I said, throwing out my arms.

"You don't even understand the kind of body you're currently inhabiting. Feeling fine and being fine are not the same thing."

"Come on, man. We were getting along not five minutes ago..."

Rain raised a finger to me. It was only then that I caught the playful glint reflecting in his eyes.

"The best way for me to assess your physical condition would be for us to go to the training grounds," he stated, "It'll help you learn more about your therian form, as well as determine which of Thorn's abilities still remain intact. From there, we can discuss what kind of work you're able to do."

I perked up a little at that, "If it'll get me out of this damn hut..."

Just then, Flower slipped in through the entrance, pulling a fur hood down from her still-damp hair.

"Good morning, David," she said, smiling broadly, "How are you feeling?"

"Great," I replied, "Rain and I were just coming up with a game plan for the day."

Flower shifted her gaze between me and Rain, "I leave you two alone for one morning, and suddenly you're friends?"

"I wouldn't go that far..." Rain muttered, rolling his eyes.

"He apologized for being so hard on me yesterday." I stated.

Flower's eyes slid back over to Rain, smirking as she folded her arms over her chest, "I thought you never apologized."

Rain frowned, "I never apologize to Thorn ... David is not Thorn, so I apologized."

Flower's face broke into a humorous smile, like she was laughing at a joke that I wasn't in on.

"Well, fair warning, if you two plan on going out into the village," she continued as she fanned her hair out across her back, "The chatter is running rampant. Everyone is talking about what happened to Thorn."

Oh, great... As if the reactions I'd received last night weren't enough. Now, there was gossip.

"Well, we'll be at the training grounds," Rain said, "There aren't very many people that can bother us out there."

"The training grounds?" Flower echoed, "What do you two plan on doing there?"

"Assessing my condition, apparently," I answered, "Rain's going to help me figure out the therian stuff, then see what sort of work I'll be able to do."

A slightly worried expression crossed Flower's face. If I had to guess, she was probably concerned for the same reasons Rain had been earlier.

"Well, just don't push yourself too hard out there," she finally said, forcing a smile, "I'll be sure to catch up with you two later. I have a few cases around the village that I need to tend to first."

Rain and I both nodded as we packed ourselves up and headed out of the healer's den.

My eyes slammed shut as they were met with the blinding brightness of sunlight shining on top of snow. One would think, being born and raised in Alaska, I would have been used to it by now. Even so, it still took a couple of minutes of blinking and squinting before the muscles around my eyes began to relax, and I was able to take a proper look around.

All around me, the village was alive with noise. People gathered outside of huts - talking, tending to fires, checking supplies, and repairing tools. Children tumbled over one another, weaving in and around different huts and rolling through the snow as they played.

Alongside the villagers were also animals; therians in their animal forms performing oddly human tasks. Wolves, cougars, bears, elk, foxes, and birds of prey roamed about, doing everything from bringing in fresh kills to hauling supplies. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, and I couldn't help but stare in awe as I watched the tribe work around me.

As I stood there, however, I became aware of a peculiar smell starting to rise in the air. It started off subtle, at first; a slight sharpness that just barely cut through the cold, making my nose itch. Gradually, though, it intensified, to the point where I thought there might have been a chemical spill somewhere.

Then I started meeting the gaze of the other villagers. Conversations stopped mid-sentence as Rain and I started forward. Some groups leaned in closer together and started whispering. Ahead of me, a child was pulled off of the path and well out of our way. A number of animals stopped in their tracks and stared, their heads and ears up and alert.

As Rain and I continued on, my ears picked up bits and pieces of the gossip going on around us.

"There he is..."

"Storm says he woke up different..."

"I heard he doesn't remember anything."

"My, my, how convenient..."

Looks like Flower was right. Everyone was talking about what happened to Thorn.

I swallowed a nervous lump in my throat and did my best to look unbothered until Rain had led me to the outskirts of the village, and we started down a quiet path that led into the trees.

"Sorry about them," he said, resting a hand on my shoulder, "Everyone's business becomes everybody else's business sometimes, especially when it lands someone in the healer's den."

I could only shrug in response, "Yeah, well... I can't say I wasn't warned. By you, Light, Flower..."

"Remember what Light said. Don't try to convince anyone you're not really Thorn. Let your actions be what convinces them."

I nodded, feeling determined. Despite the uncomfortable introduction, the village did seem to hold a lot of potential. Before anybody had noticed me, people had been working. Cooking, building, fixing things, and helping one another with problems, the same kind of work that I had been doing on the Willoughby homestead for the past eighteen years. Now, it was just a matter of figuring out how I could manage to become a part of it.

What exactly could I do? 171Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHNKG4C4vx

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