I don't own Gargoyles, only the medicine man and the wolf spirit are mine.

Chapter One- The Dream

The pounding of the Hopi drums echoed throughout the cave as Elisa Maza stood in the center with Hopi people seated on ridges along the wall, some pounding on drums, but all chanting. Her parents and her baby brother, Derek, stood just outside the entrance.

The medicine man stepped forward and shook his medicine rattle over her head. He nodded and the chanting and drumming abruptly ceased. The medicine man raised his arms and declared, "Elisa Maza, the spirits have revealed to me that you are a special child. It is tradition that the special child be made aware of this at the age of seven. That time is now."

"Special how?" the young Elisa asked.

"There are a select few among our people who are called Skinwalkers, what the white man call shapeshifters or werebeasts. Each Skinwalker is unique, that is no two have the same animal form."

"I-I don't want to be an animal," Elisa said, voice trembling.

"The Skinwalkers are those who can change from human to animal and back again at will," the medicine man said soothingly which calmed the child. "The only catch is one must assume their animal form once a month, the day and the time of it does not matter. Your father knew one of his children might become a Skinwalker, even though he did not.

"I will now begin the chant to bring your spirit animal to you. You will assume your new form once your spirit and the animal's spirit have joined together. As tradition dictates, you must stay in animal form for one day or night before changing back to insure joining. This first time will be now until dawn tomorrow."

"What!" Elisa exclaimed, looking out at the mid-afternoon outside the cave. She couldn't be human again until tomorrow morning?

"That is our way. Every Skinwalker's animal is well-suited to them as the spirits know all." The medicine man began to chant and as he did so, the people on the ridges began to change. She saw an eagle, a lynx, a horse, and a buffalo to name a few. She also saw that the medicine man was right: No two people had the same animal.

A dark gray cloud swirled above her and for some reason, she began to tremble with excitement. The chanting grew louder and the animals added their sounds to the proceedings. A hole opened in the center of the cloud and a light gray mist fell from the opening and onto her, seeping into every pore of her body. She closed her eyes as she felt something ancient and primal join with her soul before she began to assume the form of her new animal spirit.

Everything was bigger when she opened her eyes. The medicine man looked down at her with a gentle smile and the animals were people again and seemed to be looking at her with reverence. She tilted her head back and a high-pitched howl came out.

"The spirits have decided: Elisa Maza has the spirit of the wolf."

Elisa heard footsteps and turned around to see her father approach her with a look of surprise and awe. He crouched down and reached out a hand toward her. She felt alarm and reacted by backing up and then poised as if to attack, a growl reverberating in her throat.

Peter stood and backed away from the wolf cub his daughter had become. He looked at the medicine man. "What's wrong with her? Why is she acting like this?" he demanded.

"Patience, Peter. She has a fierce nature for a child and the wolf is reacting to you and her nature with its own fierce nature. She will calm down once their natures fully join." They looked at her in silence for a moment. "Her wolf form will be beautiful and graceful when she reaches adulthood," he predicted.

Elisa's vicious reaction subsided and she padded over to Peter, pawing at his pants and whining. He sighed softly as he leaned down and scooped up the gray cub. "Let's go back to the hotel, Elisa," he said softly. As he headed to the entrance, Elisa gave another howl.

Sunlight poured through the windows of Elisa's New York apartment as she suddenly awoke and sat up quickly. She gasped for breath as she looked around as quickly as she had sat up before sighing in relief and falling back against her pillow. "It was just a dream," she said. "A dream about the past."

It had been over twenty years since the ritual that joined her with a wolf's spirit. The first several months had been rough as she had to be reminded of her once a month change as well as the instincts of a wolf cub. Those instincts settled down and the reminders tapered off as she remembered to shift. The instincts ended up resurfacing as she entered her teens.

It's hard enough being a teenager, but it's really hard when you're a teenager with a wolf's spirit. There were days when she would come home so angry that she unconsciously shifted to a wolf and proceeded to express her anger in growls and snarls. It was times like this that scared her family, though she never attacked them. When she hit eighteen, she learned to control her temper so she only changed that one time of the month. She found that she preferred to change at night since she could sleep through that period.

She had to admit, ever since she met the gargoyles, the adventures they've shared seemed to excite the wolf and she fought the urge to change and charge into battle. She even felt that excitement with dangerous assignments like armed burglary, hostage situations, and stand-offs. It seemed her career only excited the wolf and made her work harder to control it.

Of course, the wolf and I are the same being, so technically, I'm the one getting excited and I need to calm down. Hmm, perhaps I need to change tomorrow night since it's my night off and I'm due for my once a month change anyway. Elisa rolled out of bed to get ready for work.