Legends

"Long time ago, when our people were still in one tribe, living in the wooden huts near The Great River, a young woman, curious of what the forest has to offer, decide to explore it. Her name was Nalita, the chief's youngest daughter.

One morning she took her basket and, not informing anyone, went in the forest to gather raspberries for the children. Searching bush after bush, Nalita was slowly moving away further and further from her village. Gathering the last raspberries of one bush, she heard a strange noise coming from the nearby tree. Curious, as she was, she picked her basket and went to look what was making those sounds. She carefully approached the bush next to the tree and moved its short branches. And hidden behind its leaves, lying on the soft forest ground were two golden eyes staring at Nalita.

She moved the remaining leaves, revealing a gray she-wolf nursing three small pups. The she-wolf was horribly thin and all in scars, Nalita knew she won't make the night and yet she was growling at her protecting her loved ones. The young women, deeply touched by the she-wolf's protective behavior, decided to stay near the wolf family, guarding the pups with their mother. She lowered her basket down and sat on her knees, her eyes looking into the she-wolf's. The gray she-wolf just growled for some time, as she had no strength to get up, but seeing that Nalita was no threat to her children, she moved her golden eyes from Nalita and closed them in much needed rest. Nalita stayed with them all night, but, because she was still young, she easily drifted into the sleep during her watch.

That night she dreamed a strange dream. The she-wolf was standing in front of her, with no wounds and ribs she saw earlier through her fur. She was beautiful, a magnificent beast in all its wilderness and protectivity, a mother and a warrior. She talked that night to the youngest daughter. She said, she is going to her ancestors and that she has no fear for the weal being of her pups because she is leaving them to Nalita. And to understand and defend them better, she is giving her a gift of transformation. Nalita had just listened. She wanted to know what that gift of transformation was, but when she opened her mouth the she-wolf disappeared and she was again in the forest.

Still under the impression of the dream she looked at the she-wolf, but she had disappeared and there were only three pups sleeping in a pile. Realizing the dream was true; Nalita looked up at the night sky sprinkled with stars and ask the she-wolf for the gift. Suddenly her bones started moving and a quick stripe of pain crossed her body. She closed her eyes, feeling she was slowly starting to get warmer and warmer. When she opened them again she was no longer Nalita, the human, she was now Nalita, the shape-shifter. She made few steps with her four paws, before releasing a loud howl in the night. The pups, awaken with the loud howl, approached the giant she-wolf, that resembled their mother so much. They curled up by her long fur, eager to sleep in a worm. Nalita looked down remembering why she was given this gift and laid down with them. They stayed like this until the morning, when Nalita remembered her village. She didn't want to leave the pups, but her family was surely worried for her. If she stayed with the pups, protecting them as the she-wolf asked, she was going to lose all her remaining humanity. She got up from the forest floor and shook the dirt of her fur. She needed to get back to her human form and explain everything to her people.

She closed her eyes and remembered how she felt when she was a human. For a few moments nothing happened, but then her fur started pulling back into her skin. She kept her eyes closed, waiting for the pain to start, but this time there was no pain and when she opened her eyes she was a human again. She didn't have any clothes on her; they were ripped during her first phase. Nalita looked at her body, everything was normal as if she had never been a she-wolf over the night. Suddenly she noticed a darker spot, shaped in a wolf's paw on her leg. Young woman was just crossing her fingers across it, when she heard whimpering from behind her.

She turned and saw three little wolf pups looking at her, scared. She sat in front of them and stretched out a hand towards them. The biggest one of them smelled her hand and realizing who it was, jumped happily in her lap. The other two following the oldest one approached her carefully. When they realized, that this human was actually the gray she-wolf, who had kept them warm and safe during the night, Nalita could finally get back to her village. Taking the basket with the raspberries, she signalized to the pups to follow her. Walking slowly, they finally managed to get to the village. In there, Nalita explained everything to her worried father and they accepted her new family into the tribe.

With the return of the chief's youngest daughter, the magic entered our tribe. Soon Nalita's brothers and sisters could change shapes with her, but their shapes were different, animals which were never seen before. Some of them were giant cats with sharp fangs or even horses with stripes on their back. The elders came to conclusion that it all depended on the soul of the shape-shifter. They were different in shapes and colours, but they all had a mark of their soul animal. The shape-shifters, as they were now called, seemed to stop aging and gained better senses than average humans. Together they protected their own and their neighbors. The humans were finally living in peace with each other and nature.

Years passed, and Nalita has married a young man from her tribe and had children of her own. The three wolf pups left the tribe and started their own families in the forest.

One day Nalita's young daughter came across an odd looking man all in raged clothes. The man asked her to lead him to her tribe. Wanting to help him, she did what he asked her. Our people accepted the newcomer, they gave him food and drink and a place to stay. He was welcomed to stay for as long as he wishes. But not all of the people were happy about his arrival. The oldest among the Nalita's sons sensed something wrong about the timid man. He started to follow the stray, not trusting him and his calm nature.

One night after a feast in the great gray she-wolf's name, the man had disappeared into the forest. The oldest son had followed him hiding in the darkness of the trees. The man started walking slowly at the started, but hurrying up as he was getting deeper in the forest. When he reached a clear plain in the forest, the stray stopped. He had begun to scream, growl and rapidly moved his body. The oldest son stared at him petrified. He knew something bad was happening and yet he didn't run away, he chose to stay and fight this monstrosity. The stray was no longer a timid man, there where a second ago stood a man in pain, now was a furry wolf like monster growling and sniffing the air. Suddenly it caught a scent of Nalita's oldest son, and with a raged growl jumped in his direction.

The boy had nowhere to go, he did what he was taught since he was a little child. He closed his eyes and called the animal spirit in him. The furry monster jumped and landed on a huge dark wolf, which easily overthrew him. The wolf barred his fangs ready to face this monster alone and die protecting his village. But as he was preparing to attack, a big pack of all sort of animals jumped the werewolf, knocking him to the ground. A gray she-wolf approached the darker wolf with worried look on her face. When she had assured her son was unharmed, she showed him the smallest of the cats on the werewolf. It was Nalita's youngest daughter, who felt guilty and phased so she could help her brother. With the pack's help he killed the werewolf and accepted his destiny as the guardian of the tribe.

But the furry wolf like monsters weren't the only one who represented the threat to the people. There were also the cold people, whose lust for blood and strength made them the most dangerous of all the enemies. Those cold people were, no, they still are our worst and most respected enemies. You know them, vampires, that's how they are called now. Their strength is amazing, their speed enchanting and their poison means death to us. Because of these monsters our tribe decided to split up, so they can protect the people of this world. And so, our people settled all over the world, except the continent of America, but that's a story for another time. But for now the secret is passed down from generation to generation, and humans are protected."- the young looking men finished his story.

The flames of fire played upon his face and the silence around it was now sacred and filled with magic. A young girl closest to the fire sighed, she has heard the story thousand of times and it bored her a little. She stretched out, quickly phasing to a white she-wolf and looked up to the night sky, before releasing a loud howl into the dark night.

Bomei's little corner:

- I do NOT own Twilight and it's residents, but I do own my stories and my lovable (joking) characters

- Yes, it's about a different kind of shape-shifters, 'cause I prefer them over the vamps.

- As you can guess this is just an intro into the story that I'm planing to write (someday)

- Nalita's name is pronounced: Nah-lee-tah

- Oh... You have three chances to guess who is going to be the main character of the stories... And he (or she) is going to like...

- If something isn't clear I'll be glad to answer you, as for the story... I'll make a guide to explain all of the abilities of the new shape-shifters