Salt & Pyrrha

A Changing World Novel

Chapter 03 - Bird Watching

 

[ - content warnings:  light mention of possible deaths - ]

 

“What are you going to do about school?” Sean asks.

 

I shrug. “My moms and I are going to see the dean tomorrow, we’ll figure something out. Or I’ll just do online classes or something to finish my degree.”

 

The five of us are walking through an open field further on in the park. I’d explained the excitement with Pyrrha and the asshats, to their horror and amazement, and they’d explained that they came looking for me because the girl I’d helped had come running out of the park in a terrified state. When they heard a ‘wolf-boy’ had saved her, they left her with the other onlookers who’d gathered to help and came running to find me.

I hope the girl gets the police on those bastards’ trail, but I’m too terrified of getting arrested or murdered for being part wolf to help her with that. After living in the US for most of my life, I’m extremely wary around cops.

 

“I still can’t get over the fact that you saw a magical girl and didn’t try to get her number,” Carlos says, smirking beside me.

 

I roll my eyes, keeping pace with him. “You know very well I’m both asexual and awkward,” I reply.

 

His smile turns more genuine. “Oh you’re ace,” he affirms, “but I don’t think you’re nearly as awkward as you think you are. You’re always making friends with strangers. A cool shapeshifting badass? How did you let her escape your giant heart?”

 

“I’m sure there were other things on their mind, Carlos,” Raya cuts in from behind us.

 

“Yeah, having a gun pointed at my face tends to throw me off my friend-making groove,” I reply amicably.

 

I get laughs out of Sean and Cynthia, who are walking ahead of us, and a roll of the eyes from Raya when I glance back at her. The dirt path below us winds along the hillside before taking us back into the forest further ahead. We follow it in quiet for a few moments, enjoying each others’ company. Up ahead, I notice a large golden eagle perched high up in the trees. It’s staring at us and seemingly ignoring the rest of the field.

 

“I still can’t believe you ran into that fight without calling any of us first,” Raya comments after a bit.

 

I shrug. “I wasn’t willing to use the time to explain what was up. I guess I should’ve called you as I was running, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. I think I kinda got caught up in the hunt for a bit.”

 

“How does it feel?” Sean asks suddenly, causing my ears to swivel towards him. “To be um, in that body, a-and part wolf, I mean,” he clarifies sheepishly.

 

I raise an eyebrow, not that he can see it. Cynthia and Carlos both shoot him interested looks as well.

 

“It feels uh, good,” I reply slowly. “Really, really good. I’ve got way better hearing and sense of smell, and way better stamina and strength than I had before. I even got to keep my color vision. And I absolutely love the way my body looks and feels now, too.”

 

“Yeah?” Sean asks, seeming to perk up at that. 

 

“Like, looking in the mirror makes me happy now, I’ve got curves, hips, boobs...” I trail off, and notice Sean’s actually blushing a bit.

“That’s awesome!” he replies, his voice cheerful but a bit strained. “I’m really, really happy for you.”

 

“I am really glad the internet magic did what it said it was going to do,” Carlos chimes in, “I feel like there’s a lot of risk in following a spell from someone you’ve never met. Who knows what their motives really are?”

 

He’s speaking from experience, I assume. Carlos has always had an interest in magic and the occult.

 

I nod at his words. “You’re not wrong,” I say, “but I trust the people I got the info from, and they trusted the people they got it from, and so on all the way back to the people who claim to have actually met the Sorceress who published it.”

 

“Do you actually think this ‘Cindy’ person is real?” Raya asks, ever the skeptic.

 

“No clue,” I respond, “but the magic is obviously real, so why not the magician?”

 

That elicits a few thoughtful ‘Hmm’s from the group, and we walk towards the treeline in quiet.

 

I happen to catch sight of the golden eagle again, and find that it’s staring right at me. My lips quirk up in a little smile, and I give it a wave. To my surprise, the bird opens one wing, gives it a flap, and then closes it, as if to wave back at me. What the fuck?

 

No one else seems to have noticed the silent interaction between this bird and I, and I don’t really know what to do about it. I tentatively give it another wave, and get a little flutter of both its wings back. Now I feel like I’m going crazy.

 

“Hey, do you guys see that bird up there?” I ask a little desperately, pointing towards it.

 

Everyone looks up towards the eagle, and it screeches in alarm, flapping its wings to keep itself balanced on the branch.

 

“That’s odd,” Cynthia, the resident animal expert, says.

 

“Yeah,” Sean replies, “I see it, why?”

 

The eagle, for its part, still seems very upset that we’re staring at it. In seconds it’s lifted off the branch and risen away into the grey overcast sky.

 

“Uh, it waved at me too,” I add into the quiet that follows.

 

“The bird waved at you?” Cynthia asks with a critical tone.

 

“Yeah it was watching us so I waved at it, and it waved back. Twice!”

 

“I was watching them, it happened!” Raya pipes up.

 

“Well that’s bizarre,” Carlos muses, “but it’s only like, the fourth most bizarre thing to happen today by my reckoning.”

 

Raya snorts from behind us. “Maybe the animals are starting to recognize you as one of their own Salt,” she says cheekily.

 

“Ha ha,” I say.

 

“That doesn’t make any damn sense, eagles don’t wave,” Cynthia cuts in.

 

“They probably don’t normally, no,” I say. 

 

“Maybe your Pyrrha can shapeshift into animals too?” Sean asks.

 

“That makes about as much sense as anything I can think of,” Carlos says.

 

“Yeah,” I say, staring up at the space where the bird was, “maybe they can.”

---

It’s about fifteen minutes later and we’re walking in silence through the woods. Raya’s hiking abreast of Carlos and I now, with Sean and Cynthia ahead of us. We’ve all been quiet for the past few minutes, but some instinct tells me that’s about to change.

 

I watch Raya swipe some of her black hair out of her eyes, and feign surprise when she bumps me with her shoulder and whispers, “You want to go find her, don’t you?”

 

I duck my head in embarrassment at being so easily read. “N-no,” I say, feeling heat rise to my furry cheeks.

 

She laughs, and punches me lightly in the shoulder. “Uh huh,” she says.

 

“I’m definitely down to look for the magic girl,” Carlos adds from the other side of Raya.

 

“Do you think she’s still watching us?” Cynthia asks curiously.

 

“Only one way to find out,” Carlos says with a grin. He cups both hands to the sides of his mouth and shouts, “Hey, Pyrrha! Are you out there?”

 

His words echo into the canopy above us, but there’s no reply.

 

“Shut up dweeb,” Raya says, smirking.

 

“Yeah it’s not like we’re trying to low-key hide from the police or anything,” Sean says sarcastically.

 

I cringe internally, and send a prayer to whatever Gods actually exist that we don’t run into any cops today.

 

Sean’s words shut Carlos up too, and we walk on in a tense quiet.

 

A few minutes later and the trees start to thin out around us. Soon enough we’re emerging into a vast grassy field, with a small herd of deer grazing to our left and a sweeping vista of hills and houses to our right. 

 

“Sorry for ruining the mood,” Sean says.

 

“Nah, you’re right that I was being dumb,” Carlos replies. 

 

“You’re always being dumb,” Raya says affectionately, “but yeah that may not have been one of your best moments.”

 

“We still love you,” I add.

 

“Does anyone else think we should maybe be afraid of the shapeshifting lady who nearly killed two people today?” Cynthia asks from the front of the group.

 

I frown, considering her point. “I mean, she seemed to be more afraid of meeting you guys than she’d been facing down a gun wielding asshat,” I reply.

 

“That’s fair,” Cynthia concedes, “I’m just trying to look at this from other perspectives, see if we’re missing anything.”

 

“Not a bad idea,” Sean says.

 

I happen to catch Carlos breaking a little bit away from the rest of us, towards the group of deer. He raises his hand and waves at one buck in particular that’s staring at him, and says conversationally, “Hi Pyrrha.”

 

I roll my eyes, until the buck asks in a feminine, exasperated voice, “How did you know it was me?” 

 

The animal then stands up on its hind legs and begins contorting into a human shape as its fur melts away to reveal smooth copper colored skin.

 

A moment later the same gorgeous woman I’d met earlier emerges from the roiling mass of flesh. Pyrrha stands at least six feet tall, and has long wavy brown hair that falls to somewhere near their lower back. I smile brightly the moment I realize it’s them and not some horrific monster.

 

There are various exclamations of surprise and fear from the rest of my friends, but I step over to where Carlos is.

 

“Hiya,” he’s saying, “you were acting weird, staring at us and totally ignoring every other direction, so I took a chance. Why are you following us?”

 

Pyrrha takes a small step back, their eyes narrowed. “I’m following you to make sure you leave this forest safely. There are far more dangerous things than humans that hunt here.”

 

My eyes widen, but Cynthia steps up beside me before I can speak.

 

“What else is out here?” she asks tersely.

 

“I do not know,” Pyrrha replies, “but someone has hunted here several times in the last few moons.”

 

“So you’re not the reason for the other disappearances in these woods?” Raya asks from my left with an arched eyebrow.

 

“I’m responsible for some, but not all,” Pyrrha replies readily.

 

“Okay let's keep talk of our past crimes a little quieter,” Sean says, “the police are bound to be around by now.”

 

Pyrrha nods. “They’re combing the woods behind you all, another reason I’ve kept pace with you.”

 

“Want to come with us?” I ask brightly, “These are my friends and I trust them with my life.”

 

Pyrrha blinks in surprise at me, then glances at each of my friends in turn.

“I do not need help hiding from your guards. Why would you want me to come with you?”

 

Sean rolls his eyes. “Salt wants to be friends,” he replies, “there’s no use resisting.”

 

I smile slightly. “He’s not wrong,” I say, “and everyone already agreed we wanted to come looking for you.”

 

“Hang on,” Cynthia cuts in, “why are you causing disappearances?”

 

The shapeshifter looks from me to her, clearly flustered, and chooses to answer the apparently easier question. “I’ve had to intervene a number of times when men tried to prey on others in these woods. I didn’t always let them get away.”

 

Damn. They say it so matter-of-factly.

 

“Okay yeah,” Cynthia replies. She turns to me. “I’m for befriending the shapeshifting murder lady.”

 

I feel conflicted. On the one paw, murder is an extreme measure. On the other, my instincts are telling me to trust Pyrrha. And after what I’ve seen the world do to people like me at the drop of a hat, I’m inclined to side with them all the way.

 

“We can go to my house for a bit,” I say, “maybe we can figure out a place you can stay, Pyrrha?”

 

They still seem overwhelmed, but they at least nod at me. “I will come with you, but I prefer to live in the forest.”

 

“Why?” Raya asks curiously.

 

“It reminds me of home,” they reply.

 

“Welp,” I say, “anyone have any objections to driving to my place?”

 

Pyrrha frowns. “What is ‘driving’?” they ask.

End of

Chapter 03 - Bird Watching