Chapter One

Chapter One:

A big brown bear lurked in the shadows of the trees. He caught sight of a slender bird on the ground picking seeds up. One lunge and he would he all over the feathered creature. Jasper quietly snuck around the bush, and into the darkness of the trees. For some reason, the falcon still remained eating seeds. And now… Jasper lunged at the bird with a deep growl. The falcon gave a loud squawk and tried to take off. But the bear was too quick and had him pinned down. Suddenly the falcon transformed into a young boy.

“Hey, take it easy!” he mumbled. Jasper snarled at him. How’d he know that he could transform? “Calm down fuzz face!” The boy tried to pat Jasper’s head but was greeted with a snap! Jasper took a deep breath and let him go. The falcon-boy stood up, dusted himself off and grabbed an apple from the tree nearby. “Name’s Husky! You?” he said while munching hungrily. Jasper stared at Husky curiously. Such a calm boy. Too bad he’s about to get eaten. As a bear, Jasper would eat anything, as a human, well; he wouldn’t eat his own kind. Nut, he had a different mind right now, and it was hungry. He made his way to a striking distance around Husky who threw his apple on the ground angrily. “Man, sour apple. You think these trees have a bad temper or something.” Husky suddenly saw the giant bear pounce on top of him. No matter, he turned into the slender falcon and flew up high, right above Jasper. He did a nose dive and struck him right on the head.

Jasper shook his head and stood on his hind legs, roaring. Husky flew down, perching on his shoulder. “I’m a friend, not a foe fuzz face. Take it easy.” With that, Jasper gave up. He stood up higher, and turned into a handsome boy with long hair. Husky nodded and evaluated him. “Yup, just as I thought. Rough on the outside with you muscles and such, soft on the inside. He he… So, you have a name, or do I have to call you fuzz face for good?”

Jasper rolled his eyes. “Jasper.” He said, annoyed. He took a pouch from a belt he had around his waist and opened it. But there was nothing in it, as he shook it upside down. “Drat, out of meat. You have anything on you?”

“No… You’re not going to eat me are you?” Husky asked, taking a step back. Jasper became brave and ruffled Husky’s hair.

“Nope. I’m hungry though.” Jasper clutched his stomach. Husky glared at Jasper.

“Never ruffle my hair, man, Jasper, fuzz face, whatever.” Husky chided. Jasper laughed, and so did Husky. This was Jasper’s type of person. Rough, strong, and didn’t like to be toyed with. Husky looked up at Jasper. “There’s a village nearby. Do you want come with me?”

“Partners?” Jasper asked. Husky raised an eyebrow.

“Partners.” He smiled

The clouds where darkening and the wind brought the smell of rain. Thunder rumbled in the distance. A storm was coming, and Tillie knew it. She had dug her burrow a while ago, prepared to wait out the rain. Deep inside the earth it was cozy and warm. Tillie munched happily on a freshly caught wild chicken, savoring the delicious flavor.

Thunder sounded again, with a loud crack. Tillie jumped up, surprised. The storm was close, very close. Soon the pitter patter of rain could be heard from above. Tillie, now calmer, curled up, warmed by her badger fur, and fell asleep to the sound of the raindrops.

Meanwhile, on the surface above, the storm was getting worse. Thunder boomed and roared while lightning lit up the entire sky. The rain fell harder, the soft pitter patter turning into the sound of a raging river. The ground quickly turned into gooey mud.

Tillie awoke to find the floor of her burrow a cold, goopy, mud. Water was racing down the tunnels. The burrow was flooding, and fast. Tillie let out a small cry of terror. She didn’t want it to end this way. The badger dug frantically at the walls, hoping to dig her way out. Loose soil cascaded down onto Tillie. She shook off any loose dirt, and then continued to dig. Soon enough, a small hole was beginning to form. Tillie dug faster and faster until she was tunneling up to the surface.

The water was following Tillie up her makeshift tunnel at an alarming rate. She forced her paws to go faster, desperate to escape. But it was becoming harder and harder to dig. The dirt was giving way to thick mud, which was difficult to move out of the way. Tillie dug with all her might and, at last appeared at the surface. Her pelt was instantly soaked by the downpour. She shook the droplets from her fur, very annoyed.

Suddenly, Tillie turned from badger to human. She stood up, and wrung out her dirty blonde hair. She put the hood from her cloak up, hoping to keep form getting even more wet.

Tillie’s stomach growled. That chicken didn’t seem nearly as filling as it did when she was a badger. She needed food. Tillie looked towards to horizon, and spotted some faint lights. There was a village close by. A village meant food! Tillie took out a small pouch in which she kept all her money. She turned it upside down, nothing came out.

“Drat.” She mumbled. No money, no food. Unless… Well, she did it as a badger, why not a person? In that case, there was only one thing left to do… Steal.

Tillie ran down the steep hill, hoping she wouldn’t get muddy. She soon came to the outskirts of a small town. She could hear the clucking of chickens, meaning there was probably a farm nearby. Tillie crept stealthily past dozens of small houses and stores until she came to the source of the clucking. A pen of chickens stood out in the open, free for the taking.

She stooped down and grabbed one and then another. This would have to do. Tillie knew that if she took too much, people would notice. Tillie ran all the way back to the forest, thinking of fresh meat. Yum! Tillie drew a small dagger from her belt and swiftly killed the two hens. She ripped some of the tender meat off and popped it into her mouth. She continued to eat until only a small amount of the first chicken was left. Suddenly, felling very tired, Tillie wandered until she found a dry spot under a large tree. She lied down and quickly fell asleep.