~September 1989~
"Danny, wait up!" I cried hurrying to keep up with my older brother. He was walking along the trail and my short legs couldn't keep up with his fast pace. When he heard me call for him, he slowed down and turned, giving me a bright smile. He was only two and half years older than me, even though he was a big know it all. With his dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, and round face he took after my father. I didn't take after one parent in particular. I had tan skin, paler than my brothers, and black hair. My eyes were green like my mothers. I returned Danny's smile and ran up to walk next to him. Hiking through the mountains in North Carolina was our favorite thing to do. I was almost five, and I loved being outdoors and exploring. We weren't allowed to go out on our own yet. My mom always insisted that our father come with. My father was Native American, a Cherokee. We lived on the reservation in North Carolina. My mother was Irish. It was an interesting combination, but I loved it.
"Stick together you two!" My dad's voice echoed off the mountains as he came walking out of the woods. My dad was tall and strong. He had taught us from the beginning to respect and love nature and all it has to offer. And he loved telling stories. My favorite was the tale of the two wolves and I pestered him almost every night to tell it to me.
"Come on Tala, let's go see if we can find any deer or coyote's!" Danny said grabbing my hand. I looked over at my dad. He glanced in our direction and nodded, silently giving us his permission. Danny and I ran forward to the small grove where we would sit and watch for wild animals. I lay down on the ground and peeked over one of the tree roots. I glanced around at my surroundings. Large rolling hills stretched in every direction. It was September and the leaves were changing colors. Yellow, orange, red, and even some purple leaves were on every tree. The sun shone weakly overhead, providing a little warmth from the cold ground. The sun dappled on the ground and added to the beauty of the whole scene.
Then I saw them. Two coyotes stepped out of the woods not to far from us. Danny and I exchanged an excited glance. We had never actually seen coyotes before, just deer, small mammals, and one fox. I had never seen anything so amazing. We had a dog back on the reservation but seeing the coyotes in the wild was amazing. And then I felt it. A shiver, or a ripple, ran through my skin. Everything became sharper and I felt different. I heard Danny let out a gasp of shock.
"What's wrong?" I asked? But it didn't come out that way. It came out as a bark. My brother scrambled to his feet his eyes huge, why did he look so tall? It took me a moment to realize that I was standing on all fours. I looked down and noticed that I had paws not feet. I screamed and it came out as a yelp.
"Dad, come quickly! Dad!" Danny was running back the way we had come. I stumbled after him, trying to get the hang of moving on all fours. What was I? A dog, a fox, or maybe a coyote? All I knew was that I wasn't human. I finally got moving and I quickly caught up to my brother. Whatever was happening, I was starting to enjoy it. Running on all fours was so much quicker than moving as a human. I skidded to a halt in front of my dad. To my surprise, he didn't look horrified like Danny did. Instead he just chuckled and knelt down.
"It's all right Danny," he said smiling down at me, "I knew one of you would inherit it."
"Inherit what?" I asked, but it came out as a whimper.
"I can't understand you Tala," he said, he looked like he was trying not to laugh, "Just remember who you are all right? You're a person, but you're also a wolf. You will have to learn to control it, and I know you can." He paused for a moment and looked at me. I wondered what I looked like? Was I a pretty wolf? Or was I all mangy looking? I've never seen a wolf before. My father always mentioned tht they were like large powerful coyotes. My dad laughed again and shook his head in amazement. "You're quite the cute pup aren't you? I need you to come back now Tala. All you have to do is close your eyes and think about being a person again. You can do it."
I shut my eyes tight and thought about what I looked like. I thought about my family, my father and mother, Danny, and my baby sister Bree. A second later I felt that shiver run through me again. I knew without even looking that I was back. "What just happened?" I said. I was confused but I was also happy. I was a wolf! "Could I do it again?" I wondered.
Danny was still looking at me as if he didn't understand what was going on. He seemed to be recovering from the initial shock. "You are like me Tala. You have the ability to transform yourself into an animal at will, in your case, a wolf. You're called a skinwalker." I froze I knew what skinwalkers were! He had told me about them in his stories. Some were evil and some were good. "You are going to learn to control it but you must not tell anyone." He said softly. "Do you understand?"
"Yes father!" I said happily. Danny still looked scared but he stepped forward and hugged me. I knew I could always count on him. He was my big brother and he would always care for me.
"Don't worry Tala," he said softly, "I still love you, you just scared me!" he still looked a little shaken up by the quick ordeal. He stepped back and looked at me as if he'd never seen me before. He looked worried.
"I bet I can outrun you now!" I said bouncing on the balls of my feet. Danny forced a smile but I could tell he was still uncomfortable. Maybe I should be more worried but I was too excited. What I had just done was the most amazing thing, I couldn't see how it was a bad thing.
My father came over and kissed me on the forehead. "Let's go back now, we have a lot to talk about." I followed him as we walked home to the reservation. Danny walked ahead, casting a glance back at me to make sure I was following. It wouldn't be the first time I had run off in the woods alone. I didn't want to run back into the woods this time, I was too excited to share my discovery with the rest of the family. Before I left the woods, I turned around and glanced at the mountains, the falling leaves and the trees. I was going to be part of something great. And I was stronger then I thought I would ever be. I took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of the mountains and the forests. Everything seemed so much brighter; my senses seemed so much sharper. Even though I was nervous, I had never been more excited. I had a unique and special power. My dad was going to teach me how to control it. And one day I was going to make a difference in the world. I took one more deep breath before turning back to my father. Together we went home to tell my mother the news.
Just some information for everyone! This is my first fanfic so please give me critiques on what you think I can do better! I'm going to try to upload at least one chapter a week, and chapter one should be up tonight or tomorrow. Another quick note, there will be a lot of flashbacks in this story and I'm planning on making the flashbacks in all italics and probably throwing them in as a separate chapter. If anybody has any preferences on the best way to do flashbacks, I'm here to listen! Thank you for reading and I hope you like it.