From Legend to Reality

[Jared Cameron]

I still remember the day it happened so clearly.  The leaves had all fallen from the trees.   The weather had gotten cooler.  But here I was warm.  I always felt too warm.  And I was getting angry at people.  For small things.  Things that never had bothered me before.  I had no clue what was going on.   I wanted to shut the door to my room and ignore the world.  I didn't want to yell at my folks.  I can still remember the look on their faces the first time I raised my voice in the house.   It was so not like me.  My Dad made a comment to my Mom later about being a teen boy and hormones.  

One morning Mom commented that it looked like I was running a fever and maybe I should stay home for the day.  True, I did feel awful.  Mom left me with instructions for what to do if I felt worse.  Dad was already at work.  I promised her I'd try to rest.  But laying in bed just felt all wrong.  I couldn't relax.  I wasn't tired.  Having to stay here was making me more and more angry.  My room started to feel too small.  Claustrophobic almost.  It was like cabin fever.  I just couldn't stay put.  And that was likely a good thing.   I took off.  I thought maybe a walk in the woods, just a short one would help. It helped but not in a way I was expecting.  The anger I'd been feeling that was causing me to feel stir crazy started to multiply.  My skin felt like it was crawling with a mix of anger and heat.  

Suddenly things shifted.  Changed. I freaked out.  I know I did.  The world looked different.  I could see farther.  I looked at the ground.  It looked like shredded bits of clothing everywhere.  My mind was racing.  What just happened?   Had I passed out?  Was I dreaming?  I remembered heading up the trail when the odd sensation of anger and heat washed over me.  This was crazy.  What was going on? I was freaked out.  Even scared.  This isn't right I kept saying to myself.  Wake up.  You must have passed out on the trail.  Wake up.   I closed my eyes willing myself to wake, but it was no good.  I opened my eyes again.  Everything still looked different.  Sharper, clearer.  I could see farther than I could before.  Something was not right.  I tried to walk further into the woods.  Even walking felt different.  How could this be?  I looked down at the ground. Paws?  What the heck? And then I ran.  As far away from the Rez as I thought I should go.   I paced.  Panicked.  Confused.  It was getting dark.   I couldn't go home like this.  Even in the dark I could still see.   I kept moving.  Trying to find a rational for why this happened, but not a single thought in my head was rational.  I knew my parents must be worried.  Thinking about my parents being worried only seemed to make me more angry.  

The time from when I phased, until I could hear Sam's voice as a bit of a blur.  Panic had set in, not to mention how confused I was.  Being in the dark didn't help me, but I was very thankful to have Sam there to help me phase back.  I'd seen how long it took Sam from his memories.  Being alone for so long.   Not knowing what had happened to him.  Learning to control the anger and be calm and phase back.  That was going to be a challenge.   But Sam got a message back to everyone who was looking for me.  That I was safe, and with him.  

The first few days after I phased were a bit freaky.  Learning to hunt as a wolf, eating raw meat.  It took a bit of getting use to, but until I was able to phase back that's what I would have to do.  That or go hungry. It took a few days before I was able to phase back.  Working with Sam to learn to control the anger I was feeling.  Anger that was so out of character for me.  Sam had been on his own most of the year dealing with this.  Now, he had someone other than the Elders he could talk to about it.  Those first few days and even weeks were a bonding experience for both of us.   We truly became more than friends.  More like brothers.  

The next few weeks Sam and I set a goal of trying to get this under control, so that I could return to school.   Sam had not quite finished school before he phased, and I knew he now regretted that he would not go onto College.  It seemed important to him that I finish High School.  Thankfully we have a small school on the Rez.  Sam was able to get all the work I was missing and I could work on it and have it sent back to the school.   Sam took me to meet with the Elders once I had a decent grasp on phasing.  I listened to them tell the legends oh how we came to be.  Of our first ancestor who took on this great gift.  There was so much to learn.  

It wasn't that long after I phased that Paul joined us.  Sam and I knew right off we'd have our hands full with Paul.  His temper always getting the better of him.  But now we were three.  The three of us spent a lot of time together.  We didn't know if or when others would join us.   There were guys on the rez we were told were likely to phase once they were old enough.   A few weeks passed.  It was still just the three of us.  Sam was still seeing Leah, though he spent less time with her than he use to.  

Then it happened.  Sam imprinted on Emily.   Something none of us were even sure could happen.   The Elders had told us it was a rare thing.  Thankfully I didn't have a girlfriend.  I couldn't imaging going through the agony of breaking up with someone I cared deeply for.  Not the way Sam was.  And then the accident.   It brought home just how dangerous we could be if we didn't have things under control.    It made me push off the thought of returning to school.  After Emily was out of the hospital, and things had calmed once more, school came up again.   

The first day back was a bit frightening at first.   I was telling myself all morning I could do this.  I could stay calm.  Paul still wasn't able to control his anger so I was on my own.  I got to class a bit early.  I handed in everything I had been working on the past two weeks to the teacher and took my seat just before the bell went.   Everything was going as planned.  A few friends stopped by my desk to say it was good to see me back.  And it was while talking to them that I saw her.  It was a good thing I was sitting at the time.  It was like someone knocked the wind out of me.  I stopped hearing the chatter around me.  I couldn't take my eyes off her.  Why had I never noticed her before.  She was so perfect.  When she noticed me staring at her she lit up.  She smiled at me and my heart soared.  I smiled back.  Then she sat down in the seat next to me.  Had she been sitting next to me all year and I'd not noticed?  How could this be.     

That first day back at school it was hard to do anything but think about Kim.  Suddenly it was like my entire world was revolving around her.  After school I got up the nerve to ask her if I could walk her home.  She had no idea how much her saying yes meant to me.   I wished so hard that the walk was longer.  Leaving her at her house was agony.   I didn't want to leave.  It was physically painful to walk away.  And that's when it hit me.  What Sam had felt when he imprinted on Emily.   I needed to talk to Sam, but at the same time I didn't walk to walk any further away from Kim.  This imprinting thing was suppose to be rare?  If it was, then how could I have imprinted on Kim? 

Eventually I managed to drag myself to Sam's.  To talk to him.  Every moment agony.  Not being with Kim.  Not seeing her.  It took everything I had to not act like a stalker and hang out near her house.  The next morning I was at her door waiting for her.  I politely asked if I could walk her to school.  When she said yes, I could have done back flips.   She seemed almost as excited to see me there as I was to be there.   How unlike Sam and Emily's beginning.  Kim wanted me around and I wanted to be near her.