You and Jeb train relentlessly with the elders. There is much to learn, much about the natural world...but also how humans live with it. The sciences describe much that you know and that the elders know, and that faerie magic can do what humans are only beginning to realize. You are taught how to manipulate life, to carry a spirit through the change without destroying it, to place instincts needed for the new form to survive.
"You are fortunate you were taught as mortal humans," the elder says with a smile. "What you learned in your schools would take me a century to teach our busy and dedicated youth."
It is when you and Jeb manage to carry out a difficult change...a dying stag into a healthy young vixen for a lonely fox...that you are met by the elders. Your teacher speaks to you.
"You are ready and better than I had thought. In but a day you learned a great gift. Go with Jeb and bring his family here."
He reaches out and touches your shoulder in a fatherly manner.
"Young one...if you succeed, it is the first step of great hope. I am one of few who believe that humans will outgrow their destructive ways, weather the storm to come with us, and put their artifice to use in harmony with us and this world. Perhaps a fool's dream, but a good one."
"Thank you, Elder," you say.
You nod to Jeb and begin your journey.