Loosely basing this off of Omaha Folklore. A/N at the end to explain more.
Rated M for mature content, language, adult situations. Lemons, people! Don't read if you're under 18!
I don't own anything Twilight. SM owns it all, I'm just messing around! I hope you enjoy it.
"Holy crap." I huffed, as I threw myself backwards on my new queen mattress. It was unmade, but I would get around to that later. I had just finished bringing all of my suitcases, boxes, furniture and duffel bags, into my new home all by myself. The small stone cottage was the perfect size for me and sat close to the Loess Hills State Forest.
Rolling my head to the side, my eyes wandered the small bedroom. Besides the bed, there was only a desk in the corner and a door leading to a tiny bathroom. The walls were a freshly painted pale yellow and the lone window by my bed was new. The off white Berber carpet was worn and stained, but vacuumed clean. This was mine.
I had just moved to Little Sioux, Iowa. Criminal Law was surprisingly easy for me and I whizzed through my studies with ease. I didn't particularly want to use my new degree to be a cop in this podunk town, but the Chief was excited for a new face fresh out of college and it was easier for me to be nearer to my tribe.
Who would've guessed that pale ass Bella Swan had a drop of Native blood in her? Not me, that's for sure. When I moved in with my dad in Forks, Washington four years ago from Phoenix, Arizona he had taken the liberty to enroll me at Forks High as a junior. However, after attending for a week with the biggest migraine of my life from the stench of that place, my dad and I got the biggest shocks of our lives.
Flashback
It was Saturday evening and I had been in bed all day long sick with fever and shakes. My dad had taken leave from his fishing trip with his best friend, Billy Black, to watch over me.
"You look like death warmed over, Bella." Charlie murmured as he gently rubbed my forehead and neck with a cool wet wash cloth. I rolled my eyes at him but then groaned from the pain that shot through my head.
"I think we need to take me to the doctors, Dad." I rasped.
His eyes widened, "You really think it's that bad? You hate going to the hospital."
I did hate the hospital. The odors of blood and death made me sicker than the reason I was there in the first place. He knew I was feeling like junk if I was asking to go willingly.
Just as I was about to nod or speak or get up...something to show my dad I was serious and really wanted to go see a doctor, my whole body started trembling. My dad pressed his palms to my shoulders while my eyes rolled back in my head. I remember him telling me later that he thought I was having a seizure the way my body convulsed, hair slicked back with sweat, eyes rolled so far back only the whites shown.
I remember hearing my bedroom window break open, the glass shattering and scattering all over the wooden floorboards of my small bedroom. My dad's yelp of surprise, his hands leaving my shoulders, someone yelling at him to get out.
"Get out in the hallway, Charlie! I've got her, I promise! Trust me!" The voice was deep and commanding, you didn't say no to that voice.
Warm hands clamped down on my arms and dragged me upright in my bed, my overheated pounding head falling back on my shoulders. He shook me.
"Come on, Bella. Open your eyes for me. You can do this! Concentrate, let it come to you. Don't fight her!" The voice commanded me.
"What the hell are you talking about, Sam? Fight who?" Charlie demanded. I assume he left the room, but stayed in the hallway with the door to my bedroom open. I fought my own eyeballs, trying like hell to focus, but it hurt so bad. Every time I lifted my head or opened my eyes the pain would split and jump from the front to the back of my brain. I groaned louder. Sam shook me again.
"Bella! You have to accept her or I'll have to make you! I'd really rather not do that." Sam had taken a breath to say more, I was sure, but I heard my dad's footsteps.
"Make her do what!?" He growled at my captor.
"Get out, Charlie! Trust me. I will explain everything in a minute!" Sam growled right back, but his growl was way more intimidating. My body shivered brutally at his commanding tone. "It's happening! Charlie, what tribe are you from!?"
"Tribe...?" He sounded confused. I know I was. Sweat poured down my face and neck as I continued to tremble uncontrollably in Sam's vice-like grip. My eyes were open now, staring at my ceiling, but I still could not lift my head.
"Yes, Charlie!" Sam was still using a commanding voice, louder than necessary but I was grateful, with the blood pounding in my ears I wouldn't have been able to hear him otherwise.
Charlie sputtered from the hallway and Sam yanked me upright off the bed and pulled me toward the window. My head bouncing around loosely on my neck.
"We don't have time for this! Meet us in the back yard, Chief!" Sam said, as he bounded us out my shattered window into the cool afternoon air. Before I could register another thing, I was laid down in the ferns at the edge of the forest with a large black wolf staring down at my face menacingly. I screamed a raspy scream as the wolf's large lips pulled back to reveal shiny white canines.
"What the fuck!" I yelped. My body jerked and convulsed laboriously and my skin felt like it was steaming. The wolf snarled in my face so loudly my bones shook. The earth changed position under my body as it seemed I had changed shape. My legs shortened and slimmed, my arms pulled lower toward my ribcage. I felt like I was being rearranged from the inside out. My vision went stark white then quickly faded to black.
I lay panting in the dirt, bracken tickling my nose with each pull of air into my lungs. Something else bumped against the tip of my nose. Slowly blinking my eyes open, I inhaled a sharp gasp. Without lifting my head, I could tell I was lying flat on my chest, my chin resting against the ground. All around my face were flattened ferns and weeds...and a pair of large black paws. I dragged my eyeballs upwards, watching enormous paws turn into long muscular forelegs, black as night. Legs attached to the biggest fucking wolf I'd ever seen. I felt my ears flatten to my head and that gave me pause. The wolf stared at me with something akin to concern in it's eyes. He laid down on his belly in front of me and nuzzled my nose with his. I couldn't move. I was frozen.
In my paralyzed state, I took a moment to listen to my surroundings. The air whistled above my head, I could hear three drums all pounding rhythmically, the shiver of leaves in the trees. Lifting my head slightly, slowly as to not alarm the animal at my nose, I looked down and shrieked. I had red paws! Jumping up, I spun around in a circle, completely forgetting about the wolf beside me. I had a long thick fluffy tail that trailed behind me as I spun. During my quick spin, I toppled over onto my side and shrieked again, only the noises coming from my mouth...err...muzzle? Weren't shieks at all! They were yips!
I laid panting heavily on my side, eyes clamped shut in terror as I tried to work out what the fuck was going on. I had to have lost my mind! That was the only possible explanation for this mess. Clydesdale sized wolf? Oversized...whatever I am? This is not normal. These kinds of things just don't exist.
The black wolf rose from his belly slowly and nosed my head softly. My right eye slid opened when he whined. His large black eyes darted to something behind me. Without lifting my head, I rolled my eye backward and caught sight of my dad, shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot. He was looking at me with awe and trepidation. I had a sudden urge to make him feel better, reassure him that I was okay. Hopping up on apparently all four feet, I slunk toward him. My eyes wide and pleading with him not to hate me, not to shoot me. I didn't know what was going on, but I knew I was an animal. My head came up to his waist and as he stood stock still, watching me, I poked him in the side with my nose.
My dad snorted a short laugh and raised his calloused hand to my head. My eyes closed of their own accord as his fingers slid over the short fur at the top of my head and smoothed down around my ear.
"You're gorgeous, Bells. I never had a clue the legends had any substance." He whispered as he continued to pet me.
Sam came from no where up to my side and I let out another yip, bouncing slightly then crouching, ears pressed back against my head. The large Native man raised his hands, palms forward, in a sign of surrender.
"Easy, Bella. We've got some answers for you, but first let's go inside, okay?"
My head darted around, looking for the black wolf. I lifted my face to the trees and sniffed at the air. The scent of the wolf, cumin and ginger, lead me to Sam and I sat back on my butt looking at him with my head cocked to the side.
Sam looked sheepish as he lifted a big hand in a quick wave, "Yeah, that was me. I'm a shape shifter too. Let's get inside and I'll explain."
I glanced down at my paws and back up at Sam, eyes wide trying to express my question.
Like this? Go inside like this?
Sam smiled at me and said, "Yes, like that. You've got no clothes on under that fur and I figured you'd wanna see yourself in a mirror before I taught you how to change back."
I yipped and hopped around in a circle. I was wondering if I'd be able to change back! The men chuckled at me. I trotted on my toes behind my dad and Sam, across the back yard, up the back porch steps, and through the door leading into the kitchen. The perspective was so different from this height.
I followed behind them into the livingroom where my dad swiveled his old blue recliner to face the couch where Sam sat down and I sat on the floor, my tail curling around my legs. This was so weird.
Sam stared at me a moment before sighing and running a hand through his long inky hair. "Well, you're a fox." He paused when I rolled my eyes.
No shit, Sherlock
He huffed a breath, "Yes, I realize it's obvious. Okay, you're dad is going to have to explain a few things then I'll take over from there. But do you want to see what you look like? You're very beautiful."
He practically whispered that last part but my enormous cone shaped ears picked it up easily. I lowered my eyes, embarrassed and a little flattered.
"Bella, go ahead and look in the mirror." My dad said as he waved a hand in the direction of the entryway. There was a huge antique mirror hanging low on the wall by the front door. It was my mom's and she didn't want it when she left my dad. My dad never could bring himself to take it down and put it in storage.
Walking slowly toward the hallway, I rounded the wall and peeked. A long slender muzzle and black whiskers framing a petite shiny black nose greeted my sight first. Dark red fur sleeked over the top of my muzzle, bright white fur covered my lower jaw and down my chest. My eyes were a bright sage green, round and wide. The dark red of my muzzle continued to the top of my head and wrapped around my cheeks to meet the white of my jaw and chest. My nose twitched and I watched fascinated as my whiskers wriggled with the movement. My large cone-like ears were the same bright red of my paws front and back, dipping down the back of my neck to the top of my shoulders where the dark red starts up again on my shoulder blades and runs the length of my back, covering my fluffy tail. A triangle of black tips my tail. I'm about the size of a normal female wolf.
I hop up and place my front paws delicately on the glass of the mirror. They're surprisingly tiny and nimble. The pads of my paws are black, tiny sharp nails peek from my toes. My underside is the same red as my paws and legs. I swish my fluffy tail behind me, watching the movement from the mirror.
I'm gorgeous!
Sam and my dad move into my sight behind me and I watch their reflections in the mirror.
"You're what the Omaha tribe call Nidawi. In some folklore, the Nida is considered a monster spirit, resembling a mammoth bear, elephant-like with large bone protrusions on his back. In other folklore, the Nidawi was a beautiful large fox, the size of an alpha female wolf. She was said to be intelligent and wise, helping her fellow man or animal solve problems or punishing those who've been arrogant or careless." Charlie pauses and kneels down beside me. I drop my front paws to the floor and turn toward him, curious.
"It really depended on how a kid behaved back in the old days, how the story was told. If a parent thought their child was misbehaving, they got the scary version of Nida. If they thought their kid was good, they gave them the story of Nidawi. I got both versions growing up." He chuckled.
I huffed through my nose and nuzzled his arm.
"Okay, okay. No need to get pushy young lady. My grandparents, the ones you never met, were full blooded Omaha Natives. Grampa disowned my dad for falling in love with your Grandma Marie. He said she was the most beautiful paleface he had ever seen. Sparkling blue eyes and a radiant smile. Anyway, they were banned from the reservation when Dad asked Mom to marry him. They moved out here and there ya have it!" He smacked his knees then used them as leverage to push himself up.
Well, that explains my heritage, though leave it to Charlie to give it to me short and sweet. I glanced at Sam, trotting to him and rubbing my body around his thighs.
"Wanna learn to change back, Bella?"
I nodded and started for the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Sam asked, sounding amused.
I pointed my nose toward the ceiling before looking at him again.
My room duh.
"We will have more room down here. Charlie, do you have a sheet we can put over Bella, here? She'll be naked when she shifts back."
I yipped in embarrassment and placed a paw over my muzzle. Charlie and Sam snickered at my discomfort.
I followed Sam into the livingroom again and waited for my dad. When he draped the sheet over all of me except my face, Sam instructed me.
"Bella, close your eyes and breathe deep and try to picture yourself doing something human. Taking a shower, reading a book, going for a jog." He paused when I rumbled what I hoped sounded like a growl. Did foxes growl?
Sam looked at me funny and my dad barked a laugh. "Sam, Bella can't walk a straight line, she definitely doesn't jog."
I glared at my father.
Sam chuckled and said, "Right, well don't picture that then. Try picturing yourself driving your truck or going swimming..." His voice trailed off as my body trembled and suddenly I was a naked human girl lying on the livingroom floor under a pale blue sheet. I quickly grasped the edges and wrapped it tightly around me.
"It'll get easier and less painful the more you shift. As you could tell by my scent, I am the black wolf. Our people can shift when there's danger around and I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, but I bet yours do as well." Sam explained.
"Danger? What kind of danger is there in Forks besides drowning by rainfall?" I asked incredulously.
"To understand the dangers, you'll have to hear our legends. Would you accompany me to a bonfire tonight? I'd like to introduce you to my pack and welcome you properly." Sam said.
Present
Looking back, I'm glad Sam had been keeping an eye on me my first week in Forks. Billy had noticed my clammy hands my second day with my dad and had told Sam he had a feeling I needed to be watched. At the bonfire they had explained that Nidawi was my female spirit protector and went on to tell me the legends of their Cold Ones. They kept a lot of their tales close to the cuff, but I respected that. I am not Quileute. I figured out on my own that Cold Ones were vampires but I had never met any. There must have been some near Forks, however since I phased. Charlie enrolled me into La Push High the following Monday and though I made tenative friends with some of the pack and tribe, I was still an outsider.
I was never treated badly and my sensitive hearing never picked up insults but I felt like I belonged somewhere else.
When I graduated from La Push, I bid Charlie goodbye, promises of phone calls and letters, and got accepted to UDub. Two years and one Criminal Law degree later I couldn't take the stench of the city or the restrictions of phasing into Nidawi, so I packed up and shipped myself East, landing in the good ol' Midwest.
Standing up from my bed, I pulled myself out of my musings and decided to go for a run through the State Forest. It had been a long week of packing, moving, unloading, and finally unpacking. I needed to stretch my foxy legs. I wasn't sure how my tribe would welcome me...If they had thrown my grandfather out for loving a paleface, would they accept a paleface now? Probably not. Sometimes I wondered if this was even a good idea.
What if they had a Nida? It shouldn't be that far fetched if I can shift into Nidawi right? Although, a Nida couldn't hide as easily. I was the size of a normal wolf, with the agility and cunning to slink into small spaces like a cat. I could flatten my body and nearly camouflage myself anywhere in the wilderness. A Nida wouldn't be able to hide in plain sight at all and would most likely be confined to the village of their tribe.
Dressed in my yoga shorts and black sports bra, I left my hair loose and jogged down the front walk. I lived about two miles up a dirt driveway off of Larpenteur Memorial Road. It was very quiet out here, just a few small homes nearby but my cottage was surrounded by tall brush, flowering bushes, and trees. The perfect spot for a fox. I took Larpenteur to the One-Thirty-Eight and jogged two miles until I reached the Fulton intersection. This seemed the ideal section of Loess Hills for me to strip and shift. I slunk my human form into the thick puckerberry bushes and slipped out of my clothes, hiding them under a rock for later. Easily shifting into Nidawi, I shook my mahogany and bright red body, stretching my legs like a cat. I loved being a fox. Knowing that if anyone saw me running around the forest here, I wouldn't set off any alarms, I took off at a fast trot.
We had found out soon after I shifted the first time that I had been caught walking in the house with Sam and Dad. The nib-nose neighbor asked Dad when he got a dog.
She was lucky I didn't bite. Dog indeed.
It worked to our advantage. If someone saw me around La Push or Forks, I was called a stray that took a liking to certain people. Namely Chief Swan and Billy Black. They even called me by my folklore name. I couldn't say how often I had laid across Billy's son, Jake's lap enduring belly rubs and chin tickles because Jake hadn't phased yet and couldn't know what I was. He had tried many times to get me to sleep in his bed. Billy got a kick out of that, the old fool.
"Nidawi! Come here, pretty girl!" Jake called to me once. He was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, bend over with one hand on his knee, the other held out reaching toward me.
I sat back on my haunches and stared at him. Very badly, I wanted to shake my head, glare at him, or even nip his annoying wriggling fingers. Alas, I couldn't do that no matter how much he irritated me. It's true that a normal 'stray' who has been starved of affection and made to live in the Washington State wilderness would jump at the chance to snuggle down into a nice warm bed with a large friendly teen. I am not a stray and playing as such for Jake has my hackles rising.
Billy snorted from his place in his wheelchair. I whipped my face to him and did glare at him. He knew this irked me but in order to keep my secret, I had to endure this crap. Billy smiled at me sweetly, "Go on, Nidawi, be a good girl."
I lifted one lip to show my teeny pointy teeth. Billy laughed.
Jake kept patting his knee and snapping his fingers, his long black hair hanging loose over his shoulders. I walked up to him slowly, keeping my ears back and my tail straight out behind me. Jake's eyes widened a fraction before standing up so fast he almost hit his head on the door's frame. He had gotten very tall the last couple of weeks and I knew this was the last time I would see him before he turned wolf.
Creeping at him slowly on my toes, I lowered my head more and watched happily as Jake stumbled backward into his room.
"Nidawi? Hey, easy girl!" His voice was pitched higher than normal, shaking slightly and I scented a twinge of fear in the air.
I heard Billy's wheelchair squeak closer to me but ignored it. When Jake was near his bed and I stood in the entry to his bedroom I lifted my head, opened my jaws as wide as they could go. Jake's eyes about popped out of his head and he tripped onto his bed shouting his fear when I let an ear piercing fox call scream into the air.
Whipping around so fast my tail touched my nose, I raced low to the ground and out of the house into the trees. Billy's surprised loud laughter echoed from the house and I bounced, yipping into the forest.
I raced around the State Forest a few more hours, checking out my new playground, lost in my musings before I ran back to my clothes. Redressing, I jogged to my new home feeling completely refreshed. I knew I would sleep well tonight.
A/N: Nida is pronounced Nee-Dah
Nidawi: Nee-Dah-Wee
I posted the web address where I got some information for this story.
It is not my website, not my folklore. It was interesting to me and I played around with it to make a unique shifter Bella.
I google searched Nida images and the first image was a sketch of a mammoth like I described.
Fun Fact: Foxes walk on their toes!
This will be a Bella/OC story.