"Back to the village. I have an idea." Trepeeset began to sprint vigorously towards the Weecosak village. He was still mourning the loss of his father, but now he was genuinely excited about having the medallion. Since he was young he always wondered what it would be like to turn into an animal. Now he had his chance, maybe. He again silently gave thanks to his father, but Trepeeset could not help but wonder why his father did not use the charm for himself, and furthermore why he didn't tell anyone about it.
After running half the distance, Chotsalak was panting behind Trepeeset. "Slow down, friend! I am tired. What is it you are looking for in our village?"
"Do you still have your dreamcatcher? The one with the feathers on it?"
"Yes, of course. My grandfather made it for me. But it will still be there whether we run or not!" Chotsalak wheezed.
"Come on. We are almost there. A little exercise will do you good, Warrior."
"Fine. You wait here, I will go get it." Chotsalak said. Trepeeset stopped where he was. A dreamcatcher was a small hoop that Weecosak's hung in their teepees. It had interconnecting sticks and feathers hanging from it. It was supposed to trap evil spirits that caused nightmares. Trepeeset mentally grumbled that his never seemed to work. He had nightmares often. There were sure to be more after his father's death and this ordeal with the medallion. Trepeeset absently opened and closed the medallion, wondering what other secrets it had in store for him.
Chotsalak soon returned with the dreamcatcher. "You really think this is going to work?"
"I don't know, friend," Trepeeset said. "But I will try it." Trepeeset still didn't even know if he could turn into an animal using the medallion, and he was putting in a feather rather than a hair. Trepeeset ripped a few of the tendrils from one of the feathers. The tendrils did admittedly look like hair. "What type of bird is this, anyway?"
"No idea," Chotsalak said. "Just please be careful." He stood back and stared wide-eyed at his friend.
"All right. Here it goes." Trepeeset opened the rock and dropped in the feathery strings. He made sure they were going to stay inside, and then he put the other half back on. With a snap the medallion was once again solid with no seam. He put the medallion around his neck and tried to tighten the cord around his neck as much as he could. After a thorough look around to make sure that no one besides Chotsalak was looking, Trepeeset took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the bird's spirit now inside his medallion. He imagined a bird in flight, flying above the treetops. Trepeeset felt a slight shiver, but otherwise wasn't feeling anything.
He opened his eyes and was about to tell Chotsalak that it hadn't worked, when he noticed he was at eye-level with the bottom of Chotsalak's breechclout.
Chotsalak confirmed Trepeeset's suspicions. "You're an owl!"
Trepeeset looked down at his new body. He was covered with thick feathers, and his face seemed much larger. He stretched his wings. "Hooooooooot!" was all he could manage.
Chotsalak jumped up and down. "This is great! I can't believe it! Praise the god--whoaa!!" Trepeeset wanted to try his new bird form out. He allowed the owl instincts to start him off flying, causing him to fly straight ahead, nearly running into Chotsalak. A few more flaps of his large wings and he was soaring. Everything was very bright and it was hurting his eyes because owls were used to the nighttime, but his vision was impeccable. He was nearly twice as high as the tallest tree, yet he could see a tick on a leaf on the forest floor. Trepeeset could not speak, but he was hooting all the while, as if he was saying "Woooooo hooooooooo!" What an experience!
After a few joyous circuits of the forest, Trepeeset navigated back to a dumbfounded Chotsalak. He slowed his descent, and when he was about Chotsalak's height, shifted back to human. He landed neatly on his feet. "That...was...incredible!"
"It seemed to be, my friend! But, um, you are naked."
Trepeeset looked down. His breechclout did not make the transformation along with him. Embarrassed, he picked the garment up off the ground and held the now thoroughly shredded pants up on his body. "I think we should go back to the village. It will be dark soon, and people will wonder where I am." The warriors began the short walk back to the village. "Oh, my friend Chotsalak, if you could only have seen the things I saw. To see the forest from above, and to have such clear vision! I could have seen you from the moon! From Father Sun, even!"
"Sounds amazing," Chotsalak said, with hidden pangs of jealousy in his voice. "You father has truly given you a wondrous gift."
"He has," Trepeeset agreed. "Yes, he has."
"You know, something I realized," Chotsalak said, looking Trepeeset in the eyes. "We made a good choice with the owl. Now imagine you want to be a wolf or a bear. It would be foolish and dangerous to try and get the hair as a human. But as a bird, you can just - whoosh!" Chotsalak waved his arm. "Grab some and get out of there!"
Trepeeset laughed giddily. "I might have to try that next. But that is for another day." They arrived back at their teepees, Trepeeset receiving curious looks for holding his shredded pants over his nether regions. "Until tomorrow, Warrior. Thank you for the good day."
"And to you, Warrior. You are not going to eat dinner with us?" Chotsalak questioned. Trepeeset shook his head. "Then, until tomorrow. Goodbye." Trepeeset went into his teepee to lay down. Flying took a lot out of him. "Thank you, my father," were Trepeeset's final thoughts before drifting off to sleep.