Derrick and Julie found themselves having a marvelous time as they engaged in the mock wrestling match with Jeremy, Hope, Abbie, and "PC." No one clawed anyone and the goal still seemed to be to pin the opponent, but many of the formal rules in wrestling weren't there. As Julie prepared to actually pin Hope, a Hope brought up her feet and pushed them into Julie's side, making him roll off of Hope and ultimately into Derrick who had been in a "pushing" match with Abbie as the two tried to get a hold that allow them to make a take down on the other. The end result was Derrick falling over backwards and landing on her back on top of Julie's side. Abbie trying to grapple with Derrick ended up falling forward on top of Derrick and forming a small "lion pile" in the grass where the game had been going on.
"Come on! Get off!" Julie protested, not liking being on the bottom of the pile, but still having lots of fun.
"What? You don't like a pile?" Abbie laughed, "Hey guys! Dog pile!"
"No!" Julie protested as the remaining cubs soon grinned and jumped on top of the pile.
Julie grunted and slowly made his way out, gripping the ground with his claws for added traction. He ultimately made it out as the pile soon broke up with everyone descending into laughter.
"I've never had fun like this," Derrick commented, "Even when I was this young back home... mom and dad never let us rough-house like this before."
"This isn't rough housing, this is wrestling," PC countered, "And I've liked it. No one lets me do that at all at home."
"Too young?" Julie wondered, absentmindedly forgetting that he and his sister were originally older the opposite genders of what they were now.
"Too female," PC answered, "wrestling coach won't let girls on the team."
"How old are you?" Derrick asked, curious as to how PC answered.
"At present I seem to be eight," PC gave a shrug, "at home I'm eighteen and a bit of a tomboy... It's why I like it here... being a lion cub... I can be a tomboy all I want and no one minds."
"Well, thanks for letting my sister and I join," Derrick commented.
"Sister?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow and actually lowered an ear.
"Yes, sister, why are you?" Derrick began.
"Because Julie is a boy," Jeremy answered.
"What?" Julie gasped. Derrick also sat there wide eyed.
"You two didn't notice?" Hope actually laughed.
Julie found himself looking down to ultimately find a sheath between his legs while Derrick found the opposite. They actually looked to each other with wide eyes and spoke in surprise.
"We switched genders!"
"You two really didn't notice!" Abbie laughed, "Man what was going on when you two changed? I mean it happened to me, I felt everything..."
"You're originally a boy?" Julie asked.
"Yes, and I go by Abner at home... but since every time my family comes here I switch genders I go by Abbie here," Abbie explained, "I'd actually thought you two switched your names after your change..."
"But you didn't notice!" Hope laughed.
"We didn't think we'd turn into animals," Julie admitted, "and mom and dad got a little upset shortly after..."
A loud roar, though sounding more "happy" than anything else was soon heard coming from the tree-hotel.
"It would appear they got over it," Jeremy commented.
Derrick and Julie laughed at that and nodded as the wrestling match settled into conversation and getting to know each other better.
"So you're family has been here before?" Derrick asked to Abbie.
"Yeah, my family actually works in the main US Embassy in Ghana, so when they get time off, we come here," Abbie answered, "It's quite a relaxing place and they like to blow off steam with each other... much like your parents are doing right now."
"So... have you been other animals?" Julie wondered.
"Actually no... it seems the magic seems to be rather species specific," Abbie shrugged, "we're matched up to a specific totem and we stick with that totem. Even if you go away and like another animal... the next time you come here you will still become a lion."
"Interesting," Julie commented.
"I'm curiously on the spots though... aren't lions all one solid color?" Derrick asked, more to Julie than anything else.
"As adults yes, but Lion cubs are born with spots that are a shade darker then the rest of their fur, as they mature, those spots fade," Julie answered, and then turned back to Abbie, "so... Abbie, you may know this already... but..."
"Can you still eat vegetables?" Abbie asked, "actually... yes. The magic does change us and it may change how we eat... but digestive systems remain largely the same as we were as humans... though a lot of people tend to "go native" with regard to what they eat. Maybe because they think its weird to see someone who becomes a Cape Buffalo sit down and eat a steak..."
Derrick and Julie actually giggled at the mental image.
"Does anyone go hunting?" Derrick wondered.
"No," Abbie answered, "everyone becomes animals yes, and on the hotel grounds, nudity is okay... but we must still follow all local laws. Which means if you go out on photographic tour of Mole National Park, you must adhere to Ghana's laws with regard to hunting and clothing... and don't worry the hotel does carry and deliver cloth that won't irritate fur too much and will fit your present sizes."
That gave Julie some relief for her school project, as he would get a chance to get some photographs of real lions and maybe get to see them hunt, though he also knew that lions typically hunted at night or at dusk and dawn. Daytime activity among mundane lions was usually relegated to sleeping. But then, the family had become a small pride of its own. Maybe they could go walking into the park one night with mom and dad, and maybe the other lion-people here at the hotel as well. They could go out and watch a real lion pride hut, and they'd off course stay out of the way and give nature room. Of course, that'd be something to figure out later. For the moment, Julie was still fairly curious on how all the animal people were able to function.
"Maybe you two ought to switch names?" Jeremy offer, "at least while you're here... Julie be Derrick and Derrick be Julie..."
"I don't want Derrick getting into MY stuff!" Julie protested.
"I'm not saying you live as each other... you just take each other's names..." Jeremy answered, "Though your stuff probably won't matter as... everyone seems to get younger when they come here... unless you're twenty. For some reason people in their twenties stay around that age, but anyone younger than that becomes a kid again and anyone thirty or older becomes twenty again. At least that's what it said in the brochure."
"We really need to read that thing then," Derrick commented to Julie.
Julie nodded, "and I guess we can switch the names, right... Julie?"
"Okay... Derrick," the renamed Julie shrugged, "but when we get home, we tell our friends we stayed in our right genders."
The renamed Derrick agreed. Another happy roar was heard.
"But let's wait on reading it until AFTER mom and dad are done having their fun," Derrick than said.