To Grow

I woke up today, still aching, but with much less intensity than before. I slowly stood up, and noticed that I was still in my big furry form. I moved the long tail behind me back and forth, marvelling in the flexibility of it. I stepped forwards, then back, and pranced around. I was so flexible and agile.

I liked this form. Why didn't I use this before? Oh, yeah, because I always ended up tiny, so I thought it was useless. 

But now that I've suddenly grown, I might be just a bit smaller than a normal big furred one! And the fur of this form is so soft. I love it! And the colour of the pelt would help me blend in too. I bent down, like I was stalking a prey, and pounced. I jumped way higher than I was expecting, and landed farther than I had estimated. 

Then I tried running outside my den. I grew tired very quickly, and I could maybe reach the speed of a quick furred one? 

This form was harder to shift into and keep. Another reason why I didn't try new forms a lot was that after the shift, I had to constantly make sure that some part of me hadn't shifted back into my quick furred form or my two-leg form.

My claws could be hidden inside my paws, and I could climb trees! Now I only have to use my two-leg form only for healing.

I walked around my territory unhurriedly, and hunted a prey one. Prey ones were either small, bushy tailed, and lived in the trees, or were small, furry, had a bushy round tail, and hopped around a lot. There were also the red prey ones who hunted the hopping ones, but they were ultimately still prey. The ones that live in trees are covered in small bony spikes that hurt to bite down on, and the hopping prey ones had weird feathers growing randomly over their body that were a pain to pull off.

The red prey ones were more tricky than the other two, and liked to hide around a lot, usually in an underground den.

I began scouting for territory to take again. I creeped through many territories before settling on one. This time, it was the territory of a slinky one. Slinky ones liked to be in groups, and this group had two of them. They were slightly smaller than a quick furry one. A slinky one also looked like a red prey, but coloured differently. And it was bigger.

But, this time, I think I might be able to win against them.

I shifted into a quick furred one, because they have a much better smelling sense than my two-leg and my big furred form combined.

I slunk into their territory, nose twitching at the strong smell of the slinky ones.

Their territory wasn't that big, but if I win, my territory combined would be enough for me.

Big furry ones had a pretty big territory, but it's the quick furry ones and the brown ones that had the biggest territory.

There they are! Their scent was getting stronger and fresher now. I was led to an entrance to a den. Currently, there was only one inside, with the other going hunting. I shifted into a big furred one, climbed a nearby tree, and waited for the other one to come back. I waited patiently, and finally, the other one came back, dragging a hopping prey with him.

I waited until he was right under my branch, and pounced on him. I landed on his back, instantly crushing him. He gave a surprised yelp, the hopping prey's body blocking most of the sound from getting out. I quickly opened my jaw and bit down on his neck. I was about the same size as him, maybe slightly bigger. My teeth entered his neck easily, and blood quickly entered my mouth.

He thrashed around before going limp. I shook him just in case, before tossing his body away. I could hear scratching sounds as the other one began to walk out the den, probably attracted by the blood. I wouldn't have heard her before, hut now, with my big furred hearing, it was as loud as rain falling outside my den.

As she walked out, I noticed that her body was bulging. That meant she had tiny slinky ones inside her. 

I pounced and bit down on her neck. She died easily. I dug two holes to bury them in, and left to mark my new territory.

To do that, I shifted into my quick furry form and peed on the new borders for my territory.

I walked back to my den and slept.

I stayed within my territory during the great warmth, and began hunting for the great cold. I stockpiled everything within my den, and belatedly realized that I could just shift into my big furry form and sleep the great cold away. I did just that right after eating all the berries I had stored up.

Then I shifted, and shut my eyes. How do big furry ones sleep that long? 

Then something innate to my big furry form took over and I sank into a trance.

The small warmth came, and my trance broke. I quickly felt my hunger, and dug for the prey I had buried before. I came up with a few sets of bones with some rancid meat on top.

Growling in frustration, I threw them away and quickly ran out my den to go hunting. Once I had hunted enough prey ones to dull the hunger, I noticed that my size had actually increased again, and that my bones were sticking out. I shifted into my quick furry form and began hunting.

Once I got used to my new size, I hunted for more prey, until I was finally sated. I hunted like that for another few days until the bones were less prominent.

A few days later, I felt this urge.

I shifted uncomfortably, twisting around. I whimpered uncomfortably before shifting into my big furred form. The urge remained. 

I shifted into my two-leg form and finally, the urge vanished. What was that? 

Suddenly, I had a realization. It's usually at this time that the male big furred ones and the quick furred ones sniff around and climb on top of the female ones. 

So if I was feeling this, then does that mean I'm now considered an adult? Then how about my two-leg form? Why didn't I feel this before?

As I was sitting there thinking, I felt a trickle of something make its way out my body. Then the scent of blood hit me.

Wh-what is this? Am I injured? What attacked me? 

I whirled around, trying to find the enemy. But there were none, even after I risked feeling uncomfortable and shifting into a quick furry one. There was no enemy.

I was still bleeding from down there, though, and my stomach was cramping so bad. I limped back into the den and laid down, holding myself, while blood was pouring out my bottom. Why am I bleeding if I'm not injured? If I was injured, I would've healed by now. Am I going to die?! Did I get poisoned? 

I curled into myself, and waited it out. Shifting into my other forms stopped the bleeding and cramps, but they were still uncomfortable. Every time I shifted back into a two-leg, the bleeding and cramps began again. It's only in my two-leg form. Does that mean I'm not going to die? Is it just natural to have blood pour out my body? 

Uneasy, I laid on my belly, because it hurt so much, and tried to sleep. 

After two more days, the blood finally stopped, but I could see the damp spot where my blood had kept pouring.

I need to get clean. 

I headed to a nearby stream that I sometimes played around in, and washed myself as best as I could. I hadn't eaten in two days, so I was ravenous. I shifted into my big furred form and hunted down some prey before shifting back into a two-leg. I hope this ends soon. 

I felt exposed and vulnerable like this.