Chapter 5

It was a long day. After lunch with Barry he seemed to think that he was my new best friend and decided to follow me around and sit beside me in my classes. I was tempted to ask him where his own friends were, but I was starting to grow a little spot of pity for this guy. He was, after all, truly traumatized, whereas I was only acting. It took more work that day than any other to keep acting depressed.

At one point, Danielle came up to me. She took a look at Barry. I shrugged. He was like a leech.

"Hey Sarah," she said. "I've adopted Keri." This was no surprise. It was how we were going to get Keri to be close to Jennifer. It was lucky that Keri was at the perfect age to be too old to be passed on to another needy owner.

I raised my eyebrows.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over and help her get comfortable. You know, I want her to feel at home."

"I'll be there," I said. Then we both powered through the rest of the day.

But finally, the last bell of the day rang and I was free. It took me less than thirty seconds to get out of the building and start towards the woods. If I was going to Danielle's house, I was going in style.

I dropped my bag after I was about fifty meters in and stashed it under a bush. I didn't have homework and it would be safe there until the next day. I also stashed there my outer layer of clothes. I had taken to wearing my tight tube top and spandex shorts underneath my clothes at all times in case of an emergency.

I initiated the change. It was still a disgusting feeling. I itched all over and my bones and organs shifting made me want to be sick, but it wasn't intolerable. This time I didn't shrink. Muscle bulked onto my limbs. Orange and black fur spread from head to toe. My sense of smell got better.

The tiger's awareness bubbled up under mine. I couldn't feel it that well, but there was a sort of cool confidence that came over me. Like I could take on the world. I felt so strong, so agile. It was wonderful. I flexed my claws experimentally. It was an amazing feeling. I darted. Forward. Back. Turn, jump, run, dodge, slash!

My claws left deep grooves in the bark of the tree. ((Sweet.))

I played a little more before getting on task and heading to Danielle's house. My parents would be working late, so I didn't have to worry about getting ragged on for staying out. It only took me a few steps before Jennifer found me.

((Sarah, is that you?))

((You're in town again?)) I asked.

((I was practicing my flying skills,)) she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

((Really?)) I asked, looking up.

((Have you tried the osprey yet?))

((No.))

((Do it. Right now.))

I could see her. She was a tiny dot against the blue sky. At least, I think it was her. I changed back to myself and then began the change to osprey. This time I shrunk, which was kind of disappointing after the tiger's sheer power.

It wasn't long before I was an osprey, and I flew up into the sky to join Jennifer. I could fly much higher than I had expected. It was easy to surpass even the height that Jennifer was at, what with the warm day pushing the hot air continuously upwards.

My eyes were fantastic. Even from up here, I could see everything on the ground with more clarity than I ever had.

((Wow,)) I commented.

((No kidding, eh?)) Jennifer said. ((That's not all you can do.)) She gave one powerful beat of her wings and tucked them into her sides, then angled her nose so that she began to fall headfirst.

((What are you doing?)) I asked her. I was trying to figure out if she'd done it on purpose or not.

((Diving,)) she said as she opened her wings and pulled up. ((You absolutely have to try it. It's the single most amazing thing I've ever done!))

So I dove. I beat my wings hard like Jennifer had done and tucked them into my sides. Using my tail, I angled my beak downwards and fell. The wind was rushing past my face. I was a javelin, slicing through the air. I just freefell for what seemed like an eternity. The ground was inching nearer and nearer. My speed was increasing. I was going to hit the ground if I didn't pull out soon. ((How do I pull out?)) I asked as calmly as I could.

((The osprey knows,)) Jennifer said.

I didn't know what she meant. I was panicking. I turned to the osprey side of me, but it was strangely passive. ((No it doesn't!)) I yelled. ((It's not doing anything!))

Jennifer seemed puzzled. ((Just let it take control.))

I tried. I really did. But nothing took 'control.' I was still plummeting towards the ground and if I didn't figure it out soon, I was going to dig my beak into the ground below. ((It's not working.))

((Then do it yourself!)) Jennifer's 'voice' was nearing a screech.

So I did the best I could. I adjusted my tail in the slightest and forced my head upwards. I opened my wings and tried to catch the air, but they didn't open at the same time. I started to tumble. Jennifer screamed. I didn't know which direction was which anymore.

I was going to die.

((Sarah!))

I kept falling. She could scream at me all she wanted, this still wasn't working. I was panicking. Sheer terror held me. I started going into shock. Oh god, why did I have to die like this? I wasn't even going to get a chance to fight. The irony crossed my mind more than once.

I pulled back from reality and braced myself for impact. Then the weirdest thing happened. I felt... a presence, I guess. I had felt it there before, but not this strong. In my withdrawal, the osprey had finally taken charge and was using its tail to balance us out. It flung out its wings at the perfect moment and caught the air expertly. We were just above the treeline. Another couple of seconds and we would have been killed. We flapped our wings hard towards a thermal. We caught it and turned until we were far above.

Food.

We wanted food. We were hungry.

((Sarah.))

It was like waking up from a dream. Suddenly I was back. I had needed to withdraw completely before I could use the bird's instinct. I didn't know a lot at that point, but I knew that it wasn't a good thing.

((Yeah?)) I said.

((Was that real?)) she asked. ((You really couldn't?))

I thought about telling her the truth. But she wouldn't be able to see past the danger to the necessity. She would insist that I never use power again. But I had to. I would just have to be careful.

((Did I scare you?)) I asked with a laugh.