So yeah, here is a new chapter to this not-quite-so-dead-after-all project.
I have also updated the older chapters to have, uh, paragraphs? Ish?
So hopefully it will be easier to read, if not then be sure to tell me in the comments below.
As a side note, I'd like to say that I HATE this website with a burning passion.
Anyway back to the story.
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Fred could tell that the human language was a lot more complex and advanced than what his kind used.
Normally the translation spell would smooth things over, to a near frightening degree of familiarity, but this time it seemed to be nearing its limits.
Entire breaths worth of ideas and information were being conveyed in mere seconds, which made it impossible for the spell to put the things in terms that Fred could understand, without significantly stretching his perception of the passage of time.
Sometimes the spell would just glitch out entirely, only for it to start working again a few moments later, once the conversation had moved back to concepts that Fred could wrap his head around.
"Okay let me get straight." Fred said with a sharp tilt of his head "Humans cannot fly, but you still managed to touch the great lights because you had a 'helicopter' which is like, a big flying nest. A nest that humans can build out of shiny rocks called metal, ice that never melts called glass, and a type of oil, fiber, stone, stuff called plastic?"
"Yeah. Something like that." Kayden agreed with a shrug "Now... How, when, where, and why, did you learn to use 'magic'? And what is it exactly?"
Fred was puzzled by the question.
After all, he was just a lowly shaman, and they were godlike beings of unthinkable power.
What could he possibly teach them about magic that they didn't already know themselves?
Still he felt it best to answer him honestly and sincerely "Well my dad had been teaching me the mystic arts since I was just a cub... Apparently it's a bit weird for a father bear to stay with his cubs like that, but it's a very strong tradition in my family. One that goes all the way back to our human ancestors."
A self pitying little grown came from Terry as he tried his best to fold in on himself.
"As for the where, well... I learned in this very cave." Fred continued "Same as of those who came before me." he added with a nod to the pawprints on the wall.
"But I have heard stories of when the mountain was taller. Back then the shamans of the past could climb its peaks and practice their craft under the watchful gaze of the spirits themselves."
"Spirits?" Kayden asked, excitement and curiosity glinting in his eyes.
Fred shrugged "Yeah you know... The specters in the sky? The driving force behind all change in this world? The ghosts of those who were, and the souls of those still waiting to be?"
He raised an eyebrow "Surely a race as advanced and wise as yours knows about the spirit world... Right?"
Kayden got up and began pacing about the cave "Well sure, almost every culture on earth has at least a story, legend, reference, or belief in an afterlife of some kind. But no one has ever been able to conclusively prove its existence before."
Fred sat back and gave the cat an unimpressed look "I don't know how humans do things, but having one form exchanged for another seems like pretty solid conformation to me."
"Oh come on!" Terry blurted out angrily "You can't seriously be saying that we got shapeshifted because we flew too close to what is essentially heaven. That's completely ridiculous!"
Fred put his paw to his chin "It does seem a bit strange… In the stories the spirits never did anything that big without a good reason. So why would-"
Fred's thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of quickly approaching voices.
"Something- something- a little hard to believe." said an unfamiliar male voice.
"Believe me, it's just as hard to believe it myself." answered Holly before shouting "Come on out boys, we got company."
The three of them exited the cave to meet the two new human males, who were now staring at them with wide eyes.
"Wha-" one began only to be stunned speechless by Kayden blurting out "Howdy fellas!" with an enthusiastic grin.
Baffled looks were exchanged between the two of them as Terry, Holly, and Kayden tried to explain the entire situation.
After all was said and done, the taller of the two newcomers turned to his partner and said soberly "Well... If this is a prank… Then it has got to be, the single greatest prank, ever… Of all time."
Kayden chucked "I'll say. We'd either have to be the world's most advanced animatronics, or we'd have to be actual real life animals that had been so impossibly well trained that we could lip sync perfectly with some kind of hidden speaker system."
He then looked at his paws and added thoughtfully "Come to think of it, there aren't even any saber toothed tigers around anymore. So yeah, we would have to be robots of some kind."
Before Fred could figure out what the words "animatronics", "speaker system", and "robots" were even supposed to mean, Terry cut in and asked "Can we wrap this up please? Because incase you haven't noticed I'm still in need of proper medical care."
"Oh right." Muttered several people, as the group began preparing for their trip back to the human lands.
Fred brimmed with excitement as he gathered up his entire collection of herbs.
It was just now starting to sink in.
He was going to personally see the human world of myth and legend.
The flat rivers of black and yellow stone, the shimmering treachery of summer ice, the perplexing meadows that grow rows of only one plant, the roaring dragons of human craft, and maybe even the notoriously rare, multicolored skyfire of the screaming night.
If even just half of those stories were true, then Fred was in for the adventure of a lifetime!
"You need help with that?" asked the shorter of the two new men in a nervous voice.
"Sure" admitted Fred, as he watched the man shed the topmost layer of his rather odd looking fur, not unlike a snake shedding its skin, only much faster.
He then placed the pelt on the ground, gathered up all of the herbs on top of it, and rolled the whole thing into a tight little ball that he neatly tucked under his arm.
"Who are you?" Fred asked in awe, impressed by the fact that he could so easily carry several trips worth of stuff, while still somehow keeping both his hands free.
"Ben Teiman." He said half heartedly, as he began walking back outside.
The humans talked with each other the whole way, and Fred did his best to follow the conversation.
But a good chunk of it simply flew right over his head.
Then eventually Fred spotted something strange in the distance.
It didn't look like a nest so much as a very odd, very massive skull.
A single horn protruded from the very top of the strange thing, which branched out at an abruptly sharp angle into several flat blades that were positioned in a circle.
It had a tail like spike at the back, which widened at the very end.
It didn't seem to have a jaw, but it did have two perfectly flat frills witch solidly held it a few inches above the ground.
And the whole thing shined, like some kind of mockingly bright orange bird.
"Is that a helicopter?" Fred asked in total amazement.
"Yeah." Teiman replied without breaking stride.
"That thing can fly?" Fred questioned skeptically.
"Yeap. As long as you feed it this liquid firewood stuff called gasoline." Explained Kayden as he too passed by.
"BUT IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE ANY WINGS!" Fred exclaimed in total disbelief.
Either they were all just crazy, or the stories were true, and humans really could do anything.