Theo could not believe his luck. Caught red-handed in the store, he knew the only thing that awaited him if he got caught was the noose. So he made his way through the forest as fast as he could.
Behind him, he could hear the barking of hounds and the sound of men pursuing him. The light of their torches penetrating the forest as they came after him.
Theo was undaunted as he ran. Since he had been a little boy, this forest had been his home, his playground. He knew it as well as he knew the back of his hand. He was like a fish in the water.
Soon, he discovered that he may have overestimated himself. The men chasing him were not simpletons and the knew what they were doing. He was good, they were better. The hounds were not letting up.
He had no other option, so he made for that hill. This was the only way he knew to get away from his pursuers.
Son of a single mother, Theo had lived a near-destitute life. The last straw came when his mother was attacked and raped while on her way home. Theo had been at the farm as well.
Soon after, a nasty infection had begun to grow, causing her severe pain. It was a tough ask for a boy to nurse his mother of an STI without even knowing what it was, but that was what he had to do.
Day after day Theo begged the local apothecary to do something about it, but given their poor economic status, he was chased away. He discovered that the local barracks had a severe infection going around, but they were able to get cured. That told him that there was a cure for it, and also who raped his mother. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.
There was no way Theo could allow his mother to suffer so much, so he decided to take matters into his hands. That night, he snuck into the apothecary's store to look for anything to heal his mother.
Once he was inside, he discovered he had no idea what he was doing. The plan was so half-cocked that he didn't even know which medicine or herb to use. The sneaking in part had worked, but that was as far as the plan went.
Frustrated, Theo started making a ruckus, which attracted the old apothecary's attention. He called over a few guards who chased after him. That was how he ended up here. He had no medicine, no way of getting away.
He was not even sure if the men knew who he was. If they did, his mother was in trouble, on top of being sick. He had to get away, not just for him, but to preserve her life too. He may not come back, but at least he would not be the one to kill her.
"Let him go, don't think we'll be seeing much of him," Said one of the pursuers.
"Why?" Asked the other. This one was new to the region, a transfer.
"He went into wolf country. Nothing comes out of there," the first answered.
Theo knew that was the case. It was a taboo to go past a River Tifford, which marked the end of human country and start of wolf country. This was Theo's last resort. Few dared to venture in there, and fewer still came out.
The wolves were ravenous and had a grudge against humans. They wantonly killed humans whenever they got a chance.
Theo had been hoping for some luck, but it seemed the god of misfortune had cursed him. A few meters past the river, there was a howl, followed by another. Theo tried his best to climb up a tree, but a swing of a paw followed by powerful jaws closing around his bum made him squeal and lose balance, tumbling to the ground.
What followed was something Theo could not explain. All he knew was that several bites kept landing on his body, chewing him up and tearing him limb from limb. However, as they were, Theo felt his body changing, transforming.
The wolves backed away in fright, weirded out by the freakish transformation. They stood a fair distance away to watch the grotesque being.
At the same time, Theo was squealing in pain, not just from the wolves' bites, but also from the transformations. He could feel his back legs shrinking. The bones breaking, reorienting his knees and thighs. The back was curving and a tail was forming.
Theo felt his face change. His jaw was elongating, his canines growing in length. More teeth were adding up in his jawline and his body had shrunken. All this was accompanied by massive pain and body ache, such that after he was done, Theo was still screaming in agony.
After a while, Theo got up, but instead of rising to his feet, he was on all fours. It took him a while to register that he was no longer a human, having taken on the shape of a wolf. However, Theo was not out of the woods yet.
Wolves are very territorial. Despite him turning into a wolf, he was still in enemy territory. The wolves that had circled him were coming back, snarling as they did. Theo was not waiting a moment longer, he took off running in the direction of the human country.
The wolves wouldn't cross the river, too many bad memories and the alpha wouldn't let them. Theo found some bit of respite from his pursuers, but he had yet another dilemma.
Try as he might, Theo did not know how to turn back. He thought of his body, but could not initiate the transformation. What did that mean, was he permanently like this? The dilemma went on and on, and Theo eventually fell asleep in the woods.
Waking up, Theo was more than overjoyed that he was human, although he was butt-naked. He had to wait until nightfall to sneak back home, and by that time his mother was almost dying. He did all he could for her, but by then he had had time to formulate a plan.
First things first, Theo needed to test whether his transformation was limited to the wolf form. He could be some sort of werewolf, but he did not think so. Therefore, he set a bird trap and waited.
2 hours later he had a pigeon in hand, and a few excruciating minutes later, he had become a pigeon. This time, Theo tried morphing to a wolf, and to his shock, it worked. A few attempts later, he was back to his human shape.
It took Theo a while to learn how to fly. This was not something that came easily to him. Through some mysterious form, Theo felt his mind blending with the mind of the bird. Slowly, the bird's instincts were kicking in.
Theo realized that the longer he stayed as a bird, the more he would think and act like a bird. It was as though the instincts of the animal were slowly encroaching into his mind. He wondered if he stayed too long, whether he would be unable to come back to humanity.
One thing he had learned about his crazy ability was that he could only transform into animals he had held and absorbed part of their essence. At least, that was what he thought he was doing.
What he didn't know was that his ability allowed him to absorb part of an animal DNA and assimilate the animal's DNA with his. This would lead to transformation into that animal.
Theo would retain his mental age and gender, for instance, he would be the equivalent of a young adult male of the species he was adopting. However, he would age according to the animal's aging process. If he stayed as a bird too long, a year would feel like 10.
With this in mind, Theo began to formulate a plan to rescue his mother. After the first failure, Theo knew now that he needed information, so he transformed into a pigeon and went loiter around the barracks. He wanted to learn what kind of medication the sick were receiving.
Once he had this information, all he had to do was go in and get it. Theo cursed himself again when he learned that the medicine was stored under a lock and key, not something he could waltz in and take. He could transform into a human, but that was too risky.
The solution came in the form of a sneaky thief grabbing some fruits in the marketplace. Theo was shocked to see a monkey so blatantly sneak in and grab bananas from a stall before running away. The owner ran after the little fiend but could not get to it.
Inspired, Theo saw his way in. Now all he needed to do was find a way of touching the monkeys. Before he could make any moves, he felt stabbing pain on his back.