Flying along, Trepeeset spotted a small animal on the ground, a gopher. Staring at the animal, he got the idea to become to gopher in order to dig into his father's grave, because it would take him forever to dig as a human. He would take Chotsalak's advice and grab some of its hair as an owl. He flapped his wings once, then outstretched his talons and began to descend rapidly towards the furry creature. The gopher could not see the bird approaching, because it had poor vision, even by human standards. "I am sorry friend," Trepeeset thought. "But this is for a good cause."
The owl grabbed onto the fur of the gopher, terrifying the poor creature. The gopher was terrified and confused as to what hit it, and Trepeeset's owl instincts were very confused, because the gopher was too large to eat. A chunk of its fur ripped off into the talons of Trepeeset. He flew away rapidly, carrying the fur tightly in his talons and leaving the gopher to run and dive into one of its holes. How lucky that the animal was out in the open!
Soon Trepeeset saw the spot where his father was buried. The overturned dirt was still fresh. He landed and shifted back to human, leaving him carrying the gopher fur in between his toes. Trepeeset sighed, picking up some of the fur. "Still naked," he muttered. He crouched down and ran his fingers through the dirt. "I am here, Father." Trepeeset popped open the medallion and deposited one gopher hair. He sealed it, saying "Here I come."
Trepeeset concentrated on becoming a gopher. Fur sprouted up over his nude, shrinking body. As a tail pushed its way out above Trepeeset's rear end, sharp claws grew on his fingers and toes. He crawled onto the dirt and began to dig. In no time at all, he had created a tunnel. "Dig! Dig! Digdigdig!" his gopher instincts told him.
The gopher's body was surprisingly strong. It could throw the dislodged dirt out of the tunnel with almost no effort. Truly, it was made to dig. Trepeeset dug and dug and dug, pausing only to back up a bit and take breaths. Sometimes he had to chew through large dirt clods with his large teeth. Pocohono was not buried very deep, but Trepeeset's body was very small.
Soon enough, Trepeeset came across a colored cloth. Pocohono was buried wrapped in a cloth like this. Trepeeset knew it was colored, but the gopher's body could not see colors. It could see in the dark reasonably well, but not very far. Certainly not on par with the owl's vision. Trepeeset truly did not wish to disturb his father's corpse, but it was necessary in order to bring his spirit justice. The gopher began to chew through the cloth, creating a neat circle. Pocohono's placid face was soon visible. If Trepeeset's eyes had been able, they would have been tearing up. Nevertheless, he remembered his job.
Carefully, he used his sharp claws to cut some of the long locks stretched over Pocohono's face. With the hair now in one of his paws, Trepeeset scooted back up the tunnel, taking care not to drop the hair. He placed the hair at the edge of the tunnel and then travelled back down the tunnel to take one last look at his father. He licked Pocohono's face a few times - a kiss. He then shot back up the tunnel without looking back. Once he was out of the tunnel he transformed back and pushed the dirt he shoveled out back into the hole, and he evened everything out. It looked as though the grave had not been disturbed.
Walking back over to Pocohono's hair, Trepeeset picked up one of the long strands. He coiled it up around his finger, then placed it into his magical medallion. The lid sealed, and Trepeeset was now able to find out how his father was killed. Trepeeset took a deep breath and said, "I'm ready, Father."
He stood upright and began the familiar transformation. His body grew more muscular and taller. Hair spilled over the top half of his back like a waterfall. His father never had his long black hair cut in his life. He usually wore his hair tied up in the back, but Trepeeset was not wearing anything in his hair, so it laid flat on his back. The transformation went the same as it did this afternoon, except for one thing. Pain! Ripping pain!
"AAAAUGGGGHHHHH!" Trepeeset/Pocohono screamed as he fell to the ground. His knee! His left knee was on fire! He couldn't bend it or put any pressure on it. What happened?! Was this how Pocohono died? Feeling his knee, Trepeeset could tell that the kneecap was shattered. Trepeeset had no idea how this happened, but it was pretty certain that yes, this was the way that Pocohono died. The pain was incredible. Rolling around on the ground, he grabbed the medallion on his chest. He was tempted to go back to being Trepeeset, but he couldn't give up now. Pocohono's soul was depending on him. He knew that if he changed back, he would be too afraid to become Pocohono again due to the pain. Oh, if there was only a way he could swap knees with his old body!
To Trepeeset's surprise, it worked! There was a strange sensation in his knee, and the pain stopped. He had switched Pocohono's knee with his own! Trepeeset slowly got up. He walked with a limp because his new knee was smaller than his leg supported, but it was much better. "Wow! I didn't know I could do that!" Trepeeset, mentally savoring hearing his father's voice again.
Now that his knee was better, Trepeeset/Pocohono looked down at his body. He felt its strong muscles and wrapped his arms around his body. It felt good to feel his father again. Trepeeset missed him already, but at least he could become him up whenever he wanted.
He sighed. That was no good. He knew he had to give up his body to allow his soul to achieve its eternal rest. Besides, it was his body, not his mind. It would never be the same.
Looking down at the rock, Trepeeset wondered what other magic it was capable of. It was able to swap body parts between transformations, was there anything else it could do? While holding onto the stone, Trepeeset became aware of an undercurrent of magic swimming through the rock. Because Trepeeset could tap into the memories and abilities of Pocohono, he could "read" the magic on the stone clearly. It was as if the stone was talking to him!
The stone "said" that its wearer could transform into anything inside of it, as long as a piece of the creature was inside. The stone could take a hair, a feather, a scale, even a piece of skin, and there could be multiple items in there at once. Obviously, he could take on the instincts, thoughts, and memories of the new form. Even better, the wearer could blend two of the creatures to create a half-and-half new animal! Trepeeset could be an owlman! And it would work for anyone wearing the rock, not just Trepeeset. But whoever wears it has to be careful not to spill out any of the items inside it, because then he could not transform into that person or animal until the item is replaced.
There were some more rules about transformations. If the wearer transforms and then takes off the medallion, he won't be able to change back. Without the medallion, the instincts of the person or animal will become stronger and stronger until they take over completely. Once the medallion touches the person, his thoughts will return. Except, after a day passes without contact with the medallion, he will be so far gone his thoughts will not return even with the medallion.
"Amazing," was all Trepeeset/Pocohono could say. What magic was packed into this medallion! Trepeeset was excited to turn into a wolf - something he always wanted to do. Heck, he could be a werewolf! However, he had to be careful not to drop the medallion from his neck while flying as an owl or any other bird. Trepeeset felt a little regret at never learning magic or medicine from his father. He was more interested in being a warrior. His father tried to teach him some things, but he just never had the touch for it. And now the village was without a medicine man.
Trepeeset was reminded at what he had to do. He was actually scared to see the memories of his father, because he knew there would be dark secrets revealed. But he had no choice. "All right, Father," he muttered, sitting down. "Let's see who your killer is." Trepeeset began to look into Pocohono's memories, trying to recall his last day on Mother Earth.