Months after Darek first awakens as a Were dryad, he goes to his first Were convention and meets other like...or not so like himself.

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Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be in a room, surrounded by
creatures out of legend. To be surrounded by shapeshifters... Weres who
could transform at any moment into anything from a lion to a dragon.
Or... to be one of them.

My name is Darek Ross, and I was a 16 year old boy with dirty blonde hair
and slightly large ears. And of course, I was a Were. A creature out of
legend, though the legends are almost never quite right.

Were's are people like any other, with friends, families and jobs like
everyone else. The only difference is, Weres have the unique trait of
transforming into some animal or other every month on the full moon, though
they can transform or not on other nights of their own will. And every Were
transforms into a different animal... not just wolves as legends might
suggest.

And then among Weres, there are the rarest of all... mythics. Weres who
transform not into ordinary animals like what you might see in the zoo, but
into creatures out of legend. Things that are not supposed to ever have
existed, such as dragons and the like.

That's what I was... a mythic. But even among the rare mythics, I was a
real oddity. I had the unique... not to mention somewhat embarrassing
ability to turn into a dryad. A wood nymph. A sexy and extremely short,
green skinned woman.

It had been some months since I had first had my awakening as a Were... and
become a mythic. And in that time, I had gotten somewhat used to my other
side, and had grown to love it. However, it was still a bit embarrassing,
and I hadn't even been able to tell my best friend Brandon. The only people
who had ever seen me in my Were form... who even knew what it was, were my
folks. And of course, they were Weres too. Those were some of the reasons
that I was uncomfortable at the moment.

My folks had brought me to a Were convention, a large gathering of other
Weres from all over the place. All of whom were normal human form as it
wasn't a full moon night. It was the first convention that I'd been to
since awakening as a Were myself. But even though I was a Were too, I felt
out of place, proud at being a rare mythic, but embarrassed by just what
kind I happened to turn into.

I looked around, seeing that there were probably several hundred people
around. Several hundred Weres. And they were all wearing stickers with our
names on them, with a lot of people having little pictures showing what it
was that they turned into. I wasn't one of those ones though.

"Did I have to come?" I asked my dad, feeling mixed emotions about the
convention. Sure, it was a great way to meet other Weres and a place where
I didn't have to lie about not being one myself. In a way, that was quite
refreshing. However, I was also surrounded by a lot of strangers, most of
whom were adults, and I was feeling a bit bored.

Dad just smiled at me, "Look around. I'm sure that there are other kids
around here your own age." I just grunted faintly at that.

Then my mom suddenly gasped as she saw someone and hurried over to where a
large man and another woman were talking. She quickly shook the man's hand
and then hugged the woman before giggling, "Lions and tigers and bears..."

"Oh my," the woman laughed.

"Lions and tigers and bears," the woman, my mom and the man all exclaimed
together, "Oh my!" They did that several more times, getting louder each
time and making me wince slightly in embarrassment.

As I watched them for a few more seconds, I noticed that the man had a
picture of a lion on his sticker. Then suddenly the whole exchange made a
bit more sense to me. Since my mom was a Were tiger and the man was a lion,
the other woman had to be a bear. But still, it was kind of corny.

"Parents," I muttered in disgust as I turned to go follow my dad's advice,
while trying to appear that I wasn't. Hopefully I could find some people my
own age who had a bit more sense.

Several minutes later, I was standing at the snack table, munching on a few
treats and getting something to drink. And as I was stretching over for a
brownie, I bumped into someone. Turning around, I was startled to see it
was a girl who looked about my age. She was cute, with dark brown hair and
a name tag that said she was Carrie.

"Sorry," I apologized, blushing badly as I did so.

Carrie smiled weakly, "No problem."

We stood there for a moment, about to go our separate ways before I managed
to comment, "Pretty boring in here, huh?"

"Yeah," Carrie nodded, "It's kind of a drag. But my folks told me that it
would be good to meet other Weres."

"Mine too," I nodded in understanding.

"I guess all parents are alike," Carrie commended, then gave a faint
shudder, "I hope I don't get like them when I'm old."

"Me either," I echoed. "I mean, they can be such stinkers..."

Suddenly, Carrie burst out laughing. At my curious expression, she
explained, "My dad's a skunk."

We both laughed at that for a moment before I proudly told her, "My dad's a
mythic." At her disbelieving expression, I continued, "He's a unicorn."

"Cool," she gushed out, sounding impressed.

"Yeah," I grinned, "And my mom's a tiger."

"Double cool," Carrie grinned back. "My mom just turns into a duck."

After this, Carrie and I found a seat and continued talking, with me being
surprised at just how easy it was to talk to her. Most of the girls at
school aren't that easy to be around... or that nice. Then again, since she
was from a Were family too, we had a lot in common. But that wasn't just
it. There was something about Carrie... I was really starting to like
her.

"What about you?" I finally asked, "What do you turn into?"

Carrie gave me a proud look and then exclaimed, "I'm a real live werewolf."

I nodded appreciatively, knowing that in spite of the legends, most Weres
weren't wolves. In fact, there were very few who were. They weren't really
any more common than any other Were animal.

"But forget about silver bullets," Carrie grinned at me, holding up a
silver wolf necklace that she'd been wearing, "I prefer my silver like
this..." We both chuckled at that, then she asked, "What about you?"

"What about me what?" I asked back with a grin. Carrie rolled her eyes and
I sighed in embarrassment, "I'm a mythic."

Her eyes widened at that, not surprisingly since mythics are pretty rare
even among Weres. There are probably only a dozen or so in the entire
world.

"Oh," Carrie said, obviously not believing me, "What kind."

I shrugged in embarrassment, "Um... the weird kind." Though I was rather
proud of being a mythic and I even liked what I turned into, I it was hard
telling the girl that I liked that I had a sex change whenever I
transformed. Hell, I hadn't even told my best friend about it.

Carrie glared at me in disbelief, "You don't need to lie to me. Just tell
me what you turn into."

"I'm not lying," I snapped back defensively, feeling a little insulted that
she'd think I was a liar, "I am a mythic..."

"Yeah, right," Carrie snorted, looking offended and obviously thinking that
I'd been lying to impress her.

Then, Carrie got up and walked away, only giving me a glare before
disappearing into the crowd. I stared after her, feeling angry at being
called a liar and a little disappointed that things had suddenly gone so
bad.

"Damn," I muttered, getting up myself and deciding that I needed some fresh
air. With that, I started for the back door.

Once I was outside, I looked up at the dark sky, wishing silently that the
sun didn't set so early this time of year. But then again, at the moment,
darkness actually felt a little more comforting. It brought me a little
closer to my other side. To my Were side.

With that, I looked out at the spread of trees behind the building, smiling
faintly. I hadn't been able to think of trees the same way since my
awakening as a dryad. At that moment, the whole world had changed for me.
I'd been able to see just how alive they truly are, seeing them and
everything else in a slightly different light.

I moved closer to the trees, then gave a glance back at the busy
convention. It would be such a nice night to change... and I didn't think
that anyone would really miss me. A moment later, I got out of view of the
building and started to undress behind a tree, standing there naked. It was
really cold, but necessary.

"Okay," I sighed, then pushed the change to begin.

My whole body came alive at once, being filled with the sensations of
transformation. My skin all tingled, just as my bones and flesh began to
shift inside of me. They pulled in, moving into other configurations.
Every sensation was both familiar and alien at the same time, making me let
out a gasp as the change always did.

As I transformed, the whole world seemed to grow larger around me. I
watched a branch on the tree next to me slowly move higher and higher over
my head. And I felt the changes in my own body as well. I felt my crotch
pull in and my chest push out. But the most obvious changes weren't
actually the most drastic.

When the changes stopped, everything snapped into a higher clarity. My
senses had all increased drastically, with the dark no longer providing much
obstacle at all. I could hear everything... see everything... even FEEL
everything in much more detail. I could even the life and emotions of the
trees around me, telling me that they were all my friends.

I took a deep breath and smiled, feeling much better. Then I looked down
at myself, seeing the pert and firm breasts on my chest. Every inch of my
body now looked female, from my curves to the vagina. Of course, I was also
now only 4 and a half feet tall, more than a foot shorter than what I had
been... and entirely green. My pubic hair looked a bit like moss, while the
hair on my head was dark green but with bits that looked like leaves... but
weren't.

Just like every time after my transformation, I soaked up the changes in my
body, thinking about how I now looked... from my cute even features to my
long pointed ears. A single glance would be enough to reveal that I was no
longer human... though I was still very close to human shape. I was now a
dryad... a creature of the woods.

After stretching for a moment, pleased that I no longer felt any chill from
the air at all, I started walking deeper into the trees. I already felt
much more relaxed than I had, enjoying as always the unique sensations and
perspective that my particular Were abilities gave me.

A few minutes later, I climbed up a tree just as quickly and easily as a
squirrel, then sat comfortably on the base of one of the branches, soaking
in the awareness of the entire area around me. As a dryad, I could always
sense things around me. It gave me an odd feeling of being in control, even
though I was so much smaller than before.

Before very long though, I felt another presence among the trees, though
not in them like I was. Feeling curious, I hopped to another tree, moving
among them with ease. Then I looked down, seeing that it was Carrie. And
like I had done such a short time earlier, she was undressing.

"Wow," I whispered to myself, impressed at the sight of her naked body. At
the moment, I might have had a very female body, but it was definitely
reacting to the sight of Carrie.

But almost as soon as Carrie had finished undressing, she started changing.
Fur suddenly sprouted from her body and she leaned forward as everything
started to stretch and shift. Her face pushed forward... growing much longer
and sharper. And when the changes had finished, there was no sign of the
Carrie that I had seen inside of the convention. Instead, there was a wolf.

Carrie remained where she was for a minute, sniffing around and obviously
adjusting to her body and environment, just as I had done. Then she went
off into the woods. And being curious, I followed behind her... keeping a
careful distance. But, as a dryad, I had abilities, which made it extremely
difficult for even a wolf to sense my presence unless I allowed her to.

I followed Carrie for awhile, seeing that she was basically doing the same
thing that I was. She was just trying to get away from the crowd out
there... to relax in her alternate form. And though I felt a little guilty
for spying on her, I couldn't really help myself.

Then I felt it... another presence. The trees warned me that the man was
close by, though I wasn't very worried. He was close... but no threat to me
and far enough not to even see Carrie. After all, with a wolf's sense of
smell, she could easily avoid his attention before he even got close.

Less than a minute later, Carrie suddenly let out a yelp of pain. I moved
closer and was horrified to see that she was howling in pain and fear... as
well as pulling at her leg. There was something on it. It took only a
moment more to realize that she had stepped into some sort of trap.

"Oh shit," I gasped, already starting to move closer.

However, the man nearby had heard her too and had come running. He burst
into view, holding a flashlight in one hand and a shotgun in the other. The
very sight was enough to send shivers down my spine.

"Gotcha now," the man slurred slightly, sounding a little bit drunk. "I
finally caught that damn coyote..." Then he moved closer, muttering, "I'll
teach you to go killing my dogs..."

Carrie was frozen at the sight of the man, looking terrified, though it was
hard to really see on a wolf's face. Still, I could feel her fear from
where I was at.

"What the hell?" the stranger gasped, giving Carrie a closer look, "Don't
look like no coyote I've seen..." He was staring at Carrie thoughtfully,
or at least as thoughtful as a drunk could. But then he raised his gun,
"Guess that don't matter..."

"NO!" I yelled out, "Don't..."

The man looked around in confusion at hearing my feminine voice, as did
Carrie. What probably confused her most was that she hadn't caught my
scent. As mom had once told me, to her animal senses I only smelled like a
tree. And in a place that was full of them...

"Where are you?" the stranger demanded, moving his flashlight around but
seeing no hint of me. Even when the light hit me directly, he didn't see
me... thanks to my ability to blend into my environment like a chameleon.
"Show yourself girl..."

I took a look at Carrie... at her fear and pain, then I demanded, "Go away.
NOW." And to prove my point, I made a tree above him drop a dead branch.
It hit the ground right next to the man... though wasn't quite close enough
for my happiness. I would have preferred it right on top of his head.

But in spite of my warning, he made no sign of leaving. Instead, he was
swinging the shotgun around wildly, looking for something to shoot. I felt
a burning anger at that. Didn't that guy have any common sense?

The trees sensed my agitation, and to even my surprise, they started moving
around. Or at least the branches were. They were all moving around as
though there was a strong wind through them, though the air had been fairly
still. It was obvious that this was really freaking the stranger out.

"I said go away," I called out angrily, watching as several more branches
dropped near him. And then, even though I knew that it was the one thing
that should never do, I stepped into view and showed myself to him. "And I
mean it."

For a moment, the man stared at me with his mouth open and his eyes wide.
The light was shining straight on me so he got a pretty good look. Even
Carrie was staring at me with a wolf's expression of shock. That wasn't
surprising though since I was a short green girl... and a creature that just
wasn't like anything that was supposed to exist.

"Holy shit," the man exclaimed, staggering backwards and tripping over a
tree root.

Another branch dropped almost on top of him, and it was enough to make
the man get up and run away as fast as he possibly could through the dark,
even forgetting about his gun in the hurry to get away. And as he moved
away, the trees calmed down and went silent again.

Finally, I turned towards Carrie, who tried backing away from me, then
winced in pain as the trap still held her leg tight. Still, she growled at
me... warning me to keep away.

That made me smile faintly, impressing me with just how tough she was.
"It's all right," I told her, holding up my hands to show that I wasn't
holding anything. "I'm just going to get you out of there."

Carrie remained where she was, eyeing me suspiciously but letting me get
close enough to work on the trap. I struggled with it, then managed to get
it open enough for Carrie to get her leg out.

"Are you all right Carrie?" I asked her, kicking the trap away in disgust.

For a moment, Carrie just stared at me in surprise, probably at my calling
her by name. Then she stood on her leg, wincing as she did so but nodding
at me. Then she took several steps, limping slightly but seeming to be all
right.

Then Carrie looked in the direction that the man had gone off in, then up
at me. "Don't worry," I told her, guessing what she was thinking, "I don't
think that he'll be a problem." Then I added, "He was drunk and probably
won't even believe he really saw me himself in the morning." Carrie nodded
at that, though she still looked at me curiously. "Let's get out of
here..."

I stayed with Carrie until she got back where her clothes were, relieved
that she hadn't broken her leg in the trap or gotten hurt any worse. Then I
stepped back, watching her as she started to change back to human,
apparently not caring that I was standing right there. Though I really
wanted to see her naked again, I felt a bit embarrassed so turned away to
give her some privacy. Then I started to slowly move away as well.

"Wait," Carrie called out to me as her throat became more human. "What are
you?"

Unable to help myself, I glanced back and saw Carrie, all the way human
again and crouched down, covering herself with clothes. She was staring at
me with an odd expression, though it was filled with both gratitude and
curiosity.

For a moment, I remained frozen by indecision, then I let out a sigh.
Taking a deep breath, I said, "A dryad. I told you I was a mythic..." I
gave a weak, not to mention embarrassed smile at that.

Carrie just stared back, then started to stand up, apparently forgetting
for a moment that she was completely naked. "Darek?"

I just nodded as I looked up at her, wondering if my green skin showed a
blush because I knew that I had to be doing so like crazy. "Yeah," I
responded in embarrassment. Then deciding that this wasn't quite fair, I
willed my own transformation back to normal.

The familiar changes ran through my body again, this time in reverse order
to how they had done so a short time earlier. My flesh all shifted and
stretched, and I stared to grow taller. My crotch started to change back
to normal while my chest once again went flat. And sadly, I was aware of my
senses shifting as well... to losing my connection to all of the trees around
me. In a way, it was like going blind after being able to see.

Standing close to me, Carrie watched my changes in amazement, with me first
looking up at her... then being eye level... and finally looking down a little
to meet her eyes. And before my transformation had even finished, Carrie
threw her arms around me in a hug, crying out, "Thank you..."

I instinctively hugged her back, then we both suddenly remembered that we
were completely naked and stepped back in embarrassment. I was even more
embarrassed by the fact that I had a hard on and quickly tried to cover it
up. That just reminded Carrie that she too was naked, though I certainly
didn't mind looking at her nice body. But she tried covering up as well.

"I've got to get dressed," Carrie stammered in embarrassment.

I nodded agreement, "Me too..."

But instead of rushing off immediately, we both took another long look at
each other. Then I hurried to where I'd left my own clothes, eager to get
dressed again... and warm up. Without my dryad body, I was once again
feeling the temperature... and the rough ground on my feet.

Once I was dressed, and had a few minutes to cool off... not
temperaturewise, I left the safety of the trees and saw that Carrie was
standing there waiting for me. She blushed at the sight of me, just as I
did of her. Then I moved next to her, not sure exactly what to say.

However, that problem was removed by Carrie who suddenly hugged me again,
gasping, "Thank you so much." Then almost in tears, she exclaimed, "I'm so
sorry I didn't believe you." And to my further surprise, she kissed
me... catching me quickly on the cheeks before standing back and looking
embarrassed.

I stared at her in surprise, then smiled, hoping that she didn't notice the
bulge in my pants... or that I didn't cream myself. "Um... no problem," I
finally responded, giving her a smile and then moving closer again.

For nearly a minute, Carrie and I just stood there, staring at each other,
with me unable to stop thinking about how pretty she was. And then without
a word, she reached over and took my hand in hers and we slowly started
walking back towards the convention hall, hand in hand.

And finally, Carrie pressed herself closer to me and whispered, "So... can
you tell me what it's like being a dryad..."

I kissed her on the cheek, which seemed to please her and said, "I'd love
to..." God I loved being a Were.

THE END