Well, to give some further reassurance that I'm still alive, here's another piece for your enjoyment. I remembered this piece not too long ago, though I had to scrounge through my archives, as it were, to find it again. I did this back in my Craetive Writing elective class in college, back when my creativity kept pointing me to various forms of human to hybrid transformation based characters. This was made as something of a little backstory piece for a character in a fighting game I've been on-and-off designing. Personally, of all game genres, I think fighting games have made the least advancement. Pretty much the only thing that's really changed about them is the graphics, and it's like no one can figure out how to improve on that, and I know there's room for improvement.

But that's a story for another time. The story for now follows below.

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No Rest for the Weary


For the first time in a while, Dmitri Darkmoon found himself with nothing to do. The warm weather alone made most activities less than enjoyable, even if he wore nothing but shorts. From where the young man rested in the shade against a wood pile, he could spot a few who were doing much as he was, though wearing less than he was. The weather was certainly perfect for drowsing, and little else, making for a quiet day.

There was little activity throughout the camp, which was nothing more than a grouping of tents and other various temporary structures spread loosely on the border of the plains of the lower Midwest they’d settled on for the season. A few people were going about their business or chores, with the rest finding relief from the heat. There was little else but the plains stretching before him, the woods behind him, and the open blue sky. As usual there was nothing out of the ordinary, and unfortunately for his current state of mind, nothing all that interesting.

Two youngsters, chasing after each other, ran by him as their half wolf selves. “Little werewolves” some of the older adults would jokingly call them. Dmitri could remember such antics when he was a youngster, and how exhausted he’d get. The ability to transform was something he’d grown up with and it hadn’t been until he was a teen that his father had told him that the human race had not always been so. Only twenty five years or so had passed since humanity’s physical, economic, and sociological change. Dmitri, though, liked things just the way they were.

His mom was away with the hunting party, his father away on business, as was usual for him, and with having no chores to occupy himself, there really was little for him to do. Training and exercise, the usual course of action, were the least desirable with the weather. He thought for a moment that he might use the time to trim his black hair back a bit, wiping some sweat from his hairline with the back of his arm. His stubble rarely became as annoying as his hair could get, but neither was all that bad, so he let go of the idea. Eventually, he decided to simply spend the day sleeping. Pushing his sunglasses as close to his eyes as he could, he settled to take a nap; he’d run under the moon, when it was cooler.

He was just about settled into his nap when he caught an all too familiar scent. Dmitri knew the scent, and knew any attempt to sleep at that point would be futile. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Clarice jogging easily up to him. Like him, she wore nothing but shorts, not even a bra like many of the older women wore. As always, she had that puppy-like smile on her face, her dark eyes lightly obscured by a few lengths of her long black hair.

“Getting some rest, Dmitri?” she asked.

“That was the plan,” he replied. He wanted to be polite, but hoped that she would get the hint. Knowing his usual luck, he didn’t think that likely though.

“The pack and I are going up to the lake. Sure, it’s a couple mile jog, but we can easily get there by noon, and then we have the day to ourselves. What do you say?”

Dmitri had to consider that. It was tempting, but the trip would be a hot one, and he would likely be hot and fatigued from the jog back. Even so, a dip in a cool lake certainly had appeal.

After a few more moments of thought, he closed his eyes and said, “Nah, you guys go on ahead. I’ll stick with some shade and some sleep.”

“Come on,” she practically whined. “You’re twenty years old, not eighty. Show a little life, would you? You know how the guys… and girls,” she added coyly with a wink, “like hanging out with you. We’re a pack, and it’s just not the same when someone’s missing.”

Despite her jab and tease, he found he couldn’t glare at her. Clarice did have a valid point, and he accepted that. Instead, he just shrugged indifferently, as he had done many times before, and kept his silence. He knew how well she knew him.

“Suit yourself,” she said eventually. “Everyone’s getting their stuff together, so if you change your mind, let us know.” With that, she jogged away to wherever the rest were hanging out.

Dmitri let out an exasperated sigh, not quite groaning, once she was out of earshot. That meant that each and every one of them would come over in turn to try and convince him before they left. Certainly not something that would facilitate sleep. It seemed he’d have to find someplace else to rest.

Making sure that none of the others were too nearby, Dmitri got to his feet and set off at an easy jog towards the woods. He knew nobody would care if he left, and if the others learned it, they wouldn’t bother searching. At that point, even Clarice should get the hint.

After going what he judged as far enough, he found the smoothest tree he could and decided to try to rest again. Settling into the most comfortable position he could manage, Dmitri thought about how annoying the summer months could be. In the winter he could always keep warm with his fur, but when it got warm it often became difficult to keep cool, despite his naked skin. Swimming in the lake did help, but it wasn’t as if he could stay in the water forever, a thing a few he knew could do. Being in the shade under the canopy, Dmitri started to feel rather comfortable.

This wasn’t the first time he’d used this retreat either. He liked being alone sometimes, not quite sharing the same compulsion the others did about groups, which pretty much went against almost everything his mother tried to beat into his head. Just about everyone was focused on the pack, the community, and its survival. But as he saw it, if you can’t take care of yourself, how can you possibly take care of others? He smiled at the humorous memories that simple thought brought up, and he wondered why so many people thought that odd about him. Ah, well, everything’s working out anyway. For now, I’ll just sleep through the worst of the heat.

“Well, well,” he heard a silky voice above him. “Being lazy are we? The proud nature of the wolves in full display.”

Dmitri took his time in looking towards the arrival, annoyed at being interrupted for a second time, especially by a stranger. He had actually heard him arrive, and had smelled him as well, but had thought him a simple passerby then and paid him no mind. But the stranger didn’t need to know that.

He wasn’t at all surprised to see that the stranger was in his feline form, the features of a puma blending harmoniously with that of his more usual human features. The stranger’s tail gently swayed back and forth as he stood crouched on his branch about three meters or so above the ground.

“Where’s everyone else?” the feline asked with a bit of a sneer.

“Resting, I’m sure,” Dmitri replied casually, though he knew exactly what they were doing, and mostly where they were. “No point in sweating needlessly.”

“Whatever excuse works for you I suppose. I’m just out getting some exercise.”

“I guess I’d rather be lazy than a coward,” he said breezily, purposely acting as though he were going to fall asleep.

“Big talk dog boy. Amazing how stupid and ignorant of the world you are.”

Dmitri had to chuckle at that. “I know my history, past and present. Besides, you’re doing your insulting from a tree. Are you afraid I might retaliate?”

He listened with eyes closed as the stranger landed on the soft grass about a meter or so in front of him. Mentally shaking his head, he chided himself for his last remark. If he had just kept his mouth shut, the stranger likely would have been on his way and he would be resting.

“And just what could you do dog? Wolves can’t do anything alone, they’re dependant on packs.” Dmitri kept silent, hoping the stranger would leave after another snide comment or two. “Oh, I’m mistaken,” he continued, “You can hunt rabbits and rats.”

Letting out a sigh, Dmitri pushed himself to his feet, making it look like more effort than it truly was. The stranger wasn’t going to leave him alone, and he’d never been one to take things quietly, even if it wasn’t much of an insult. Casually setting his sunglasses into a more stable and secure position, he studied the arrival more closely.

Like him the puma was bare-chested, though the fur likely didn’t help in the heat. His fangs hampered his speech, but not by much, since the mouth structure wasn’t too different. It seemed he took good care of his claws, both on his fingers and his bare toes. The shorts he wore were pretty standard attire just about anywhere, being old jean shorts. Denim material certainly stood up to the outdoors better than most. With everything in front of him, Dmitri saw nothing all that impressive.

“Is there a reason you’re here, trespasser?” Dmitri made sure to emphasize the last part. He knew everyone with whom the community willingly shared their territory, and this stranger certainly was not one of them.

“Trespasser? Nobody owns these lands.” He paused for a light chuckle and lightly shook his head. “Not anymore anyway.”

“Still, this is our territory. We’ve claimed it, and we’ll defend it. There’s no law other than what we make, at least not anymore, right?”

Dmitri could see that his own jibe hit right where he wanted it to. Then the puma laughed with arrogance and mockery.

“You really are pathetic. Do you really think there’s anything you can do? Oh, I suppose you could howl. That might work.” All the sneering was back, now that the puma thought he had the upper hand.

“That won’t be necessary. I can carry out our…policy. Right here and now, if necessary.”

The humor on the stranger’s face evaporated. “Are you serious? Do you actually think there’s anything you can do?”

Dmitri just stared at him a few moments, making sure the puma knew he wasn’t bluffing. “Get the hell off our territory, tabby, or you’ll regret coming here.”

This time the puma didn’t even bother trying to keep his cool. Instead, he lunged at Dmitri, obviously thinking he could end the whole affair quickly and easily. Even as he leaned back to dodge the strike, Dmitri changed. Black fur mixed with a bit of dark gray quickly covered his body, his mouth grew outward into a canine muzzle with canine teeth, his ears grew more triangular and positioned themselves towards the top of his head, a layer of padding formed on the underside of his feet and his palms, and claws grew from his fingers and toes. His glasses remained in place, having been modified for the purpose. When he was really young, the change had been a little uncomfortable, but now it was as natural as breathing. Before he even needed to dodge a second blow, the change was complete.

Claws whisked fur a few times as Dmitri tried quickly to estimate his opponent. Making use of his training, he soon had his answer: the puma was no fighter. Once he knew he had little to fear, he continued his evasiveness, waiting for an opening he knew he could take full advantage of. The puma’s lack of training was pretty obvious, and Dmitri had little trouble avoiding the strikes. A few strikes later his opening appeared, and was as expansive as the Grand Canyon, as his father would say. Dmitri allowed himself a quick, tight smile; it was time to make his point.

Stepping under an obvious right hook, he dashed forward and sent his knuckles right into the feline’s gut, leaning his arm and body into the blow. The violent exhale told him the blow had landed perfectly. Now, the puma was completely at his mercy.

The tabby was almost curved as a C from the force of the punch, and from his own flexibility. So Dmitri snapped his head up, feeling and hearing a satisfying crack of teeth as his skull hit jaw. With the puma reeling, Dmitri grabbed his left arm by the wrist and spun him around, until the puma collided into a tree, hitting face first. Dmitri held back on the swing however, as he needed neither to kill the puma nor cause undue permanent injury.

After his opponent had all but bounced off of the tree, Dmitri spun around the grappled arm, purposely twisting the wrist just a bit, until his back was to the feline’s chest. From there, he threw the puma over his shoulder, slamming him hard to the ground. There he delivered a blow to the jaw with his left and slammed his right elbow into the opposite side. At the last blow, he distinctly felt a tooth come loose.

When Dmitri rose, the puma stayed where he was, slowly rolling onto his side. Dmitri waited a moment, circling, waiting for the puma to catch his breath. Once the Puma managed that, he delivered a solid kick to the groin, careful of his own claws. The puma hissed sharply before falling into a low moan. He was bloodied, bruised, and most importantly, beaten.

“When you feel you can move, tabby, I suggest leaving. If you want to come back, announce yourself properly, and there shouldn’t be much of an issue.” The puma didn’t nod, or even seem to acknowledge him, but Dmitri knew that he got the message. His work done, and his mood mostly ruined, Dmitri left the puma in the woods and made his way back to the plain. He figured he’d take Clarice up on her earlier offer. He didn’t much feel like resting any longer anyway, and a swim with his friends, his pack mates, started sounding pretty good.