Rick was in his cabin and looking at a photo album and his passport and boarding pass with a sad look on his face. There was a knock on the door and when he opened it he saw Maylene there. "Is something wrong?" she asked noticing his sad face.
"Well I'm not sure," Rick said sighing. "Come in."
As soon as Maylene was sitting she asked, "What's the matter?"
"Take a look at this photo of my aunt's wedding," Rick said sliding the album over to her. "Note the name of the flower girl."
"It says Elizabeth Plunkett," Maylene said. "Is she a cousin of your's?"
"I don't have a cousin with the name Elizabeth," Rick said shaking his head.
"Well I know you don't have a sister," Maylene said.
"Right I just have two brothers," Rick said.
"So where did Elizabeth come from?" Maylene asked. Rick slid his passport and boarding pass over and once Maylene read the name she looked up and said, "But this can't be. Your name isn't Elizabeth."
"I know but things seem to have changed and are still changing," Rick said.
"There's something else isn't there?" Maylene asked.
Rick sighed and said, "Remember that I was transformed into one of the bear creatures. When we had been transformed we had immediately started fighting each other. That's because we wanted sex and the fighting was to see who would mount who. I ended up being mounted several times and was able to mount someone a few times."
"But I don't get why this change happened."
"The bear creatures were hermaphrodites. We had both sex organs."
"I still don't see why your name changed on your passport and boarding pass."
"I don't know why myself but I think it might have something to do with my being mounted like a female. I need to ask Marie about it."
"So you're changing into a woman," Maylene said with a note of sadness in her voice.
Rick looked out the porthole and said, "I think I'm changing into a hermaphrodite. I can't be sure though. That's why I need to talk to Marie about it."
"What does it mean for us though?" Maylene asked fearing the answer.
"I still love you and want to marry you," Rick said looking at Maylene. "The only thing is that if I am becoming a hermaphrodite I'll want to have a dick in me which you don't have. I'm afraid that I'll cheat on you in order to have a dick in me." Rick looked down with an angry face.
"I could get a strap-on," Maylene suggested.
"I'm not sure if that would work," Rick said sighing. "I need to talk with Marie. I hope she knows what's going on."
"Well Dennis is with his friends so we have some time to ourselves," Maylene said getting up and hugging Rick. "We could have sex."
"But you always said that you would only have sex when you were married to someone," Rick said sighing.
"This experience has taught me that sometimes you have to grab life by the horns," Maylene said then kissed Rick. "Besides," she continued after breaking the kiss, "this may be the last chance we'll have to have sex while you're still a man. And don't worry about me not loving you if you become a hermaphrodite or change into a woman. I'll still love you and I'll still marry you."
"Thank you," Rick said then kissed Maylene.
They made their way to the bed and Maylene pulled Rick's pants down and discovered that he was wearing panties. "Why are you wearing panties?" she asked.
"All my underwear changed," Rick said with a sigh.
"Have any of the others who were turned into bear creatures experiencing the same thing as you?" Maylene asked.
"I don't know," Rick said with a sigh. "They may be changing or they may not. Just something else to ask Marie."
"Why do you think Marie knows anything?"
"I don't know," Rick said shaking his head. "It's just a feeling that I have. Kurse had made Marie into Glass who was unique among us. I think I heard her mumble something about Kurse being her other mother before she left. If so then she might have some idea of what's happening."
"Maybe she does," Maylene said smiling. "But don't worry about that right now. We have this time to ourselves and I mean to make the most of it." She put her hand down Rick's panties brushing against his dick and then moved lower and stuck her finger in the slit that had formed causing Rick to shudder in pleasure. "I love you Elizabeth," she whispered in his ear.
Rick sighed and decided to go with it. Maylene still loved him even though she called him Elizabeth. As long as she did love him he didn't care if he became a hermaphrodite or a full woman. He just hoped that he was wrong in another thing which he didn't want to tell Maylene or anyone else. He had this suspicion that the chimeras had also been hermaphrodites and if the former bears were becoming hermaphrodites then could the former chimeras also be changing?
******
Back in Glendale Karen was going through her bills. She's the sister of Frontdoor and she was proud of her brother getting a job with the pack. They were the most influential and the richest family in town. To get a job with them also raised one's status.
Karen began to squirm because her clothes were starting to irritate her. In a few moments she began stripping as fast as she could. Feeling better now that she was nude she went back to her bills. She needed to find a job soon or the bills would pile up too much.
As she sat there her skin turned to gray stone. She began to grow and as she did her body began to change. Her toes merged until there were three on each foot and the ends became like claws. A fourth toe grew out of the heel on each of her feet with the same claw like end. Two of her fingers merged together leaving her with three fingers and a thumb on each hand. The ends became claw like as well. Her muscles grew though they didn't detract from her feminine appearance. All her hair retracted into her body leaving her bald. Her face began to push out into a feline muzzle and her ears migrated up to the top of her head growing and rounding. Bat like wings grew out of her back. She was now a gargoyle like her brother.
As Karen grew so did her house to accommodate her new size which was just about as tall as her brother. Of course the furniture changed to hard rock to support her new weight and her bed disappeared seeing as how gargoyles didn't sleep.
All the time Karen was changing she kept going through her bills. With a sigh she said to herself, "Maybe I can get a job with the pack or pride. Or maybe a military career would be the best thing for me."
******
In a high school somewhere in the U.S. a biology class was underway. The teacher, Ms. Kalchek, said, "Now we'll move on to gargoyles. These fascinating creatures are living rock. While there are male and female gargoyles and they have sex they don't reproduce like humans and animals do. Instead the father chisels a child out of rock and then the mother breathes life into their child. Gargoyles don't exactly grow from a baby to an adult. Instead at certain points in the gargoyles life the father will chisel a new body for his child and the mother transfers her child’s life to the new body. It's in this way that gargoyles seem to grow." A student raised her hand and Ms. Kalchek asked, "Yes Sandy?"
"What happens to the old body?" Sandy asked.
"It's usually pulverized and mixed with other rocks to be reused," Ms. Kalchek said. "This is accomplished by compressing and heating the rocks so they become molten. Once this is done they let it cool and solidify. Yes Matt?"
"Do the gargoyles made from the old gargoyle body have memories of the old gargoyle?" Matt asked.
"There's no evidence that that's the case," Ms. Kalchek said. "Yes Lisa?"
"I've heard that humans and animals can become gargoyles," Lisa said. "Is this true Ms. Kalchek?"
"It is true," Ms. Kalchek said nodding her head. "The way this is accomplished is the same way in which the mother transfers the life of her child to a new body. I have a short film showing the process." She turned on the TV and dimmed the lights.
The video showed a young man standing next to a female gargoyle. There were other gargoyles around that were clearly male and female though a few didn't look like they were either. Another female gargoyle came up and placed her hand on the man's head chanting in a strange language. She then put her hand on the other female gargoyle's head and soon a white light started streaming from the man to the female gargoyle. This continued for a few minutes and then the light stopped and the man collapsed. At the same time the female gargoyle stretched her body and wings.
Ms. Kalchek stopped the video and said, "That was Daniel Davis. He requested to become a female gargoyle and they granted it. As you could see his life was transferred to the female gargoyle. Once that was accomplished the female gargoyle was alive while Daniel's old body was dead. Yes Maurice?"
"Some of the gargoyles didn't look like they had a sex," Maurice said.
"That's because some don't," Ms. Kalchek said. "It's up to the whim of the father of what sex their child is. Sometimes the father doesn't give their child any genitals and no sex. They do this mainly to allow the child to choose their own sex when the reach adulthood. Yes Jamie?"
"Can gargoyles die?" Jamie asked.
"Good question," Ms. Kalchek said smiling. "A gargoyle doesn't age so the can live for a very long time. Their bodies are hard but not indestructible. Over time they can be worn down through natural erosion. Also there are other external forces that can break them. If they're broken down far enough then they die."
******
On Big Bad Island some of the wolves were herding the deer back to the ocean to go back to the estate. Jack and Marcine looked at each other and Jack said, ~Looks like we're going home.~
~That must mean that the threat of poachers is gone,~ Marcine said in a somewhat happy tone.
~Is something wrong?~ Jack asked.
~I didn't think we could be poached when we signed up to become deer,~ Marcine said looking down.
~Jensen told us the last herd was just about wiped out by poachers including the heard leaders,~ Jack said. ~He told us that there was a chance we could be poached.~
~I know but I didn't take it seriously,~ Marcine said.
~Well it's too late for second thoughts,~ Jack gently chided Marcine. ~We're deer now and for the rest of our lives. We signed the contract.~
~I guess it's a good thing we didn't have any family or many friends as humans,~ Marcine said sighing.
~Which is why we answered the ad and were chosen,~ Jack said.
~Do you think they have extra protection in place?~ Marcine asked. ~I can see the gargoyles here which means they're not at the estate.~
~They wouldn't be moving us back if we didn't have protection from poachers,~ Jack said.
~So we have to trust that we're safe,~ Marcine said rolling her eyes. ~Excuse me if I'm a little skeptical but I don't want to be eaten by any poachers.~
~I don't either but our job is to draw other deer to the estate and to breed so the pack and pride have a source of food,~ Jack said. ~People will be upset if they buy up all the meat. Fortunately they had enough stored to last them awhile and give us time to grow the heard.~
~Well as long as we're safe from those poachers I'm happy,~ Marcine said. ~Well as happy as I can be with the thought of our children likely being eaten by the pack and pride.~
~I know,~ Jack said and sighed. ~I didn't think of that when we signed but like I said before it's too late now. We signed a contract and we have to follow it.~
~Would it be so bad becoming wolf statues for breaking the contract?~ Marcine asked.
~I don't know,~ Jack said. ~We wouldn't have to worry about being eaten by poachers but we couldn't be together like we are now.~
~I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens,~ Marcine said.
~Yes we'll just have to wait and see,~ Jack said nodding.