Louis’s Collected Souls:
Wolf, Orc, Dragon.
Louis walked, running his fingers across the tall grass. He thought it may have been a mistake, to say he wanted to walk. It had been perhaps a half hour and the distant hills looked no closer. The sky was darkening fast. The sensible thing, he supposed, would be to continue as a dragon until he saw a town to rest the night. But now he’d found another shapeshifter like him, he didn’t want to lose him. He didn’t even know his name.
He couldn’t believe his luck. Maybe this man could answer his questions, about what he was and why could do the things he could do. Maybe he knew what the monsters were. Maybe they could travel together. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He was used to his own company, having spent many long nights alone, not counting the sheep. But perhaps it would be good to have a friend on the road. A dark, handsome friend at that…
His eyes widened at that last thought. He dismissed it, though the orc sniggered from the back of his mind.
The bird returned not long after, a freshly caught rabbit in its talons. He dropped it in front of Louis and landed on human feet.
‘You like?’ he smiled.
Louis picked up the rabbit. ‘Yeah,’ he said, although he avoided looking at the man’s naked frame. He looked up at the sky. The first stars had appeared. ‘I guess we should call it a day.’
‘I can scout a cave for you,’ said the man, although he looked doubtfully around at the flat scrubland that surrounded them.
‘Nah, I’ll start a fire,’ said Louis. The man watched as he gathered some twigs and branches from the nearby bushes. ‘You wanna get some stones?’
‘Stones?’ the man repeated.
‘Yeah, the bigger the better.’
The man set off on his quest and Louis was grateful not to be watched. Even clothed, he felt naked under the man’s intense gaze.
Louis flattened an area of grass and dug a little pit in the middle, where he set up his kindling. The man returned and proudly dropped his loot of rocks and stones in front of Louis. Louis arranged them around the edge of the kindling, then, using grass as tinder, he quickly spun one twig against another and coaxed the fire into life. The man watched with awe.
‘That’s amazing!’ he said. ‘Where’d you learn how to do that?’
‘Well, I used to be a shepherd. Nights get cold,’ Louis shrugged. He never imagined anyone might be amazed by his former life.
Louis tied the rabbit onto a twig and held it over the fire. The man sat beside and watched, fascinated.
‘So…’ Louis said, trying to keep his mind off the man’s nakedness. ‘Do you have a name?’
The man looked troubled. ‘I did,’ he said. ‘But I’ve not used it in years.’
‘Howcome?’
‘Well… if I’m honest, you’re the first person I’ve spoken to since I was a child.’ He ran his finger through the flattened grass. ‘I don’t spend much time human anymore. I’ve spent so long without my name… I don’t remember it.’
Louis wasn’t sure what to say. The man spoke so solemnly that Louis didn’t think it appropriate to pry about his past. ‘Well…’ said Louis. ‘I could give you a new name.’
The man considered this. His face broke into a grin. ‘Yeah, I’d like that.’
‘Okay,’ Louis smiled back. ‘When I first saw you, you were a hawk. So how about “Hawk”?’
‘Hawk?’ said the man. ‘Yes. I like Hawk.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Hawk,’ said Louis. ‘I’m Louis.’
‘Louis…’ said Hawk, working the name through his mouth as if tasting it. ‘Hello Louis.’
A few moments later, Louis declared the rabbit cooked and shared it with Hawk. He tore the meat off the bone with his teeth, making it clear how long he’d spent apart from humans. But the way he murmured with delight between each mouthful proved there were some aspects of human life he missed, for instance, a cooked meal. He finished quickly and licked his lips in appreciation.
‘So…’ said Louis, again. He had so many questions it was all he could do not to blurt them out in one breath. ‘Do you know why we can shapeshift?’
‘Not a clue,’ Hawk shrugged. ‘Just killed a rat one day and then I was one. Everything I hunted ever since, I stole its form. I even got that rabbit we just ate.’
To prove this, Hawk begun to change. His body quickly shrank, his cocoa skin sprouted grey fur, his ears stretched out above his head. Louis watched his wide grin become even toothier as it fell down, down, down, into the rabbit, looking as live and happy as if it had never been eaten. Hawk the rabbit bounded around Louis, who chuckled, although he was little perturbed that he was holding the very same rabbit’s cooked leg in his hand.
Hawk bounded back to where he’d been sitting, leapt into the air and landed on his human ass, his arms and legs shooting outwards as he grew, leaving him splayed spread eagle. ‘You want to cook *me*, now, Louis?,’ he joked.
Louis blushed and changed the subject. ‘So… how many forms can you take?’
‘Oh, lots and lots,’ said Hawk. ‘I ain’t never got me a dragon, though. I’m a bit sad you weren’t a real one, to tell the truth.’ He laughed. ‘But I’m happy to meet a master shapeshifter such as you, Louis’
‘Oh, I’m not a master,’ Louis admitted. ‘I actually only found out I could do this a few days ago. I’ve only collected three forms.’
Hawk raised an eyebrow. ‘Can I see them?’