Rick figured it best to ultimately find this supposed weregorilla. While he had never heard of any stories in folklore about weregorillas, as most stories of werebeasts generally revolved around predators, wolves, lions, leopards, tigers, and even house cats, the idea of a person being able to turn into the largest of the great apes in terms of body size was fairly interesting and made him curious. He also figured it make for a good fact finding mission to see if this weregorilla knew if Sasquatch was real or if the cases of people claiming to have seen Sasquatch... or Bigfoot... were simply cases of mistaken identity and they had spotted one of these were-beasts rather than some other species of ape. The online photo that claimed to be a Sasquatch sighting, according to the caption had taken place to the northwest of Moon Lake's residential area, but still within the city limits, which Rick had thought to be rather extensive for a town of Moon Lake's size, as from what he had seen on GoogleEarth, and had been taken by a Frank Tucker. Emails with the man had enabled Rick to get his address and brought him to Moon Lake.
With that, the young cryptozoologist headed headed out to his car and meet with Frank Tucker and see what he knew. As he got behind the wheel of his car, some of what had just been revealed to him also floated through his head. He'd always figured that were-beasts were real after some fashion, and that one would be so willing to transform in front of him and that she actually fit inside her human clothing. The stories he'd read had always lead him to believe that they'd likely be larger, but then, most stories also dealt with large predators that would be too big for human clothing anyway. The real questions he had had more to do with why he had to change and if the town was so keen on keeping werebeasts a secret, why would a resident post a picture of a weregorilla on the internet and converse with someone hunting Bigfoot? As Rick thought about it, he figured there were too options. Either one, Frank Tucker was quite willing to betray the people of Moon Lake, even if it meant betraying family, or two, Frank Tucker didn't know there were such things as weregorillas and truly thought he photographed something that was not part of Moon Lake.
"Neither of which would work well for the town, I suppose," Rick thought to himself as he drove along toward the address that Frank Tucker had given him, mostly helped by a GPS system that was hocked into GoogleEarth/GoogleMaps. "Either they have someone with no heart who would betray his neighbors and family or they have someone who didn't realize that he'd betrayed his relatives and neighbors."
As he drove along, he also thought over the options before him and what had happened in his dream. While dating a weregorilla wasn't necessarily a goal, the revelation about Moon Lake seemed to hit what he had always felt about himself. Rick had never felt comfortable as a male. In that sense, he did feel he would fit in with the transgendered community and that in his spare time he played dress up in his own home from time to time. He had thought of doing so openly, but figured that since he made his living working for a few firms in biological research trying to find Bigfoot and prove the existence of other supposedly "fake" animals, that appearing in one of the dresses or skirts that he owned was not the smart thing to do. In that sense, the were-beast option that Ms. Twist had presented to him was an option. After all, if they were all werebeasts and that a scratch, bite, or sex could transform a normal human being, that one of the three from a were-beast species that was entirely female would turn anyone female as well.
"Their handbook was written in the eighteen hundreds," Rick thought, "Or at least the first individual were-beast species entries were and were only updated when a new were-beast species moved too Moon Lake, and that was only to add in that new species. And people's thoughts on homosexuals and transgendered people were very different in the eighteen hundreds. Shoot... I'd be likely to be executed if I was around back then and found out."
What Rick didn't know was that while the handbook's entries may not have all been written recently, was that Moon Lake was very accepting of homosexuals and the transgendered, even back when the town was founded. After all, every werecat was at LEAST bisexual if not a full lesbian. Rick also didn't know that Moon Lake's were-beasts had advanced medical knowledge that related to the transformation of normal humans into were-beasts. They didn't publish it for fear of exposure, but they did have full scientific knowledge on the subject. The hospital in Moon Lake and the town's were-beast population made that extremely necessary. If were-beasts didn't know how their abilities would affect others, they'd have a great deal of trouble. And as a visitor to Moon Lake, Rick was completely unaware of this. In fact, he didn't even know that the werecat who had revealed were-beasts to him and informed him about were-beasts was a full lesbian with a wife and a third female lover that both she and her wife had fallen for.
And Samantha's remark on a female were-beasts not working with human males was accurate and had been based on research done by Moon Lake's scientists and doctors as the science of genetics advanced in the years after World War II. They had found that the vector that spread the were-beast condition, regardless of how it was passed, operated like a virus and particularly like the Rabies virus in that it could cross any species barrier. However, the condition, provided the transformation could be completed, wasn't fatal and didn't drive the "victim" to spread the condition. Whether or not it was a virus or magic was largely left open to interpretation, though Moon Lake's doctors were more likely to treat it as a virus. And they had found that the varying "strains" of the virus had on different people. Normally, the virus would alter the host DNA to change the host into a were-beast of that particular species, but the cases with werecats and werecheetahs was something different based on the fact that they were mono-gendered were-beast species.
In those specific cases, Moon Lake's doctors had found that the "virus" didn't directly go into cells the way the other "strains" did. They actually entered through the X-Chromosome and worked with it. With women, this lead to the werecat or werecheetah transformation, but with any man it had a very different result. For when that virus hit the Y-Chromosomes in a male, the virus was flat rejected by the body's cells while the X half of the male's Chromosomes accepted it (with women being XX and men XY). The result of one chromosome accepting it and one rejected lead to complete cellular degeneration and destruction as there wasn't a second X-Chromosome to begin the transformation and the virus kept trying to do so even though the Y-Chromosome made it impossible. From what the tests, using werecat blood mixed with a man's blood as a test had shown that the mixing of a werecheetah/werecat with a human man would only put the human on an immediate doomsday clock as his body began to rapidly break down. If not exposed to a different "strain" of the "virus," and specifically one that came from a were-beast species that had either only males or had both genders, that person would likely die in a matter of hours. Samantha Twist knew the basics of this and had the phone numbers ready for the Moon Lake hospital in case people moving to Moon Lake ever pushed on that issue so the hospital could give a more detailed explanation. It would also mean that if Rick truly wished to female, he would need to go through the same standard sex change operation that many transgendered went through.
But Rick didn't know this and simply drove along. He wouldn't force anything and would try to talk with more representatives from Moon Lake, though he figured getting arranged meetings through Ms. Twists office would be better than simply knocking on doors. Even if were-beasts were common knowledge, Rick doubted they'd take kindly to being asked random questions by people on the street. After going back and forth around various streets, he eventually came to the address that he'd been given by Frank Tucker online. He parked on the side of the street and figured to walk up and talk with the man face to face. He had little wish to expose were-beasts, and figured that without proof of a human transforming, he'd only be laughed at, but he did have the wish to be honest in his search for Sasquatch and not interfere with Moon Lake's town business. Making sure that the person who posted the picture wasn't purposely betraying the people of Moon Lake seemed like a good start, regardless of his own thoughts on his own fate.
He knocked on the door and waited for an answer. The house looked like a simple ranch house, but there seemed to be a lot of land that was fenced in behind it, like the house was part of a small ranch property. Rich thought he heard the whinnying of horses in the distance.The answer came when a very athletic looking man answered the door.
"Yes..." the man said.
"Are you Frank Tucker?" Rick asked.
"Yeah, I am," the man, Frank, answered, "and you are?"
"Rick Plunkett," Rick answered, "we talked online about you finding a Sasquatch..."
"Oh... yeah..." Frank spoke as he nodded to Rick, "I was checking the edges of my property when I saw it moving around. I'll tell you that I've seen plenty since I moved here to Moon Lake and set my ranch here... some things you wouldn't believe... but I'd never seen anything like this before."
Frank opened the door wider and let Rick walk in. He followed Fran in and noted a very ranch and horse centric decor made up the interior. There were paintings of horses, photographs of them, and a iron statue of a bucking bronco. Rick thought that seemed a little obsessive, but he had no real place to complain on that, but then something Frank said hit him. "... Since I moved here..." is what he said, and Ms. Twist had said people who moved to Moon Lake had to have at least one member of the family become were-beasts. That meant that unless Frank came in with a family, he was a were.
"Like were-beasts?" Rick asked carefully.
Frank stopped and turned, his eyes actually narrowed and borderline suspicious.
"What do you know about were-beasts?" Frank asked in a low voice, "what I saw was a Sasquatch."
"Only what the Town Chancellor told me this morning," Rick answered, "that Moon Lake is a sanctuary for them and that the Sasquatch you saw was a weregorilla."
"A weregorilla?" Frank asked.
"That's what I was told," Rick answered, "and she transformed in front of me to prove her statements on were-beasts. And she seemed pretty firm that Moon Lake didn't want its were-beasts revealed, so I came to make sure you weren't out to betray them or anything like that."
"Well... I've never heard of a weregorilla, but I'd never betray any were-beast," Franck answered as his eyes turned brown and his pupil stretched into a sideways strip across the pupil.
Rick watched in surprise as Frank stripped his clothes off in a great hurry. Chestnut colored fur began to cover him and his body began to grow in size. He went from six feet to six foot seven in a second and was soon seven foot three and still growing. In no time, Frank got down into a kneeling position as his feet was lengthening and as his neck began to lengthen as well. He toes began to merge into a single toe with a long curved nail that darkened and turned into a hoof. Rick stood in awe of this.
"You're... you're..." Rick began.
"I'm a werehorse," Frank smiled as his his hands shifted as well. He still had fingers, but only three of them, counting his thumb and each tipped with a thick nail to make it look like he had a hoof on each finger from a distance. He then continued his answer, "a real stallion."
He neck began to lengthen and his face began to lengthen in long equine muzzle. His nostrils flared onto large round forward facing openings and while white fur began grow around his mouth and the center of his muzzle rising up to a star-like mark between his eyes, which moved more to the side of his head. His ears had become almost football shaped and moved up to the top of his head. His hair also lengthened and became a rather impressive black mane that ran from his head and down the top of neck down to his broad shoulders. Rick also noticed that a long tail of black hair had also blossomed out behind him.
"My wife welcomed me to were society as a werehorse," Frank said in a calm voice, "and my mare is expecting our first colt... neither of us would betray Moon Lake's population."
"I... I... see," Rick commented, "well, that makes things a bit easier. The town chancellor said what you saw was a weregorilla, not a Sasquatch."
"Never heard of a weregorilla... but then my ranch has kept me rather busy," Frank answered, "I'm afraid I don't know every were in Moon Lake..."
"Well... with that... it should be obvious that I can't trap it and reveal it to the world," Rick answered.
Frank nodded, "Of course... but that leaves only one thing...what are you going to do? You said in your emails that you'd only be here a short while. Normally the town chancellor doesn't make special visits to people who are just visiting. We'd just be told to lay low and not transform outside our homes. As the visitor will then leave and things go back to normal. If she made a visit, it also means that my mistake in identification lead to a consequence where you were told about were-beasts... normally that's only done when someone MOVES to Moon Lake, like I did five years ago."
"Yeah," Rick said slowly, "the town chancellor told me about that too. Said something about me having to become a were-beast myself to protect the town's secret, and was insistent about it..."
"Which means you won't get to leave Moon Lake before you become a were-beast," Frank answered slowly, "it's not too much trouble for you is it? I mean... this IS quite a lot..."
"I suppose," Rick managed, scratching the back of head as he talked with a werehorse who would be nearly fifteen feet tall if he stood up onto his hind legs, "but I've worked all my life as a cryptozoologist... I've kinda believed in a lot of these sorts of things even before being exposed to it."
"Well... that'll make things even better," Frank gave a laugh, "all you get to do is choose which were-beast you want to be. All of them have their benefits."
"Well... that's where things get kinda difficult," Rick said weakly, not sure why he was saying all this to a perfect stranger, but with things coming out he felt fine with it, "you see... I've kind of always felt that I should be Rikki, not Rick..."
"Transgender," Frank said slowly, "well... we've had no problem with them in Moon Lake. Every werecat is at least bi... if not an outright lesbian. There are male "werecats" but from what I've heard there are differences... true werecats are strictly female. These male "werecats" are actually based off of the small wild cat species... Bobcats, Lynx, and so on... but there aren't enough of them to call them werebobcats or werelynx... so they're called werecats. And like the true werecats... they're all gay or at least bi."
"Uh-huh... so?" Rick asked.
"Well," Frank answered, "It means that we have no trouble with gays, lesbians, transgender... shoot from what I've been told, Moon Lake was the FIRST city in America to legalize gay marriage shortly after the town was founded. Though it isn't something they brag about in order to protect the werecats from bible thumpers."
Rick could only blink at that. That made sense, but he wasn't sure on how that related to him.
"Well... it's good to be accepted," Rick answered, "but I was thinking mostly on with being a werecheetah... it's really been my favorite animal, and if they're all female... it'd let me become who I've always felt I was..."
"That wouldn't work," Frank warned, "my wife works at the hospital and is in charge of the departments that deal with emergencies when we have newly transformed weres who still need their transformation completed... be it from some fluke accident or should it be forced on someone by a rogue... which we had to deal with this past weekend... and she's rather familiar with how the virus... magic... however you want to call it... affects normals."
"And?" Rick asked.
"Should you have sex with a werecat or a werecheetah," Frank answered, "from what my wife told me, their "strain of the were-virus" would try to get into your DNA through the chromosomes... what marks you as male. But since the "strain of the virus" is attached to an XX-Chromosome it cannot alter the Y-Chromosome that makes you a male. It cannot change your gender and make you completely female. As a result, as it tries to change you... it will kill you as your XY-Chromosomes resist it. Better to chose from a species that has a male gender and then undergo the surgery and hormone therapy. It may not be a one-hundred percent change... I really don't know on how that works, as I've never known anyone who had that operation personally... but it will still be better for your health than thinking the virus... the magic... whatever... can change your gender.... at least that's what my wife's told me."
"And she knows all this?" Rick asked.
"Yes," Frank nodded, "She grew up here and studied medicine here at the college. They actually have a good science department and programs in which one can take in place of going to an actual med school with all the tests and certification programs being legal. That's how she learned about those tid-bits on were-biology."
"How did you meet?" Rick asked, feeling curious about how a rancher and a medical professional could have met and married.
"Well... she's a werehorse and was in several rodeos in high school in college," Frank answered, "we actually met at one in Montana as participants. We fell in love and I moved my ranch here to be with her and be HER stallion."
"I can call her and she can show you the blood tests they did that prove that it wouldn't be safe for you try and become a werecheetah," Frank answered, "Sort of a special tour that she'd give and provided you don't take any pictures and keep your hands to yourself."
"I don't suppose that'd be bad," Rick commented, "though... are there other werebeasts with spots?"
"Wereleopards have spots," Frank answered, "though you'd have some difficulty in case you become a wereleopard and end up all black..."
Rick nodded. His study of cryptozoology had included studies in biology and nature as well, in order to theorize how supposedly mythical animals could survive. In that, he knew all about black panthers being leopards with recessive genes that made them look all black. Though his silence was picked up Frank as puzzlement and the werehorse decided help.
"If you want... we can walk through town and you can talk to some of the others here... learn about each were-beast species from them," Frank offered, "I'll go with you and I'll let you know who's a were and who's a normal. It's the least I can do since I dragged you out here... Maybe find out who the weregorilla was."
"Okay," Rick admitted. That would make sense. He didn't want to get in trouble and wasn't going to fight anyone, nor give the people of Moon Lake any undo grief. And since Frank's not knowing there were weregorillas had brought him here, it would make up for all the chain of events that lead to where they were. Besides, he was urged to speak the werebeasts that made up Moon Lake but to be careful not to ask too pointed a question to normals who might only be in town to work or were in the local college. "Can you change back though? The town chancellor..."
"Of COURSE I can change back," Frank laughed, "we have complete control over ourselves... and that includes our transformations. I only showed you because you looked a bit lost to me with all of this... but... if we're to go into town I will need to change back. We can't be in our were forms in public during the day. That's a local law."
Rick nodded and turned around to give Frank his privacy to change back.