The Changing Woman: A Wyld Universe Story- Part 12

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In the Wyld World, there are many religions, just as there is in this world. However, in the Wyld World, there is one thing that practically all religions have in common: They are the final word in terms of what is, and what isn't, acceptable.

Enter young Nate Redbone, Native American of the Navajo tribe. He has almost turned 20, and still hasn't gone Wyld. However, once Nate becomes Natalie, how will he be treated amongst his own people? And in return, can he accept them as well?

The Changing Woman
Natalie_0.jpg
A Wyld Universe Story
by AoifeM

It was too late. The Hellhound could sense his momentum slipping. The last trace of Natalie’s whereabouts was here at the rapid’s basin. From the presence of Haylie’s aroma, one could almost deduce she might have successfully finished her off, but her aroma still lingered beyond this area into the rocky precipice that lied ahead. This wasn’t just some random wandering about; there was a concrete direction to where she was heading. Even if Natalie succumbed to her little sister’s fangs, if wasn’t as if Haylie had “free will.” She instinctively knew her parameters. He has been calling her for days and yet she has not returned to him, her master. There could only be one explanation for this: she was taken prisoner. And by the direction she was taken off to, she must’ve reached the Arizonan border by now.

He had been successful in integrating himself into the Navajo culture. Many of them have easily been turned, becoming his servants for this upcoming battle. But it still wasn’t enough. If it wasn’t for their silly tradition! He needed to blend in and play his role in order to build the Navajo’s trust, but this sham of a marriage had only brought him more grief than anything else. With Natalie and/or Haylie inching closer to Phoenix there was barely any time to make his move.

Together with his pack of 500 in tow he made he followed Haylie’s scent to the end of the mountainous trail. Off in the distance was Flagstaff, confirming his worst fears.

The time for searching for the two sisters was over. It was time to put his plan into motion…but maybe he could reinforce his army just a little bit. The sun was setting once more and the town seemed ripe for the picking. After all…they can’t fight what they can’t see.


“It burns!” Haylie yelped as she clenched her hands tightly against her head.

I was overseeing her, each scream or cry from her little sister only making me more worried. The fact I could do nothing only added salt to my wounds.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, hoping that maybe I could find some way to calm her, even if only slightly.

“It’s…him!” Haylie struggled to cry out. “He calls…it gets louder and louder!” She began to curl herself into a ball; a poor remedy to the pain she was exhibiting.

She turned her face sideways toward me, showing me the redness of her puffy, watery eyes. “I feel like I’m losing my humanity,” she lamented. “It feels like I’m slowly but surely becoming a beast in not just my body, but in my soul too! He wants me to go to him…to return to the pack. The more I resist my master the more the pain exists! But I can’t get free!”

“He’s not your master!” I said unequivocally.

“It’s easy to say when you’re not under his control,” she stated with her teeth grinding together to hold her pain, “but to me, I can’t think of him as anything but!”

I could only shake my head in disgust. I know she didn’t want to believe it, but what else could she do? It only made me even more resolved in trying to end this man’s madness once in for all!

I just didn’t know if I could kill him though. It seems easy to consider when you look at your sister writhing in pain, but to actually do it in the middle of battle… I’ve never killed anyone in my life, and even now having gained my Wyld ability the thought of actually doing that to someone seems too unnerving to me. Yet eventually I will be heading to battle for that exact purpose. If I didn’t, then Haylie may never be free, let alone the rest of my people, many who likewise have been turned Dark like her.

Suddenly in came Shawna as she walked over to my sister’s cage holding a slab of meat in her hand. She threw the steak inside and immediately its aroma caught Haylie’s attention. Picking up the meat with her hand she began to take a bite of it. It seemed to at least put her at ease as her pain seemed to have temporarily subsided.

Walking over to me Shawna explained, “Sometimes you need something to distract you from heavy thought. I figure food is as good as anything. Works for me at least!”

It may have helped Haylie but for me it only made the pain in the pit of my stomach grew stronger. To watch her eat be distracted so easily by the mere sight of steak only further proved to me how much her thought process was slipping. Even the little things have begun to stress me out, so much so that even though I was worn out and physically spent I still wasn’t able to sleep, regardless how much I wanted to. Shawna even offered to watch after my sister for me, but that still couldn’t take away the worry that enveloped me. Even though I’ve been told time and time again it wasn’t my fault, even by Haylie herself, I still couldn’t help but feel I was at least partially responsible.

Wrapped around my lover’s embrace I too seemed to feel Shawna’s concern. Maybe it was by instinct or some spiritual link that has grown between us, but I knew she was just as worried as I was. My head lying on her bosom, she folded her wing over me, perhaps to shield me from the world around me. I was thankful for her. She was my rock, and I don’t know where I would be without her stabilizing presence.

It didn’t take much time at all and sure enough I drifted off to slumber.


“Have you ever killed before?” I asked Asdzą́ą́ Ná¡dleehé.

There we were, sitting on the shore overlooking a clear, blue lake, our naked bodies glistened as it reflected over its surface.

“Directly, no,” She admitted, “but to say my role in life didn’t cause hardships towards other people would be a lie. And even then there was my offspring…”

“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed to her, “I don’t know if I have the strength to do such a thing.”

“That’s the problem with having power,” she explained. “Sometimes it isn’t us who purposely look for trouble, sometimes trouble comes to us. That’s just an unavoidable fact.”

“Because of that…Haylie…” I solemnly said. “If I could’ve been anything besides…well, this!”

“Has it truly been that bad?” she asked.

Looking at her I couldn’t honestly say no. “I doubt I could ever live as a man again. Everything this body has given me has been a blessing. I don’t think I could be anything else.” I was holding back my tears at this point. “But to see how much it has negatively impacted everyone around me: my people, my family. People were turned into monsters just to find and kill me!”

“And if it wasn’t you would it make a difference?” she countered. “What if it was some other girl who went Wyld being forced into the same position that you were? Do you truly think that man would have done anything different?”

I didn’t really think of it like that.

“He was going to turn people regardless of what happened,” she continued. “It wouldn’t have ultimately mattered who was chosen as his bride, he was only using our people’s traditions to curry favor, and then turn them all when their guard was down!”

Thinking hard on the words she was saying she offered up one last comment. “In fact, Nattie, you should be thankful out of all the people that were chosen that it was you. Lesser women would have lost the battle before it even began. Call it luck, call it determination, but here you are, about to launch a counterattack on the man who did all of this to you. I truly believe that only you could’ve achieved this.”

“You truly think so?” I asked.

“I know so!” she exclaimed with a smile on her face. “Plus you seem to have learned quite a bit of spells in a rather short period of time. You’re quite the natural!”

“Thanks,” I told her. “But what about the killing part?”

“I admit that it isn’t the most glamourous thing to talk about,” she admitted. “Just head out into battle. Try not to think too much about it, and let the cards drop as they may. Maybe it won’t be you who has to land the killing blow.”

“I hope not,” I reiterated, “but…”

“…if your sister’s life is on the line, and you’re the only thing stopping him…” she began.

“…then I have no choice.”


My conversation was interrupted by the slight jabs being forced upon my ribcage. It wasn’t painful or anything, only effective enough to get me awake.

“…Ugh,” I grimaced as I slowly regained consciousness. The light greeted me unpleasantly as it bombarded my unprepared eyes. “What?”

Looking at Shawna I followed her attention to the person standing in front of us, who seemed to have something important to tell us.

“Miss Redbone-,” he paused, correcting himself on my account, “your sister wishes to speak with you. Said she found some information about this ‘Hellhound’ fellow.”

He didn’t need to say anything more. I looked over at my sister one last time. It seemed she too was worn unconscious by all she’s been through. All I knew was I couldn’t help her by sitting here. I ought to go see what Salia was up to.


I knocked on the door of Salia’s office. Opening it slowly she quickly recognized my presence, and eagerly called me over to check out what she found.

“Come look at this,” she said. Seeing as I was just as anxious to find out more about this person, I eagerly joined her as she pulled up some information on her computer.

“I didn’t have much going for me,” she began. “The only thing I knew was he was a Dark Wyld capable of turning people into werewolves. And while you and Haylie may have gotten a good look at him, I haven’t any clue. I’ll be quite honest I was quite surprised what came up when I simply typed “Hellhound” into the search engine.”

I began to read aloud the information plastered on the computer screen. “24 killed, 10 wounded during the escape of a demonic entity.”

“This took place in Los Angeles, Calivada, a little over 5 years ago,” Salia explained.

I kept reading. “The Calivada Holy Police, charged in the persecution and restraint of dangerous Wyld-like entities, was unable to subdue one of their prisoners as the beast went on a rampage, murdering twenty four members of the clergy, and injuring ten more. The Wyld, one of their members claimed, never showed anything to suggest he was capable of such behavior.”

“Yeah,” I sarcastically replied, “Those guys sure were know-it-alls.”

“Keep reading,” Salia urged.

“Before then he seemed to be a mindless animal, the man continued. He always complained about the pain in his head, driving him to do things like bang it against the jail cell walls…yelling and screaming causing quite the commotion. We often had to take him aside in one of our ‘purification sessions,’ trying to get him to calm down. Nothing seemed to work.”

I could only shutter at what they meant by “purification.”

“We kept him around because we knew that he was a pawn of another Wyld’s game. That’s the thing about Dark Wyld. They’re dangerous because they can infect people. We wanted to use him, hoping that he could lead us to his ‘alpha.’ The more we forced him however, the more pain he felt. If we knew having him would have resulted in this…we should’ve killed him when we had him.”

“If this person is the same person that escaped from that facility,” I wondered, “then why would he bother going after us? I mean, technically if he crossed the border he should be safe from harm. He could just hide and everything would have gone away.”

“Perhaps he’s more vindictive than that,” Salia suggested. “I mean, most of his life was spent either being a slave to some monster or a prisoner to a bunch of religious nutjobs. At least the motive is there.”

“…And unlike some people,” I finally realized, “he actually has the means to bring about revenge.”

“He can turn whoever he comes across into a werewolf, bound entirely by his power,” Salia finished. “He just needed someone gullible enough to help him get inside. Most people living in the major cities have enough education to understand and prevent such attacks from happening. If he would just randomly infect someone here, for example, it wouldn’t take long before people notice it.”

“And so he found the Hatalii,” I stated.

“As one who most likely used religion to make sense of the Wyld phenomena, it probably was easy to manipulate him.”

“He studied enough about our religion, and assumed the role of one of our powerful gods, Já³honaaʼéá­,” I continued. “With his ability to manipulate heat, along with his knowledge of our religion, I suppose it was quite possible to have the Hatalii wrapped around his finger.”

“And from there he could infect unknowing victims, while the Hatalii protected him, not knowing what he was doing behind his back.”

“So he became an unwilling accomplice of his crimes,” I concluded.

“Apparently your transformation provided a kink in his plans,” Salia remarked.

“Yeah,” I confirmed, “although it hasn’t made my life any easier. Why did it have to be me?”

Grabbing me by the shoulders, she gave me a little shake. “Stop getting down on yourself, sister!” she commanded. “Who knows what would have happened if you didn’t exist! Haylie could have still been turned for all we know! Maybe even worse!”

This sounded all too familiar. Asdzą́ą́ Ná¡dleehé already gave me this lecture. Didn't make me feel better though, even if they both had a point.

“You need to be strong,” she insisted, “for Haylie’s sake.”

“So what now?” I asked, changing the subject. “This doesn’t necessarily help figure out exactly where he is.”

“It does limit the choices, however,” she replied. “Knowing that you’ve escaped his grasp and most likely have contacted us he might panic and began to slip up. He might just go with what he has and make an attempt to cross the border.”

She stood up from her office seat. “We need to find him quickly,” she said sternly. “If my assumptions are correct, and he indeed is leading an army across the Calivadan border, it will be seen as an act of aggression from our own people. Calivada doesn’t need much provoking to launch an all out war on us.”

Suddenly her aide came barging through the door. “Ma’am,” she greeted. “There is a group of Wyld outside asking for you. They say they have come from the canyon basins of Dinétah.”

It didn’t take much time for me to figure out whom he was talking about. It was the people from Shawna’s village. Turning to each other and nodding our heads, we both stopped what we were doing and headed over to greet them.


Seeing the villagers from Shawna’s village, it didn’t look very healthy at all. Many of them were lacerated, beaten or bruised. At first thought you could assume that those were in result of my actions; my lack of control did cause a landslide after all. However, their “Matron” took care of the matter when she banished me. Furthermore I didn’t see he in sight. In fact there seemed to be far less villagers here than I originally remembered.

I was able to at least recognize one of them. The husky, giant buffalo man Marley. I quickly motioned my sister over to greet him.

“Marley!” I cried. He obviously didn’t look a hundred percent.

“Natalie,” he replied. Instinctively I put my arms around him, trying to help prop him up.

“What happened?” I asked.

“A beast of a man, with many others- those who became animals much like your sister,” he explained, “they attacked. Many of my people were killed, our Matron included.”

I looked at him with great sympathy. “I’m truly sorry.”

“What you see left here are the survivors,” he claimed. “I did what I could. The village was destroyed.”

I couldn’t help but feel as if this was again my fault. I've heard it from Salia and Asdzą́ą́ Ná¡dleehé, telling me otherwise, but it's hard not to think that way. Even if becoming Natalie was all random chance, the subsequent decisions I made afterwards, such as staying in Marley's village was indeed my choice. And my choice cost them more than I could even imagine.

“None of them are infected, are they?” My sister asked.

“For what I can see, no,” Marley assured her. “Besides me and a few other of our warriors these people are but mothers and children, incapable of fighting. It was our task to evacuate them. They should be safe.”

“Do you know where they went?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“No, I do not,” he answered. “Perhaps they may have still wished to chase us. Maybe they did not. I don’t know.”

I shook my head, wishing I had more to go on. Still, he told me as much as he could, and that was helpful.

“We should get you some medical attention,” I told him.

“Give it to the civilians who need it,” he stated. “My men and I don’t have time to waste.”

“You mean you’re going to go after him?” I asked.

“We have lost many brave warriors who gave their lives so that we may live,” he stated. “Justice must be done, if not for them, then for the families who have yet to be victimized, and hopefully never will.”

“We can use a few more men,” Salia told him. “If you would like, we would like to join you in this battle. We have our own motives for it, as you already know.”

“Of course,” he nodded. “This is not just our issue, this is an issue for the Diné as a whole.”

“And for this entire country,” Salia corrected. “This transcends all peoples.”

“Very well,” he said. “We shall get ready now.”

“Good,” Salia replied, “We’ll leave at nightfall.”

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Comments

And sometimes

it take a true statesman to say it and make it happen.

hugs
Grover

I don't know how much of this is a "Coming Together"

The Diné have already been suckered in by the Hellhound and many have been turned. The "Monsters" village has been destroyed, however they had secret contact with Salia in Phoenix anyway. Salia, although technically a Diné, doesn't speak for them as a whole. The Diné and the so called Monsters haven't buried the hatchet necessarily. Maybe after this battle there can be some reconciliation.

AoifeM, I am finding The

AoifeM, I am finding The Changing Woman to be a must read as she must find that beast and kill him to end the evil.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Interesting... I'm glad there

Interesting... I'm glad there is a new installment for this captivating story.

There is something I don't understand though. Why does Natalie feel like she's better off as a girl? Because she has magic powers? I don't quite understand that.

Anyway, thank you for writing,
Beyogi

Mostly time helps you adapt

Eventually like anything else you grow used to it. Live long enough as an entirely different gender and I'm sure the idea of living as a man would feel awkward. It takes time to adapt, and perhaps the experiences she had made her appreciate herself. Of course there are some experiences that she didn't enjoy as well. It's just time and experience, really.

I'll have the last 2 chapters up soon. School work has been eating me alive. ;P

School work... I feel with

School work... I feel with you, I really do :D

I can't wait for the update.