by Sheryl Seal
Part 2
Fallyn
“That rotten boy, that ought to teach him a lesson. You mess with me and you won’t do it twice. I don’t understand why I have to stay in this lousy place anyway.” I was ranting to myself and then I started remembering when Grey Wolf first came to get me from the world of man. I didn’t know who he was, or who I was for that matter.
In a blink of an eye and with my memory restored, I now remembered everything about myself. I also remembered why I was sent to live with the humans. We all were, at a certain age. “You need to learn compassion for mankind Fallyn.” Rolling my eyes, I mocked the words. I could now hear my parents’ voices just like it were yesterday.
I learned a lot about the human race, and one thing I knew, no one would look down on me again. I had my powers now, something I didn’t have in the human world. Not that I knew I would have them one day, but it would’ve been great. I laughed at the thought, if those people could’ve known who I was; they would never have treated me so awful. There would have been a few people in the world of man that would’ve regretted the day they had ever met me. “Hmm… one day I would see them again. They would be sorry then. I’d show them all, every last little human that treated me like crap would hear from me again.”
There was a commotion going on and everyone was heading to the center of the village. I grabbed a guy by the arm and asked what was up. He looked anxious that I had touched him, so I released his arm. He hesitated and I arched an eyebrow at him in question, he stuttered as he told me that the Golden Queen had returned home with the others.
Great, that meant that my brother, Grey Wolf was back, I was in trouble for sure. I had better find that little wolverine and take back my words, and quick.
How was I to know that he would just take off? He acted like a scared little rabbit, and that’s what I thought he should’ve been.
Everyone was welcoming back those who had been gone, so I quickly took off for the outskirts of the village. Shifting as I went into my spirit animal, I was quickly on the stupid boy’s scent, I was a sleek black panther and knew that I could catch up with him and turn him back before Grey Wolf found me.
I was up by this waterfall, I don’t know which one. There are so many here and they all look alike to me. I’m a smart girl, I know they’re all different, they just aren’t my thing. I’m not sure what my thing is exactly. Maybe now that I know who I am, The Great Spirit will show me what it is I should be doing.
I think I got a bum deal. I am a daughter of a Goddess and an Ahwahneechee warrior. I am somebody important. I wasn’t being treated that way so far and that’s not how I was treated in the human world either. I was treated horribly by the popular girls and although I’m very beautiful, I’m not as skinny as some of the others. Even my human mother spent all her time and money on trying to make me, what did she call it? Oh yes! “Model thin.”
My human father was the coolest though. He always said I was a beautiful big-boned gal and told my mother to leave me alone.
She was always spending money on spa weekends that starved me and training equipment to make me exercise the weight off. There were fat camps and girdles for my body so my dresses would fit nicely. It was a lifestyle that I hated. Basically I was miserable. Now I never gave people a chance. Even if they were trying to be nice, I had to learn the hard way, that people were basically the same all over.
I learned when people did pretend to like me was because my parents had money, but behind my back, I was just the spoiled fat girl. Teased my whole life about my weight, I trusted no one. To keep from getting hurt, I struck first, especially at those who were nice; I thought that in the end they would hurt me. I couldn’t let that happen ever again.
While I was thinking these thoughts, I looked over and there he was. It couldn’t have been him though; I had turned him into his spirit animal forever. He couldn’t have turned himself back. Then it hit me, duh, it was his twin brother.
I shifted and strolled over to him as nice as you please. “Hello there Jim, you haven’t had any luck in finding your brother yet?”
He was scared of me and I thought I could feel the vibes that came off him. I loved the feeling of this new found power I have been given.
This guy had done nothing to me. I liked him and then he had gone off with another gal. Maybe that’s why I took it out on his brother. I would be nice to him; I can be nice. I’m not totally a witch with a b. Besides, I needed to get this taken care of or my brother would have my hide.
He stammered as he looked around him. Clearly he was afraid I would do the same thing to him. He was out here alone and he knew I was unpredictable.
“Yeah, he likes this area and I thought he might be here.”
“Well, is he here?”
“No, I don’t know where he is. Why would you do that to him Fallyn? We’re all just trying to be your friends.”
“He was not trying to be a friend; he was making moves on me like I told you. He is not a good person, not like you are Jim. Besides, it was an accident. I had no idea that I could command him into his spirit animal forever.”
“We told you to be careful, and there are many things you need to learn, before you go throwing all of your powers around. You could really hurt someone Fallyn.”
“Alright already, I’m sorry Jim, what more do you want from me? I certainly don’t need you lecturing me; I already have one of those coming from Grey Wolf.”
This guy was sweet, a lot nicer than his brother was. I got closer to him and he started to back up. I kept walking closer and pretty soon he had nowhere to go. He was against the rock face of the mountain. I smiled sweetly at him, “Come with me and I will help you find your brother Jim. I really am sorry you know? It was an accident, say that you forgive me.”
“Sure, whatever, I forgive you, I don’t know about Tim though. I think I’m going to go back and get a few others to help me look for him.”
Just then there was a big bird that flew down so low, I thought it was trying to hit me. I ducked and so did Jim. It wasn’t a bird though and I knew my time had run out to find Tim on my own.
It was Oria, the Golden Queen, and my brother’s soulmate.
Oria
We arrived home and I had never been so happy. My family was back together, Grey Wolf was here and now we could concentrate on planning Aponi and Red Thunder’s wedding ceremony that would take place in the next couple of months.
Grandmother was making my mom and father comfortable in our lodge where grandmother would take over the care of her. It seemed to me that mother already had a glow of color that she hadn’t had in the village of lost souls.
Things of course were never that simple, and it all started off with Fallyn. Things got chaotic as soon as we arrived home. I almost laughed at the expression on Grey Wolf’s face when he was told what his sister Fallyn had done to Tim.
I say almost because as I looked at him, his eyes turned that killer golden color he would get whenever he was mad. Then he tried to calm himself and they turned silver again. Knowing this was his sister, he would have to have allowances for her, because she was without control of her powers.
Grey Wolf looked over at me with his beautiful silver eyes and I watched them turn gold as he became irritated again, the more he heard of Fallyn’s antics. Looking away as he shook his head, he shifted into his spirit animal and sprinted into the forest. I tried to tell him he should wash up first. We all still had paint on us or in our hair.
Immediately, I shifted too, he headed deep into the trees and I headed in the other direction because clearly he was upset. I thought maybe I could find Fallyn first and smooth things over. I shifted into a red-tailed hawk, they have great vision and up high I could spot anything without being too obvious. I headed towards the mountains where I met a few others that were also out looking for Tim but having no luck.
I decided I would go to Oria Falls and look there. That’s where I found them. Fallyn had Jim backed up against the rocks a
nd he looked like he wanted to get away but didn’t really have anywhere to go unless he shifted of course, why wasn’t he shifting though? I swooped down close to them both. Close enough that they had to duck and as I shifted, I landed beside them. “Hi Jim, and you must be Fallyn, I’m Oria, it’s really nice to meet you, your brother is back and looking for you. Terrible thing that has happened to Tim, I’m sure it was an accident though, right?”
She grabbed Jim’s hand and in a most sarcastic voice and glaring daggers at me she replied nastily, “Well of course it was an accident. You don’t think that I would do that on purpose!”
I was kind of stunned at the animosity she seemed to have in her, she was very different from Grey Wolf and Sapata. I mean different in many ways and with her next words she tried to hurt me. “What are you doing with your hair, trying to be a punk rocker?”
She was taller than me by a good foot, which means she towered Jim, who was trying to get around her. She wasn’t letting him by her though. She also outweighed him, she wasn’t fat though. Fallyn was just a big girl. Her hair was blond; she was a lot lighter shade than Grey Wolf and Sapata. She had high cheekbones and deep dimples in her cheeks. Her mouth was wide and perfect for her face. The one characteristic I could see that matched Grey Wolf was her silver eyes, the same shape and color. I would not be goaded with her words and tried to reason with her. “Of course I don’t think you did it on purpose. You are not an evil girl. Sometimes, until we get a handle on our powers, they can get away from us. We’ve all made mistakes like this. You are just more powerful than the rest of the Dwellers and have to be taught how to maintain control, or problems like what happened with Tim can occur.”
I hoped this helped set her mind at ease, I knew she was already going to have to deal with her brother. She may get a lecture but Grey Wolf was a reasonable man and I’m sure he would forgive her quickly. “I am going to look for Tim. I thought that’s what you two were doing.”
“Oh, we were but we got bored and thought we would sit for a while by the falls.” Fallyn answered for the both of them. I had been trying to get into her mind and it was just like Grey Wolf’s, a brick wall. Jim on the other hand, was yelling in my mind. “DO NOT LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HER! She wished Tim into his spirit animal and now he’s trapped there and I’m finding it hard to trust her motives towards me.” He was feeling nervous around Fallyn and begging me, so I decided to separate them.
“Well Fallyn, grandfather and Grey Wolf would like to speak with you, so I will take Jim with me to continue the search for his brother.”
“But we’re looking for Tim and I can talk to Grey Wolf and grandfather later.” She whined like a spoiled girl trying to get her way and I knew she was stalling with facing Grey Wolf, but it was inevitable.
I used my Queen dominant voice that people couldn’t help but obey. I just hoped it worked with her. I decided not to take any chances and grabbing Tim’s hand I commanded her. “NO, you will go now and find them! Jim, shift now!” And before she had a chance to even gather her thoughts, Jim and I shifted and we were out of there. We took off running for the woods as wolverines. He headed for all of the low underbrush like a predator was after him.
Finally, I got him to go into a clearing and we shifted again and I had Jim explain what was going on back there, mostly because I needed him to calm down. “That woman is crazy!” This was the first thing out of his mouth. Then he continued in a rush.
“Fallyn had some sort of argument with Tim and then she wished him into his spirit animal forever. What kind of person does that, even if they can?”
I tried to relay to him, the things I knew about her from Grey Wolf. Unfortunately I don’t think he knows how hard it has been on her. She seems more to me than just spoiled. She is a very hurt girl. “Fallyn has been raised spoiled and had everything handed to her on a silver platter, she expects to always get her way. I’m sure she will be fine here with us, once she knows that we will all love her just for her. Unfortunately, she has not had the proper training or the right morals instilled in her to do the right thing. Since she got her powers she simply uses them to get what she wants.”
This is something I will discuss with Grey Wolf and grandfather after we find Tim and bring him home. To Jim, I just tried to remind him that we all need love and support. “I don’t think she’s had very much support in her life. She doesn’t know much about herself, and obviously she is very confused.
“Yeah, but it may be too late for Tim. What are we going to do about him?”
“First we will find him and then we will see how we can help him.” I think we all had a feeling that Fallyn was the only one that could help him, but we needed to find him first of all.
“Do you think he can be helped Oria?” I could hear in his voice that he was very worried about his brother.
“I think we have to find him first. Then we will see. Do not worry Jim; I will do everything I can to make this right.”
“Thank you and thank you for getting there when you did or I think I would be just like Tim right now.” He hugged me then and said he was also glad I was back and he wanted to hear all about what happened in the village. He also commented on my new runes that had appeared, another silver star below the rest. That’s all I had time to hear about so far. If there was anything additional to some other part of my body, I didn’t know it yet. He also added that he liked my hair. “I like it when you and Aponi do your hair, I think it’s refreshing.”
“Umm, refreshing uh? Well anyway, you’re welcome Jim and when we have the time, I will tell you everything. There is so much to tell. Now then, where would you go if you were Tim?”
“Well, everyone has already searched everywhere but there is one spot he might go to. It is a ways from here. If you are ready, I will lead the way. ”
We shifted again, Jim as the wolverine and I opted to be a bobcat. This was small enough to get through the brush and quick.
We took off through the underbrush once more and I was glad that I had picked a small animal because the brushwood hadn’t been penetrated by anything larger for well, probably forever.
We finally came out in another clearing and I noticed that we were at another beautiful falls area. If my calculations were correct, this would be the backside of Yosemite Falls and we came out at the lower falls area. We shifted and scouted around for a while. We were just sitting there and Jim was saying how it was a lost cause. “We’re never going to find him; he is gone to me forever.”
“You can’t think like that Jim, we will find Tim, and then we will take him home and everything will be fine. Tim must have been listening because I got a vision in my mind and his voice saying, “Are you sure you can help me? I can’t shift back. That evil girl wished me this way forever.”
I smiled sadly because I knew that he was scared, but I also knew that he would be fine. We just needed to get home. “Come out Tim, I promised didn’t I? That is a promise I intend to keep but we have to get you back to the village. You will have to face Fallyn; she may be the only one who can change you back, but she can’t do that if you stay here hiding from her.”
Jim had been listening and had kept his mouth shut until now, but then he coaxed Tim. “Come on brother, Oria promises not to let that girl hurt you anymore. You have to come home though."
Although he looked a little skittish, he appeared to be none the worse for wear, and he came running out and jumped right in Jim’s arms. I thought I would at least give it a try and see if I could change him. This however, didn’t work. I’m guessing that children of the Gods are very powerful and only Fallyn could undo what she had done.
There were a few tears between us and then Jim and I shifted and we all headed home. We came back to the village and went straight to grandfather’s lodge, where we were now all waiting for Grey Wolf and Fallyn.
There were other Dwellers at grandfather’s lodge waiting for me. As the Golden Queen, I need to stay informed on what else may have happened while I was away. The ne
w Dwellers had arrived in the village while we were away, so I would have to put the wards back up at Bridalveil Fall.
Everything went smoothly when all of the new Dwellers shifted for the first time. We now had five more dwellers and their training was going very well. There were two female shapeshifters and one was a great horned owl and the other was an Impala. Of the three males, one was a leopard and one was an African Tiger. It was the third one that was trouble. Apparently not happy with his spirit animal, he had taken off and was up at Oria Falls sulking. He was a badger. Fierce creatures, not afraid of anything and I didn’t understand what the problem was.
The new Dwellers were already assigned to elders and they assured me they would take care of everything. There had been a great feast with the yearly rituals and birthday cake. Everyone had a wonderful birthday, with the exception of one badger.
With all that had happened, I had totally forgotten about everyone’s birthday, mine included.
Grey Wolf
We were finally back home and it never ceased to amaze me how much more powerful my little Golden Queen… my heart and soul was. She had sent the Village of Lost Souls home to the far West. Then she immediately jumped in to help my sister and save her from my wrath. I had to smile to myself at her generosity. Fallyn hadn’t exactly burned down the village, but as I had worried, she had created chaos. “What am I going to do with that girl?” This was also a question I had asked grandfather who was all wise and knowing.
He said, “We need to find her first and the rest will work out. She needs to know that she has a home and is loved for herself. Life has been hard for her, and she knew she was different in the world of man. She never fit in with them.”
I immediately had gone in search of her. I spoke my thoughts with grandfather as I came upon a waterfall and shifting, I cleaned up a bit. She would have enough to deal with already without seeing me all painted up. Shifting back, I headed straight for where she was and half way there, I stopped because Oria had already gotten there.