I was trying to learn how to climb a tree. It had been nearly a week since I had shifted for the first time. Being a squirrel was strange; having a large tail offset me and made it hard for me to stay balanced. I was also trying to talk while being an animal. Barry, of course, helped me. He was saying a phrase over and over, and I was trying to focus to understand him. After that first shift, it was only noon, so we just took it slow and went to our rooms. I spent that time to practice shifting, and my abilities had started getting better. I just had to practice more with others, or Barry.

I was getting parts of the message out, but I was having trouble. I calmed down, and focused.

"How's being a squirrel?" He spoke in a bored tone.

I tried to respond, but only chatter came out. It was a work in progress. I shifted back, and gave up climbing.

"It's actually pretty nice," I said, and Barry smiled.

"Well, you're doing great. Do you want to keep climbing?"

"Sure," I replied. Although it didn't interest me much at the moment, it would be better if Barry did it too.

I shifted Barry into a squirrel and I did the same. He started to ascend, and I frowned. He seemed a lot better at this than me. I decided to try again, and I dug my claws into the bark of the tree, and I started climbing, it was a slow ascension, but it was an improvement.

"So, what do you want to do today? Do you want to visit Lizzie again?" Barry asked from above.

"Well, I want to try flying again... But sure, it would be great to talk with Lizzie some more, when I'm not a bird," I really wanted to fly. Now that it was a possibility, it was at the front of my mind.

Barry nodded and once we finally reached the top of the tree, I shifted us to small birds. I opened my wings, and flapped them a couple times to get used to them. Barry watched me with interest, unfurled his wings, and mimicked the motions.

I got to the edge of a branch, opened my wings, and jumped off. I heard a loud squawk from behind me, but I had to focus. My wings caught the air as I was lifted away from the ground. I tried a few wing beats, and I was sent forward at a faster speed. I flapped my wings harder, and pointed them at an angle so I gained altitude.

Once I had gained enough height, I tucked my wings, and started a steep dive. When I neared the ground, I held open my wings, and started to backwing into a landing as I slowed down. I looked up into the tree, where I could barely see the shape of Barry on top.

Now it was time to try taking off from the ground. I jumped into the air, and beat my wings down hard in an effort to gain altitude. I started to gain altitude, and I beat down harder and faster. It worked, and I was able to fly back up to Barry's perch. This felt natural now, innate even. It felt free.

Barry was sitting there open-beaked. Once he got over his shock, he scrambled over to me and started swatting his wings around, "WHY WOULD YOU TRY THAT?!"

I just gave him a shrug, before I shifted him back into a squirrel. I took a couple steps back, and once he knew what was going on, he lept to me, but I had already stepped of the branch, and was soaring around the yard.

When I saw that he had scrambled quickly down, and was on the ground, I shifted him back to himself. Once he was able to spot me, which was hard, he shouted for me.

"Chloe, come down here! This is very unfair!"

I decided to come down. But I shifted into a slightly different animal. Barry nearly jumped out of his skin when a hawk was diving towards him.

When I was barely a foot away from him, I stopped my slow dive, and shifted back into the small bird. I sat on his shoulder as he shook his head, "Not funny."

I sang a little song as he picked me up. He held me in his cupped hands, staring down at me. He sighed, and closed his hands nearly completely around me, but left enough room for me to stick my small head out. There were so many ways that I could have him release me, but I wanted to see this play out.

He walked back to our house, and went up to his room. I hadn't been in here before. It was just down the hall, but his decorating style was much different than mine. His room was furnished with dark woods, and best described, modest. It was lovely, and it made me feel like I was in a cozy cabin. He only had a few extra furnishings, a desk, bedside table, and a small bookshelf. He was walking towards the neat desk where a glass tank was located. No way he was going to do this. I started to squirm, but it didn't matter.

I guessed I was going to humor him. I stopped moving as he gently placed me inside the rather large container.

"This is what happens when you scare me like that. This used to be for animals that I found in the yard, but it is yours for now." I fluffed up my feathers, and while doing so turned Barry back into a tiny bird.

"This is what happens when you put me in a cage," I retorted. I looked up. There were tiny slots for air, and I decided to take advantage of them. I shifted into a small bug, and flew out of the small opening, before I shifted back to myself to land on the ground.

Barry tried to make a hasty escape, but he had no skills in using his wings yet, so I simply scooped him up, and began to place him in the very cage he made.

That was my mistake.

He bit me, and out of instinct I let go of him and looked at my hand for injuries. Barry stood there proudly, feathers puffed out, looking defiantly up at me. Then he tried to escape once more. Time for plan B.

I shifted Barry into a small wolf, and I full grown. I carefully grabbed Barry by the scruff of his neck, and took off running. I got outside, and I could feel the grass under my feet as I ran through the yard. I could smell the fear and panic radiate off Barry as I ran at such high speeds. I set him down for a moment, "Would you like to continue?"

Barry was not impressed, "I'm not a toy you can shift into whatever you like."

I sighed, I was being quite annoying. I shifted Barry back, and I shifted to the small wolf Barry once was. He knelt down and picked me up, holding me in his arms. I turned my head and licked his nose, and he smirked.

Once we were back inside, Barry set me on the edge of his bed.

I felt his hand run through my fur softly. Now I was his toy. I had to fight the urge to shift him back into a helpless animal, which was extremely difficult. Once he was done with touching me, he let me go. I snuggled up to him though, and acted as a small heater for his leg. Barry picked me up again, and began walking out the door. He was walking towards a figure a distance away, Lizzie, who appeared to be taking a stroll.

I shifted to a ferret, and wrapped myself around Barry's neck, purring softly.

"Nice to see you both again," Lizzie started, "How is shapeshifting going for ya?"

"Pretty good, but she seems kind of obsessed with it." I growled at Barry, it was just fun, and it gave me something to do. I was still going to stay like this.

Lizzie smirked, "I remember you were very obsessed when you found your Gift." I snickered, but it came out as a strange chatter, causing Barry to frown. I liked her. I leapt from Barry's shoulder to hers, and resumed my previous stance.

Lizzie looked at me as she gently stroked my back. I purred more deeply, as I smirked at Barry.

"What else can you do?" Lizzie asked.

"You need to be more specific." I responded.

"What are the limits of your Gift? What special things can you do with them?" I smirked. Since she asked, she would get the answer.

"What is your favorite animal?" I asked.

"Rabbit," As soon as she said it, I jumped off her, and by the time I hit the ground she was that very furry creature. I shifted to the same animal, and hopped towards her. She didn't register it yet, but she would soon. I looked up at Barry, who was folding his arms and glaring down at me.

I stared up at him, "Jealous?" Barry's eyebrows raised, I knew that he didn't understand me, which made this even more interesting.

"Why did you do that?"

I turned, and faced Lizzie, who was just staring at her feet. She was frozen in shock.

"Well, what would you like to be?" I said sarcastically after shifting back.

He rolled his eyes, "Bear."

"Got some sass there, bud."

I shifted Barry into a bear cub. He wouldn't be able to tell the difference between an adult. I turned back to Lizzie, who still wasn't moving. I gently brushed my hand down her back, nothing.

I shifted her back, and life seemed to course through her once again. She blinked and stared at me, "Well that was interesting,"

I shook my head as I giggled.

Lizzie laughed, "What?"

"You didn't even move."

She blushed, "Could I try again?"

I shifted her back, and this time she began to hop around. I turned to watch Barry, who was trying to sneak up on me to no avail. I thought to overpower him, but relented to shifting into a bear cub as well.

I ran towards Barry, who was caught by surprise. I tackled him, and was able to temporarily pin him before he was able to get over his shock. We growled as we rustled together, sometimes he held me down for a while, trying to end the wrestling match, but I wasn't ready.

Eventually, though, I simply laid underneath his pin, and shifted back. He put on a sly grin and rested his head on my chest, his eyes staring into mine. The weight of his body pushed down on me, but some of it was being lifted off of me.

But all moments must end. I got and began to worry about Lizzie, and I slowly got up, Barry sliding off of me.

I left Barry behind as I traveled back to where we had left Lizzie, who was now gone. I knew that the wrestling match would have gotten boring, so I shifted into a bloodhound to better search for her. My senses were heightened, and I picked up what I guessed was her scent in the bushes about ten feet away. I ran towards the spot, to find an opening in the bushes. I shifted into a rabbit and went through the small hole to find that the bush opened up into a large alcove in in which Lizzie was frantically digging a burrow.

Well, I thought it was Lizzie. There was a hole that had a lot of dirt being shoved out of it. I cautiously walked towards the hole, and looked into it. There was Lizzie, caked in dirt and dust.

"Hi," I greeted. Lizzie jumped and hit her head on the roof of the burrow.

"Don't scare me like that," She said.

"Well, what are you doing? How far have you gotten?" I asked.

"You can come and look, I have a couple tunnels done. I always wanted to dig my own series of tunnels, but I couldn't do it before."

She backed out of the hole, and I went inside. She had quite the tunnel system set up, along with some openings. How long had I been wrestling?

I crawled out, "Nice job, but how did you do it so fast?"

"It was already partially dug, but I found it, and continued the exhibition."

I nodded, "But why would you want to?"

"I don't know, I just find the aspect of a network of tunnels fascinating. It's amazing how they can create so many rooms and escape exits in case of predators. And they are prepared to simply give it up and make a new one. I thought is might have been cool to have made something that another rabbit could hide in for protection."

"That sounds really cool when you say it that way." I pondered out loud. An awkward silence filled the air until I decided on a new thing to tackle.

"Shall we go find Barry then?" I started going out of the bush, and to scare Barry, I shifted him into a hedgehog.

We headed out to find the poor guy.